Hey guys,
Been reading these forums for a while now saw this post and decided to sign up and chime in on my experience with this manufacturer. I have now used a number of their products for a few grows of different plants and have even gone so far as to modify the units for improvements
They are actually pretty decent overall. Sure they won't compare performance wise to DIY builds or some of the more 'modern' offerings out there but they do compete from a competitive value standpoint. Customer service experience has been very good; spectrum choosing is available and replacements were quickly issued by the manufacturer. For someone new getting into indoor gardening looking for something easy to deal with that works these do just fine.
I disassembled a 800w double-chip unit ( 80 'double 5w' diodes) that drew 176w from the wall. Decent sturdy all metal build and a lot of zip ties holding the wires tightly in place.
Components are 2 generic PC fans (drawing 3-7w) on a generic 12v driver and 4 'TureFull' LED drivers. Specs on the LED driver is 45-70v, 700ma, PFC >98%, Efficency >88%, each driving 1 string of 20 LEDs. Each driver was drawing 42-43W at operating temperature. There are 4 strings in total soldered to a PCB with a generic aluminum heat sink.
Just recently I got some of the BestVA x6 dimmable units so I took one apart. 6 drivers, one for each COB, link here:
http://www.nldriver.com/product/product245.html
Each 'COB' is an array of 64 3w chips. Total draw on the unit from the wall using the dimmer: 7w @ off (just fans), 34w@1%, 57w@30%, 144w@50%, 269w@80%, 313w@100%.
Only light measuring I have access to is for lumens, which doesn't mean much other for reference purposes. Using the silly app on my phone the readings from under center were: 30k+@1", 18k@12", 10k@24" and 4k@48" for the 800w. The BestVA x6 units are showing 30+k (max of app) to a distance of about 30" before dropping into the 20k range.
Spectrum used for the standard units is the same and appears pink/magenta in color. Plants responded well to the light. Leaves grew longer and wider than just under white, appear dark green even when viewed under a 4k Philips A19 bulb I use for general lighting. Anecdotally, plant quality is at least the same as other lighting systems but I think that has more to do with the other growing factors. Just growing your own food makes it taste better.
Those are their standards units. I also got a number of units using whites 3500-4k, 5k and 6k, red, uv and ir monos in different distributions for testing. All seem to be working fine and the ordering process wasn't difficult. From a customization standpoint, if you want to create your own 'light recipe' these present a very viable option.
Modifications.
As I understand, running LEDs 'softer' generally increases efficiency. You have to balance that against total light output, capital costs and consumption costs. Using the information from these forums, it seemed that by increasing my capital costs (more LEDs) to create more light output (over area) while maintaining the same power consumption was an achievable goal. I decided to take one of the 800w units, disconnect two of the 4 drivers, then 'bridged' two strings to run in parallel off one driver. As I understand, running the strings in parallel effectively reduces the current in half to each string so instead of 700ma, they run at 350ma with voltage staying the same.
The 800w now runs at 82-86w from wall and using the lumen app, measures 28k@1", 12k@12", 8k@24", 3k@48". Comparing it to the standard unit, it looks to reduce lumen output by 1/4-1/3rd but only draws half the power. By taking 2 units and modifying them this way, I can theoretically get ~60% more lumen output for the same power usage based on those comparison numbers. I wish I had a proper measuring device for PPFD measures and footprint analysis; maybe I will pick up a lightpassport next.
But yeah, buying 2 units and modifying them will give you better efficiency. It is all about the balance. Overall, these units have performed well for me and have allowed me to try different spectrum for different plants. Also I can change out the COBs and even the PCB panels fairly easily so it does provide a good beginner platform for those considering DiY.
