Is LED lighting any good

[Remystemple]

I think until new diodes replaces these ones, the prices will stay the same and who knows when that will happen. Apple releases a new iphone every 18 months lets say, the older model becomes obsolete and devaluates greatly but the “new and improved” version is sold at the same price. Price never drops. Products get replaced with a flashy name and little to no tweaks. I can assure you cobs do a great job and you can get 2 of the same kit from China for the price of 1 here. And if you want to pursuit the “new and improved” you better have deep pockets. I don’t. Hahaha. But of course that’s my take on things.

loving the cob / leds i have now. 3 of the "2000 watt" ones in a 4x8. it's lots of light but i'd like a little more coverage and a little less power usage. but it's funny that their prices are dropping now. probably to keep up with the quantum market and other cheap leds.

 

[Remystemple]

Spider Farmer 2000 should do a 3x4 veg, 2x4 flower for $310
All quality diodes and drivers, and IMO a better spectrum than HLG.

Budget LED 260w series 2 is I think $280
Also with good LM301B diodes and Meanwell driver and 2x4 flower footprint.

These two I think are best options currently for quality boards at good price.

Also can build your own with Photoboost strips to the exact size you need all with highest quality diodes, drivers, and heat sinks.
Probably about the same price but will have better more even coverage.

I think once i understand better what i'm buying i'll start a diy project. right now when i look it's a little confusing as every light looks the same lol. I was looking at some that said LM288 they seemed to be in a better price range. i looked at budget led's site and i have a feeling any savings would be gone from customs and shipping.

 

[CrimsonEcho]

loving the cob / leds i have now. 3 of the "2000 watt" ones in a 4x8. it's lots of light but i'd like a little more coverage and a little less power usage. but it's funny that their prices are dropping now. probably to keep up with the quantum market and other cheap leds.

What’s the true draw on those? Blurples?

 

[Remystemple]

What’s the true draw on those? Blurples?

2 of them (phlizon) draw 450 and 1 (aglex) draws 400


you can see the middle one gives off a little more purple than the 2 on the sides.

 

[CrimsonEcho]

2 of them (phlizon) draw 450 and 1 (aglex) draws 400

Thats very nice. This diy pulls about 450, illuminates a 4x4 tent.

And even from seed with straight 11/13 produces something like this.

I’m not saying that cobs are unbeatable. I’m just saying do you really need to beat them. Hahha.

I’m kidding man. Go for it. Get some qbs i’m sure you will be very happy with them. But take a look at those chinese factories also. Some do good business and the hlgs came from the same suppliers.

I gave up on following the new and improved. I’m too broke to do that. Haha.

 

[Old Salt]

DIY can end up costing far more than a manufactured solution. I could have bought three or four Mars Hydro SP-250s or TS-2000 fixtures for what my 550W DIY COB array cost. That array has 8 COBs on 1' or 30cm centers, and was designed for a 2' X 4' flowering footprint. The COB array has a more even footprint than the Mars lights, and it's much easier to adjust the output. That said, the Mars SP and TS lights were not available when I designed it and ordered the parts. Just be careful, and price out everything you need to build your own before committing to a DIY light. I would highly recommend getting a grow or two completed, before considering building your own.

If you decide to buy a light, go through our sponsors. There is truth in advertising there. Check out what others have accomplished with the lights.

I'll repeat what has been said before. Do not go by the power advertised on the site any of the on-line mega retailers. Many will advertise a 100 X 10W LED light as 1000W, when it draws perhaps 200W from the wall. I knew this when I bought my King X6 Dimmable 1800W COB LED Grow Light, that actually draws 315 watts from the wall for a 2' X 4' tent. I grew four plants in the tent. The two in the middle produced 40% more than the two on the ends. The best harvest was under 8oz or 0.7gm/W with that setup. I'll do far better with the Mars TSL-2000.

 

[Nunyabiz]

I think once i understand better what i'm buying i'll start a diy project. right now when i look it's a little confusing as every light looks the same lol. I was looking at some that said LM288 they seemed to be in a better price range. i looked at budget led's site and i have a feeling any savings would be gone from customs and shipping.

