Well, fellow growers and 420Mag readers ...
I have uncomfortable news.
I started this journal, in part, to document an LED panel from Intelligent-Gro. Unfortunately, over the period of time that I've owned my 540Watt 6 module panel, and even before I got it, I've seen product failures. The first was BID, who lost multiple modules in his test of the lights, as well as Icemud, who had trouble with his first ones. Intelligent-Gro then followed with a SeriesII which was supposed to have cured the weakness. It had higher power COBs and a broadened spectrum, too. The best part was the 3-channel programmable dimming function, providing timed intensity of Red, Blue and Full spectrum. Very groovy stuff! It has a solid warranty and a 50,000 hour lifetime. I've been entirely pleased with the results.
But ...
It appears that the current driver and power supply aren't not sufficiently robust. My panel developed one module that would flash on and off, about a second per cycle. I'd look in the room and once or twice a month it'd just be flashing. I'd turn it off and back on and it was fine. That went on for a months. Then it started happening more often, then daily, then constant. So David sent me an entirely new replacement panel. Yay!
But ... that panel failed, too. I now have a COB and diodes that don't light at all. This happened after just a couple months. At the same time mine failed, Jandre also posted a failure, and one other member whose name I'm embarrassed to have forgotten. Then Squeeg started
his thread about Intelligent-Gro. As I think over the people on 420Mag who've used this light, I can't recall one that didn't have a failure.
Along the way, David's personal relations skills have earned him a ban from posting on 420, and now a total ban. Under those circumstances, this journal has to be closed. David, after some more display of his dazzling PR, has agreed to send me the parts to fix the module myself. I haven't yet heard that anything has been shipped, and I intended to wait until then to wrap this up, but every day it stays open is a promotion for Intelligent-Gro, which is no longer possible on this forum.
It's a nice panel folks, but the design is prone to failure. Caveat Emptor.