Need some LED advice.

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by Mr. French, Nov 22, 2015.

  1. Setting up a new tent (first grow in 16 years, a lot has changed). Likely 24x48, possibly 48x48. Everything hinges on my being able to use LED lighting. I simply wont be able to keep a 600w hps temps under control. My area will allow for exhausting into a filter, but not a separate exhaust dedicated to cooling the light. Plus the noise from a HID won't fly. Basically it's LED or nothing. My budget is roughly $500. The more I read about LEDs, the less I fell like I know.

    I was thinking this Mars hydro 720w for 24x48 or 960 if I go 48x48.

    MarsHdyro Reflector 240W 480W 720W 960W LED Grow Light Veg Flower Switchable Spectrum(720W) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XBYHOTC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_zrxuwbFZC5VSK

    Anyone use these? Love them? Hate them? Know something better in the $500 range?
     
  2. Apparently you have not looked in thee LED Forums


    see LEDs:Separating the Wheat from the Chaff


     
  3. Agree with Peflora above. Definitely do your research before you buy any light. The only drawback with the LEDs is their price. In order to get one of decent quality, you're going to have to drop some bucks. For a 4 ft. wide tent, you're going to have to go a 700 watt or higher to get total coverage. They all claim to have more actual coverage area than they really do, so don't get over ambitious about the number of plants you think you will be able to flower inside the tent under one light. With a $500 budget, you're going to be limited as to how big an LED you can actually get. A lot of people use the Mars Hydro II lights on here and there is a thread dedicated only to those who do use that type of light. I've never used that brand personally and don't really plan on it in the future since I don't like the idea of spending big money on cheaply made lights from China. I'll save my money until I can buy one made in America that I know is top notch. I've bought too many things twice since I started growing because I didn't do my homework. Do the reading, compare the brands of lights and then figure out which is best for you. TWW
     
  4. I've gone through it peflora, and I appreciate all if the time and data inside of it. Admittedly, I didn't make it through the entire thread. I feel like the more I read about LEDs the less I know, I get lost in the controllers, diodes, etc.

    TWW, thank you those were the things I needed to know. I would rather not deal with overseas companies for this much of an investment. I was also unsure the actual amount of led watts I would need for the sized tents I am looking at. I will look for the Mars 2 threads just for the sake of it. My total budget is $1000, but I have to get everything with that and didn't want to drop too much on a light and shortchange myself on quality of tent, vent fans, odor control etc. 500 may have been a little frugal, I could probably bump it up to 700 but would have to get everything else under 300 (which is likely doable).

    So much has changed since my last grow and there is so much more information (and disinformation) now. I'm new to the forum and am starting to find my way around it better, I appreciate the info though.
     
  5. A quality fan and filter will eat up $300+ not leaving anything left over for the rest of your supplies if you bump your light budget up.
     
  6. Ugh, I know. I think I could come close though.
     
  7. Buy a 4 x 4 tent BUT only use half of it. Check out Amare Tech SS 150 or 260


    When money permits, you can add more lights and grow more plants

     
  8. I could do the 150, but that wouldn't get me through flowering though, would it? The 150 is the wattage isn't it?
     
  9. I'm assuming the company is Mars hydro?
     
  10. You only need ~ 50w (QUALITY par WATTS) per plant: over each is ideal. Reflected light means a lot, which is why I said buy a x 4 but only use half. You can buy 4 x 8 sheets of insulting foam board at Lowes/HD. Bring a knife so you can cut to fit the space and your vehicle
     
  11. It's looking like I'm going to be restricted to 2x4, at least for my first few harvests. Thanks for the info on par watts, I actually just came across similar info but it didn't say how much per plant so good looking out. Out of curiosity, I know you are a fan of amare, I am narrowed down to either the amare ss 150 or the platinum p450. I can find info comparing them to other (mostly Chinese) manufacturers, but little to nothing between the two. If there is little to no difference it will be a matter of warranty, customer service that decides. Curious if you have any input?
     
  12. I would go with the platinum over amare, I've heard amare has trouble competing with an hps even but I've seen tons of journals with the platinums and they're all really good
     
  13. I've recently purchased the one from "Advanced LED Light" called the Diamond Series "DS XML 350"
    It's very pricy, $997 (I got a $100 discount with their promotion, so it was just $897) and free shipping.
    I don't expect to need to buy another one for quote a while,...I hope..!
    The light gives around 17 PAR per watt, so it's said to be good for the tent size I'm using.
    It's also got UV and IR LEDs for better plant growth and flowering (buds and Trichomes)
    It's a full-spectrum light, so just one will work thru the entire grow cycles.


    It's being used in a 2' x 4' x 7.8' Gorilla Tent, and a 300 to 400 watt light was said to work well in that space.
    The DS XML 350 is supposed to take the place of a 600 watt HPS light.


    I originally got the Shorty series tent, only at most 5' 8" , but I saw it wasn't high enough for growing 4' plants, and needing the light to also be from 20 to 24 inches away from the canopy during flowering / vegetating ...and 30 or so inches away during seedling / cloning stage, so I also got the 2' extension for it.


    I was told to go by the actual electric draw from the outlet, for true wattage, rather than the claim of the wattage of light output from the company.
    It takes 330 watts from the electric using 120 vAC
    (I'm using 220/240 vAC so it's actually saving me some money on my electric bill)
    When a 110/120 vAC light takes around 3 amps, and it also works off of 220/240 volts, using it with higher voltage draws half the current from the wall socket. :)
    And ... 2 feet by 4 feet is 8 square feet, giving adequate lighting for that size.


    I've seen videos on YouTube that used that light, in a 3x3 tent, with very good results.
    So 2 x 4 isn't much different in size. With it being one foot less in square foot size, I should get good results.


    If you must have a LED lighting system, don't skimp on the lights quality.
    The Chinese lights don't use quality "first-BIN" LEDs, and the parts are unpredictable on how the light will output over time.
    Also the cheaper lights from china drive the LEDs with higher current, just to be able to say it's a higher wattage light output, but it's actually killing the LEDs faster.


    If you really can't afford the one like I have, the other suggestions here are good, use a smaller space of your tent, and get a smaller good quality LED light for now, and use half the tent for just a few plants for now.
     
  14. I'm pretty much convinced on the platinum p450. I'm going to start with one, then add another after a few harvests. I've seen enough good results from grow journals to convince me.
     
  15. I didn't know that about the voltage/watt draw. Good to know.
     
  16. hi Tom,
    That light choice looks nice too, and being it works with up to 260 vAC you'll be able to use an empty unused 220/240 vAC air conditioner socket you may have, ...to save on your electric usage, as I'm doing with mine. :)


    I just hope the videos on YouTube I saw of others using the one I have ...weren't just sales shills for the company ..!


    Your light choice seems to also have a longer warranty than mine, 5 years, mine is just 3 years where THEY repair it, but mine is a lifetime limited warranty ...what that means is Advanced LED Lights Company will send free parts to me, even after the 3 year warranty is over, I just need to install them myself.


    I do have technical knowledge to do it, so I'm not worried. And the parts are modular based, meaning it's "simple" to remove and re-install.
    I just hope the company never goes out-of-business... Hahaha!


    I'm hoping we will both be satisfied with our LED light choices, and get the bud yields we're looking for...super frosty buds to ya...good-luck..!
     
  17. I have to say, the LED market is nuts. Usually after a bit of reading I can get a firm grasp on what the best for my money. I just saw a video put out comparing platinum to eshine. I had never heard of eshine, but the only difference between the two lights is the platinum had two green bulbs the eshine did not. The internal components, case, were the same. Only difference is platinum is 2x as much $ and eshine only has a three year warranty. Not to mention both lights (according to the video) came from the same address in China. So I guess I have more fact checking to do.
     
  18. Oh yeah...it's really crazy out there involving these LED lights now.


    The ONLY thing that got me to buy the one I decided on, was that "Limited LIFETIME warranty"...after the 3 year period.


    I never really planned to send the light back to repair anyway, unless it really had some major issues during the 3 years - that I didn't want to bother with repairing myself,... and I actually like the fact they allow the customer to open it and change the parts themselves...so I was happy with that arrangement.


    If i do need repairs, and I choose not to do the work myself...during the 3 years, ... the company pays for the shipping both ways, as well as the labor and parts. They decide though, if you need to send it back to them during that time, or if they opt to send you the parts to do it yourself.


    It's still a pain in the "arse" :) to need to wait for it to get there and back, especially during a grow-cycle.


    I was reading about that "eshine" unit you mentioned, when I was researching the one I wanted.
    That's when I found out about some Chinese companies over-driving the LEDs they use, just to say it has a higher output than others.
    Usually, when a company uses 3 watt or 5 watt LEDS or higher watts, they don't drive it at it's full rated wattage.
    If they do, this is what makes the LEDs go bad faster because of heat build-up, and causes the LED to damage it's light output.
    Much like a regular LED you buy at a hobby store, if you put too much voltage / current thru it, it starts to make the color change, and it can burn out sooner, after long use like that.


    If you look on the CREE website, ... and check some of the technical data papers on there, ...you can see that they advise manufactures to not over-drive the LED and to not operate it at it's full wattage rating. So usually a 3 watt LED will have an operating wattage of around 2 watts.
    It will usually be made to operate at 2 thirds of it's rated output, to last 50,000 or more hours.


    Then the other factors are the heat-sinks used, and the power-drivers chosen, plus the special printed circuit board used, as well as how it's being cooled. (Fan or convection cooled)
    It's usually using a Metal-Core printed circuit board, (MCPCB), to help pull the heat from the LED, to the heat-sink.
    (Yes, there's a sheet of metal laminated to the board material used, before it goes to the heat-sink)


    There's so much BULL-do-do on the internet about all these LED lights, you really need to be careful where you buy it from.


    I was also considering getting the one from Spectrum King, http://www.spectrumkingled.com but was turned-off by the company reps double-talking to me in eMail conversations I had with them. Then they started to get nasty with me when I was mentioning their contradicting statements to me.


    So I'd advise you to also try and have some conversations with the company you plan to buy from (the manufacturer not the sales place, .. if not buying directly from the manufacturer). This way you'll also get an idea of what you'd need to go through with the warranty issues, and how they treat you before the sale, by asking LOTS of questions.


    Every company is easy to talk to before the sale...but if they start to "put you off" when you ask questions about their product...it would be time to look elsewhere...because you could be sure they'd act even worse during a warranty issue. :)
     
  19. oh...one more reason I decided on the XML 350 LED light was this users journal at 420 forums, using it.


    Take a look at page 2, and his photos of his buds he got. :) ...YIKES...!! I hope I'm that lucky too..!


    https://www.420magazine.com/forums/completed-journ...


    I'm guessing most quality full-spectrum lights will do the same thing.
     

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