Jon705's First Attempt at Organic SuperSoil Featuring TopLED's New COB LED Panel

I just cant wait to get my new COB 6 piece on Monday. Then I can start adding more then just hypotheticals to discussion.

Right now my biggest concern with buying a Chinese light is long term quality. LEDs supposed to last so long hoping it can hold up. But dam the price is so right. each Cob unit has 30 3 W diodes being driven at 1.6 W a diode, so that is 48 ACTUAL Watts per unit. So my light will draw ~300 W with 540 W rated diodes. USA made light with 300 W diodes, probably drawing ~200 are usually more then twice the price.

So to me the question becomes, how much premium am I willing to pay for USA made? And how much better are the USA made lights going to be, both initial and long-term quality? If I had more $$$ i would go USA made, but since I do not I broke down and got the 6-piece TopLED COB. If, for example, I was making 100K a year instead of 60K/year, I probably would have gone with a USA made light. Even then you have to watch out because there are companies that claim it USA made, but in actuality they just buying from Chinese manufacturer.

It is a tough choice IMO and hopefully I can learn some things about it, along with the other early users like Jon705, and then pass this info on to other 420 members so they can make a more educated decision then I did.
 
Crawdaddy would you mind explaining why you choose the COB style light over the 5w unit? What is the trade off? I still don't understand. I've heard COB runs hotter and may have better penetration for some reason I don't yet understand.
 
Crawdaddy said:
I just cant wait to get my new COB 6 piece on Monday. Then I can start adding more then just hypotheticals to discussion.

Right now my biggest concern with buying a Chinese light is long term quality. LEDs supposed to last so long hoping it can hold up. But dam the price is so right. each Cob unit has 30 3 W diodes being driven at 1.6 W a diode, so that is 48 ACTUAL Watts per unit. So my light will draw ~300 W with 540 W rated diodes. USA made light with 300 W diodes, probably drawing ~200 are usually more then twice the price.

So to me the question becomes, how much premium am I willing to pay for USA made? And how much better are the USA made lights going to be, both initial and long-term quality? If I had more $$$ i would go USA made, but since I do not I broke down and got the 6-piece TopLED COB. If, for example, I was making 100K a year instead of 60K/year, I probably would have gone with a USA made light. Even then you have to watch out because there are companies that claim it USA made, but in actuality they just buying from Chinese manufacturer.

It is a tough choice IMO and hopefully I can learn some things about it, along with the other early users like Jon705, and then pass this info on to other 420 members so they can make a more educated decision then I did.
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That's what I was talking about do what is right for you!
 
Crawdaddy said:
I just cant wait to get my new COB 6 piece on Monday. Then I can start adding more then just hypotheticals to discussion.

Right now my biggest concern with buying a Chinese light is long term quality. LEDs supposed to last so long hoping it can hold up. But dam the price is so right. each Cob unit has 30 3 W diodes being driven at 1.6 W a diode, so that is 48 ACTUAL Watts per unit. So my light will draw ~300 W with 540 W rated diodes. USA made light with 300 W diodes, probably drawing ~200 are usually more then twice the price.

So to me the question becomes, how much premium am I willing to pay for USA made? And how much better are the USA made lights going to be, both initial and long-term quality? If I had more $$$ i would go USA made, but since I do not I broke down and got the 6-piece TopLED COB. If, for example, I was making 100K a year instead of 60K/year, I probably would have gone with a USA made light. Even then you have to watch out because there are companies that claim it USA made, but in actuality they just buying from Chinese manufacturer.

It is a tough choice IMO and hopefully I can learn some things about it, along with the other early users like Jon705, and then pass this info on to other 420 members so they can make a more educated decision then I did.
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I'm with you crawdaddy, I was worried about buying Chinese led lights . what makes leds worth the cost is that they have a huge lifespan with no maintenance costs. main thing when buying leds is warranty . make sure you get a company that stands by their warranty.

thats why I ended up buying Advanced leds . they have spectacular customer service, found out first hand . and USA made. all 3w and 10w top of the line diodes. 3 year warranty.

they have a new COB light that I will be beta testing in a couple of months that has interchangeable modules that you can change to change spectrums. four different spectrum modules to choose from.

I have to say their lights are well built with quality parts, ie fans and switches, and customer service is awesome.

worth a few more hundred to last the long run.:)


:Namaste:
 
LED Acolyte said:
Crawdaddy would you mind explaining why you choose the COB style light over the 5w unit? What is the trade off? I still don't understand. I've heard COB runs hotter and may have better penetration for some reason I don't yet understand.
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Simple answer, cause it newer tech, and I a techie so I always want the newest. Could be a mistake but only time will tell.
 
Crawdaddy said:
Simple answer, cause it newer tech, and I a techie so I always want the newest. Could be a mistake but only time will tell.
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I totally understand that I'm typically the same way. I'm asking because I'm about to buy a unit and I'm still confused about the COB technology. Like Jon said there appear to be no grows with a COB light but I don't even understand what they are trying to achieve with these lights. It's presented as an option with no clear pros and a possible con in that it runs hotter I guess? And yet...I'm still interested because it's the new one. I can be so simple minded sometimes.

