LED Lighting

[big budda]

Right first and formost i just want to say that low watt led lighting should be banned.
Recently i purchased one off those cheap ass 225 led light panels and it was the biggest waste of money i ever spent.
They are found on bidding sites(cant say the name) but you no the ones,
They also say beware of chinese sellers but to be honest it dont matter if there english,chinese,japanese or fuckin iraqy because all the cheap low watt led light panels are made in CHINA.
There are some 200w+ on the market that have the lumens to produce a decsent crop.
If you are getting a led light panel make sure it is from a trusted seller that has had good feedback and check it out elsewhere before you buy.
If you do find one that you seem happy with make sure it is:

1w+ for each led

over 200w+ to get some bit of a decsent crop

not from china or chinese made.

This is my oppinion on these kind of lights and to be honest if you are going to go to all the trouble of germing seeds and lookin after seedlings and waiting a couple of months for them to grow+flower you mite aswell get proper lighting.
The most exspensive and important part of your setup is lighting cause lets face it your plants wont grow indoor with out light.

So people if you are going to go to the hassle of growing and the risk of getting caught or found out please please do it right and save money by buying safe and proper lighting.

This is juat a warning from my own experience.

 

[Happy Kitty]

Make sure to check out our sponsors. They're what makes 420Magazine possible.

Sponsors : 420 MAGAZINE

Peace and 420

 

[big budda]

your right happykitty and they dont sell crap either.only the best of the best on this site.

 

[69roadking]

I had my plants under led and was about to give up. I went to metal halide for grow and hps for flower and that made the diferance. I would NEVER say use led. led is a wast of time and money. happy growing

 

[big budda]

Unless it an led light like the ones 420 sponsors have,they have really good feedback and can be seen elsewhere online.
peace.

 

[Wreathy]

Mine came with 3 UV led's to ward of bugs.

 

[lbezphil2005]

YOu pay for what you get. all you who are complaining about your leds is because you are cheap!! If you expect to pay 25 bucks for an advanced light to grow then I've got a couple of bridges to sell you!

 

[GrowGSL]

Hey Big Budda,
Sounds like another vitcim of the old “auction website” led grow light hahaha! Heard this story tons of times. Hey Obviously I am a sponsor here and as you can guess I say our lights are the best, however I am not here for that, just want to help.

Some of you mentioned to check out the sponsors, well our link is right in my signature and you really can learn the facts about growing with led’s. People that buy our lights are the ones that do their research and know what’s what; it’s really easy to sell the highest value/ quality light.

Anyhow here’s a list of things you should consider when purchasing a led light:
#1. Customer Service
#2. Spectrum
#3. Price per watt and actual wattage
#4. Clarity of product description and authenticity of claims.

Customer Service: If your about to make a large purchase search around the forums or online, see if you can contact the company you are considering. Does the company answer the phones when you call, do they answer emails? Just think if you can’t get a hold of the company to even buy the light how will they respond if you have a warranty issue? Chances are verrrry slowly.

Spectrum: There are only 4 photosynthetic peaks, “we target ALL of them with full 3 Watt intensity" .Let’s start with 420-490nm range “blues”; these are targeting photosynthetic peaks 439nm and 469nm. Next in line 620-690nm range “red” these reach your photosynthetic peaks found at 642nm and 670nm. Targeting spectrums outside of this range “but close” is just a waste, plants aren’t using these spectrums for photosynthesis and your paying for led’s that just don’t do anything for ya. You should be just buying the spectrums that work. Seriously there’s no point in spectrums 415mn 380mn 615mn spectrums like that. If your lights spectrum tops out at 630MN you’re missing the red and far red plants need to make resin. If you grow buds without the far red spectrums the plant will appear to grow fine but will SURLY be missing the THC potency.

Wattage: Ahh now 2 things here, #1 led wattage vs. actual wattage. A lot of companies call their unit say a 1000w led unit but the unit may only have an actual power consumption of 580 watts, what a rip! Now that you know your “Actual Wattage” divide the price of the unit by that. Now you can truly see what you paying per watt. This is a great way to get to the bottom line. For example our GS600 uses 548 Watts, which is close to the labeling of the unit. So at $1149 divded 548w = 2.09 per watt. Now another company may charge over 6.00 per watt!! WOW what a price tag, and that’s not even mentioning that you would be buying spectrum you don’t need. Last note, if you’re buying into a “bright white” spectrum you might as well just buy some 5 dollar 50w cfls. No diggity…

Last thing to watch for:#1 disclaimer on website: ok if you’re on a company’s website and you find a disclaimer link, FOLLOW IT! This is the company telling you your about to get LIED to.
#2. Verify. OK so your possible led unit says made in USA, that’s really hard for me to believe. I’m not here to burst anyone’s bubble but if your TRULY care where the light was made and you’re going to buy into the “made in USA” claim, call the company and ask them where their “USA based LED MANUFACTURE” is located. Search the address on some map and see if the listing matches their claims. Also if it’s just “Assembled” USA you’re getting the Chinese made parts. Instead of using location of production to gauge a lights quality do your research on the actual product. Even if some company makes a product in USA that don’t mean it’s not junk Last thought here, How can a rectangle light give off a square footprint? I see this all the time ,lol!

