Cheap LEDs worth it?

[Mayne]

What a LED light pulls from the wall is of little consequence anymore. There is a vast difference between the old technology LED's and current. It's mind boggling. Older technology, that number being pulled from the wall also includes cooling which doesn't equate into light output. New technology is passively cooled and you aren't wasting as much juice, more is getting to the plant. I used to grow with 4 old Mars 300's. They filled jars. I built my own strip build fixture last summer. It burns a little over half the electricity as my old Mars setup, has 3 times the light output, and my crops have increased 50%. Only THC tests are personal experience, but everything seems much stronger too. I gave away 1 of the old Mars, still have 3 on the shelf. I'd be interested in @Mayne mods, but it probably involves soldering. I can replace an engine in a car, but ask me to solder something, not gonna happen. I'm mosy likely gonna fry something, or at best, it will be functional but look like a rat made turds all over the board.

lol, ugg, yeah, soldering,

let me tell ya, im pretty sure thats why they stopped working after a while, LOL.. Just adding the lenses, is pretty easy, i had to melt a hole on each lense holder to accommodate the zennor resistor next to the diode. But now, you can get them already notched out. but yeah, to change the spectrum, you have to solder. If i had to do it again, id use conductive electronics glue.

with that said, here is what that 1 single Mars300 did after changing the spectrum and adding lenses

DSCN23409

• Mayne
• Feb 10, 2018

FireOGday92-4

• Mayne
• Feb 16, 2018

Day76-46flip-1

• Mayne
• Sep 11, 2017

 

[Mayne]

the second pic, was just half the mars300, because half stopped working.

 

[Emilya Green]

spending wisely isnt buying 5 $89 lights just to say you have 100 watts a sqr foot of grow space, when the light using the watts is mostly heat and not really light. If you have to put your light, and manufacturer suggestion is 5 inches from canopy, lol, common man. 5 flashlights taped together will grow a plant, just dont mean it will be worth a dam at the end.

a PPFD of 350 from 6 iches away is horrible. But because you callculated your getting X amount of watts per sqr foot, it must be legit? Nope, dont work like that. Low THC content and airy buds is what your about to prove for the 10000000 time on this site is all,.. But by spending WISELY, with concerns of AVAILABLE light Power and efficiency, you can have a 5x better production from a ALREADY PROVEN CHEAP LIGHT, for a TAD more money.

What you say is true, but not applicable to the lights that I have purchased. I know my stuff, and I am a shrewd consumer and comparing my lights to flashlights is humorous, but not accurate. I give your evaluation that this will be the 10 billionth time as a bit of an overestimate too... you obviously have not yet met me.
You threw out some numbers... let me give you mine. My lights, at less than 30c/watt initial cost have a PPF of 500 at 20 inches and 800 at 12 inches and at the 12 inches I have a 2x2 coverage. That my friend, is sufficient to grow good pot. It might not have as good of penetration as some of them... but it is going to be enough not to be the 10 billionth failure and I can already tell looking at my early buds, that my faith in these numbers is going to be vindicated in the end.

 

[Mayne]

First thing first, hope it works out for you. secondly, the 5 flashlights wasnt comparing to your lights, its was just a example. it was 10 million, not 10 billion , lol, i didnt count the zero's,lol..

im just saying, id rather have a light with an efficiency of 2.4 then 1.6, with just a tad bit more cash, and a lot less energy used, for 5 times the better production at the same time.

 

[Mayne]

and dont take it so hard man, Your growing a personal masterpiece, for peace and harmony, and i hope you reap great fruits from your labor. with that said, i hope you get on the QB train down the road, and not continue to add those energy sucking machines from your grow area, or cobs even. Horse a piece.

Im not dogging you out by no means, but for the money, You can do better.

 

[Emilya Green]

You may be right... and Quantum is probably what I investigate next, and then someone else will get these beginner lights. I am simply out to prove that there is a cheap price point to get into this game and still end up with decent product. I also have no idea of the lifespan of these lights, nor if they can be tweaked a bit to put out more than the 10% they are running at now. I would be willing to bet that with 384 diodes to play with, I could double this output fairly easily.

 

[farside05]

lol, ugg, yeah, soldering,

let me tell ya, im pretty sure thats why they stopped working after a while, LOL.. Just adding the lenses, is pretty easy, i had to melt a hole on each lense holder to accommodate the zennor resistor next to the diode. But now, you can get them already notched out. but yeah, to change the spectrum, you have to solder. If i had to do it again, id use conductive electronics glue.

with that said, here is what that 1 single Mars300 did after changing the spectrum and adding lenses

DSCN23409

• Mayne
• Feb 10, 2018

FireOGday92-4

• Mayne
• Feb 16, 2018

Day76-46flip-1

• Mayne
• Sep 11, 2017

Interesting project. Kills the blurple. I don't have the space to have a second tent to utilize my old lights, so any mods would just be to donate my old ones to a buddy entering the hobby. Not really worth it at this point for me, plus my ineptitude at soldering is a hang up. Wagos are more my speed with making electrical connections. Unsteady hands are a bitch.

