BML Spyder600 Review

Bricksquad2625

Well-Known Member
Good Morning All,


Here to write a review on my BML Spyder600, you can look into BML, I believe they are great company full of knowledge. I worked directly with the owner Nick. Nick is a great guy, he is very knowledgeable when it comes to lighting, so all of the nerds and techy's feel free to ask him any technical question, I believe he will be able to satisfy anyone's questions. I will put this out there, I do not work for BML nor do I receive any sort of discount, now if they want to give me one I'd take it cause their lights are not cheap, but I am happy paying for a good quality light.

http://www.bmlhorticulture.com/spydr-600-grow-max-spectrum/


I personally would rate the spyder 600 a 9 out of 10. Below are the reasons why

This light is very versatile, the light bars can be spaced out evenly or you can concentrate the lighting by pushing them all to the center. Not only do the lights adjust spatially, but also you can angle each light individually so you can literally aim it at your plant and as it grows you can adjust the angles. This light is very adaptable to any plant, whether you top your girl or let it grow naturally you can definitely make sure that all parts of your plant are getting light.

Secondly, they use 100% Osram LED lights made in America. This entire light is from American products, assembled in Austin,Texas. These lights are not being "drop shipped" from a Chinese manufacture. One note to consider, my spyder did take about 5 days to build but it only took 1 day to ship, I'm in Tx so that is probably why, but I'm sure if your willing to pay the additional shipping they would ship it any way you want.

No cooling fan, the light bars do get warm to the touch, but it does not raise my grow chamber's temperature or at least it is not noticeable. As long as you have decent circulation, there is no need for additional fans unless you are using them to train your girls.

Light spectrum, I really enjoyed the pre-selected light spectrum of the spyder, I do not claim to be a light spectrum expert, but I have read about light spectrum and I know this one does not include the far off red, but after speaking with Nick, I decided to go with the pre-selected light spectrum. It fit my needs; however, if you are very specific about your light spectrum but you don't want to order all of the parts and piece it together yourself, BML is the place for you. They have a bunch of different spectrums to choose from, even a naturally sunlight so you can grow indoors but have a pseudo sun OR you can literally create your own custom light bar. You are not chained to any spectrum, you can choose your own and even mix and match your lights.


As far as results, I am very pleased, I was able to pull 3 1/2 ounces each from my 2 plants of dry material. To me as an all LED grower, I was very impressed. If you search "All Organic Grow Strawberry Cough (dinafem) Skywalker (RP) you can see my Spyder in action. I do not use it for veg, it is only used in my flower room. I recently started my perpetual grow and decided to use the spyder for my flower room.


Now the negative aspects, or at least things that were annoying. This light literally comes in peices, you have to assemble it all. This is probably not a negative aspect to most, but I was really just wanting to "plug in and play". It was kind of hard to adjust the light as far as move it up and down, I am on a chain system, so its a pain the ass to keep moving the light away as the plant stretches in the first 3 weeks. I will probably go to a pully system soon, so its probably just the way I have it setup is why its a pain in the ass.


I will post pictures if you want more, but I do have some in my thread. I hope everyone liked the review, if you want to know anything else, just ask.
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
BML is making a 2 ft spine version for me, and will likely offer it as an option

There is a chance you got the older OSRAMs, ask Nick to confirm. Their current Build Your Light uses older versions

Nick knows light, but does not know mj.

MJ is an entirely different plant than non-fruiting plants like lettuce, algae, herbs... where simple RB MAY be more efficient, though with the advances in white diode tech, the use of RB may well fade


I emphasize MAY, since IMHO, all plants will benefit from a full spectrum, and may well weaken over a few short generations when future seed stock begins to show signs of weakened genetics
 

Bricksquad2625

Well-Known Member
sorry for the delay, this is what Nick told me "No, I think he is referring to our online configuration tool, which is used to predict spectrum characteristics. All SPYDRs use the same Osram LEDs "
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
Hey, where' your thread with pics?