Also if there is not info provided about a certain area of the light like spectrum or actual wattage you can bet you’re getting stiffed lol!
Hope this help all you guys new to the led world, if you have any questions about any led’s I can help.

 

[lbezphil2005]

Hey Big Budda,
Sounds like another vitcim of the old "auction website" led grow light hahaha! Heard this story tons of times. Hey Obviously I am a sponsor here and as you can guess I say our lights are the best, however I am not here for that, just want to help.

Some of you mentioned to check out the sponsors, well our link is right in my signature and you really can learn the facts about growing with led's. People that buy our lights are the ones that do their research and know what's what; it's really easy to sell the highest value/ quality light.

Anyhow here's a list of things you should consider when purchasing a led light:
#1. Customer Service
#2. Spectrum
#3. Price per watt and actual wattage
#4. Clarity of product description and authenticity of claims.

Customer Service: If your about to make a large purchase search around the forums or online, see if you can contact the company you are considering. Does the company answer the phones when you call, do they answer emails? Just think if you can't get a hold of the company to even buy the light how will they respond if you have a warranty issue? Chances are verrrry slowly.

Spectrum: There are only 4 photosynthetic peaks, "we target ALL of them with full 3 Watt intensity" .Let's start with 420-490nm range "blues"; these are targeting photosynthetic peaks 439nm and 469nm. Next in line 620-690nm range "red" these reach your photosynthetic peaks found at 642nm and 670nm. Targeting spectrums outside of this range "but close" is just a waste, plants aren't using these spectrums for photosynthesis and your paying for led's that just don't do anything for ya. You should be just buying the spectrums that work. Seriously there's no point in spectrums 415mn 380mn 615mn spectrums like that. If your lights spectrum tops out at 630MN you're missing the red and far red plants need to make resin. If you grow buds without the far red spectrums the plant will appear to grow fine but will SURLY be missing the THC potency.

Wattage: Ahh now 2 things here, #1 led wattage vs. actual wattage. A lot of companies call their unit say a 1000w led unit but the unit may only have an actual power consumption of 580 watts, what a rip! Now that you know your "Actual Wattage" divide the price of the unit by that. Now you can truly see what you paying per watt. This is a great way to get to the bottom line. For example our GS600 uses 548 Watts, which is close to the labeling of the unit. So at $1149 divded 548w = 2.09 per watt. Now another company may charge over 6.00 per watt!! WOW what a price tag, and that's not even mentioning that you would be buying spectrum you don't need. Last note, if you're buying into a "bright white" spectrum you might as well just buy some 5 dollar 50w cfls. No diggity...

Last thing to watch for:#1 disclaimer on website: ok if you're on a company's website and you find a disclaimer link, FOLLOW IT! This is the company telling you your about to get LIED to.
#2. Verify. OK so your possible led unit says made in USA, that's really hard for me to believe. I'm not here to burst anyone's bubble but if your TRULY care where the light was made and you're going to buy into the "made in USA" claim, call the company and ask them where their "USA based LED MANUFACTURE" is located. Search the address on some map and see if the listing matches their claims. Also if it's just "Assembled" USA you're getting the Chinese made parts. Instead of using location of production to gauge a lights quality do your research on the actual product. Even if some company makes a product in USA that don't mean it's not junk Last thought here, How can a rectangle light give off a square footprint? I see this all the time ,lol!

Also if there is not info provided about a certain area of the light like spectrum or actual wattage you can bet you're getting stiffed lol!
Hope this help all you guys new to the led world, if you have any questions about any led's I can help.

MADE IN THE USA! thats right. I wish I would have went with you guys but at the time you didn't have the 3 watt lights yet and I liked the 15 spectrum design of the light I ended up paying 1599 for, a 600 watt powerhouse that proceeded to fry a power cord 3 month into my first grow. 2 months after that (still trying to get the warranty honored) I lose a bank of drivers, now 1/8th of the light doesn't work, I have to put up 900 out of my own pocket to get him to send me a replacement light or send my light back first, which I can't do because I'm in the middle of a continuous grow, have stuff lined up for 8 months and can't afford to stop right now, obviously. At first he said he would send me the new driver but when I got pissed about the money for a replacement light he decided the light was too complicated for me to work on myself, a disabled industrial electrician and army trained electronics tech. Now Im stuck with a light thats not really safe but I can't afford a replacement, can't afford to fix it until I get some stuff finished. Sorry I knew I made a mistake buying black dog led. made in china crap.

 

[GrowGSL]

IbePhil, Dude that a sad story, sucks that I have heard it to many times. Actually fixing the led units is not that difficult as a retired engineer I think you will be just fine. anyhow I know the style case they have.