 

[farside05]

You may be right... and Quantum is probably what I investigate next, and then someone else will get these beginner lights. I am simply out to prove that there is a cheap price point to get into this game and still end up with decent product. I also have no idea of the lifespan of these lights, nor if they can be tweaked a bit to put out more than the 10% they are running at now. I would be willing to bet that with 384 diodes to play with, I could double this output fairly easily.

Low dough projects are fun. I proved to myself that you can grow a decent crop with some simple $11 orchid food rather than some 8 product $120 lineup or brix kit. Is there a more efficient or better way? Probably. But to get in the game and start learning, you don't have to spend a fortune. That said, I've replaced probably 90% of my start up gear over time. Had I bought the the stuff I'm using now to begin with, I wouldn't have wasted as much money on the "starter gear". I write it off as all part of the cost of learning. It was still way cheaper to grow my own than buy it off the street or a dispensary.

 

[Growingasmile]

I bought a growstar 1000 watt from Amazon and have used it on both my grows in a 4 by 4 tent. I was very happy with the amount of dried bud I received. I bought that light for 200 or $250.

Do you have a grow journal with it?

 

[Aroxol]

Being in CA I’ve had the luxury to pick up a wide assortment of second hand ‘like new’ lights at next to nothing to try. In my experience (from DIY to Turnkey, cheap to expensive), it’s really about trying them. I’m sort of convinced a lot of the “numbers and science” surrounding LED lighting is overstated and complete bullshit.

Let me stop here - THIS IS JUST MY OPINION - I don’t want to debate or argue about it, I just feel like pictures, quality, and yield of tangible bud tell a more convincing story than a white paper of this one time by this one team with a bunch of metrics or fake reviews online. Show me the money.

Price is also not indicative of quality, I’ve used LEDs that were $700 new and bannered as commercial warehouse grade quality and they are garbage. I currently run a $1000 LED that absolutely crushes. I have several $150-400 DIY LEDs that do awesome as well. I guess what I’m getting at is you’re going to have to try several lights before you probably find the one that works best for you (for distance, heat, dimming capabilities, etc.).

 

[George Mc]

Do you have a grow journal with it?

Look in my signature. Both of those grows were grown with that same light

 

[bobrown14]

thanks but maybe don't really understand .... relatively low heat vs HID with a LED so that is good efficiency right?. I am mainly trying to keep the electricity cost around $30/month so with our rates that would allow around 200 watts @ 20/4 light cycle.

Running 20/4 I'm assuming you're running AUTO plants.

Again about efficiency.

At the end of our run, weight up the dried flowers to get a total.

Light output and yields are directly related.

I've ran the cheap LEDs, got smoke-able weed.

Upped my equipment and the rest followed.. Quality, yields and efficiency.

Heat output from lights is related to efficiency.

HID uses a lot of electric - puts off a lot of light and a lot of heat.

Reduce the heat and increase the light output.

That's where LED COB tech and some of the panel LED's are at now.

Good lights and good genetics generally will get you good performance and produce. You cant short cut it. Not that I've found and I've tried believe me.

 

[vtwin906]

does that electrical alotment include your cooling, fans, heat if need it, dehumidifier/humidifier?

why wouldn't it? of course it includes everything I plan to plug into the wall.

 

[Mayne]

why wouldn't it? of course it includes everything I plan to plug into the wall.

super

 

[Edzzed]

Try checking out auctions. I saw some Gavitas go cheap. You can also buy just the quantum board and find used drivers for them. My set up uses two drivers. One was an Amazon warehouse deal. Guess it's where they sell returns. 2nd driver was being sold as used on Ebay for 40 OBO. I offered 20 and said buying it was a gamble that it works. Well it works. I built the equivalent of a HLG 550 v2 for 420.00 I sourced parts and put it together. Gotta love the Costco cookie sheets. I also sourced LM301B strips from Ebay. got 6 in 2700K and 6 of the 3500K so it balances out at 3100K. Just gotta be creative about it. Use what you have for now and pick up pieces here and there. Once you assemble the parts, It's build time.

 

[LEDXpert]

The best reason to grow..... to prove your wife wrong

 

[vtwin906]

super

lucky for me I don't have to address odor control at my rural location ... other than the light all I'll use is a fan. We love the fragrance of fresh bud!

 

[bobrown14]

Dont grow Chemdawg

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QB boards are hot lighting, not temps - get a power supply that you can adjust.