Buying new leds help please!

Hey! I was just about to order the lumatek 600w pro as it was just in my budget and seems to rock it with its 3700 diodes. Unfortunetly it was already sold out just today and i would have to wait until september to get one. I own several hlg 260s from before and they work great although it feels wrong to order anything but the diablo from them and its way to expensive atm and they dont sell diy parts anymore. I would order from china but with the taxes to europe its just not worth it because the price tag lands at the same as ordering originals.

Could you please link me some of your favorite lights since the deadline is today i need all the help i can get. Diy is no problem as Long as the parts are within eu. Budget is around 1000 du THX!!!

What size space are you working with?


I just ordered 2 of the 220w for €285 including shipping. Alibaba Shipping costs have gone down in the last few weeks so it might be worth looking into again.


https://m.alibaba.com/product/1600087564439/Vertical-Planting-Hydrophobic-2PCB-Quantum-Pannel.html?__sceneInfo={"cacheTime":"1800000","type":"appDetailShare"}

chronnie49 said:

What size space are you working with?


I just ordered 2 of the 220w for €285 including shipping. Alibaba Shipping costs have gone down in the last few weeks so it might be worth looking into again.


https://m.alibaba.com/product/1600087564439/Vertical-Planting-Hydrophobic-2PCB-Quantum-Pannel.html?__sceneInfo={"cacheTime":"1800000","type":"appDetailShare"}

Click to expand...

i was gonna do a 5x5 with the lumatek but might be leaning towards 2x sf-4000 in a 4x8 instead but not really sure about the heavy blue.
Shipping isnt really the problem. I ordered a meiju 480w a year or so ago and i think i landed on like 320 eu or something like that but then i had to pay 300 euro in taxes aswell i then bought a couple 260 hlg kits for the same price

Just ask them to put a lower price on the invoice to avoid customs fees.

The Lumatek Zeus pro does look nice though. If i wanted to spend a grand to light my 5x5 I would definitely consider it.

chronnie49 said:

Just ask them to put a lower price on the invoice to avoid customs fees.

The Lumatek Zeus pro does look nice though. If i wanted to spend a grand to light my 5x5 I would definitely consider it.

Click to expand...

exactly what i thought, it looks really nice.

found this meiju for 580 usd but they dont seem to understand when i Ask them to lower invoice for taxes..

MJ-650-V3
306pcs LM301H+ 12pcs OSRAM 660
MJ-650-V3pre-assembled kit include: 1. 8pcs strips high efficiency strip/bars (306pcs LM301H+ 12pcs OSRAM 660)2. 1pc inventor driver EUD-600S12AD with dimmer box3. hang wires, adjust hanger, user manual, plug wireFixture size: 1193x1113x32mm (3.9'*3.64')

I would look into running the mars sp250s i have great results with 2 over a 4x4 table, much more even and consistent footprint vs my sf4000 or my hlg 550. It has a better spread because there are multiple units and it doesn't have nearly the same 'hotspot' issues.

There is reason most led makers are going to bar or strip arrays now over quantum board layouts, its a bit shocking though it took em this long to realize it though.

for DIY how much does bridgelux EB gen 3 strips and meanwell drivers cost? https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/eb-series-slim-gen-3/91271?mpart=BXEB-L1190U-35E3000-C-C3&vendor=976 these can be driven at up to 700ma without a heatsink provide uniform light distribution and use the best diodes available (186-200 LPW)

mauricem00 said:

for DIY how much does bridgelux EB gen 3 strips and meanwell drivers cost? https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/eb-series-slim-gen-3/91271?mpart=BXEB-L1190U-35E3000-C-C3&vendor=976 these can be driven at up to 700ma without a heatsink provide uniform light distribution and use the best diodes available (186-200 LPW)

Click to expand...

I would try to get eb gen3 regular version, the slims are a bit of a pita to work with, fairly flimsy for no heatsink and im not a big fan of those tiny pushin connectors

mrpopo93 said:

i was gonna do a 5x5 with the lumatek but might be leaning towards 2x sf-4000 in a 4x8 instead but not really sure about the heavy blue.
Shipping isnt really the problem. I ordered a meiju 480w a year or so ago and i think i landed on like 320 eu or something like that but then i had to pay 300 euro in taxes aswell i then bought a couple 260 hlg kits for the same price

Click to expand...

Sounds like in the EU. So the taxes are that high? Is there a good site from Germany that get them in with less tax? The 520w of hlg was as cheap as the 480w meiju?

I picked up some alibaba 240w quantum boards and only took 11 days to get. The same power lights are around 400eur so even though they were 300 after shipping etc etc still had to pay another 100 in taxes. Much more expensive than ordering to the States but still got powerful lights @ 2 for the price of one locally. So far happy though the dimmers are not as great as I hoped. 2 definitely good enough for a 3x3 scrog with others vegging.

Pretty easy and helpful seller shipping quickly to the North up here where the wildlings are. Will post links after Xmas. Merry Christmas everyone!

GrOwThMoNgeR said:

I picked up some alibaba 240w quantum boards and only took 11 days to get. The same power lights are around 400eur so even though they were 300 after shipping etc etc still had to pay another 100 in taxes. Much more expensive than ordering to the States but still got powerful lights @ 2 for the price of one locally. So far happy though the dimmers are not as great as I hoped. 2 definitely good enough for a 3x3 scrog with others vegging.

Pretty easy and helpful seller shipping quickly to the North up here where the wildlings are. Will post links after Xmas. Merry Christmas everyone!

Click to expand...

Next build will be DIY strips. I want to build a light bar for supplemental indoor lighting I can use to keep my veggies alive through winters.