The Spider Farmer 2000 you can buy right on Amazon for $310 with free shipping.
I didn't realize Budget was not in the US.
Overall if I were in the market for a Quantum board type light I'd pick the SF 2000 over the HLG even if it were the same price instead of way cheaper.
It has better spectrum.

Just search Spider Farmer on Amazon

 

[CrimsonEcho]

DIY can end up costing far more than a manufactured solution. I could have bought three or four Mars Hydro SP-250s or TS-2000 fixtures for what my 550W DIY COB array cost. That array has 8 COBs on 1' or 30cm centers, and was designed for a 2' X 4' flowering footprint. The COB array has a more even footprint than the Mars lights, and it's much easier to adjust the output. That said, the Mars SP and TS lights were not available when I designed it and ordered the parts. Just be careful, and price out everything you need to build your own before committing to a DIY light. I would highly recommend getting a grow or two completed, before considering building your own.

If you decide to buy a light, go through our sponsors. There is truth in advertising there. Check out what others have accomplished with the lights.

I'll repeat what has been said before. Do not go by the power advertised on the site any of the on-line mega retailers. Many will advertise a 100 X 10W LED light as 1000W, when it draws perhaps 200W from the wall. I knew this when I bought my King X6 Dimmable 1800W COB LED Grow Light, that actually draws 315 watts from the wall for a 2' X 4' tent. I grew four plants in the tent. The two in the middle produced 40% more than the two on the ends. The best harvest was under 8oz or 0.7gm/W with that setup. I'll do far better with the Mars TSL-2000.

Agreed. And yes if you design the perfect diy it’ll cost more than the most basic plug and plays, or even the mid range ones depending on your design. Mine cost me around 360 dollars. Thats a goood price for a very even light distribution and high intensity.

 

[Remystemple]

The Spider Farmer 2000 you can buy right on Amazon for $310 with free shipping.
I didn't realize Budget was not in the US.
Overall if I were in the market for a Quantum board type light I'd pick the SF 2000 over the HLG even if it were the same price instead of way cheaper.
It has better spectrum.

Just search Spider Farmer on Amazon

yes i like the SF 2000 i just looked it up, is only $420 on amazon ( how fitting lol ) it says a flower cover of 2x4, but 3 would probably be good for a 8x4 i'd think. at least to start. i have a buddy who's willing to give me almost what i paid for my led's once his space is set up. i think this might go in my wish list.

 

[Nunyabiz]

I am in process (backordered parts) of building two lights right now.
Best available diodes, Samsung LM301B and Cree XP-G3 photo red.
768 of the LM301Bs and 32 of the Cree XP-G3.
Top of the line heat sinks, Meanwell drivers and going to be 2x2 in size to fit my 2 x 5 space with wall to wall even coverage of about 900 PPFD .

Each light will draw 330w from the wall and the two of them will put out more PPF than a DE 1000w HPS.
I will most likely need to dim them slightly until mid to late flower.

Cost looks like it's going to be about $400 each for 330w.
But they will probably be the last lights I'll ever need to buy.

 

[Nunyabiz]

yes i like the SF 2000 i just looked it up, is only $420 on amazon ( how fitting lol ) it says a flower cover of 2x4, but 3 would probably be good for a 8x4 i'd think. at least to start. i have a buddy who's willing to give me almost what i paid for my led's once his space is set up. i think this might go in my wish list.

Its $309 when I look at it.

They have a 100w, 200w and 400w
$180, $309, $599

 

[Remystemple]

Its $309 when I look at it.

i'm looking at amazon.ca our dollar sucks

 

[Old Salt]

i'm looking at amazon.ca our dollar sucks

Wait a month or two and our dollar will go up due to the unrest in the Middle East.

 

[Remystemple]

I am in process (backordered parts) of building two lights right now.
Best available diodes, Samsung LM301B and Cree XP-G3 photo red.
768 of the LM301Bs and 32 of the Cree XP-G3.
Top of the line heat sinks, Meanwell drivers and going to be 2x2 in size to fit my 2 x 5 space with wall to wall even coverage of about 900 PPFD .

