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Can you trust Chinese technology??
- Thread starter Hubbleman
- Start date
Switcher56
Comfortably numb!
That's because they are using a comparative value e.g is = to a 600W HPS or MH, or whatever. LEDS do not consume as much power so, yes we will see the watts drawn from the wall halved. It doesn't mean diddly. Just, old habits and beliefs are hard to break. That being said, LEDs do not have the penetration when compared to other light sources. e.g a 23w household LED puts out as much light as a 100w incandescent bulb but, only consumes 23
Switcher56
Comfortably numb!
That would be correct!
We (in North America) have used Chinese manufactured goods for years. It became common knowledge a while ago "everything is made in China."
Products are subject to the attitudes needs and demands of customers. If people are looking to spend the least amount of money possible they might find something "incredibly inexpensive." Think about that for a moment. Instead of criticizing the quality what about creating building and selling a product for such a low price? Quality control may not always be perfect but where is the US factory building $89 1000 watt equivalent LED fixtures? People are too lazy or don't know how to assemble LEDs, the wages or the pension or health insurance would never be covered for US workers to build units for such a cost.
Do people actually want to manufacture lights here? I am speculating but what are the odds that Joe from USA builds faulty lights at the same rate as John from China? In other words mistakes are possible anywhere. Is soldering really such a bad job compared to what many people say they want to be doing? I think part of our US education and real estate bubble is the entitlement. To explain I mean that within a certain group (state/region/income level) nearly everyone sends their kids to college. And in college, pretty much every single student thinks they are going to be the kind of engineer that sits at a desk and gives orders and makes "big ideas." I too felt this way where I did not want to graduate and be a "regular little guy" or worker just like everyone else.
In our university system students aren't told that a degree in engineering means soldering components and building electronics at least in my opinion. It is left much more vague, as long as university tuition is collected, then every student is treated like a special snowflake (denial/ignorance/greed on the part of all older administrators). Until release into the job market after college where they find out that every single four year degree is good enough to get you a job making fancy coffees, or delivering Amazon packages.
It sounds humorous on the surface but there is a real systemic financial burden across the country. Separating the useful knowledge I gained in college valuable for the rest of my life, from the time I wasted drinking and partying, from the wasted time and money I gave to universities, isn't clear. Wasted meaning extra classes, university rules about taking stuff and staying years to graduate. I can chat kind of beating around the bush, making small talk, but probably over 1/2 of the courses I took in college (and paid for) were bogus - remedial or a waste of time or listening to some mid level middle aged person talk about their own personal subject. In hindsight yes I do want a college education but it was a majority waste if we are talking about money and productive time use. Yes some people get a job from their wealthy uncle but outside of that..
Retail markets will have a mix of things. Sometimes more expensive is better built and sometimes expensive is mark up profit. If Philips bulbs are made in China that means the standard, the best one, the original example, all made in China. I don't know if Philips used Japanese/NA/European designers or what but somewhat beside the point. All manufactured in China brand name labelled, generic unlabelled, you name it.
We may have associated some imported goods with reduced (or increased) quality in the past. I feel it is similar to many other things "you get what you pay for."
LEDs specifically are pretty new for grow lights. Some look like they could get pretty hot. Compare a densely packed COB LED to Samsung LED strip lights with aluminum channels. Different light spread and thermal mass for cooling. No comment on thc or harvest but these two light styles probably perform somewhat differently.
LEDs appear to work well for plant growth. Whether some of the early units are akin to flea market car stereo amplifiers I'm unsure. We might see them continue to pick up. I haven't seen many big harvests from LEDs but it is still very early so to speak. The wavelength specificity and adjustment with LEDs sound fascinating.
This may be a silly analogy regarding LEDs but when the first car was invented people still used horses for a long time. In fact the first car may have been worse than a horse practically. When the first light bulb was invented people still used candles for a long time. So even if LEDs are a space ship it will take time to see IMO.
Products are subject to the attitudes needs and demands of customers. If people are looking to spend the least amount of money possible they might find something "incredibly inexpensive." Think about that for a moment. Instead of criticizing the quality what about creating building and selling a product for such a low price? Quality control may not always be perfect but where is the US factory building $89 1000 watt equivalent LED fixtures? People are too lazy or don't know how to assemble LEDs, the wages or the pension or health insurance would never be covered for US workers to build units for such a cost.
Do people actually want to manufacture lights here? I am speculating but what are the odds that Joe from USA builds faulty lights at the same rate as John from China? In other words mistakes are possible anywhere. Is soldering really such a bad job compared to what many people say they want to be doing? I think part of our US education and real estate bubble is the entitlement. To explain I mean that within a certain group (state/region/income level) nearly everyone sends their kids to college. And in college, pretty much every single student thinks they are going to be the kind of engineer that sits at a desk and gives orders and makes "big ideas." I too felt this way where I did not want to graduate and be a "regular little guy" or worker just like everyone else.
In our university system students aren't told that a degree in engineering means soldering components and building electronics at least in my opinion. It is left much more vague, as long as university tuition is collected, then every student is treated like a special snowflake (denial/ignorance/greed on the part of all older administrators). Until release into the job market after college where they find out that every single four year degree is good enough to get you a job making fancy coffees, or delivering Amazon packages.
