Led Users Unite!

HiloReign

Well-Known Member
I think you should do some research instead of relying solely on the opinions of anonymous forum members (which of whom have their own take and figure their advice is best).

There is more than enough information in just this LED subforum to come to a justifiable conclusion concerning a light that "works".

Good luck.
 
I have been reading for weeks and these subforums in particular. if its so obvious, then I would know already... OR maybe you would have just posted this "conclusion" for me and we could skip this step? plz n thanx
 

RainerRocks

Active Member
I have been reading for weeks and these subforums in particular. if its so obvious, then I would know already... OR maybe you would have just posted this "conclusion" for me and we could skip this step? plz n thanx

I'm also new to this but I haven't seen many set-ups using 460,435 but I do see many using the 500 range which is missing from your set-up.

But then again I'm still a newbie with this whole LED and still learning so ignore me ..I currently have information overload from all the research and it's all scribble scrabble in my head now.
:dunce: lol
 

Downinit

Active Member
EllyDee, thanks for your suggestion. I looked up all those lights and came up with pricing for all 4 and also the total number of LED bulbs I'd have in that mix. Price would be $2318 and the total number of LED's would be 480 with all lamps combined.
So I can see what you mean, and I could also see how angling and such could work out better with multiple lights instead of just one large light.

Downinit, it does seem crazy lol. The reason I started looking into LED's is because it eliminates the heat/venting/energy bill issue. Those things alone are huge to me. I also thought in the end it would pay itself off without having to install so much duct work and fans and also on the energy consumption side of things. Also, the lifetime warranty is pretty nice I think, but I agree it is a astonishing investment.

I am thinking maybe they just need to start smaller, and not try to cover such a large area. My friend wants to buy the 5x5 tent but they don't have to fill it up with plants. They could just put maybe one to two plants in it and focus a smaller LED in their area? Any thoughts on this? Or should they just go with the smaller tent to get maximum reflectivity? The thought on buying the larger tent is for future upgrades.

Down, what space are you growing in and what light do you have? This may have been mentioned before but I can't remember.

Still working out the kinks and I feel so thankful to have a sounding board for this!
I'm using 2 blackstar 240's in a 4x2 space. I usually run 2 plants and fill the screen completely. Everything is very frosty and medical seeds sour diesel is very nice!! As good or better than what I was buying!! :blsmoke:
 

Corso312

Well-Known Member
That is my only beef with leds, two 240 Watt blac kstars cost what? 700$ to light a 2x4 footprint....could have bought 2 600's for that....n I need. A much larger footprint ...I will go led when they drop the price.
 

Downinit

Active Member
That is my only beef with leds, two 240 Watt blac kstars cost what? 700$ to light a 2x4 footprint....could have bought 2 600's for that....n I need. A much larger footprint ...I will go led when they drop the price.
I paid $200/ea...:blsmoke: Used but have worked great for last 2 grows. On my third now but I only use them for flower, I use T5 for veg.
 
2x Apollo8 are only $580 shipped. they last for many more grow cycles. heat is less of an issue. customized spectrum. LED sounds like a no brainer to me.
 

RainerRocks

Active Member
2x Apollo8 are only $580 shipped. they last for many more grow cycles. heat is less of an issue. customized spectrum. LED sounds like a no brainer to me.
I'm currently very close to buying a solderless LED kit with 48 CREE LED's ( I get to choose which LED's) but I'm so tempted
to just buy 2 Apollo 8's myself and just say the heck to the DIY.

Only thing holding me back is that my DIY kit has CREE LED's which
are very good LED's and made in the US where I live.

Do you happen to know if they (Cidly / apollo) make their own LED's or they just install other brand name LED's ?
 
I'm currently very close to buying a solderless LED kit with 48 CREE LED's ( I get to choose which LED's) but I'm so tempted
to just buy 2 Apollo 8's myself and just say the heck to the DIY.

Only thing holding me back is that my DIY kit has CREE LED's which
are very good LED's and made in the US where I live.

Do you happen to know if they (Cidly / apollo) make their own LED's or they just install other brand name LED's ?

this is not fact only pulled from another website but "Apollo use the 3w bridgelux led"

If I could choose CREE, i would, but Im going to risk it for a small time closet scrog. worst case, Im out $600. Ive lost more cash on worse ventures in my time.
 

RainerRocks

Active Member
this is not fact only pulled from another website but "Apollo use the 3w bridgelux led"

If I could choose CREE, i would, but Im going to risk it for a small time closet scrog. worst case, Im out $600. Ive lost more cash on worse ventures in my time.
Well bridgelux is an American company with their main headquarters in the USA but have many plants (?) in China. I checked the list and don't see Cidly Shenzhen Cidly Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. listed.

http://bridgelux.com/contact/services.html



Anyway..I emailed Bridgelux and I will respond here with their reply if Cidly actually uses their LED's.

Here's the kit I'm looking to get..it's all solderless LED's and very easy to put together. See video at bottom.

I'l be using the bigger heatsink 6"x20" and will put 24 LED's on each heatsink. You can also custom pick your LED's and they are located in the USA.

Their email replies have been quick and very helpful so I'm leaning towards Rapid but hey you never know.
http://www.rapidled.com/48-solderless-led-retrofit-kit/
 

jubiare

Active Member
It has been well known on this thread that Bridgelux is usually never really used, especially by China makers eheh ... they have their own lines of diodes ... getting better and better...
Or when you read "cree" claims .... forget it eheh

 

jubiare

Active Member
I have been reading for weeks and these subforums in particular. if its so obvious, then I would know already... OR maybe you would have just posted this "conclusion" for me and we could skip this step? plz n thanx
You prob won't have your holy grail spectrum with your first panel, maybe never .... also because the holy grail spectrum doesn't exist? Maybe..

..there is different school of spectrum ... some work better same are safer some are longer flowering ... a few are crap eheh!

Your original spectrum you wanted to go for should work anyhow

but a few things you want to consider:

too much 660 is proven to do harm to certain strains (not always and less when the 660 is wide range. The Chinese diodes have a tendency to be narrower band, which is more problematic for plants to take. Narrow Blue also has a problematic effect on plants sometimes.... that's why you could go white, have the blue in there + all the rest which is always a plus.

IR will speed up your flowering process a bit, but you could have your IR from the whites (especially the WW). Check with the manufacture what's the spectrum for the whites, maybe ask what percentage of IR they have in them?

You can alway add an IR diode if yoiu really wish ... and the blue, but monochromatic blue you want a minimum

Anyway live, experiment and learn and enjoy
-
 
you can buy 2 RhinoGrow 400's for about $1000. They cover a 3x3 area each. 2 can handle 18sqft. Plus when you factor in the cost of bulb replacement for 5 years sh*t adds up. To me it a no brainer, but i had money upfront. Do you know any other companys using Osram LED's, i heard they are top of the line.
 
Im no expert by any stretch of the imagination but Im curious how the Rhinogrow400 can light up a 3x3 properly with such low PAR. looks like you would have to have the tops of your plants practically touching the light to get 800 PAR. Im sure they could veg that area, but Im not sure about the intensity for flowering.

again, Im no expert and just going on what Ive read recently about LEDs. plz correct me if Im way off...

PAR Readings
Distance (inches)
Distance (cm)
PAR-Value (MicroMoles/s/m^2)
615.2
780.0
12 30.5 395.7
18 45.7 224.8
24
61.0 141.1
 
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