Considering this 378W Chinese LED panel

So.. been searching and reading journals all around the web for a while now on LED grows. I know I want and need LED's for lots of reasons, just been hard trying to decide which panel I'm ultimately gonna start with and hopefully not have to upgrade or replace for a long time. My space is going to be around 2' x 3' x '5'H and I was originally thinking the blackstar 240W panels, but since they draw around 135W from what I've read I've been considering larger panels for more actual wattage. I found these kinda rip-off of the penetrator series and includes your choice of 60/90/120 degree lenses of 126 "3W" LEDs. they have a basic configuration it says 7 or 9 band and lists 7 on the description... I don't know if I can post a link but I'll try
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/637635347/manufacturer_design_378watt_led_grow_light.html
It says the units are $100-150 and I since they also offer custom colors and such I sent them an email asking a couple questions and shipping to my zip and here is the response

[FONT=&amp]hello MR Mr. XXXXXXXXXXXX[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Red:660/630nm,Blue:460/430nm,White:2800K-18000K,Orange:610nm,Yellow:610nm,Green:530nm,UV:410nm,IR:850nm [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp] zip code XXXXX i don't know now,tomorrow i will ask the EMS[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]but by DHL for 1 pcs delivery cost $65.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]2 pcs delivery cost $100[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]126x3 unit price in $196/pcs.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]if you need customd bands ,pls let me know your color arrange,[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]tomorrow i will make zip code XXXXX cost for you[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]regards[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]taio



So now he says the unit is $196 in the email so I'm already kinda like.. hmmmm
Has anybody ever dealt with these websites? is it worth trying a 378W (draws 250W according to them) for only like $260 shipped?

I'm really about to try it just because I've seen what the real penetrators can do and this can't be too far behind... from what I hear a lot of the companies floating around the internet selling LED grow lights get them from china anyways. these guys are saying 3 years warranty and they are saying these are Bridgelux and CREE LED bulbs. so yeah, I didn't really see anybody else with these exact panels but I have seen a few guys get chinese panels and like them, but it's so hard to find people who actually complete their journals all the way with LED cuz it seems most can't get them to perform under flowering and don't wanna get embarrassed to show they failed or something i dunno.... so somebody who has experience with these would be great to hear your input. I am only looking to spend around $300 at the most so if anybody has any other suggestions that can get close the the output power of these then go right ahead and post please. can't wait to hear some responses, peace [/FONT]

Hey Shred, here's a good analogy for you about Chinese panels. You know Paul McCartney right? You know he's been playing his 61 Hofner bass since the Beatles dayz, right? He has never had a backup for that bass since his 62 Hofner got stolen. Why? Cause every Hofner violin bass he's played these last 40+ years sucks balls. They are nothing like his 61. They don't play right or sound right or whatever, and him and his bass tech know it and treat that bass like a Midwest sheriff does his beautiful blonde virgin daughter.

Chinese panels are like that IMO. The build quality varies so wildly that actually buying a panel that is "good" is like a one in a million shot. Chinese warranties are for the most part useless when you have to pay 80 to 100 dollars to ship it back to them. Or pay 30 bucks to ship a 10 dollar driver to you that you have to install. Chinese salesmen, for the most part, will tell you anything to sell you a panel. What are you gonna do if he lies to you. Call the BBB? Right a bad review here? Won't matter to him, he's got a world of people to sell to. Unless you know it's a great panel, made by a reputable manufacturer, stay away. Otherwise you've got to accept the consequences of your decision. Both good and bad.

For the money you want to spend and the size of your grow you can get a Vipar A100 for less then 300 off of Ebay, though you may need to supplement it. Or buy two. One now and one later. These are basically Chinese panels, but ones that are made according to Vipars specs by a company or companies that put out quality reliable products. 3 year warranty, though you may have to ship it to Canada to have it fixed, and they've just put out there latest models. Plus my dealings with their support has been great and they actually grow weed! This would be a much safer choice IMO than going with some company that makes panels that look like other panels. Total crapshoot if you ask me. You've got to remember the amount of factories in China is mind boggling. To find the company that makes company X's panels is like winning the Lotto. Probably never gonna happen.

