Amare Technologies: Questions, Answers & Results

I got about 14 oz from each of my couple harvests, probably about the same for my third coming up. Wish I had a light mover.
I used to switch the UVB manually, but that was a huge pita obviously. Setting it up on a 2nd timer is more reliable and allows you to customize the hours to be during the peak of the day. But in the end I decided it wasn't hurting to be on longer so now I just have it come on with the main timer for 12/12 once the flowers start producing trichomes.
Oh, and the UVB WILL re-veg your plants if left on overnight. ;)

I finally got a lux meter and a par meter recently. I've been dying to be able to measure different panels and find out how they compare over cubic areas. I'll be graphing out the PAR and LUX of the SE450 at different heights and widths. As well as Mars II and Reflector series panels. Stay tuned.

@Amare, Is there a reason that LED manufacturers do not publish PAR graphs? I know some do, but I'd think it would be an industry standard to offer comparative data. Is PAR an adequate comparison across LED's, or does it get more advanced than measuring the flux between 400-700nm? Would an LED + CoB panel be measured differently?
 
If I have the light on a timer, then I wont have to turn the UVB on and off, would I?
 
ItsNatural said:
If I have the light on a timer, then I wont have to turn the UVB on and off, would I?
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No, there are two plugs. One for uvb and one for the LEDS, you can put them all on the same timer or use two timers like I do.

Per Victor:
We recommend putting the UV-b on a separate timer and have it on for the first 10 hours of the photo-period once pistils appear and run it throughout the flowering cycle to harvest. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Cheers!

Victor
 
Well my light is officially on its way. I had no idea that this was coming from China. I honestly thought this was an American company. Oh well. As long as its a good quality light thats not guaranteed to tear up, its all good. Not sure why I thought it was based in the US.


@overlord...Thanks for the info and time. I really do appreciate it. Im sure I sound annoying with the 100 ???s but I just like to know everything I can before hand. And you dont know until you ask.

Has anyone really noticed a difference using the UVB? The UVB isnt actually what sold me on the light. It was the Warranty. I think alot of times you can look at the warranty and tell if a company has faith in its product. The worse the warranty. The more likely the product is going to tear up, and fast. But thats just my simple way of looking at things. And the fact that Jaymu and a couple others have been using it for a while now. Not sure exactly how long. Over a year and several grows. And as far as I know, nothing has tore up.
 
ItsNatural said:
Has anyone really noticed a difference using the UVB? The UVB isnt actually what sold me on the light. It was the Warranty. I think alot of times you can look at the warranty and tell if a company has faith in its product. The worse the warranty. The more likely the product is going to tear up, and fast. But thats just my simple way of looking at things. And the fact that Jaymu and a couple others have been using it for a while now. Not sure exactly how long. Over a year and several grows. And as far as I know, nothing has tore up.
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Their warranty is pretty stellar. Gives a lot of peace of mind. Still consider if something breaks down tho your options are to either send it in and be w/o a light for a couple weeks, or to get the part shipped to you and do the repair yourself. I noticed you shipped your mars for repairs, but I'd recommend trying to do the repairs yourself if you wanna save yourself time and money.

I've had to open my SE450 twice since getting it - once initially to replace a bad LED that never turned on. And the second time was to upgrade the CoB drivers to run the CoB's at higher power so the panel would actually draw ~450 watts. Both repairs took about 15 minutes from start to completion. The components are pretty much all plug-and-play so if an LED goes bad they'll just send you an entire new array of 10 in the disc to swap in and you don't have to do any soldering.

Hard to say how much the UVB helps, or how deep in the canopy it helps. But my colas near the center look very frosty. Maybe someone has two SE450's out there and will do a side-by-side grow of clones under UVB and without.

ItsNatural said:
Well my light is officially on its way. I had no idea that this was coming from China. I honestly thought this was an American company. Oh well. As long as its a good quality light thats not guaranteed to tear up, its all good. Not sure why I thought it was based in the US.
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Yea, a little misleading that they say it's designed by a Cali grower and based in the U.S. Still manufactured in Shenzhen though, along with like 70% of America's electronics. Not really sure how much of their operation is in U.S. Even some of the customer service emails hint at non-primary English. Not that it really matters. But I always wonder how much the price gets jacked up after it's been manufactured in Shenzhen and then shipped from Cali. Mars is located in the same city and with similar technology, but manage to keep budget prices.
 
anyone know if I can start my seeds and early veg with just the small LEDs on? Cobs off? Im assuming yes.
 
ItsNatural said:
anyone know if I can start my seeds and early veg with just the small LEDs on? Cobs off? Im assuming yes.
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Great! Yes, you can veg all the way through with the surrounding 5w monochromes. Depending on the size of your plants, if you feel you need more coverage and intensity, you can also run the COB for explosive growth with larger plants of 12"+. Veg @20-22" with monochrome only or @24" with combined COB and mono's.

