I decided to upgrade my grow space from the 2 stealth boxes I have to a 4x8 tent. I have plans to make my own bar light but have some studying to do before getting into that but I was looking at lighting and was able to get the Vivosun vs4000 for $200 each so I decided to try them out. I was looking at the par map and the edges could better, it got me thinking about why some lights do better then others even with the same diodes, wattage, etc. I know there's a lot at play such as the circuit board itself, diode placement, spectrum, heat sink, drivers, and other things I don't even know about yet. I then started thinking about drivers and I'm wondering if changing the driver on a light could effect the par map in any substantial way? I searched around on google with no luck, can't find where anyone has swapped drivers and tested. I would think if another driver could operate the diodes better than the light could be better but probably not enough to be worth the trouble unless it was quite underpowered before. I would also like some recommendations for single or double supplemental led light bars. I was thinking of adding a bar to each side or 2 on each of the longer sides of the tent, 1 on each side of the shorter side of the tent, and 1 possibly in between each light board. The one between each light board might not be necessary since light will be overlapping anyways. I was thinking of maybe using full spectrum or mixed spectrum sunboards with a remote driver and figure out how to wire for rj11 so I can daisy chain to my other lights and grow controller. Any input is appreciated! Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
On driver swapping: its fairly easy; check out the label (take a photo and post it if need be) for the driver output; it will come up as DC voltage and amps on the driver label. In order to swap the driver out find another driver with same spec and simply connect it to your light, + to + qnd - to -. However, this will only give you same light performance; if the driver is better you might see lower draw at the wall but same light. On a brand like vivosun id defo arvice against picking a more powerfull driver since its like to be too much for the sinking capabilities of the light; these slightly cheaper lights generally arent equipped to handle more power. For diying your own light theres a lot that goes into that. Set a budget and some goals first and look into how to get there. That space should have a minimum of about 1000w of power.
I appreciate the reply and information! There's way to many manufacturers who make lights and then claim specs, ppfd, etc that just isn't true and then you have the people who get paid to make good reviews and on top of that there's way to much incorrect information/advice out there that it can really make it difficult for someone buying grow lights for the first time. I knew I was going to need around 1000 watts for the tent size I'm using but for $200 a piece, I figured I would give the Vivosun vs4000 a shot. I figured worse case, I would have to buy 7 mixed spectrum sunboards (1 on 3 sides of each light, 1 in the middle) and driver and that would add 250-300 more watts for $150-$200, or 1 more of the vs4000 but I think I like the the samsung suboard idea better. I created this thread before receiving the vs4000, I received them over the weekend and hung them up. I was fortunate enough to have a couple friends with ppfd meters, I was able to borrow 3 meters (different brands) to do some testing. In my tests all 3 meters read within 27 of one another and I was surprised when my readings were much better than the par map Vivosun has on their website, this was with both front doors of the tent open so shutting them should generate more light reflection. I arranged my 12 3 gallon buckets in a 3x4 pattern, this arrangement is perfect for the lighting and leaves me a bit of room on both sides of the tent for intake fan, accessories, drain reservoir, etc so I may not need the supplement lighting. While I had the meters, I decided to take ppfd readings of the small light boards in my two 2x2x3 stealth boxes I was growing in before. The readings I gathered were not good at all, I'm very surprised the plants grew as well as they did so based on the readings from the vs4000 and bigger grow space, I should have much better results but I guess we will see. Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk