Green Guy LED- ( Formerly Magnum LED )

[45th]

thanks for the "heads up"

 

[sammyz2646]

thanks for the "heads up"

If I can help anyone else avoid the hassles and frustrations with these guys- Actual company name seems to be "Grow Perfect Technologies"

 

[NeWcS]

If you would have done as I said chances are you could have had this resolved. As far as the BBB goes they can't do anything as far as the law is concerned. By law, an attorney general of the state this company operates from can. People need to stop getting ripped off and not doing anything about it. It's time companies like this get their ass kicked.

@sammz2646 this wasn't directed directly at you more of a public notice about stuff like this. Just saying...

 

[SmokinErb22]

Word of advice for the future:

If a company changed its name, they're usually hiding from something. Bad customer service and bad products would be my first assumption.

 

[sammyz2646]

So, I have finally given up on endless attempts to contact this damn company I bought this COB light plant from. I have wanted to attempt to repair this unit for some time now and have honestly been fairly intimidated, but with $1200 invested, I have little choice other than to DIVE IN

Therefore, since I have learned a little bit more about the inner workings of these LED COB's as of late, I am now going to try to fix it

Here are a few shots of the unit to give some perspective:

 

[sammyz2646]

The company owner insisted that the failed component was the driver, so he did send me 2 extra new ones to try and fix it


I set up a tester system with a extension cord and a switch. To check the actual COB. Another few pics





I took apart one of the failed units on the light plant, using 1 of the new drivers he sent me, to be sure that it wasn't the driver having the issues, and tested it out.

Sure enough, it lit up but only dimly, and flickered a bit

Just to be sure I took my little test kit over to a knowingly functional COB and verified that it lit up as it should 100%!

 

[sammyz2646]

These particular COB's are 32 x 3w driven to 50 watts. Therefore the plant puts out a true 800 watts with 16 - 50 watters going simultaneously

So my question is, which COB to replace it with??

I see some COB's online here, but so many choices.

I want to make sure that I can use these existing drivers,(for now),
and not burn something up. I would like to try and stay at or below the current wattage using these same drivers.

ANY IDEAS about where to find this replacement COB? I can not seem to locate a suitable replacement anywhere

NOTE: These questions could obviously be answered EASILY if the company would EVER respond or become available, GEEZ!!!!

 

[sammyz2646]

Ok figured it out. I just bought 10- 32 x 3 watt new chips and am hoping to get this heap up and running, cause it is truly awesome when it works properly

That'll give me 4 extras and I know now,(like an idiot), that HEAT is the #1 killer of LED's. So in addition to its interior fans, I will add a room fan gently assisting with the airflow near this seemingly vulnerable fixture

 

[Dr.Nonagon]

I think you nailed it with inferior fans. Each heatsink should have it's own fan and looking at the relationship of the fans to the heatsinks I can see several hotspots.

Most of these type units just used the heatsinks taken from the older PC innovations. I have noticed that lack of central core which could be just cost savings as they were often copper or it is due to drawing the heat away from the center of the cob. Either way the heatsinks are cheap (no heatpipe) and not designed to be run without a fan directly over them.

From looking at your pics its pretty clear that the builders could not fit all the drivers in the box so they cut out the fans.

I dont know if you can wire new fans in that unit but a high end delta 120mm fan can move 240cfm, takes 3.2A and sounds like an airport.

Second thought. You flip the lid so that all the drivers and fans are on the outside. Then flip the fans so they blow in. Get 16 120mm fans, (that looks like a 120mm heatsink?) Check out Cooler Master 4 pack for 12 bucks - $48 for 16 at newegg. .16 amps each @12v so get a AC/DC brick that can do 3A or 4A@12v for under $20 at the same place. Screw the fan to the heatsink somehow. It looks the the brackes they used covered the screw hole on the heatsink. Problem solved?

Remember to use good thermal paste on the back of the COB and real thin too.

 

[sammyz2646]

I think you nailed it with inferior fans. Each heatsink should have it's own fan and looking at the relationship of the fans to the heatsinks I can see several hotspots.
View Image

Most of these type units just used the heatsinks taken from the older PC innovations. I have noticed that lack of central core which could be just cost savings as they were often copper or it is due to drawing the heat away from the center of the cob. Either way the heatsinks are cheap (no heatpipe) and not designed to be run without a fan directly over them.

