DIY cheap(est) Chinese LED growlights

Tryguy said:

I am sorry but I have decided to stop communicating with you because you are trolling and flaming me for what I write. When you don't like me or my writings simply please go elsewhere. Period.

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He's actually not trolling you. I can honestly say that much, what your trying has already been done 100 times over, it doesn't work.

That's why people still buy expensive lights, because they work.

I tried your lighting idea, replaced it with a HPS & used them for side lighting.

The screw in led's are totally different from cobs.

Ermm, led lights & cobs aren't lasers....but that's ok you don't need to understand that, this isn't Star Trek.

There's a guy on here advertising cobs, check him out. He can break it all down for you, except the lazer bit.
Might need Spock for that

Hey @Tryguy i do appreciate the inquisitive direction in your original post. And have had good luck with my very VERY old generic Chinese Blurple 45 and 60 x 3 watt LEDs that still work like they did day 1. But, I also bought a 150 HPS and use both together for absolutely fantastic results.

I've been studying this COB lighting for quite a while now. But, as much as I want to tinker with it I can't justify the cost of a good setup. The more popular brands like Citizen or Cree along with a cooler etc. Since I'm not even growing for now. Let's face it. They also come with a ton of knowledge and experience here on the RIU that adds even more value.

Nevertheless I do feel that most of the time better almost always costs more. If I were serious I would just buy the more expensive Citizen gear with mean well drivers. Overall they do seem very cheap for what you get and I paid more way back in the day for my old blurples than it would cost to build a more efficient COB with more lumens.

However, I just ordered 2 110v 50 watt 2700-3200 COBs from eBay. They were less than 3 bucks a peice and may end up in the garage if they actually work. My expectations are low, I just want to see for myself if any of the made claims are true. We're talking about a less efficient 100-120 lumens per watt than the more popular and expensive quality COBs. These COBs need only a 120 power cord and plug it in and go. No seperate driver needed.

To be honest none of the efficiency is really all that important for a micro grower on a really small scale anyway. My electric costs only .10 per kWh so if you do the math using my LED and HPS for a combined about 300 watts total at 12 hours on per day costs maybe 10-12 bucks a month. It's insignificant but, that's just for a micro guy and I would still rather pay for the higher quality popular and proven brands. The quality of the lumens do matter to everyone. Tho on a commercial scale efficiency may be a VERY important consideration$

Anyway. I'll check back when I get these COBs and plan to mount them on an active CPU cooler I have already. A ready to go COB for like 2 bucks and change, and stuff I already have lol. Unfortunately I don't have any test equipment to do any real testing so. Just piddling around for the price of a six pack. FWIW

Tryguy said:

I am sort of impressed by the ignorance of the test. Which has been really good documented and has an impressive outcome. It is really fantastic!

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These are the ones tested.

15W LED grow light 500lm 630nmRed 3x + 2x 450nmBlue
LED 5W 470lm 2900K
LED 20W 6000-65000k Corn light bulb 69 leds
11W energy saving bulb 531lm 2700k
LED 15W 6000-65000k Corn light bulb 48 leds
9W LED Light bulb 6500k

No make or anything, just a few lines.
How can you compare if you don't know what he's comparing?

The 20 Watt got replaced because it was too intense for the little closet.
So that should already tell you that the 15 watt growlight is not #1. And burning from a single led bulb should never be an issue in a real growbox.

2nd, he's comparing a 5 watt led to a 15w led.

Why didn't he compare 3 5 watt leds to the 15w one?

Also if those led lights are directional as opposed to omnidirectional you should always remove the top. With omnidirectional LEDs you need a reflector just like with CFL bulbs.

Ge Bright stiks can be had just as cheap as the ebay growlight per watt.
Remove the top and you have a very intense little light.

Also those Ebay chink cobs are utter trash.
They work, but at much lower efficiency.

Besides the fact that a citiled cob, despite being more powerful, despite being more efficient, have the same price as those ebay cobs.
A Clu-048 1212 is the same price as those shit 100 watt aliexpress cobs.
Those aliexpress factory rejects save you exactly 0 money.

Edit: Vero 18s are also cheaper than those aliexpress factory rejects.

frica said:

These are the ones tested.

15W LED grow light 500lm 630nmRed 3x + 2x 450nmBlue
LED 5W 470lm 2900K
LED 20W 6000-65000k Corn light bulb 69 leds
11W energy saving bulb 531lm 2700k
LED 15W 6000-65000k Corn light bulb 48 leds
9W LED Light bulb 6500k

No make or anything, just a few lines.
How can you compare if you don't know what he's comparing?

The 20 Watt got replaced because it was too intense for the little closet.
So that should already tell you that the 15 watt growlight is not #1. And burning from a single led bulb should never be an issue in a real growbox.

2nd, he's comparing a 5 watt led to a 15w led.

Why didn't he compare 3 5 watt leds to the 15w one?

Also if those led lights are directional as opposed to omnidirectional you should always remove the top. With omnidirectional LEDs you need a reflector just like with CFL bulbs.

Ge Bright stiks can be had just as cheap as the ebay growlight per watt.
Remove the top and you have a very intense little light.

Also those Ebay chink cobs are utter trash.
They work, but at much lower efficiency.

Besides the fact that a citiled cob, despite being more powerful, despite being more efficient, have the same price as those ebay cobs.
A Clu-048 1212 is the same price as those shit 100 watt aliexpress cobs.
Those aliexpress factory rejects save you exactly 0 money.

Edit: Vero 18s are also cheaper than those aliexpress factory rejects.

Click to expand...

"Aliexpress"

Dang. There is even an app for that. And they have everything you can think of. Thanks.