LED Mythbusting, KILL A WATT proof

[Bassy59]

Bassy - I take it that the drivers that you installed don't have any adjustments for the current levels? I don't know how long the warranty period is, but I would have serious doubts about the longevity of the leds running at 125% of the design heat load as well as whatever the increased voltage levels the leds are getting hit with.

No adjustments.

I spoke to GS yesterday. I think I noted what his response was previously.

It's a 2-3 yr warranty and started fresh about 45 days ago when I got this replacement light. I ain't gonna worry about it too much. I have an hps backup for any downtime during warranty period if it takes a dump. If it lasts 3 yrs I will be happy. If it takes a dump and I get a new light, especially if I get the next gen, due in a cpl months, I'll be even happier.

If it lasts one month, it will have pumped up the current grow I'm sure and won't delay my next flowering period since I still have the hps to start the flower off with if so needed.

Thanks for the concern though.

In a way, they are not running at 125%. They are 3w led. running at 2.37w

/shrug

 

[GP73LPC]

In a way, they are not running at 125%. They are 3w led. running at 2.37w

/shrug

per your own statement, these 3W leds are only driven at 60% of their rating.

This equals 1.80w per led (fans incl). About what we see from led companies using 3w systems.

2.37w is roughly 125% of 1.80w.... that's what Rives was saying...

 

[rives]

In a way, they are not running at 125%. They are 3w led. running at 2.37w

Bassy, the nominal rating of led's (3w in this case) is really meaningless. The extent to which they can be driven is dependent on how well heat is extracted away from them. Cooling is expensive and tricky to implement - that is why so many commercial fixtures only draw a fraction of what you would expect by multiplying the number of leds x their nominal current rating. I would be very surprised if a manufacturer left a substantial margin of headroom in their cooling design - it is too expensive.

For instance, the Osram leds that I used in my fixture are nominally rated as 1 watt. Their baseline specs are established at .86 watts, but they can be driven at up to about 2.6 watts. However, the cooling requirements go from virtually nil up to a circulating-coolant extraction system.

 

[dhUma]

i'm fine with my data being shared. that's why i collected it, to help people and to discredit scrupulous manufacturers/retailers...

tell him to go ahead and use all the figures in blue, those were confirmed via kill-a-watt or meter...

It seems to have taken him a little while but it is up, he updated all of the calculated columns that used the actual watts in their calculation. Looks like he also made some additional updates and gave you full credit for the numbers.

Hopefully as you get more readings we can get those up there as well. Thanks again for sharing and saving the rest of us some real time.

 

[GP73LPC]

It seems to have taken him a little while but it is up, he updated all of the calculated columns that used the actual watts in their calculation. Looks like he also made some additional updates and gave you full credit for the numbers.

Hopefully as you get more readings we can get those up there as well. Thanks again for sharing and saving the rest of us some real time.

cool, thanks i checked it out...

that works

 

[Bassy59]

per your own statement, these 3W leds are only driven at 60% of their rating.

This equals 1.80w per led (fans incl). About what we see from led companies using 3w systems.

2.37w is roughly 125% of 1.80w.... that's what Rives was saying...

Yes that's what I took his (Rives) meaning at.

 

[Bassy59]

Bassy, the nominal rating of led's (3w in this case) is really meaningless. The extent to which they can be driven is dependent on how well heat is extracted away from them. Cooling is expensive and tricky to implement - that is why so many commercial fixtures only draw a fraction of what you would expect by multiplying the number of leds x their nominal current rating. I would be very surprised if a manufacturer left a substantial margin of headroom in their cooling design - it is too expensive.

For instance, the Osram leds that I used in my fixture are nominally rated as 1 watt. Their baseline specs are established at .86 watts, but they can be driven at up to about 2.6 watts. However, the cooling requirements go from virtually nil up to a circulating-coolant extraction system.

Obviously since I'm only going off my kill a watt readings the real number to the leds is slightly less due to the fans drawing some small amount. But it's a general basic idea.

