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Cycloptics Greenbeams 315w owners thread

timmur

Member
Newbie lurker here - just ordered a single GB 315 unit from GH with the 4200K for my new garden and am planning to run just one in a 4x4 tent. Intend on using the 942 bulb for both veg and flowering. Do you guys think I am being overly-optimistic thinking this single light will get me a decent yield? This is my first attempt at growing ever, but after doing lots of research I wanted to get something that will give me good results and is energy efficient. I would really be happy with any yield (not killing the plants would be a win!).

All my parts are on order and I am setting up a RDWC system over the next week or so.

Thanks everyone for the awesome info in this thread already. Really helped my decision to pickup the GB unit as opposed to cheaper nanolux/sunsystems/phantom setups.

I'd run two in a 4 x 4. One will get it done in a 3 x 3.
 

timmur

Member
So I just got the real modeling back from Cycloptics (not their approximation) and holy crap the PPFD is higher than I planned on! Here's the model.

picture.php


Here's what Flip had to say about the unique arrangement of the lights:
Here is modeling for your 12 Greenbeams 4200K luminaires in your 8x8x8H room. The optimal uniformity on both planes is achieved using the uniform, radial installation template.
The modeled Avg/Min and Max/Min uniformity at 12” above the floor is very light at 1.04 and 1.08 respectively with estimated average irradiance of 841 umol/m2/s. The wall to wall uniformity on the second plane 12” (only) below the apertures holds up very well with modeled average irradiance of 1369 umol/m2/s.

An interesting feature of the radial installation pattern, and 360-degree uniform radial beam distribution pattern of Greenbeams, is that you can proportionally reduce the average irradiance by 50%, 33%, or 25% , with minimal impact on uniformity, by turning off every second, third or fourth Here is modeling for your 12 Greenbeams 4200K luminaires in your 8x8x8H room. The optimal uniformity on both planes is achieved using the uniform, radial installation template.
The modeled Avg/Min and Max/Min uniformity at 12” above the floor is very light at 1.04 and 1.08 respectively with estimated average irradiance of 841 umol/m2/s. The wall to wall uniformity on the second plane 12” (only) below the apertures holds up very well with modeled average irradiance of 1369 umol/m2/s.

An interesting feature of the radial installation pattern, and 360-degree uniform radial beam distribution pattern of Greenbeams, is that you can proportionally reduce the average irradiance by 50%, 33%, or 25% , with minimal impact on uniformity, by turning off every second, third or fourth luminaire.

If I go with this arrangement then I'll certainly only run them for 10 to 11 hours during flower to keep the DLI down to a reasonable level. This actually works well as I'll be running pure sativas from Ace which want the longer nights.

BTW, the Greenbeams deliver on Thursday! :biggrin:
 
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Ez Rider

Active member
Veteran
Just heard about these units from rives:tiphat:. I'm currently running (2) water-cooled 1000wHPS in my 5x9 tent, and the power bill is killing me. I'm almost finished with my current run, and I'll be switching to C/G's for my next run. I'm going to run 4 in my 5x9, and see how it goes. I'm watching this thread with interest, and should be a regular contributor once I've got the light switched out...hopefully next week. I've been averaging 2.5# with the 1K's(sour bubble), hoping for the same or better.
 

MangoCat

Member
I'm running 4 GB's in a 4' X 8' Gorilla tent. The actual canopy top is 4' X 6' with 2' on one end for fan and filter. I couldn't be happier with the intensity and uniformity. 5' X 9' may be a bit of a stretch for 4 GB's; but it'd be easy to throw a couple more in there if need be. You'd easily reach your 2.5#, more I'd bet
 

Ez Rider

Active member
Veteran
I think you're going to be very happy with that decision Ez. Very close to my setup.

I'm running 4 GB's in a 4' X 8' Gorilla tent. The actual canopy top is 4' X 6' with 2' on one end for fan and filter. I couldn't be happier with the intensity and uniformity. 5' X 9' may be a bit of a stretch for 4 GB's; but it'd be easy to throw a couple more in there if need be. You'd easily reach your 2.5#, more I'd bet

Thanks for the input:tiphat:

