Jon's ViparSpectra KS3000 Review & Discussion Thread

[Jon]

@ViparSpectra

Hello fellow growers. This is a review forum for the KS3000, but I’d like to open it up a bit. Yes, anyone using the KS3000, I’d love to hear from you here. Please feel free to post photos of your grows featuring this light and any comments you wish to make. Let’s keep it positive, lol.

If you are using a different ViparSpectra light, please feel free to post here as well. It can serve as an interesting contrast if anyone is so inclined.

The idea here is to generate a general light discussion thread that revolves around the KS3000 and othe ViparSpectra lights. All are welcome.

Thanks! Here are some unboxing and hanging photos. There’s also some shots of a plant in veg under the light. I just got this, so I don’t have a ton of review yet. I will say it was well packaged, is easy as hell to hang, is solidly built, and is more than plenty bright in a 3x3, which it covers completely side to side. Ppfd levels are plenty high and seem to conform pretty closely to ViparSpectra’s charts. I really like the way the plants look under it. Very natural.

I also really like the detached driver and keeping it outside the tent. At 100% the driver is pretty warm. Outside the tent is way better.

 

[ViparSpectra]

Thank you for @Jon showcase the ViparSpectra KS3000 to followers. We anticipate more follower who use ViparSpectra led grow lights could share their growing experience/photos with us.

 

[farside05]

@ViparSpectra

Yes, anyone using the KS3000, I’d love to hear from you here. Please feel free to post photos of your grows featuring this light and any comments you wish to make. Let’s keep it positive, lol.

Still early in my first KS3000 grow. I have one sickly seedling that I'm hoping will grow out of it's funk, and 3 lovely ones. Wednesday I'll be transplanting into 5 gallon GroBuckets.

PXL_20230108_211653761.jpg

• farside05
• Jan 8, 2023

 

[Jon]

@ViparSpectra
Is Anyone using the KS3000 in a 3x3?

I am doing just that. It fills the 3x3 perfectly. I have been very impressed so far with the performance of this light. It got me to the flip through veg very well. I guess in part due to how it fills the whole space, but also in part due to the spectrum (very natural) and the way the light is dispersed (very evenly, eliminating hot and cold spots), I got very nice and even growth in veg. Very excited to see how it does now in flower.

Here’s a shot to show how perfect this KS3000 is in a 3x3 and another to show how sweetly it got me to the flip on this Strawberry Haze scrog. Note the evenness of the canopy. In the last picture you can see how much space the light affords you with the driver outside the tent. Note also that even on a bucket the plant has loads of headroom in a 6’6” tall tent.

Bravo ViparSpectra!

Would love to hear/see anyone else’s grow with this or another VioarSpectra light! You guys as happy as I am?

 

[CaptainLucky]

@ViparSpectra
Is Anyone using the KS3000 in a 3x3?

I am doing just that. It fills the 3x3 perfectly. I have been very impressed so far with the performance of this light. It got me to the flip through veg very well. I guess in part due to how it fills the whole space, but also in part due to the spectrum (very natural) and the way the light is dispersed (very evenly, eliminating hot and cold spots), I got very nice and even growth in veg. Very excited to see how it does now in flower.

Here’s a shot to show how perfect this KS3000 is in a 3x3 and another to show how sweetly it got me to the flip on this Strawberry Haze scrog. Note the evenness of the canopy. In the last picture you can see how much space the light affords you with the driver outside the tent. Note also that even on a bucket the plant has loads of headroom in a 6’6” tall tent.

Bravo ViparSpectra!

Would love to hear/see anyone else’s grow with this or another VioarSpectra light! You guys as happy as I am?

That’s a really cool feature the removable driver I wish my light had it. CL

 

[Jon]

ViparSpectra KS3000
RESULTS
@ViparSpectra

Hi fellow growers! Now that the first KS3000 grow is in the books it’s time for some parting thoughts for now. This thread will stay opened for comment and when I begin the next test in June I’ll post that info here as well.

I grew a Strawberry Haze photo in a 3x3 tent in a small scrog in a 7-gallon pot of coco under the KS3000.

In short - this light is great. It has many very solid features. Here’s a brief list:

- excellent build quality
- high end diodes and driver
- detachable driver with nice long cord
- solid and very well built dimmer
- easy to clean and maintain
- superior heat dissipation, especially with the driver removed
- powerful for the size but designed to max out at roughly 1100 ppfd across the canopy, which makes it both easy to use/almost mistake proof AND an excellent light for a first time grower
- perfectly sized for a 3x3
- can veg a 4x4 and flower a 3x3
- extremely even coverage to sides and corners all around
- practically impossible to burn your plants with these lights
- excellent price point
- excellent customer service should you need them
- daisy chain functionality

Wow, that’s a lot of plusses. But how do they actually perform?