I ma find it by the time you read this

People are getting pissy about me posting, saying no proof

I had forgotten about yours, and would like to use it as a reference
 

CaliWorthington

Well-Known Member
Nick knows light, but does not know mj.

MJ is an entirely different plant than non-fruiting plants like lettuce, algae, herbs... where simple RB MAY be more efficient, though with the advances in white diode tech, the use of RB may well fade
I've been messing with the custom spectra on their website. I believe the standard Spydr Grow configuration can definitely be improved upon, for flowering MJ, again, in my opinion. If you stick with reds and whites, you can create a spectrum that has high PAR value and efficiency, with high lumens and low wattage as well. When you start mixing in blue LEDs, it gets... not as good. Comparing PAR graphs to natural sunlight and Ushio HPS, etc... I don't think the blue LEDs are necessary anyway, just use some 6,500k whites.

So the combos that are looking best to me are 660 and 625 red with 6,500k white and maybe some 2,700k warm white too. What do you guys think? It's kinda fun making combos and looking at the results. I set it to 36" first, since that's what the Spydr 600 system is based on.

http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-led-strip/
 

MrFlux

Well-Known Member
So the combos that are looking best to me are 660 and 625 red with 6,500k white and maybe some 2,700k warm white too. What do you guys think? It's kinda fun making combos and looking at the results. I set it to 36" first, since that's what the Spydr 600 system is based on.
http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-led-strip/
Yeah it's fun to play with, I like this combo. Everything looks perfect, they use top bin 3W Osram chips running at 350mA and give all the meaningful numbers. They only problem is that these number are very low. The combo I linked should be ultra-efficient but it shows as just 1.4 umol/J. Likewise for something all-white, it gives 1.0 umol/J or 83 lumen/W. Even a LED bulb can do better than that. I don't understand how that can be possible but it looks like this company is vastly understating its performance.
 
I may be wrong but I believe Pet mentioned somewhere that the website hasn't been updated with the new bin parameters and it is effecting the projected efficiency.

Yeah it's fun to play with, I like this combo. Everything looks perfect, they use top bin 3W Osram chips running at 350mA and give all the meaningful numbers. They only problem is that these number are very low. The combo I linked should be ultra-efficient but it shows as just 1.4 umol/J. Likewise for something all-white, it gives 1.0 umol/J or 83 lumen/W. Even a LED bulb can do better than that. I don't understand how that can be possible but it looks like this company is vastly understating its performance.
 

CaliWorthington

Well-Known Member
Yeah it's fun to play with, I like this combo. Everything looks perfect, they use top bin 3W Osram chips running at 350mA and give all the meaningful numbers. They only problem is that these number are very low. The combo I linked should be ultra-efficient but it shows as just 1.4 umol/J. Likewise for something all-white, it gives 1.0 umol/J or 83 lumen/W. Even a LED bulb can do better than that. I don't understand how that can be possible but it looks like this company is vastly understating its performance.
Yep, 64% 22% 13%, I made that exact one too. See what I mean about sweet curves? If you increase the white until it's a 3:2 white/red ratio (as per Apache AT600) the PAR and lumens increase even more, but power consumption goes up a bit.

Maybe you're getting low numbers because that's only for a single 12" bar? Try specifying 36" length first maybe, then multiply that by 6. That's what a Spydr 600 should cover. But I agree, their numbers seem understated.

So what do you think is the best beam angle for a Spydr 600?
 
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PetFlora

Well-Known Member
I copied BML the concern about efficiency and whether the DIY has been updated

I use 90* lenses, and would have none if it were an option- replacing lenses with 90* reflectors
 

CaliWorthington

Well-Known Member
Nice. I would go with more 625 than 660

How big is your bar? Keep in mind this EXACT 12" get multiplied by the length you choose
You mean like this?

http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-report-details/?partNo=PS1290S101ASATASATASATASA

I tried that, but you'll notice the red spike isn't as even. Also with 4 deep red and 3 red, the CCT number is a little higher, over 2,700. I think that's good. Isn't that number the projected color, more or less?

