Going commercial

PicklesRus · Dec 31, 2015

Rahz said:
Tasty LED has wings! Enough lights have been sold to start restocking using company funds rather than venture capital (out of my pocket). This is a good sign. I won't be quitting my job any time soon but I think Tasty LED will be around for the long run, and I am hopeful that I can tell my boss to stuff it in the next year or two. (Just kidding I like my boss).

Congrats! Start selling on ebay and amazon too. Your lights look unlike anything else on the market imo.

Rahz · Dec 31, 2015

Thanks. I'm not really keen on splitting my profits with ebay or amazon. Perhaps one day but I'm liking the flow of things at the moment. Even if I were to charge more at those places to cover the extra cost I'm not sure I want to ramp things up that quickly. More business than I can handle would be a high quality problem but one I would like to avoid. Once I'm at a point where I am doubling my component orders I'll look at advertising on other forums. I'd like keep costs where they are, so limited advertisement and word of mouth seems like a good fit at the moment.

littlejacob · Dec 31, 2015

Bonjour
YOU ARE FIRED!!!!...lol...it is just from back to the future 2.!
It is because you are a good person and good things happen to nice peoples...it is karma!
So will you gold plated the #1000! Or 10000! (I hope for you!) Only the lens adapter would be cooool...
I already told you but if I wasn't diy and if I was living in US I would have buy your light for sure...you have a beautiful black casing with cxb and hlg. Good choice of casing and color imo!
CU

verticalgrow · Dec 31, 2015

g'day Rahz,

YOUR HIRED!!!!!

Do you make the lights?

bassman999 · Dec 31, 2015

Rahz said:
Tasty LED has wings! Enough lights have been sold to start restocking using company funds rather than venture capital (out of my pocket). This is a good sign. I won't be quitting my job any time soon but I think Tasty LED will be around for the long run, and I am hopeful that I can tell my boss to stuff it in the next year or two. (Just kidding I like my boss).

I am glad to hear it!
I hope business only gets better

Rahz · Dec 31, 2015

verticalgrow said:
g'day Rahz,

YOUR HIRED!!!!!
Do you make the lights?

Yes, even the enclosures and powder coating. It's all rather fun except I'm starting to get tired of drilling and tapping the heatsinks. I've learned recently that a tap bit will eventually wear out and break even with proper use and lubrication. I think around 500 6mm holes is about all they can take. Unfortunately I didn't count and will probably end up breaking a bit again before it's all over.

If I ever switch to 3rd party manufacturing I will most likely have to redesign the lights. I'm going to guess nobody will want to drill and tap holes down the side of a heatsink, but I could be wrong.

I recently built a hot wire cutter to reduce the styrofoam sheets to proper sized strips for packaging. It took forever to find a local source of styrofoam. The first place told me they phased out styrofoam sheet and only used air pillows and peanuts. I contacted several other packaging places and got contact numbers and talked to people... who never called me back or tried to talk me into bringing my product in and using this machine that twists paper up or some other nonsense. I don't want paper, can you sell me styrofoam or not? Finally I called a place I had previously went to in person (and was told they don't have styrofoam sheets) and asked to talk to a manager who promptly hooked me up with some styrofoam. They had 200 sheets sitting in their warehouse the whole time. I suspect being a small company and asking for 10 sheets to start with put some of them off. Bitches. One guy told me they had styrofoam and wanted me to have them cut it up. I told him I would be cutting it myself. Never heard from him again after leaving several messages.

verticalgrow · Dec 31, 2015

Crikey man :wall:

Sounds like mission impossible styrofoam hunt,
Bubble wrap might work as good as styrofoam but could cost more. :confused:

topcat · Dec 31, 2015

I'm happy to be part of your early success. My made-to-order T4-1750 is in transit. It'll go into the 2x4 tent that arrived today. Customer service is as good as it gets. Multiple e-mails answered within an hour and the lamp was shipped the same day that I paid for it. I like the look, it reminds me of stage lighting.