What can you guys tell me about heat output from the C/G's? My tent sits in a large, well ventilated room, which I air condition in the summer months. The actual room rarely gets over 75F(I turn on the a/c if it does), and my current water-cooled set -up makes the tent run ~3F hotter than the actual room temp. I'm planning on using 2-6"maxfans with carbon filters for exhaust, and 2 more maxfans set on medium with filters for intake. I figure on moving 500-600cfm through the tent, with oscillators on each end to keep air moving under the hoods. Does this sound reasonable? Flip say's 4 C/G's will put out 3000btu's and 6 will put out 4500. That's about 2.4btu/w. The rule of thumb I've always seen used is 3.16btu/w for traditional mh/hps. Do these lamps really run that much cooler? When I use the standard 3.16btu/w, I come up with ~4000btu/h with 4 C/G's, and ~6000btu/h with 6. I can move enough air through the tent to comfortably cool 4000btu/h, but trying to do 6000 could prove impractical. See chart:http://http://docs.engineeringtoolbox.com/documents/245/sensible_load_required_air_volume.pdf

I'm still on the fence about needing 4 or 6, and the #'s flip sent me are confusing. I'm going to try to get some clarification from him, and hoping for some input from the community as well.

One important point. My tent is a 5' x 9' model. However, the negative pressure from the exhaust collapses the sides and ends. The true inside dimension is more like 4' x 8'.

Anyways, I'm going to go over the figures Flip sent me, and try to make some sense of it. I'll be back if I do...
 

McKush

Éirinn go Brách
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Just heard about these units from rives:tiphat:. I'm currently running (2) water-cooled 1000wHPS in my 5x9 tent, and the power bill is killing me. I'm almost finished with my current run, and I'll be switching to C/G's for my next run. I'm going to run 4 in my 5x9, and see how it goes. I'm watching this thread with interest, and should be a regular contributor once I've got the light switched out...hopefully next week. I've been averaging 2.5# with the 1K's(sour bubble), hoping for the same or better.

Hey EZ - i agree with mangocat. Youll need more fixturs to match those 2 1000s as far as umol/m2s goes. You are prob around 800+ with your current setup and your 4 GBs will put you around 530. Less heat for sure but 700-800 is an often used guideline for flower. Those are rough numbers but you may want to adjust. I recommend contacting them for a room design i believe it is free of charge but never have tried

All the best with your room chap
 

timmur

Member
Hey EZ see the image below for a 4 x 8 model that came from Cycloptics via Scrappy in the CMH thread.

picture.php


Here's the link.

Scrappy didn't go with their approach and instead went with 3 in a 5 x 10 and pulled 3 taters.

If they modeled yours, post it up and we might be able to help you understand what Flip's model is all about.

I can tell you this, if you target 1,000 μmol/m2/sec in flower it's gonna take quite a few fixtures if you mount them well above the canopy.

I believe this is a pic of Scrappy's setup:

picture.php
 

timmur

Member
Thanks for the input:tiphat:

What can you guys tell me about heat output from the C/G's? My tent sits in a large, well ventilated room, which I air condition in the summer months. The actual room rarely gets over 75F(I turn on the a/c if it does), and my current water-cooled set -up makes the tent run ~3F hotter than the actual room temp. I'm planning on using 2-6"maxfans with carbon filters for exhaust, and 2 more maxfans set on medium with filters for intake. I figure on moving 500-600cfm through the tent, with oscillators on each end to keep air moving under the hoods. Does this sound reasonable? Flip say's 4 C/G's will put out 3000btu's and 6 will put out 4500. That's about 2.4btu/w. The rule of thumb I've always seen used is 3.16btu/w for traditional mh/hps. Do these lamps really run that much cooler? When I use the standard 3.16btu/w, I come up with ~4000btu/h with 4 C/G's, and ~6000btu/h with 6. I can move enough air through the tent to comfortably cool 4000btu/h, but trying to do 6000 could prove impractical. See chart:http://http://docs.engineeringtoolbox.com/documents/245/sensible_load_required_air_volume.pdf

I'm still on the fence about needing 4 or 6, and the #'s flip sent me are confusing. I'm going to try to get some clarification from him, and hoping for some input from the community as well.

One important point. My tent is a 5' x 9' model. However, the negative pressure from the exhaust collapses the sides and ends. The true inside dimension is more like 4' x 8'.

Anyways, I'm going to go over the figures Flip sent me, and try to make some sense of it. I'll be back if I do...

They put out less IR so leaf temps should be a bit lower for a given air temp relative to a 1k HPS.

Don't count on Flip to guide you on how much light you require. In my experience he asks what your target level PPFD at various planes is and then provides a model that will deliver the targets.