From looking at your pics its pretty clear that the builders could not fit all the drivers in the box so they cut out the fans.

I dont know if you can wire new fans in that unit but a high end delta 120mm fan can move 240cfm, takes 3.2A and sounds like an airport.

Second thought. You flip the lid so that all the drivers and fans are on the outside. Then flip the fans so they blow in. Get 16 120mm fans, (that looks like a 120mm heatsink?) Check out Cooler Master 4 pack for 12 bucks - $48 for 16 at newegg. .16 amps each @12v so get a AC/DC brick that can do 3A or 4A@12v for under $20 at the same place. Screw the fan to the heatsink somehow. It looks the the brackes they used covered the screw hole on the heatsink. Problem solved?

Remember to use good thermal paste on the back of the COB and real thin too.

Hello there Dr Nonagon Your thoughts are making perfect sense to me even though I am fairly inexperienced in this area. Your perspective sheds new light on my overall understanding and for that, I sincerely appreciate your seemingly knowledgable feedback. I intend to research your technical info soon , thanks

On another note I saw all your diodes on hand and am jealous. just laying around were they? LOL

 

[Dr.Nonagon]

I don't really know much about the LEDs but Ive been a computer nerd for most of my life. I have been playing for a bit and found a completely different way to mount a COB into a freebee box that is so simple that it's a joke only using a $1.50 part. Expect a guide

Yeah so Sammy if you can figure a way to get the drivers and fans mounted of the other side of the case and get some fans on the heatsinks you're golden. Make sure that there are fans on the outside to push the air through because the fans inside wont line up with the holes and there will be no airflow. The 50W COB seems to be significantly more fragile then is 3W star cousin. If you just replace the chips I think they may just burn out again.

Don't be jealous of my small stock, with that light of yours I would have soooo much fun! Besides it's a good thing that the light broke because now you get to fix it, and later when new chips come out you can retrofit them in.

Got a link to the LEDs you bought?

 

[sammyz2646]

I had the hardest time actually finding them lots if 50x1's and 25x2's , etc. . I never actually found a link , what I simply did is go to Shenzen on Aliexpress and found the similar COB unit, ( I can send you that link later as I am mobile at the moment), and simply contacted the supplier with a photo of my driver to verify we were on the same page, and he assured me these chips were in fact 32 x 3 watts and that driven @ 50 watts with my drivers that it would work. $28 x 10 = $280 which leaves me 4 extras. 6 of them are out
I am convinced that the engineering is BAD like you said, but my inexperience in the mounting location in relation to temperature and surroundings MUST have led to an even more hasty failure and even if I don't completely rebuild it, proper treatment should (hopefully) improve the lifetime of these chips ( lots of airflow!)

 

[sammyz2646]

Hey Doc, this is the link to the webpage that I was able to order those Cob's from

There was ALOT of emailing back and forth , but I hope we finally got things rolling

So, turns out the $218 dollar quote for the 10 COB's ended up being $318 with shipping, etc REALLY? It seems nuts for something so small


http://www.aliexpress.com/store/114449

I might just try what you said, turning the lid over and switching the fan direction.

 

[Mikenite69]

Ya make sure you use like artic silver thermal past. Make sure to buy the silver kind though don't buy the cheap white stuff. That's some of the best thermal paste out and you can get a tube from radio shack for like 10 bucks.

 

[sammyz2646]

Ya make sure you use like artic silver thermal past. Make sure to buy the silver kind though don't buy the cheap white stuff. That's some of the best thermal paste out and you can get a tube from radio shack for like 10 bucks.

THANK YOU!!! I was just about to ask specifically what to use for the adhesive, and you my friend, have pointed me the the right direction.

My opinion is that this light plant would actually grow better plants with a few of the COB's that were either warm white or even mix in a combination of warm white and cool white to accompany the red dominant spectrum.



Here is a picture of the COB up close, as you can see, they went crazy with the red. Hell, some "GROW" lights out there ONLY have red @ blue, go figure, maybe different plants, IDK.