And don't forget to check Area51 too. They might have a deal for you if you send them an email. Also there's DIY which could be perfect for you. Good Luck with your choices!

^^^these guys wont steer you wrong..................I would like to add if you MUST go with a chinese company this is what I would look at:

http://www.bsled.com/ solid design and are pretty reputable in the industry

http://cidly.com/ also solid, does the job and will honor their warranty

But like fran said, your better off paying a little more and dealing with "local" customer service if anything goes wrong( advanced xml/area51/vipar/etc.)

happy shopping

i agree about having all your eggs in one LED basket...have you thought of going with 3 90w UFO's ?

I looked at the vipars and even though they might be great lights, I still can't see spending that much for just 100W actual draw when these panels are pulling 250. I have seen a few blackstar 240W's going on craigslist recently for around $200 a piece but I would feel like I'd have to get 2 panels eventually because I just want to fully take advantage of the space I'm going to have and blackstars only pull like 135W. I have also thought of the UFO's because of the versatility and like the idea, I just figured it'd be easier to get one large panel and work around that, and if necessary then maybe get ufo's to help with coverage or height issues. I have some experience with scrogging and plan on that for future grows. I still always have this 250W convertible hood for backup that I used for my last grow using a 150 HPS bulb, so if I did have one big panel to begin with I don't think I'd be too scared if something catastrophic happened to a single panel for any reason. I guess it just really comes down to I'm liking the idea of closer, more local companies, I just only have about $300 at the most for a while to drop on LED's... and I'd like to get 200-250W, atleast close to 200 actual power draw with 3W diodes. so to me that seems like they get really expensive in that size range for the better panels... I swear LED research has had me invested longer than any other aspect of a grow I've encountered yet, and I haven't even owned one. I'm gonna start looking at some of those options you guys have put up and see where I can get my best bang for the buck. I mean I'm still really intrigued with those chinese websites LOL I can't stop thinking WHAT IF.... but again it's pretty much no warranty expectance... so I'd like to see what the potential is really.. If i had 3-4 zips a grow in a 2 x 3 tent with LED then i would be one happy stoner. i know quite a few people average close to 1 GPW so I guess that makes me wanna look into DIY panels too. Does anybody know any good parts suppliers? I've also toyed with the idea of buying a chinese panel with the thought of doing any repairs/ mods DIY like if anything were to happen just buy parts from local supplier. Too many options starts being a bad thing if you don't exactly know what you're going for.

Just so you know Shred, draw (wattage) doesn't correlate directly to PAR output/intensity/lumens/coverage with LED panels. Diode quality and panel design mostly do. Wattage is what panels use to produce the aforementioned. See PSUAGRO.'s 75 watt panel which can outproduce any 130 watt BS240w from what I've seen. And Swift is around here somewhere and he is a proponent of Chinese panels. He swears by his guys and he's been to LED Hell and back so I bet he'll give you a hand. Good Luck!

good advice

I bought some similar lights from a different Chinese manufacturer about a year ago. Recently one of them failed. They sent me a new LED board for replacement but I had to take pictures and diagnose it myself and it took a month to get the replacement part which I had to install. If you don't mind dealing with a foreign manufacturer which may or may not be willing to honor a "warranty" it could be worth it. I still really like my Chinese lights because they both work at the moment. At one time I was thinking it would have been smart to buy an extra light so I could always have extra parts on hand but I was able to solder one new led onto the old board which now gives me an extra in case of future failure. Usually the thing that fails on LED is the LED's themselves and it's usually only one that goes out so with a $2 LED and a little soldering they aren't too hard to repair. I only learned this because I went a month without a needed light and decided that I needed to learn how these things work and how to fix them.

I was pondering these same decisions and I had spent a bit of time browsing the hundreds (thousands?) of Chinese lights at alibaba but I ended up going to aliexpress.com, a sister site that acts as a middleman so you don't have to email the dudes in china and work out details. I got this blackstar 240w. Draws about 130w just like the "real" thing. Although, this is probaibly the real thing just resold by other organizations.

Banggood is a good Chinese site also for LED's.

http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-E27-10w-Pure-White-800lm-166-led-Corn-Bulb-Lamp-Light-220v-p-26037.html