In a word: spectacularly.

Here’s a shot of how the light fits perfectly in a 3x3:

ACAF9D04-5F54-42FB-AA47-6FDAC6E461B5.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

Here’s my Strawberry Haze in veg under the light. Note the evenness of growth and the perfect green color - the plant loved the spectrum.

FE1DEC2D-14D4-40FB-BB52-4965F9361A25.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

Here’s how the light did in early flower:

E1507EA9-2D43-462D-A1C9-D1A375E9BF18.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

Here’s late flower:

5C74F1EA-E3E5-41F0-81C4-A7C2FD299794.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

A bud closeup:

92AB0974-C191-43A1-ABF8-57384422C49A.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

And the finished product:

7F5C08C7-4613-44DE-A183-C84CA086CB37.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

My Strawberry Haze is frankly awesome. Dense, frosty, stinky, and the buds were super consistent regardless of their position in the scrog.

Start to finish the light did very well.

Bravo ViparSpectra. I’d love to hear how your plants did under your KS3000. Please feel free to share with us here if you’re so inclined.

Thanks!

 

[CaptainLucky]

ViparSpectra KS3000
RESULTS
@ViparSpectra

Hi fellow growers! Now that the first KS3000 grow is in the books it’s time for some parting thoughts for now. This thread will stay opened for comment and when I begin the next test in June I’ll post that info here as well.

I grew a Strawberry Haze photo in a 3x3 tent in a small scrog in a 7-gallon pot of coco under the KS3000.

In short - this light is great. It has many very solid features. Here’s a brief list:

- excellent build quality
- high end diodes and driver
- detachable driver with nice long cord
- solid and very well built dimmer
- easy to clean and maintain
- superior heat dissipation, especially with the driver removed
- powerful for the size but designed to max out at roughly 1100 ppfd across the canopy, which makes it both easy to use/almost mistake proof AND an excellent light for a first time grower
- perfectly sized for a 3x3
- can veg a 4x4 and flower a 3x3
- extremely even coverage to sides and corners all around
- practically impossible to burn your plants with these lights
- excellent price point
- excellent customer service should you need them
- daisy chain functionality

Wow, that’s a lot of plusses. But how do they actually perform?

In a word: spectacularly.

Here’s a shot of how the light fits perfectly in a 3x3:

ACAF9D04-5F54-42FB-AA47-6FDAC6E461B5.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

Here’s my Strawberry Haze in veg under the light. Note the evenness of growth and the perfect green color - the plant loved the spectrum.

FE1DEC2D-14D4-40FB-BB52-4965F9361A25.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

Here’s how the light did in early flower:

E1507EA9-2D43-462D-A1C9-D1A375E9BF18.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

Here’s late flower:

5C74F1EA-E3E5-41F0-81C4-A7C2FD299794.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

A bud closeup:

92AB0974-C191-43A1-ABF8-57384422C49A.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

And the finished product:

7F5C08C7-4613-44DE-A183-C84CA086CB37.jpeg

• Jon
• Apr 20, 2023

My Strawberry Haze is frankly awesome. Dense, frosty, stinky, and the buds were super consistent regardless of their position in the scrog.

Start to finish the light did very well.

Bravo ViparSpectra. I’d love to hear how your plants did under your KS3000. Please feel free to share with us here if you’re so inclined.

Thanks!

Great job from start to finish Jon and some tasty looking buds to boot . Happy 420 my friend. CL

 

[Outriggerz]

@ViparSpectra

Hello fellow growers. This is a review forum for the KS3000, but I’d like to open it up a bit. Yes, anyone using the KS3000, I’d love to hear from you here. Please feel free to post photos of your grows featuring this light and any comments you wish to make. Let’s keep it positive, lol.

If you are using a different ViparSpectra light, please feel free to post here as well. It can serve as an interesting contrast if anyone is so inclined.

The idea here is to generate a general light discussion thread that revolves around the KS3000 and othe ViparSpectra lights. All are welcome.

Thanks! Here are some unboxing and hanging photos. There’s also some shots of a plant in veg under the light. I just got this, so I don’t have a ton of review yet. I will say it was well packaged, is easy as hell to hang, is solidly built, and is more than plenty bright in a 3x3, which it covers completely side to side. Ppfd levels are plenty high and seem to conform pretty closely to ViparSpectra’s charts. I really like the way the plants look under it. Very natural.

