Cheap China made LED

[Ego11]

Good morning peeps!

Question for anyone out there.

I purchased this "1000 watt led" online advertised to be able to replace a standard 1000 watt grow light. Once receiving it I knew instantly that it was impossible but hey lesson learned.

I replaced it with a 1000 watt hps DE set up and wow what a difference this light performs wonderfully the ladies are basking in the beautiful light. Combating temps a bit but staying at or below 30c, sadly only running at 75% but I have a plan using outside air and a temperature controlled relay to switch on and off a suction fan pulling in filtered outside air. (Cool here)

My question is do you think the led light would be suitable to sustain a mother plant?

As well I plan to veg 5 ladies in a separate grow box and have considered CFL for this box, any suggestions on total wattage I should be aiming for? Would 6-23watt (100 watt equivalents) I guess that would be 138 total watts, using a custom built reflector similar to the wing reflectors for HPS.
The box I built is small but should do the job. 40"w x 13" d x 36" h.

Don't be shy all opinions welcomed.
Pics below.

 

[Dwight Monk]

I think that LED would work pretty good in your box, my boxes smaller (far as footprint, two of them are taller) but think my LED's less powerful than that one (maybe, hard to tell with the way they advertise them).

 

[Ego11]

The box for the mother plant will be 3'w x 3'd x 6'h.
I am undecided if the led should go in there or the veg box which is the dimensions listed above. If the led goes in the mother I want to use the diy cfl reflector in the veg box or swap the led into the veg box and the cfls into the mother box. Depending on opinions of the led light. Any opinion if the led can sustain 5 ladies through veg at a reasonable rate to flower right after.

Flower tent is 6'x4'x6.5' using the 1000 watt de hps air cooled reflector hood.

 

[GreenmanQLD]

That "1000" watt LED will work great for a mother/veg box.
As long as the height of the grow box can accomodate, as the red spectrum will stretch the plant slightly further than a 6400k CFL array, you only need about 130w per plant for CFL. I have also seen those LED can get fairly hot in the warmer climates.

 

[Lost In Nugs]

I will never buy some chinese panels again. Had a mars 2 and all diodes are damp after 2 grows, 9 burnt completely and now the light 'feels' like half the brightness. You can grow with this even more crappy light, but you shouldnt expect anything. For a small mother it could provide some small branches to reach for it so you can cut some clones, but i really wouldn expect anything and use this light for some kitchen greens or bring it back. Made the same mistake with some low wattage china LED. Its just crap and made someone a few bucks

 

[JimmyJames905]

This is exactly why I started making my own LED's and stopped buying crap.


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[Ego11]

Thank for the input, I have decided to use it for my clone area. It seems pretty low quality but should be able to get my clones to a point where I can plant them into pots. I am using a custom build aeroponics cloner.

The eBay seller upon realizing that it would cost them just as much to ship the unit back to them as it would to just refund me some cash and be done with it, decided to refund me over half the purchased price and I was able to keep the light.

I have decided not to keep a mother and use clones of clones. Maybe not the best way to go about this but in my eyes given my limited space and after investing in the proper equipment to produce quality plants, The budget has been gobbled up. Sure doesn't take long!

I am comfortable with what I have now, making minor improvements as I go.

So far the LED light hasn't given me a reason not to trust it's ability to have the clones survive and grow at a reasonable rate but it's only been just under a week since I put some in.

Given what I know now, I would never purchase one of these lights, personally I have never grown before so LED technology I am sure is capable of producing beautiful plants but for now I will stick with the tried tested and true method of MH and HPS. My plants are huge coming to the end of week 7 in veg, was going to push to week 8 but have decided to flip at the end of week 7. Thank god I LST the crap out of them or they would be pushing 20" tall or better.

 

[Velk]

Always read and research and stay away from 10w diodes always look for ones with 3 or 5 w I haven't run in to any probs with my Mars units they are the newest model so I suspect they are a lot better made than older ones but should be fine for mother or little baby's if you have any more doubt get a par meter hydro farm sell. Them for fairly cheap so yuh can check if they are any good Mars have been good to me so will stick by them only other brand I want to try is black diamond perfect sun. The Goliath is best on the market apparently but have a look on 420 for the site sponsors lights then you know what your buying is sweet


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[JimmyJames905]

Thank for the input, I have decided to use it for my clone area. It seems pretty low quality but should be able to get my clones to a point where I can plant them into pots. I am using a custom build aeroponics cloner.