I can't believe how deeply I've dived into this COB LED pool. I bought 4 Area 51 W90s three weeks ago for my 3x3 tent. All that and I'm an outdoor grower! I can't let this become an addiction like seed buying!

Fast50 · Dec 31, 2015

What tap/setup are you using? If you are drilling thru, could use a drill (.093 w/ 4-40 cut tap. carb coated.) w/tap on alum. CNC mill could do a 4 cob 36'' hs in like 3m or less. Lights looks good and nice price point. Do one that competes with apache style pro and you'll be a real competitor imo. I was thinking up a clone light also. maybe 3w'ers? Just an idea.

littlejacob · Dec 31, 2015

Fast50 said:
What tap/setup are you using? If you are drilling thru, could use a drill (.093 w/ 4-40 cut tap. carb coated.) w/tap on alum. CNC mill could do a 4 cob 36'' hs in like 3m or less. Lights looks good and nice price point. Do one that competes with apache style pro and you'll be a real competitor imo. I was thinking up a clone light also. maybe 3w'ers? Just an idea.

Bonjour
For a few clones use a few Vero10 @350mA...it cost 4 $ pieces and you can find cheap 300/350mA driver it is 5w at this Amp and 31v I guess.
CU

Rahz · Dec 31, 2015

Fast50 said:
What tap/setup are you using? If you are drilling thru, could use a drill (.093 w/ 4-40 cut tap. carb coated.) w/tap on alum. CNC mill could do a 4 cob 36'' hs in like 3m or less. Lights looks good and nice price point. Do one that competes with apache style pro and you'll be a real competitor imo. I was thinking up a clone light also. maybe 3w'ers? Just an idea.

Thanks. I've been using vanadium coated HSS with a tap handle. I can tap a hole in about 20 seconds. I have a corded drill about 20 years old that won't do the job but after some words from churchhaze I bough a nice cordless drill, works great, but using a hand drill and doing 30-50 holes at a time isn't any easier or faster really. A mill would be nice.

I think my product can compete with anything on the market. If the drive currents seem too high the veg switch knocks the current down to 60% so a 1400 series can run at 850ma which is about 62% efficient. That makes the price per par watt jump up... but still reasonable compared to a few of my competitors.

As far as how my lamps measure up to another brand specifically I'd rather leave that to others to figure out. I'll just be up front about the components and let the rest work itself out.

ttystikk · Dec 31, 2015

Rahz said:
Tasty LED has wings! Enough lights have been sold to start restocking using company funds rather than venture capital (out of my pocket). This is a good sign. I won't be quitting my job any time soon but I think Tasty LED will be around for the long run, and I am hopeful that I can tell my boss to stuff it in the next year or two. (Just kidding I like my boss).

Great news! Here's to a prosperous New Year!

Fast50 · Dec 31, 2015

Right on, Goodluck. Using molyd? Ima have to build my own because i find it interesting. I want to build as many bars as littlejacob probably does. (lol) And i want to chrome wrap it. :blsmoke:

Just for shits and grins of course.

Rahz · Dec 31, 2015

No just thread cutting oil, will give the Molyd a try. Thanks for the heads up.

Chrome would look sweet. I played around with some chrome powders but they're not as shiny as the real thing.

AquariusPanta · Dec 31, 2015

Rahz said:
Yes, even the enclosures and powder coating. It's all rather fun except I'm starting to get tired of drilling and tapping the heatsinks. I've learned recently that a tap bit will eventually wear out and break even with proper use and lubrication. I think around 500 6mm holes is about all they can take. Unfortunately I didn't count and will probably end up breaking a bit again before it's all over.

If I ever switch to 3rd party manufacturing I will most likely have to redesign the lights. I'm going to guess nobody will want to drill and tap holes down the side of a heatsink, but I could be wrong.