As McKush said, many target about 800 μmol/m2/sec in flower as a reasonable target irradiance level.
 

Ez Rider

Active member
Veteran
So here are some materials that I got from Greenbeams. A model for a 6 lamp, 4'x8' room, estimates for a 4 light, 4'x8' room, and some documentation on btu output. I also asked for a 4 light model, but Flip says he pays a 3rd party to do them, and he can't justify the cost on a small order. I find it hard to believe nobody's asked for a 4 light model before, but I refrained from mentioning it. What he did tell me was that I could figure on 4 lamps being 66% of 6 lamps @ the corresponding heights. So here's the problem: The 6 light model shows 831 umols @ 30" under the lamps, with very even coverage. If I multiply .66 x 831 umols, I get 548 umols @ 30" for 4 lamps. The problem is, the other estimate, specifically for 4 lamps, says 830 umols @36" from the lamps. Something is clearly amiss.

The btu output info appears to be solid, so I shouldn't have a problem, even with 6.

Scrappy, what strain are you growing? I noted you said the plants were all different weights. Was this do to uneven lighting, different sized plants, or what? I've come close to 3# with my 1000's, but I just can"t imagine pulling it off with under 1000 (3x315). I have to admit, I'm leaning heavily towards 6 lamps at this point, which I must admit seems kind of crazy if you're getting there with 3 lamps. 1.4g/w is awesome, especially with less than 20w/ft2. On the other hand, I don't know what you're growing. 1.5#/1K is my best with sour bubble(my current strain), but I've hit 2.5#/1k with darkstar(nowhere near as high quality as the sb), and I've seen 3.5#/1K from blue dream(complete crap), so I know the strain can make a big difference.

picture.php
picture.php
picture.php
 

timmur

Member
Here's my attempt at doing a linear approximation in a 4 x 8 tent with Orca on the walls. It's straight from that model he shared with you. If you're going to target where you are currently then 6 GBs makes sense. Then again you're talking to a guy who is putting 12 of them in an 8 x 8! :biggrin:

I'd post the spreadsheet but it won't let me attach the doc. Easy calcs anyways. The DLI cals are based on veg to a certain height for 18 hours (I think) and then flower light schedule at 12.

BTW, I wouldn't go with the estimate using their in house tool (the blue one). It wasn't very close for mine.

picture.php
 
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Ez Rider

Active member
Veteran
Here's my attempt at doing a linear approximation in a 4 x 8 tent with Orca on the walls. It's straight from that model he shared with you. If you're going to target where you are currently then 6 GBs makes sense. Then again you're talking to a guy who is putting 12 of them in an 8 x 8! :biggrin:

I'd post the spreadsheet but it won't let me attach the doc. Easy calcs anyways. The DLI cals are based on veg to a certain height for 18 hours (I think) and then flower light schedule at 12.

BTW, I wouldn't go with the estimate using their in house tool (the blue one). It wasn't very close for mine.

View Image

I agree that I trust the 6 lamp model more than the in-house, 4 lamp chart. I'm pretty much sold on 6 lamps at this point. Now I just need to design an exhaust/intake system that moves ~650cfm, and isn't stupid loud... I sleep next to the tent. My plants should finish at ~36" tall. counting the container. I'm going to set the hoods fixed at 5' from the floor, and let the plants grow into them. According to the 6 lamp model I 'll have over 700 umols @48" from the hoods, which is actually a little lower lower than starting canopy height. Should be perfect for plants coming out from under t-5's(soon to be replaced with a C/G). I'm realizing that with the lights permanently fixed, I can very easily run 2 different flowering schedules. I have 2- 4'x4' trays in my tent, I'm thinking I could run the trays 4 weeks apart, and harvest once a month. I could never do this with hps, because the shorter plants would stretch like crazy with the hps at full flowering height. I'm thinking 1 more 315 in a 3x3 tent for veg, and a few 20w t-5's for clones, and it should be ON:dance013: Good thing I've got a nice income tax return coming, this upgrade will cost more than my entire current system, which I've put together over the last 4 years. On the flip side, my yield should dramatically increase, while my electric usage should go down quite a bit. Being able to run a staggered crop would be icing on the cake.


I'm making my final list now, and I'm oredring/buying equipment this weekend. Hopefully have it up an running by next weekend latest.
 

