Overwhelmed. Trying to find a balance between value/performance.

WillyWanka

WillyWanka

Member
First off, I am interested in what is required to effectively illuminate my 4x8 tent.

4 plants, DWC.

My first plan was to use two Viparspectra 600s, and maybe add a 600w HPS, but I really want to avoid HPS entirely.

I considered two Viparspectra 900s, and have been told that performance is very underwhelming.

I am considering two of the 600w quantum 800 twin packs from Meijiu on Alibaba and hoping it will suffice

(Not allowed to HTML yet, so here is item description.) MEIJIU FOLDED Samsung lm561c s6 top bin 800 board full spectrum led diy kits 300w 600w with dimmer switch

Thing is that I'd prefer to DIY if its worth the cost and effort. I do like the COB/CPU heatsink option, problem is I am overwhelmed on part selection and quantity. Would I be fine with 12 100W Full Spectrums in a 4x3 grid?

Can COBs run off a dimmer like the quantum boards do?

Am I just going the wrong way entirely?

Would appreciate some insight. Cheers.
 
WillyWanka

WillyWanka

Member
InTheValley said:
get 2 QB550's and call it a day,
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That's like, $2000 USD vs $800 USD, doesn't factor in shipping and conversion rates and doesn't address what I am asking for here, unless you're keen to cover the difference. Then I might be interested.

EDIT: Apologies if I seem short, but your response runs along the lines of telling me to just buy a new car, when I'm asking for advice on how to upgrade my existing one.

I know about the HLG 550's. They're nice but they're insanely overpriced, and I do love DIY.
 
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Mattish

Well-Known Member
if you have the spare time i'd build yourself one, you can get U channel and L channel crazy cheap, for light for a 4x8 which is 32 sqft so you'd need around 1000 to 1300w worth of light from an LED build, shape is a little strange, if you want an easy root go for the QBs, if you want to build something knowing it works (if it doesn't its a fucking hastle.) then go that way, right now i'd say (from personal experience which isn't to much in this LED world.) i'd go for the strips, make 2 600w light fixtures with a dimmer. I think it would cost me around 250$ (im from the UK.) to build a 250w 4 strip system for a 3x3, so going roughly by that i think you could build a 600 for around 400 usd, so 2 lights for around 800 roughly but don't quote me on that, also price depends on weather your buying strips for flower or veg, not much of a price difference for smaller builds but say you buy 20 strips just as an example, strips for veg might be 5$ cheaper, still 100$ price difference, hope this helped a little, i'd avoid the hps the efficiency sucks and the viparspecktra i can't comment on, but if you know you built the light yourself from verified part suppliers i think would be better piece of mind then buying a premade light.

as for math for working out how much light you need for a certain area, you do, X times X = sqrft, sqrft x (for LED you only need around 30 - 45w per sqrft.) 30 - 45 = wattage.

4x8 = 32sqrft x 30 = 960w
4x8 = 32sqrft x 40 = 1280w
4x8 = 32sqrft x 45 = 1440w

as to your question about 12 100w cobs in a 4x3, that seems crazy over kill, with the workings out i provided you'd only need around 500w ish.
 
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Humple

Humple

Well-Known Member
1,200w would work very well in that space, I'm sure. I agree that the HLG-550 is too costly. If you were inclined to go the easy route, I'd suggest the HLG-600 from growerslights.com; but DIY would be even better, as long as you're comfortable doing the work.

Have you looked at any of the strip-based lights here on the forum? Samsung F Series strips are king right now. You can easily get in at less than $1/watt.
 
InTheValley

InTheValley

Well-Known Member
WillyWanka said:
That's like, $2000 USD vs $800 USD, doesn't factor in shipping and conversion rates and doesn't address what I am asking for here, unless you're keen to cover the difference. Then I might be interested.

EDIT: Apologies if I seem short, but your response runs along the lines of telling me to just buy a new car, when I'm asking for advice on how to upgrade my existing one.

I know about the HLG 550's. They're nice but they're insanely overpriced, and I do love DIY.
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yeah, i was being sarcastic in a way,lol.

You really do have many options, thats for sure. I use 4 luminus cobs, in a 3x4ish area, and its rocking with only 250 watts of the 330 available...

no apologies bro, ur in this to A-save money or B, make money.

Hope it works out for ya man,
 
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Mattish

Well-Known Member
WillyWanka said:
Do you mean the F Strips, as @Humple mentioned in his reply below yours?

I'm fascinated by those actually.
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well for my first build i used the bridgelux gen.2's for a 1x3, but its just a clone, mini veg area, i bought 4 of em at 40w total, they are working wonders, i've also ordered (worked out to be around the same price to build) a 4 strip 144 LM561C Official Samsung F series Led Strip build from DIYLEDUK, 4 strips for a total of up to 250w, in my 3x3, but yea the samsung strips are beautiful :) i "think" there pretty hard to get atm, so bridgelux gen.2 are also good :)
 
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