I've placed a indoor/outdoor temp meter on top of the unit right next to the exhaust slots above the fans, but not covering them. I can't recall the exact temp. But I want to say it ran about 87-91f exhaust.

I also placed the probe right at the side slots. This should give a good indication of temps inside at the heat sink since it's right along side the edge of it and the fans are a few more inches inside. Max temp I've seen here is 110f.

Grow Stealth told me to let him know (before I took this reading), if it got to 150f or close.

Hope that gives you some idea on the temps. Here's a side shot that shows the heat sink going across the entire unit.

 

[D9_THC]

Just received my diamond extreme series 600w from Advanced Led Lights

I measured it with killawat, and here are the actual numbers:

Fans only (lights off) = 17watt
Setting #1 (for veg/clones) = 290watt
Setting #1 + Setting #2 (for flower) = 510 watt total

the manufacturer claimed "557watt average power draw"

 

[Bionic]

the manufacturer claimed "557watt average power draw"

,

 

[GP73LPC]

Just received my diamond extreme series 600w from Advanced Led Lights

I measured it with killawat, and here are the actual numbers:

Fans only (lights off) = 17watt
Setting #1 (for veg/clones) = 290watt
Setting #1 + Setting #2 (for flower) = 510 watt total

the manufacturer claimed "557watt average power draw"

thanks man...

i am updating my LED Retailer Charts to reflect this total of 510 watts...

 

[vukman]

Sorry this took so long for me to post...It just never dawned on me until now to post this information into this thread....

The unit is a 'BlackStar' 500w unit. I've included images of the unit, the voltage and the wattage......if you need amp draw, just let me know and I'll take a picture of that as well and post it too...

 

[vukman]

Double posting...sorry

 

[GP73LPC]

vukman thanks for posting...

i already have that unit down for 239 watts in my charts. probably in this thread, but i don't have time to check atm...

i do appreciate your posting... does that say 295? kinda hard to see...

 

[vukman]

Hello GP73LPC...yes, that is 295w @ 119v. It was actually between 294 and 298w but snapped the pic at 295w.........sorry about the poor quality...

 

[medmaker420]

thats a cool meter vukman, what are your thoughts on that compared to the standard kill a watt tester? More accurate/ less, just wondering as meters and testing equipment is in my current "need to get" shopping list.

 

[vukman]

To be honest there medmaker420, I have never done the side by side comparison so I am not in the position to give an educated opinion. I would imagine that it is close to equal as far as it comes to the testing we are concerned with. I can see if we were testing high-end sensitive gear, well, then we wouldn't be having this conversation at all, would we?? heheh.
I will do some research and get back to you but I'm fairly confident it's within a +/-2-3w which is close enough in my books

 

[NeWcS]

While I didn't read every post in this thread I still wanted to chime in.

Cheap 90w UFO
Advertised: 90
Real: 81.5

Cheap 90w UFO
Advertised: 90
Real: 70.7

Blackstar 240
Advertised: 240
Real: 128

I only turn the ufo's on during veg and will add the Blackstar once I go 12/12

 

[GP73LPC]

thanks NeWcS

 

[medmaker420]

Once I get all the panels here I will post up the pics as well as write down the different wattages so they can be included here but here are the wattage ratings of the first 5 led grow lights that I am running.

[YOUTUBEIF]Y0S97WimC0Q[/YOUTUBEIF]

 

[vukman]

Bysen H160D-210W (advanced spectrum)

Bysen H160D-210W (advanced spectrum)

Hey hey:

Got some new lights and did some testing...Not sure if they are in your list there so I'll post them here and let you see if these results are what you have or do not have....

Once again..Tested is the Bysen H160D-210W with Advanced Spectrum
Tester is not the 'Kill-A-Watt' but rather the 'Blue Planet EM 100'

Base is 124V
Amp draw is 1.59A
wattage draw is 192W

Thank you