I also really like the detached driver and keeping it outside the tent. At 100% the driver is pretty warm. Outside the tent is way better.

 

[Jon]

Sorry I thought this was shut down. Nobody ever bit on it.

 

[CaptainLucky]

Sorry I thought this was shut down. Nobody ever bit on it.

You ever consider tagging folks? CL

 

[bluter]

Sorry I thought this was shut down. Nobody ever bit on it.

i just saw it now.
i like the dimming built into the driver. not sold on the driver brand, but there's loads of brands out there now.

removable is decent but how hot does the rig get ? i can rest my hand on either the emitter heat sinks or drivers on my current rigs and not have to pull it back. a rig that runs hot has a shorter life span.

i leave my drivers attached, heat isn't an issue in my veg space, but it can be a problem running summer grows in the flower room.

 

[Justin Goody]

I run the XS2000 in a 2x3. Great results so far and runs at a lower temp than my other lights

 

[bluter]

I run the XS2000 in a 2x3. Great results so far and runs at a lower temp than my other lights

what are your other lights ?

kinda surprised the driver needs to be pulled if the rig is only 320watt.

edit : needs to be said the nugs speak for themselves. wanted to be clear on it.

 

[Justin Goody]

what are your other lights ?

kinda surprised the driver needs to be pulled if the rig is only 320watt.

I have a nextlight (360 watts) and a mars hydro (100 w) that both run hotter than either of my ViparSpectra ( xs1500pro and xs2000)

 

[bluter]

I have a nextlight (360 watts) and a mars hydro (100 w) that both run hotter than either of my ViparSpectra ( xs1500pro and xs2000)

i have a 600w old school cob rig i built that i run in a flower 4x4, and a 650w nextlight i got through the board i've been hanging on to for ages.

i like to overpower in flower and use dimming. i have to add dimming to the nextlight but it's not hard. i've been hedging cause i like the cobs since they are flower bias, and i've heard of the heat issue the newer lights encounter.

 

[Justin Goody]

i have a 600w old school cob rig i built that i run in a flower 4x4, and a 650w nextlight i got through the board i've been hanging on to for ages.

i like to overpower in flower and use dimming. i have to add dimming to the nextlight but it's not hard. i've been hedging cause i like the cobs since they are flower bias, and i've heard of the heat issue the newer lights encounter.

Yeah my nextlight is also without dimmer so it gets lots of manual adjustment. Never thought I’d use the dimmers much but now I definitely do

 

[bluter]

Yeah my nextlight is also without dimmer so it gets lots of manual adjustment. Never thought I’d use the dimmers much but now I definitely do

you always want more power than the space and use dimming. a led rig ran at 90% max will double the lifespan with little to no loss in production. yrs ago i used to build and sell rigs local. i've got rigs 10yrs still running.

eidt : it's not hard to add dimming. i'm doing dimming on my nextlight before it gets used.

dimming is next level. it's so much more control.

 

[Jon]

i just saw it now.
i like the dimming built into the driver. not sold on the driver brand, but there's loads of brands out there now.

removable is decent but how hot does the rig get ? i can rest my hand on either the emitter heat sinks or drivers on my current rigs and not have to pull it back. a rig that runs hot has a shorter life span.

i leave my drivers attached, heat isn't an issue in my veg space, but it can be a problem running summer grows in the flower room.

Hey @bluter - I can touch it when it’s at 100%. It would work fine with the driver inside the tent I just prefer to externalize it. But it’s much more to gain a few inches of height than to mitigate heat. I use two in a 2x4 and I can run the tent ambient with no extraction fan. I live in Florida. If that helps.

 

[Jon]

Good light discussion guys, thanks. I agree with much of it. Especially the part about you want more power than necessary and use the dimmer. I have a bunch of lights from really good to pretty good. But I have two nextlights, the 420h (it has a dimmer, I use it in my bedroom closet or a 3x3, it’s in use now with a single Strawberry Banana auto), and I have a new and still in the box unopened nextlight MEGA, (640 watts and has a dimmer). I just bought a 4x4 for the 640 watt nextlight. In my 3 5x5s my three lights are 850, 680, and 650 watts.

 

[Jon]

Hey @bluter - I can touch it when it’s at 100%. It would work fine with the driver inside the tent I just prefer to externalize it. But it’s much more to gain a few inches of height than to mitigate heat. I use two in a 2x4 and I can run the tent ambient with no extraction fan. I live in Florida. If that helps.

Correction here: sorry I was thinking of the KS3000. That has the external driver. The XS1500 Pro does not. But you got the point.