Each light will draw 330w from the wall and the two of them will put out more PPF than a DE 1000w HPS.
I will most likely need to dim them slightly until mid to late flower.

Cost looks like it's going to be about $400 each for 330w.
But they will probably be the lights I'll ever need to buy.

so you're waiting for all the parts to be in stock? did you order all that from the same place? because even tho i'm total noob about this, next time i upgrade i also want it to be my last time. so even if it takes me the next 6 months to figure out / learn and decide what i want that's fine.

prebuilt is great and all but you can get so much more out of anything if you diy.

 

[Nunyabiz]

so you're waiting for all the parts to be in stock? did you order all that from the same place? because even tho i'm total noob about this, next time i upgrade i also want it to be my last time. so even if it takes me the next 6 months to figure out / learn and decide what i want that's fine.

prebuilt is great and all but you can get so much more out of anything if you diy.

Waiting on the Photoboost Strips.
I can get everything else right now.
I have the Light Strips ordered and the heat sinks.
I have the thermal tape and 18ga wire sitting in my Amazon cart just ready to click.
I can get the Meanwell drivers pretty much anytime from numerous places, will just pick the one with lowest price that week.
Strips are supposed to be in within a couple weeks.

 

[Remystemple]

Waiting on the Photoboost Strips.
I can get everything else right now.
I have the Light Strips ordered and the heat sinks.
I have the thermal tape and 18ga wire sitting in my Amazon cart just ready to click.
I can get the Meanwell drivers pretty much anytime from numerous places, will just pick the one with lowest price that week.
Strips are supposed to be in within a couple weeks.

do you know if the chips in the tsw 2000 mars light are of high quality? they don't list what kind they are in the specs.

 

[Nunyabiz]

This is real close to what I am building.
I am going to have mine evenly spaced, will have same amount of strips (8) although I am most likely on mine going to have the two bars (strips and heatsinks) on one end be adjustable to where I can drop them down vertical for side lighting or keep them flat like it is in video.
I believe these are the most efficient light and configuration that you currently buy.

 

[Nunyabiz]

do you know if the chips in the tsw 2000 mars light are of high quality? they don't list what kind they are in the specs.

They are good quality, not the best, but certainly not the worst either.
You have 3 diode manufacturers that are in general considered the highest quality.
Samsung, Cree, Osram
Mars uses Epistar which is good quality, nothing wrong with them, just aren't top of the line.
I think the Epistar in the TS 2000 is 2.3 umols/j
The Strips are 2.8 umols/j

And like all lights that are the Quantum Board type configuration you get a hot spot in the center that's like 900PPF
But the edges are like 350 to 450 PPF

Strip lights are spread much more evenly.
I should have maybe 950 in center and probably 750 on edges.

 

[DTHEREID]

Thats very nice. This diy pulls about 450, illuminates a 4x4 tent.

And even from seed with straight 11/13 produces something like this.

I’m not saying that cobs are unbeatable. I’m just saying do you really need to beat them. Hahha.

I’m kidding man. Go for it. Get some qbs i’m sure you will be very happy with them. But take a look at those chinese factories also. Some do good business and the hlgs came from the same suppliers.

I gave up on following the new and improved. I’m too broke to do that. Haha.

If those are your plants I’d say that diy light works beautifully! Where would one pick up something with a similar spectrum to what you are running there? No need to try and beat that, incredible buds!

 

[CrimsonEcho]

If those are your plants I’d say that diy light works beautifully! Where would one pick up something with a similar spectrum to what you are running there? No need to try and beat that, incredible buds!

Thanks. Yeah that’s my tent man. 2 6500K 70 cri, 6 4000K 80 cri, 10 3000K 90cri cree cxb1830s on 3 aluminium slabs. Driven by meanwell low efficiency drivers so the actual pull fromt he wall is 480w. 450w after driver loss. 1 watt pc fans for each cob and it stay cool. 18w for fans. Or one bigger fan on each half of the aluminium slab etc. That’s it. 500w total. I’m actually impressed by how this basic design works so well.