So is the power cord detachable or built in? I'll send you out an new one if you like. We use high quality cords so if it burns the one I send you up, something else is wrong.

So those burnt out rows, usually this is the ballast or like you said driver. these are replaceable.

Not sure how cheap it is made it the cheapest could all be hard wired after you get it open then that makes is a bit harder for sure, still you could diy.

Anyhow you wont get shocked pulling it apart, just be careful cause it wont totally separate until you undo some wires, don't wanna pull em out..
the top plate has fans and ballast, the bottom plate "Should" be a heat sink with the leds built in, then a wire at one end of each row of leds or 2 going to the ballasts.


Here's how to get started;

#1 un plug the unit and remove all the screws around the sides.

#2. set the unit on its side long ways and open it from one side like a book. this is always easier with 2 people but it can be done alone if you careful.

#3 take a peek through the crackand locate the black boxes mounted to the top of the case, theres your ballasts.

#4 now find out which ballast is bad by un plugging each row on the board, if you unplug one and a row does not go out thats the bad one. if you can get the bad row to light up with a diffrenet ballast you know is working. If not your unit needs replaced or you can just settle for the rows of leds being out. Leave the bad rows unplugged and the ballast that powers them just to be safe.

#5 if it is the ballast see if theres some numbers on it, I'll find you a replacement and give you the price but 1 ballast will be like 25 or so depending on how they designed the light. if you have like 8 drivers then it will be cheaper, if you only got 4 it will be more to replace the bigger units.


Hope this all helps man, still I don't think you can bloom with the light but i dunno gotta finish what you started ya know? Hopefully you can use it for a veg light and get a Pro-Bloom sometime.

Tons of promotions going on right now, check the website, maybe we can work something out! I am seriously looking for some more growers to do some journals here in exchange for lights!

PM me if you want to get some step by step help!

 

[big budda]

Its pretty sweet to have a sponsor reply and actualy agree with the people that have got ripped off.
So thanks GROW GSL.

Also just want to mention that you site and info is much appreciated.

 

[Goldengoose7]

When I think of LED grow light technology, I am reminded of the old saying "There is no such thing as a FREE LUNCH!" Well, there is currently no such thing as a "CHEAP" LED GROW LIGHT PANEL!

I have been following the development of this technology for a very long time because my growing situation is such that HEAT and SPACE are both issues here which LEDs would be a perfect alternative to T5s and CFLs. Until LEDs started to become a possibility, I and growers like me really had only the florescent lighting option. Still waiting for prices to come down a bit more before I could personally afford to switch, but I would LOVE the opportunity to do a start to finish indoor grow with some LED panels!

I am seriously looking for some more growers to do some journals here in exchange for lights!

Really? WOW!

PM sent! I would love a chance to work with you guys! Been following your progress for awhile now!

Really enjoying this thread by the way everyone!

 

[GrowGSL]

cool. I checked out your setup. I wanna find someone with a 3 x 4 tent though.

 

[Batcave]

cool. I checked out your setup. I wanna find someone with a 3 x 4 tent though.

Hmmm, I have a 3x4x7.5 tent I use with my 600w hps. I still do LED's but just vegging with them now. If you want to run them in a 3x4 I might be interested, drop me a PM.

 

[GrowGSL]

Still have not received lights back, thinking pretty soon...

 

[Littllman2469]

Still have not received lights back, thinking pretty soon...

Are you tring to say that you haven't had any costumer complaints and returned product? That's almost hard to believe.

 

[Goldengoose7]

Are you tring to say that you haven't had any costumer complaints and returned product? That's almost hard to believe.

That's not what he meant. He is most likely referring to someone returning a set of light fixtures to his factory that he loaned them to do a grow test and journal.

 

[Littllman2469]

That's not what he meant. He is most likely referring to someone returning a set of light fixtures to his factory that he loaned them to do a grow test and journal.

Sorry I wasn't trying to be a stiff or anything. Just trying to understand what he ment. That's all. I know it's hard to pleases every costumer, but if he hadn't had any products returned it would be one hell of a sales pitch. 100% satisfaction rate would be nice to see when you placed your order or got your unit in..lol. I know I plan on getting one as soon as I can.

 

[GrowGSL]

Yeah I meant I had 2 lights GS600-Pro Blooms gave to Veledrone to do a grow journal with. But he backed out of the jornal and stiffed me for the lights. Guess he needs them and I am not gonna beg him to do the right thing..

If you can get one off em its yours..

 

[Littllman2469]

Yeah I meant I had 2 lights GS600-Pro Blooms gave to Veledrone to do a grow journal with. But he backed out of the jornal and stiffed me for the lights. Guess he needs them and I am not gonna beg him to do the right thing..

If you can get one off em its yours..

That would be great but idk how well my luck will go there. It would be nice to get my hands on one and do a detailed journal. I really want to see how your lights preform and it would be even better first hand. I've read the NASA report on the three regions of par and it makes sence to to use one of your lights to target them all and speed up plant production. I'll give it a shot and see what he has to say.