hey guys im am considering going to led lites i am currently running 2- 315 lec sunsystems lites i have had gud success with this set up but lately been thinking about going led . My tent size us 4x4 what size lite should i be looking for ?
Lighting
- Thread starter Mellomale
- Start date
r0am1ng st0ner
Well-Known Member
I am using 2 LED's from our sponsor MARS and they are each 300w at the wall they are the tsl2000's and I have a 4x4 like you, feel free to look at my tent at Stoner's rdwc and soil scrog grow with mixed strains under 2 mars tsl 2000 (Current)
Mars actually has a new line of lights called the FC series. They have high quality drivers and top bin Samsung diodes.
The spread on these lights is great.
The spread on these lights is great.
r0am1ng st0ner
Well-Known Member
I was going to mention the FC line but I could not see it had the meanwell he had mentioned but it definitely has the samsung LEDs
Elvin
Banned Troll
At least four (six is better) 288 Quantum Boards. You can buy plug and plays from just about anyone now that everyone has already mentioned or buy the boards, heat sinks, and the Meanwell and build it yourself and save at least 25% (up to over 50%) over a manufactured light using the exact same components.
If you build yourself you can easily leave the Meanwell outside the tent (instead of having it with the boards) to reduce the heat inside. Manufactured ones void the warranty if you move the transformer off of the light.
Moving the power supply shouldn't be a show-stopper for most sellers. I'd have to check, but I think one of my mars Hydro units has a longish cable set for that purpose, and has made posts & YouTube videos showing how to use longer ones on some of their products. I've also seen at least one other of the LED advertisers mention that they could include longer than standard wiring.
But it is something to check before making the purchase, and a good point to have brought up. Never assume that any change done to a product won't void its warranty, even when that change is small, straightforward, and non-damaging.
But it is something to check before making the purchase, and a good point to have brought up. Never assume that any change done to a product won't void its warranty, even when that change is small, straightforward, and non-damaging.
Nunyabiz
Well-Known Member
Mars Hydro and Budget have some nice ones if you want something off the shelf.
I would build a 4x4 light to fit your tent, you could do a single light 4x4 at 650 watts for about $700 I think.
I would build a 4x4 light to fit your tent, you could do a single light 4x4 at 650 watts for about $700 I think.
r0am1ng st0ner
Well-Known Member
I asked MARS if they have extensions and they said if I wanted they could ask the engineers about what wires I could use
Elvin
Banned Troll
Just match the gauge of the wire to what the Meanwell uses or go higher. I grabbed a spool of copper 16 gauge from my dad who had a contract to make wiring looms for trailers and even though it was much more than what the Meanwell had coming out of it, it worked of course.
If it's a production light, I'd definitely make sure the warranty is OK (save the email) prior to moving it even though it should not matter, but then I've seen what some people can do and it does scare me to death when it involves electricity in a wet environment.
I think the Meanwell is 18ga stranded wire if I remember correctly.
Dont need to move drivers. I've been running mine above my lamps for years. All meanwell drivers. Yes they get hot driven 100% full tilt. I have clip fans and air handling (6" vent fan with filter and several fans larger than clip fans. The clip fans I run at the drivers they come on with the lighting.
It would be nice to have them mounted somewhere so that I could have 1 fan on several drivers. Thats a "nice" thing but not a requirement.
Dont need to move drivers. I've been running mine above my lamps for years. All meanwell drivers. Yes they get hot driven 100% full tilt. I have clip fans and air handling (6" vent fan with filter and several fans larger than clip fans. The clip fans I run at the drivers they come on with the lighting.
It would be nice to have them mounted somewhere so that I could have 1 fan on several drivers. Thats a "nice" thing but not a requirement.
Nunyabiz
Well-Known Member
I have to raise my lights and turn the wattage up just so I can try to get my temps up to 80.
My grow room is usually the coolest room in the house.
My grow room is usually the coolest room in the house.
My mars sp250 has longer cable on it from the factory, they were all made this way, just unbolt the driver. The rep for mars hangs out in the mars thread under the sponsors tab.
That's the kind of thing that's fine to state when discussing something of your own, but tends to not work very well as a blanket statement. They're a source of heat - as you mentioned. If someone's indoor garden has a heat-related issue, it can reasonably be stated that they need to deal with that issue. Now I suppose you could reply that they still wouldn't need to move the things out of their garden space, because they could also lower the temperatures by moving the garden to Barrow, AK or something. But, still, it's not great as a blanket statement.
IMHO.
Edzzed
Well-Known Member
Read up on my sig below. Building your own lights will give you the most bang for the buck. Or you can pay others to build it for you. I had never even heard of drivers when I built mine. Shocked they worked as well as they did. Grow 1 netted me 22 oz with 4 plants, 2nd grow was an oz less with 4 plants on home built leds.
Elvin
Banned Troll
I've found in my case, if they are out of the tent, the tent heat lowers (and I can save money by turning my fans slower) but if you are just recirculating the room that the tent is in air, in and out of the tent, it is pointless to have them there to reduce heat, so I use flexible ducting to go downstairs for the cool air down there and repurposed an old 16 x 20 vent to have a furnace filter to capture stray pollen. That is a big issue in Iowa year-round because of the remnants of WW2 hemp production produces a lot of pollen. You always get a few tiny white unfilled seeds ; annoying is all, given it's only 1 or 2 per dozen jars but the filter helps to prevent more and it stops bugs too.
The main reason why I have that heat source out of the tent is that I like the "Fall colors" that lower temps obtain at the end with some varieties. That hot Meanwell does contribute to the tent's temperature so it had to go.
The GG#4 I'm growing right now turns if it finishes in lower temps and the Purple Kush really turns if it gets cold enough (point the air intake right at that one; closer it is, since the coldest air is closer, the more purple it turns).