We recommend putting the UV-b on a separate timer and have it on for the first 10 hours of the photo-period once pistils appear and run it throughout the flowering cycle to harvest. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Cheers!

Victor

NOTE: This was a question I asked Victor regarding the SE450.
 
So how long do you all usually grow with only the LEDs on before you kick on the Cobs? Better yet, about what size plant? Are we talking a few nodes, or can it be used through most of the vet cycle? Halfway? Thanks in advance for the info and help and my apologies if this has already been answered.
 
So I took those PAR readings of the SE-450 at different heights in a 4x4. Got all the data typed up to share with you guys. I made a chart of the 4x4 area split into 6"x6" squares, and took a reading at the center of each square. I did this for every 6 inches of height as well. I did this so I could visualize exactly how much radiation is hitting each area of the canopy so I can determine the best height and area to use these LED's in.

These tests were done with both monochromes and cobs turned on. First test was without optional cob lenses; second, with.

SE450_PPFD.png
SE450L_PPFD.png


I also took measurements on my Mars 1200 but that's not as relevant here. Can see my testing thread for the specs on that light.
PPFD Measurements & Analysis for LEDs

I also averaged the PPFD readings for each height so I could see how much intensity is lost as the light spreads over a greater area when the panel is raised.

avg_ppfd.png


Based on my amateur testing, the results suggest that the most efficient way to use the SE450 is with the lenses on, so long as you can keep the panel at least 30" above your canopy. Any closer than 30" and the radiation is too intense in the center and would burn your plants. Without lenses on, the SE450 can be hung as close as 18". The average PPFD with lenses at 30" is higher than the average without lenses at 18", so you get more light per area with lenses on.

The other thing my results seem to show is that these panels are not as strong in a 4x4' as they're marketed to be. Optimal amount of light will depend on a lot of factors, but suggested ranges are between 800-1200 PPFD for flowering cannabis. These panels only achieve that range at their minimum heights, directly beneath the frames, or in approximately a 2x2' area.

The SE450 w/ lenses is the only panel that seems suitable for flowering a 3x3' area, where at 30" the average PPFD is 713. This seems to be the most efficient height and space to use the SE450. Any wider or higher and PAR drops off dramatically.
 
damn...Thats definitely not what I wanted to hear after dropping a thousand dollars on it. I had my search down to this and the Black Diamond Goliath. The goliath had much better readings than this. but is also so heavy it needs a brace. Oh well. They money is spent now. Nothing to be done but to enjoy the light and get the most out of it.

ps...this data would suggest that they are selling a light made for at best a 3x3. DAMNNNN IT!
 
Versai said:
So I took those PAR readings of the SE-450 at different heights in a 4x4. Got all the data typed up to share with you guys. I made a chart of the 4x4 area split into 6"x6" squares, and took a reading at the center of each square. I did this for every 6 inches of height as well. I did this so I could visualize exactly how much radiation is hitting each area of the canopy so I can determine the best height and area to use these LED's in.

These tests were done with both monochromes and cobs turned on. First test was without optional cob lenses; second, with.

SE450_PPFD.png
SE450L_PPFD.png


I also took measurements on my Mars 1200 but that's not as relevant here. Can see my testing thread for the specs on that light.
PPFD Measurements & Analysis for LEDs

I also averaged the PPFD readings for each height so I could see how much intensity is lost as the light spreads over a greater area when the panel is raised.

avg_ppfd.png


Based on my amateur testing, the results suggest that the most efficient way to use the SE450 is with the lenses on, so long as you can keep the panel at least 30" above your canopy. Any closer than 30" and the radiation is too intense in the center and would burn your plants. Without lenses on, the SE450 can be hung as close as 18". The average PPFD with lenses at 30" is higher than the average without lenses at 18", so you get more light per area with lenses on.

The other thing my results seem to show is that these panels are not as strong in a 4x4' as they're marketed to be. Optimal amount of light will depend on a lot of factors, but suggested ranges are between 800-1200 PPFD for flowering cannabis. These panels only achieve that range at their minimum heights, directly beneath the frames, or in approximately a 2x2' area.

The SE450 w/ lenses is the only panel that seems suitable for flowering a 3x3' area, where at 30" the average PPFD is 713. This seems to be the most efficient height and space to use the SE450. Any wider or higher and PAR drops off dramatically.
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have you done any data on the pro4.
 
Se250 is covering the incredible bulk at the moment until it's gone . Just waiting.. and the pro4 is covering 2 grizzly purple kushs. I wish I had the hieght to put the lenses on.
 
ItsNatural said:
damn...Thats definitely not what I wanted to hear after dropping a thousand dollars on it. I had my search down to this and the Black Diamond Goliath. The goliath had much better readings than this. but is also so heavy it needs a brace. Oh well. They money is spent now. Nothing to be done but to enjoy the light and get the most out of it.

ps...this data would suggest that they are selling a light made for at best a 3x3. DAMNNNN IT!
Click to expand...
Hey natural how long have you had your se450
 
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