Ti Smartbar 1800$ LED?

I won this LED system last weekend at the Max Yield's Grow Like A Pro Expo and upon my return home, I immediately began researching.

It's called the Smartbar and it is manufactured by a company called Theorome Innovations. It's 430 watts and supposedly equivalent to a 1,000 watt HPS light and better. I found a few for sale and they were going for approximately $1,800.

I started researching into some grow journals and I couldn't find much. I did manage to find a guy growing with a fixture from the same company and he claimed that the Smartbar is crap because it does not have the "ProBloom" feature, which is just a specific arrangement of diode spectrums that really do the job. He said his fixture did have the ProBloom feature and he showed decent, yet less-than-satisfactory results compared to HID. Now, my particular Smartbar model DOES have this ProBloom feature so I'm guessing the company decided to redesign it after seeing results without it.

So, I suppose my question would be, where do I go from here? I do not want to get another water rez and pump just to cool a LED light. Hell, you shouldn't even have to cool an LED light with liquid! A heatsink and fan should be plenty. I deff do not want to use it the way it is now. What do you guys think would be best? Should I rip it apart, salvage the panels, and try to do some kind of DIY LED without the liquid cooling? Or should I sell it on craigslist at an extremely reduced price and use the extra cash to go towards something I could put to good use? I would rank myself a beginner when it comes to soldering, for sure, but I can solder decently neat. I understand how to read diagrams and such but I'm not sure I trust my skills enough to sleep safely while theres a Frankenstein light of my own creation, running in my house, pulling 430 watts lol

I would take some photos but my camera is freezing every time I snap a photo. It won't save them for some reason. Appreciate any input/insight from anyone.

This thing can only be wired at 240 Volts BTW. I already have 240 volt power running through a wall timer but I hate the idea of running this thing.

you won that out in novi at maximum yield expo right?? the boys from heavy t,s grow show were out there... cool dudes

I feel the same way about the DIY led, not sure I would trust my own frankenstein light either. Why don't you want to try the light you won though, is it really that bad? can't you use it with your current setup just as side lighting??

surgedup said:

you won that out in novi at maximum yield expo right?? the boys from heavy t,s grow show were out there... cool dudes

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Yep

Endur0xX said:

I feel the same way about the DIY led, not sure I would trust my own frankenstein light either. Why don't you want to try the light you won though, is it really that bad? can't you use it with your current setup just as side lighting??

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The manufacturer says that the light will fail if the liquid cooling system isn't hooked up, and that it requires a minimum of 11 gallons. They say the bigger the rez, the higher the intensity of the diodes. The heatsink is basically a big tube that water runs through via a water pump and hose. I barely have room in my place for a 55 gallon drum rez for my nute solution, let alone enough space to add another rez just to cool this light. Who knows, maybe I'll keep it until I get a bigger place and maybe I will use it as supplemental lighting :shrugs:

Maybe donate to a less fortunate grower who has a big place & inadequate lighting.