Scrappy-doo

Well-known member
I've come close to 3# with my 1000's, but I just can"t imagine pulling it off with under 1000 (3x315). [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I have to admit, I'm leaning heavily towards 6 lamps at this point, which I must admit seems kind of crazy if you're getting there with 3 lamps.[/FONT]

lol seriously dude that's what I think every time I read someone is stuffing 6 lights in a 4x8. No offense to anyone, but I think it's a complete waste of electricity. Everyone is chasing a certain umol/m2 they think is ideal. I pretty much tore that theory to shreads with my run. The lights put out a near perfect spectrum. You don't need anywhere near that many lights if you bring them down closer to the canopy.


Scrappy, what strain are you growing? I noted you said the plants were all different weights. Was this do to uneven lighting, different sized plants, or what? I've come close to 3# with my 1000's, but I just can"t imagine pulling it off with under 1000 (3x315). I have to admit, I'm leaning heavily towards 6 lamps at this point, which I must admit seems kind of crazy if you're getting there with 3 lamps. 1.4g/w is awesome, especially with less than 20w/ft2. On the other hand, I don't know what you're growing. 1.5#/1K is my best with sour bubble(my current strain), but I've hit 2.5#/1k with darkstar(nowhere near as high quality as the sb), and I've seen 3.5#/1K from blue dream(complete crap), so I know the strain can make a big difference.

Everything from GSC to ECSD was run. All different size plants, some came right from the cloner and into the flower room. It was my last run at the location to so everything went in for a final run.

3 1/4 bows and this was a garden 2.5 hours away from me. Those plants were cared for 1 day a week throughout the entire flower cycle. To say it wasn't dialed in is putting it mildly. I'm very confident I can pull 4 with the same setup when I get it set up again at my own place.

This is the right hand side of the 5x10. The 2x4 marks the middle. Everything on the right went in very small, much earlier than I normally would put them in.
picture.php


This is the left hand side. These were all normal size I would put them into flower at.
picture.php


This is what was still left after I harvested 23oz. Most of those yielded about 3oz each.

picture.php


Full shot taken the same day. The box fan is covering the 3rd light.

picture.php




Now why would I add 3 more lights to that room when I could put them in a whole new 5x10 room. Which setup you think is gonna give you more weed?

That room was full and the buds were rock hard all the way to the bottom. Nuff said.

The whole thing is in my journal, link in my sig.

Post #58 starts this setup and every plant pictured from there on came from these lights.
 

MangoCat

Member
I would start with 4GBs, dial in your environment to their output and then decide if you want to add one or two more. You might find the 4GB's quite adequate and save $1K on the extra two.
 

timmur

Member
Greenbeam room build out and grow log

Greenbeam room build out and grow log

Hey guys, I just wanted to post up a shameless plug for my room build out and grow log. I decided to post it in the Ace forum as that is the genetics I'll be running. Since the room includes Greenbeams I figured it was relevant to this thread. In any case please stop by and post up any feedback you might have. :biggrin:

Ace Malawi and Cycloptics Greenbeams: caught in the Under Current!
 
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40AmpstoFreedom

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
You don't need anywhere near that many lights if you bring them down closer to the canopy.

How close? What is the danger zone? How close for seedlings? I am thinking of buying into this line but I couldn't use my Gavita pros

http://www.gavita-holland.com/index.php/products/proline/item/gavita-pro-600.html

at all on seedlings and hell even at 2 feet seemed to really hurt my plants that were 12-20 inches tall.

1k hps works and works well...I really want to move to the new tech but the gavita move was an awful choice on my end. So I am very hesitant. Anyone have extensive seedling experience?
 

Scrappy-doo

Well-known member
For my setup, once they adapted to the light I found 30" from the canopy to be the sweet spot. This would be in the flower room after they stretch. Before then the lights are higher up.

It also depends how far away the walls are from the light, since the cycloptics units utilize wall reflection primarily. My first time using one, I put it in a 4x4 tent all the way at the top with plants on the floor that had been vegging under cfl's beforehand. Everything over 12" got fucked up because of the intensity difference. In a 5x5 with the same scenario, the plants loved it.

I also have an untested theory that the reflective material may play a large roll in it. My experience with these lights has been vastly different from others I've read. I was using reflectix which doesn't diffuse the reflected light, and I think may have been a big factor. If my 4x4 tent was lined with orca film they may not have reacted the way they did. But my yields may also not have been what they were.

Still a lot to learn when it comes to these, but as of now I wouldn't buy anything other than more cycloptics units.
 

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