I recently built a hot wire cutter to reduce the styrofoam sheets to proper sized strips for packaging. It took forever to find a local source of styrofoam. The first place told me they phased out styrofoam sheet and only used air pillows and peanuts. I contacted several other packaging places and got contact numbers and talked to people... who never called me back or tried to talk me into bringing my product in and using this machine that twists paper up or some other nonsense. I don't want paper, can you sell me styrofoam or not? Finally I called a place I had previously went to in person (and was told they don't have styrofoam sheets) and asked to talk to a manager who promptly hooked me up with some styrofoam. They had 200 sheets sitting in their warehouse the whole time. I suspect being a small company and asking for 10 sheets to start with put some of them off. Bitches. One guy told me they had styrofoam and wanted me to have them cut it up. I told him I would be cutting it myself. Never heard from him again after leaving several messages.

Third party manufacturing is what the cool kids go with. It won't be long before you make the transition over to the dark side, lol.

OneHitDone · Dec 31, 2015

"Cool Kids"?
I hope Rahz keeps doing his own thing, I like his style

Not just crash a PLC, Johnson Grow Lights, and GoGreen fixture together and see what comes out :roll:

BobCajun · Jan 1, 2016

bassman999 said:
This is why I grow. Buying sh***y street weed almost killed me, I got pneumonia and was sick almost 3 weeks, and lost 18 lbs.
No more moldy bug infested weed with pesticides for me

Might not be a bad idea for people to heat their commercially obtained weed for some time. That would kill mold spores and bacteria while also decarboxylating the THCA to active THC. You would probably want to let it sit in open air until it absorbs enough moisture so it won't crumble to powder. Pneumonia bacteria can live on weed and so can dangerous molds like Flavus Aspergillus, which can cause Aspergillosis and kill you if you have a compromised immune system. There could still be aflatoxins on the heated weed but you can only do so much. Maybe also wash it with water before the heating. Anyway, these contaminants are one good reason why we need regulation.

PurpleBuz · Jan 1, 2016

BobCajun said:
Might not be a bad idea for people to heat their commercially obtained weed for some time. That would kill mold spores and bacteria while also decarboxylating the THCA to active THC. You would probably want to let it sit in open air until it absorbs enough moisture so it won't crumble to powder. Pneumonia bacteria can live on weed and so can dangerous molds like Flavus Aspergillus, which can cause Aspergillosis and kill you if you have a compromised immune system. There could still be aflatoxins on the heated weed but you can only do so much. Maybe also wash it with water before the heating. Anyway, these contaminants are one good reason why we need regulation.

junk weed that has a high fungi or bacteria count should not be used as medical. that's just plain nasty and dangerous.

medical cannabis has to have the highest purity, disease free, and absolutely pesticide free. if it needs heat treatment to make it safe compost it.

BobCajun · Jan 2, 2016

PurpleBuz said:
junk weed that has a high fungi or bacteria count should not be used as medical. that's just plain nasty and dangerous.

medical cannabis has to have the highest purity, disease free, and absolutely pesticide free. if it needs heat treatment to make it safe compost it.

Yeah that's what I mean. Dispensaries have to analyze their products for molds etc. I don't know if they can detect bacteria or aflatoxins though. Fortunately, as far as I could find, but-rot, gray mold, is not particularly dangerous. The dangerous molds, Aspergillus, Penicillium, etc, grow on the harvested material rather than while the plant is growing so you just have to be careful about moisture levels when drying and curing. From what I read, you have to store weed below 15% moisture to be safe from mold. With tobacco, relative humidity of 70% is about 14% moisture, so as long as you stay under that you should be safe. But yeah, numerous people have died from Aspergillus mold on weed. I've read the stories. It's usually people with immune problems but then a lot of medical Cannabis users do have such problems.

Timboy5 · Jan 7, 2016

got my TastyLED in today the packaging was well done and the quality of the light even better!

Going commercial

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