It sounds humorous on the surface but there is a real systemic financial burden across the country. Separating the useful knowledge I gained in college valuable for the rest of my life, from the time I wasted drinking and partying, from the wasted time and money I gave to universities, isn't clear. Wasted meaning extra classes, university rules about taking stuff and staying years to graduate. I can chat kind of beating around the bush, making small talk, but probably over 1/2 of the courses I took in college (and paid for) were bogus - remedial or a waste of time or listening to some mid level middle aged person talk about their own personal subject. In hindsight yes I do want a college education but it was a majority waste if we are talking about money and productive time use. Yes some people get a job from their wealthy uncle but outside of that..
Retail markets will have a mix of things. Sometimes more expensive is better built and sometimes expensive is mark up profit. If Philips bulbs are made in China that means the standard, the best one, the original example, all made in China. I don't know if Philips used Japanese/NA/European designers or what but somewhat beside the point. All manufactured in China brand name labelled, generic unlabelled, you name it.
We may have associated some imported goods with reduced (or increased) quality in the past. I feel it is similar to many other things "you get what you pay for."
LEDs specifically are pretty new for grow lights. Some look like they could get pretty hot. Compare a densely packed COB LED to Samsung LED strip lights with aluminum channels. Different light spread and thermal mass for cooling. No comment on thc or harvest but these two light styles probably perform somewhat differently.
LEDs appear to work well for plant growth. Whether some of the early units are akin to flea market car stereo amplifiers I'm unsure. We might see them continue to pick up. I haven't seen many big harvests from LEDs but it is still very early so to speak. The wavelength specificity and adjustment with LEDs sound fascinating.
This may be a silly analogy regarding LEDs but when the first car was invented people still used horses for a long time. In fact the first car may have been worse than a horse practically. When the first light bulb was invented people still used candles for a long time. So even if LEDs are a space ship it will take time to see IMO.
Last edited:
Drivers
I tried over a dozen eBay sourced cheap drivers. One was alright. Just one. The rest were all about half the power stated. This wasn't that equivalent nonsense. It's false labeling. The manufacturers site would show them and give dimensions. The one's from eBay would all have labels that somehow looked too big on them, so out would come the tape and test gear, to find them all the next size down. I can order them all day long, from various vendors, get my refund and resell them correctly identified. However, and this is where the problem really lays... you can detect them at a considerable distance using just an FM radio. Free lighting is nice, but if traffic driving by can see their radio's going on/off 12/12 it's a real problem. Plus I'm into radio... and won't do that to local operatives. People who are listening to moon bounce, with real kit, and will track down any noise killing there hobby and it's huge investment.
I tried common mode chokes and various filter caps, but these things are radio transmitters from hell. Most 600w electronic hid ballasts are a liability, but these little things are something else. I suggest anybody using leds has a sniff around them with a radio. My osram and meanwell's are silent, but if your sourcing cheap kit, you might be buying stuff you shouldn't use at all.
I tried over a dozen eBay sourced cheap drivers. One was alright. Just one. The rest were all about half the power stated. This wasn't that equivalent nonsense. It's false labeling. The manufacturers site would show them and give dimensions. The one's from eBay would all have labels that somehow looked too big on them, so out would come the tape and test gear, to find them all the next size down. I can order them all day long, from various vendors, get my refund and resell them correctly identified. However, and this is where the problem really lays... you can detect them at a considerable distance using just an FM radio. Free lighting is nice, but if traffic driving by can see their radio's going on/off 12/12 it's a real problem. Plus I'm into radio... and won't do that to local operatives. People who are listening to moon bounce, with real kit, and will track down any noise killing there hobby and it's huge investment.
I tried common mode chokes and various filter caps, but these things are radio transmitters from hell. Most 600w electronic hid ballasts are a liability, but these little things are something else. I suggest anybody using leds has a sniff around them with a radio. My osram and meanwell's are silent, but if your sourcing cheap kit, you might be buying stuff you shouldn't use at all.
Ibechillin
Masochist Educator
I think you meant "Jin from China" there
I agree with these ^ parts. What are people honestly expecting out of this stuff they pay the absolute bare minimum for that makes it such a surprise/disappointment when it fails?
Is it really such a surprise cheap food is shit for us?
T
Teddybrae
Seems the only way is to speak to other users ... and use what they have found to be OK.
TychoMonolyth
Boreal Curing
Fuck I can't trust the USA. I have to be careful not to store our data on servers that are not accessible to the Patriot Act.
Snowden put the spotlight on them and everyone went "big deal". Sad
Snowden put the spotlight on them and everyone went "big deal". Sad
chiesesganja
Well-known member
There are good and bad in the world. You have to choose carefully on Alibaba.
I bought the cob for 4 years and still good. I bought qb recently.
I bought the cob for 4 years and still good. I bought qb recently.
HydroGrowLeds
Member
I don't personally trust Chinese "technology", but I do trust Chinese goods. I've been developing my own technology since 2009, but have done the majority of my manufacturing over the years in China. Any time I've ever let the Chinese develop something on my behalf, I've typically had many issues. When I do the development myself, I have far less. But if China wasn't capable of making damn good products, Apple wouldn't be making the iPhone there. There again - Apple does their own technology engineering and has China make it for them.
Latest posts
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Tutorial CanG | Regeln für Grower und Konsumenten in Deutschland- Latest: Hermanthegerman
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Latest posts
-
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Tutorial CanG | Regeln für Grower und Konsumenten in Deutschland
- Latest: Hermanthegerman
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