The eBay seller upon realizing that it would cost them just as much to ship the unit back to them as it would to just refund me some cash and be done with it, decided to refund me over half the purchased price and I was able to keep the light.

I have decided not to keep a mother and use clones of clones. Maybe not the best way to go about this but in my eyes given my limited space and after investing in the proper equipment to produce quality plants, The budget has been gobbled up. Sure doesn't take long!

I am comfortable with what I have now, making minor improvements as I go.

So far the LED light hasn't given me a reason not to trust it's ability to have the clones survive and grow at a reasonable rate but it's only been just under a week since I put some in.

Given what I know now, I would never purchase one of these lights, personally I have never grown before so LED technology I am sure is capable of producing beautiful plants but for now I will stick with the tried tested and true method of MH and HPS. My plants are huge coming to the end of week 7 in veg, was going to push to week 8 but have decided to flip at the end of week 7. Thank god I LST the crap out of them or they would be pushing 20" tall or better.

With time you'll learn to make your own arrays for a fraction of the price. I use cob leds. They're so fantastic that I sold all my HID lights.


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[Ego11]

With time you'll learn to make your own arrays for a fraction of the price. I use cob leds. They're so fantastic that I sold all my HID lights.


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I have done some light reading on these and feel they would be a great idea. Did some minor pricing out for a project and seemed it was more then a 1000 watt DE hps/mh setup, this does not factor in electricity costs.
Keep in mind I am from Canada and getting the parts from suppliers I know and trust may be higher than where most may be purchasing the parts. If anyone has any recommendations on places to purchase the parts at a reasonable price I would be more than happy to tackle a cob build.

 

[JimmyJames905]

I'm also from Canada. The Hammer.
I use digikey.ca and mouser.ca for chips and drivers respectively.
I'm currently using the Bridgelux chips but I would recommend starting with Cree. You can drive more Cree cobs with a single driver as Cree are usually 32fV (with hundreds of 32 volt divers around cheap) while Bridgelux Vero 29 series are usually 38 fV (fewer driver choices)
Check out Growmau5 on YouTube. I believe he's also Canadian and is an incredible source for getting and wiring up your own arrays. Try his video "LED basics".


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[JimmyJames905]

Oh. And because you're in Canada I can ship you a 24"x24" aluminum box panel that you can assemble yourself. I have an aluminum brake and a few hundred feet of coil. This is the box I just made that is being fitted with 1 Vero 29 COB (center) and 12 regular 14W (100 law equivalent) LED bulbs. I went with bulbs so I can easily switch from 5000k veg to 3000k flower literally with the twist of a wrist. The panel outputs around 20,000 lumens over a 4sq.ft. area and only cost me $120.00 to build with the COB, driver and heatsink and 12x1700 lumen bulbs.

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[JimmyJames905]

New Panel wired and ready for COB/Driver install.

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[Ego11]

That looks great! Sorry for the late response I wasn't receiving notifications properly.

The light I am currently using in my tent is a 1000watt double ended air cooled hood. So far it's been kicking butt! After getting the heat issue settled that is.

The light I originally was asking about has been put into a cloning box, so far I can't say anything about it's worth as the clones have not started to root yet.


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[JimmyJames905]

Well you'll have to give it a whirl when they get bigger but from my experience there are very few (read none) cheap Chinese leds that can touch a 1000w HID. The only thing that beats hids is COB leds. And not because of wattage but because COBs (good ones) produce better PAR. PAR is a measure of Photosynthetically active radiation. The PAR value of a single CREE, Bridgelux or citizen high end COB is around 1800 PAR at 3 feet. The PAR of a Gavida 1Kw is about 1600 PAR at 3 feet. The difference is you can can put a COB as close as 10 inches which gives off a PAR of 2800 or higher. Putting a HID that close will fry your plants.


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[Ego11]

I've given up on the LED light as far as its possibility to replace the 1000watt hid I am currently using. I have some small hopes that it will be sufficient in the cloning area.

Next light will be a COB but seeing as I have made my grow room capable of holding good steady temps using my hid without an air conditioner unit, I am happy for now no need to fix what ain't broken


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