The diode pattern you choose repeats every 12", correct?

I was gonna try (6) of these 36" in the Spydr 600 configuration, and if I like that, buy 5 more to rock a 10x10 tent. But the other two LED companies that start with the letter "A" are still on my list, we'll see. It's just that Area51 panels are kinda small, and the AT600 is huge, I feel like the BML might be just right, for me anyway.
 
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PetFlora

Well-Known Member
You mean like this?

http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-report-details/?partNo=PS1290S101ASATASATASATASA

I tried that, but you'll notice the red spike isn't as even. Also with 4 deep red and 3 red, the CCT number is a little higher, over 2,700. I think that's good. Isn't that number the projected color, more or less?

The diode pattern you choose repeats every 12", correct?

I was gonna try (6) of these 36" in the Spydr 600 configuration, and if I like that, buy 5 more to rock a 10x10 tent. But the other two LED companies that start with the letter "A" are still on my list, we'll see. It's just that Area51 panels are kinda small, and the AT600 is huge, I feel like the BML might be just right, for me anyway.

Look at their standard SPYDR colors- not my idea of correct, but it grew some fine ass looking mj

https://www.rollitup.org/t/bml-spyder600-review.823767/#post-10476797

Charts and graphs be damned, 660 ain't all that important to mj compared to 625-650
>
I approached BML with the idea of an All In One (AIO) light for mj growers

We collaborated, and I am getting a one off SPYDR 600 (not for sale as we speak)


In the mean time they sent me 2 x 3ft light bars made with my spectrum choices. What I did not realize then is the template is 12" and they merely multiply it per the length ordered. I thought it would be stretched to 3 ft :wall:

Consequently, I wound up with more 600 and 450 than I thought I was getting, but they can't hurt, and might also make for a super veg/clone light, in addition to supplementing my 2 ufos

After playing musical tents, due to one big ass plant in my hot5 becoming a male, I moved the bigger female from the led tent to the hot5 tent, leaving the led tent for clones I took + chopped don BM or pollen

So, I decided to add the 2 BML bars to the hot5 tent for side lighting

Come by my thread to follow along
 

CaliWorthington

Well-Known Member
Look at their standard SPYDR colors- not my idea of correct, but it grew some fine ass looking mj

https://www.rollitup.org/t/bml-spyder600-review.823767/#post-10476797

Charts and graphs be damned, 660 ain't all that important to mj compared to 625-650
>
I approached BML with the idea of an All In One (AIO) light for mj growers

We collaborated, and I am getting a one off SPYDR 600 (not for sale as we speak)


In the mean time they sent me 2 x 3ft light bars made with my spectrum choices. What I did not realize then is the template is 12" and they merely multiply it per the length ordered. I thought it would be stretched to 3 ft :wall:

Consequently, I wound up with more 600 and 450 than I thought I was getting, but they can't hurt, and might also make for a super veg/clone light, in addition to supplementing my 2 ufos

After playing musical tents, due to one big ass plant in my hot5 becoming a male, I moved the bigger female from the led tent to the hot5 tent, leaving the led tent for clones I took + chopped don BM or pollen

So, I decided to add the 2 BML bars to the hot5 tent for side lighting

Come by my thread to follow along
OK I'll take your word for it. Maybe I'll go with the one MrFlux posted after all.
 
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PetFlora

Well-Known Member
OK I'll take your word for it. Maybe I'll go with the one MrFlux posted after all.

His choice is not balanced.

Easy to do, as the shaded area behind the template is not centered


What ill happen is the ends of each abutting section will have double the 625 and 660

I suggested they mark the middle somehow
 

CaliWorthington

Well-Known Member
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