Another possible downside I see in the COB light is if one of those diodes fail you have to replace 29 other functioning diodes to fix it. With the more traditional style panels even if the manufacturer can't\won't deal with you you can service it yourself by buying a diode for 3 bucks and soldering it in yourself even with basic skills. I know I could anyway these lights are pretty simple. That being said I'm happy you bought one so I can see how it goes.
 
shottafire said:
we need a dislike or a thumbs down feature for the internet explorers.
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Nah that would create a lot of friction. Plenty of times members disagree & they explain why. With a DISLIKE button there would be a lot of dislikes without explanations & if a member particular had a bad vibe for another member (which I'm sure some do for me):;): instead of avoiding them they would post DISLIKEs on every post they made. Bottom line: that would disrupt the harmony.
 
i was just posting info i came across on a few led sites about grow lights using chip on board tech, so your saying saras lights dont have lenses that direclt the light where it needs to be, i thought they would all be pretty much the same as this would give maximum penetration without wasting light up the walls,

my bad
 
ok cool,

sorry for posting some wrong info, i would of thought that most grow lights would be the same tech, the other cob led's dont state they have lenses instead of reflectors so you have to search around to find that info, so you wouldnt really know unless you bought the product if it came with a lense or not without asking the seller direct, i wonder how much difference the lense would make.

im following along a few led grows on this site and another as it might be my best option when i set up my other rooms, at the minute im running a 400 watt dual spec hps for flower and my veg room is just cfl at the minute but unless the lights are close the plants stretch like crazy under cfl and side branches dont seem to want to grow, so im always adjusting the cfls every couple of days to keep them in the right distance from plant, a cfl will light up a whole room in your house but to grow with the 30watt ones are pretty useless after about 4 inches from plant, ive used cfls for 3 years or more now so know where they work best and what distance, so this is why im looking into leds as it would help with temps in the summer and may help me cut power costs, i dont want to be running 2 hid lights plus cfls for seedlings and clones.
 
Broke Ass Reg said:
Nah that would create a lot of friction. Plenty of times members disagree & they explain why. With a DISLIKE button there would be a lot of dislikes without explanations & if a member particular had a bad vibe for another member (which I'm sure some do for me):;): instead of avoiding them they would post DISLIKEs on every post they made. Bottom line: that would disrupt the harmony.
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true. I am not trying to be an a-hole brokeassreg. I am blown away at some of the info that gets passed by people on this site though.
 
Shot, that's why I never just take the 1st answer & have a few members opinions that I favor more towards. Also I read a lot of the how tos in the GROW ROOM section before I make any final decisions. I keep notes in my blog of post that I think will benefit me in the near future & when I sub to someone's journal I always find the time to go back & start from post 1 so any obstacles they went through I might be ready for. I read so much here I believe I've forgotten more than I remember & even if I believe I know the next step I'll still ask the questions. I'm the guy who never seen a cannabis plant in real life until 3 months ago & it was my 1st plant. It's like school all over again, I was a class clown but still made straight A's. You see me joking & carrying on but what you don't see is when I'm reading damn near everything on this site. The majority of it I don't quit grasp but little by little more & more makes sense.

Your not being an a-hole, you just don't want members like me to snatch & run with bad info & for that I thank you.
 
LED Acolyte said:
Another possible downside I see in the COB light is if one of those diodes fail you have to replace 29 other functioning diodes to fix it. With the more traditional style panels even if the manufacturer can't\won't deal with you you can service it yourself by buying a diode for 3 bucks and soldering it in yourself even with basic skills. I know I could anyway these lights are pretty simple. That being said I'm happy you bought one so I can see how it goes.
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The power rail for the LED cluster in a COB would be parallel like the standard grid arrangement ones so a dead diode won't kill an array.
 
LED Acolyte said:
Are there any good ones using these brand of lights in particular? Has anyone had them long enough to do a full cycle yet?
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im a couple weeks at most from finishing a full grow from seedlng & clone to harvest in the 9th week on 2 plants im really liking what im seeing im growing in soil high brix in 1 gallon containers smartpots, right off i know i would have done better had i used coco and reg ferts or larger pots as high brix does not work as well in small containers i know the next run will be much better,but i think the results of this grow will be very satisfactory ive never seen so many trichs per sq inch
Harley001 said:
Let me say Top LED is not driving their 5 watt diodes with as many watts as is CLW. When comparing apples to apples ie 5W diodes the diodes being driven by more watts will be brighter and BID does your MARs II have a veg switch and UVB ????????? Everyone needs to make their own decision. I don't know of any better people than Jon, BID and Buck to do the tests before buying read their Journals.
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no switches, great penetration i think it has some uvb that or 2 strategically places dead diodes, thank you for the vote of confidence:high-five:
 
Nerfbane said:
Nope, but it's less of a panic trigger that way and won't have much of an effect while you get a replacement light sorted.
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I'm not understanding the point you are trying to make. I think there are a few points worth considering on the subject of servicing and as I see it none of them are in favor of the COB. First there is cost; an entire array is obviously going to cost a lot more than a single diode to replace should something fail. Second there is availability; a single 5w epistar is something I can source myself easily where as a COB array that's going to fit in my light and be in the spectrum I need...I'm pretty locked in with the manufacturer there.

I'm not trying to boohoo the COB lights. If they are better I will certainly buy them. I am just trying to objectively understand them.
 
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