I could either repair this as it arrived and then ADD some smaller 2 or 4 COB high bay cool units to accompany it , OR maybe even order a few warm white COB's to add into the hood itself in a carefully arrange evenly distributed pattern of course.

The guy that sold me the light originally claimed that your plant would kick into "overdrive"and that you will need to add additional CAL/MAG to respond to this supposed "overdrive". I call BS!!! My guess is that the plant is being dominated by too much of 1 spectrum, therefore, it is trying to make up ground needing above and beyond the NORMAL plant demand.

Now it grows fine , BUT , my theory is that accompanied by MORE WHITE LIGHT, in conjunction, that EXTRA CAL/ MAG that this clown claims you need to add, is, and never would be necessary

 

[Mikenite69]

I know the cool white will help out in veg. I have a all blue and white led and it's switchable to run either all blue or all white. But IMO the plants respond more with both on rather than just blue or just white. I also don't give my plants one drop of cal/mg under that light.

Plants under LEDs do seem to consume cal/mg but I have never used in unless they were vegging under the flowering sprectrum tuned LEDs. The white should help you out greatly with veg plants as well as flowering without having to use much cal/mg

 

[Dr.Nonagon]

Not to be a dick but the composite thermal pastes are just as good as ceramic thermal pastes or metal oxide. It's all pretty much within 5 degrees; the problem with these products is that they dry out over time and that's bad for an LED. A cpu has a thermal off switch so if your paste fails the bios just flips the switch with no damage, but thermal paste inhibited prematurely on an COB LED = perma-death.

Given the fact that LEDs are rated to run often 50k -100k hours the problem will be long lasting paste. Ive used Arctic Silver 5, the grey stuff. Its been around for 10 years or more and it wont last for more then 3 years on my PCs. I overclock everything and I definitely will not ever buy it again. Whenever I have had thermal shutdown problems its the old arctic silver cracking and drying out.

For my LED build I will be using MX-4 because even after several years on a hot overclocked core the MX-2 still looks new and the 4 is thicker to hopefully makeup for the imperfection on the metal contacts of the larger LED COBs which are far from perfect.

Certainly it is a fact that the application of the thermal paste is now more critical then the brand paste itself. For which there are many application guides.

Just a side note that thermal adhesive is a different animal then thermal paste. The adhesive is epoxy and if you glue a large LED to a heatsink with it wont come off in one piece. Likely it wont come off without a hammer.

$21 bucks seems okay for your order but 100 bucks for shipping from China is crazy. To add white LEDs to your setup by replacing some of the chips you may also need new drivers, the power requirements from one chip to the next are often quite different.

Here is a chart on thermal paste, note mayo, mustard and toothpaste. I know a guy who uses toothpaste...

 

[flat9]

So, I have finally given up on endless attempts to contact this damn company I bought this COB light plant from. I have wanted to attempt to repair this unit for some time now and have honestly been fairly intimidated, but with $1200 invested, I have little choice other than to DIVE IN

Therefore, since I have learned a little bit more about the inner workings of these LED COB's as of late, I am now going to try to fix it

Here are a few shots of the unit to give some perspective:

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=10746&pictureid=1226851&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=10746&pictureid=1226852&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

Did you use your credit card to purchase this? If so, dispute the charge ... you'll get your money back, likely all of it.

 

[Mikenite69]

I am not gonna argue over thermal paste and say you are wrong or whatever but I was just basically telling him what he could buy that is good and local. Arctic silver 5 is a really good thermal paste. I use to use it all the time when I fixed and reballed xboxs and ps3 gpu's. I have also used mx2 and mx4 the mx2 is runny I like the mx-4 a little better but arctic silver always worked really well for me.

Another thermal paste I have used that also worked really well was ic diamond it was a little expensive and a pain in the ass because u had to heat it up first to get it to spread smoothly but did work really well.

But that is crazy how people have used toothpaste I have never heard of that before or evwn chocolate. Does it matter what toothpaste you use? How about chocolate how does that work? I have to rip my laptop apart because my graphics chip is in need of a reflow or reball because everytime I use window media player after a hour my video starts getting choppy.

 

[sammyz2646]

Did you use your credit card to purchase this? If so, dispute the charge ... you'll get your money back, likely all of it.

I did. But it was more than 6 months ago

I will look into that, Thank you