LED Brand Comparison - Which One To Buy

Jarimuana

Jarimuana

New Member
Welcome 420 to the age old debate over LEDs! As LEDs become increasingly popular many of us are switching. I've been growing with CFLs for Germ + Seedling and MH and HPS for Veg + Flower. The time has come to buy an LED panel.

I and many of us have been researching our socks off trying to get our heads around LEDs. What with CoB technology, secondary lenses and spectrums, par and power draw to consider, its become a bit of a headache and I'm sure you will all agree.

A lot of growers have picked their LEDs and are more than happy with their first choices, I would like to hear from you. many other LED users hear will swear by their chosen LED after purchasing and testing multiple brands, I would like to hear from you too.

An increase in demand has encouraged LED competitors to utilize and improve there specs or even change technology all together. The problem is many of the threads and discussions are incomplete or outdated so its hard to reach a conclusion.

Can anybody advise me? CoB technology? secondary lenses? coverage? par outputs? colour spectrums? Detailed reviews of your own LEDs and when they where bought etc?

Thanks 420 much love! :thanks:
 
I like Budmaster LED
 
Perfect Sun LED is another option. People with Platinum tend to have nothing but good things to say about their lights. I believe COB is the way of the future, if you have the money I would look into Timber grow lights. They have DIY options as well as plug and play COB units.
 
I am also looking at Black Diamond/Perfect Sun as my next brand. I started with 2 of the old style mars 300 and they veg like beasts and help trichome production but they lack penetration and the buds seem to be a bit airy which is why i supplement with hid for flower. I am hoping to remove the hid when i get the perfect sun light as ive seen beast grows from start to finish with them.
Great thread as when i first started shopping around for leds the information/misinformation is overwhelming.
 
Lazarus13 said:
I am also looking at Black Diamond/Perfect Sun as my next brand. I started with 2 of the old style mars 300 and they veg like beasts and help trichome production but they lack penetration and the buds seem to be a bit airy which is why i supplement with hid for flower. I am hoping to remove the hid when i get the perfect sun light as ive seen beast grows from start to finish with them.
Great thread as when i first started shopping around for leds the information/misinformation is overwhelming.
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Aye sir the information going around is a joke especially if you like me have come across dozens of fake accounts and reviews slandering other LED competitors. It's hard to know what or who to believe. What sort of prices are you looking at with the Black Diamond Perfect Sun? Haven't heard of either of those brands until now jeez.Thanks for the love

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JuanCarlos said:
Perfect Sun LED is another option. People with Platinum tend to have nothing but good things to say about their lights. I believe COB is the way of the future, if you have the money I would look into Timber grow lights. They have DIY options as well as plug and play COB units.
Click to expand...
For mine and others benefit can you explain more about what Circuit on Board technology is / does?

My concern with platinum is the dimensions and coverage of their lights. The P300 for instance is only 48cm X 13cm and from what I've read the secondary lenses for each diode is 45°? I worry that in a square metre of grow space if I have 9 medium sized plants that the outer 8 plants wouldn't receive sufficient lighting? Have you or anybody else got any experience with the coverage on LEDs?

I don't know if I've made myself very clear lol I'm a little higher than usual right now haha

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Perfect Sun LED is a newer brand of light on the market from a guy who is on here LEDRF. He has had a website for quite some time, growpotcheaply, where he helps others get into growing. He decided that there was an opportunity in the LED market and claims that his lights have a higher average PAR than other lights. He is a grower and has journals around here you can check out. I do not own any of his lights, but I cruise this place quite a bit and there are some very accomplished growers who have his lights and have nothing but good things to say about his lights. Same with Platinum. Mars is a budget light, that's their niche. They have expanded recently with their Cree and Epistar offerings. If you are on a tight budget, Mars is about the best option. If you are going with their old style it is well documented that their diodes burn out, but if you are good at soldering it's hardly an issue as they will send you the parts.
 
Jarimuana said:
For mine and others benefit can you explain more about what Circuit on Board technology is / does?

My concern with platinum is the dimensions and coverage of their lights. The P300 for instance is only 48cm X 13cm and from what I've read the secondary lenses for each diode is 45°? I worry that in a square metre of grow space if I have 9 medium sized plants that the outer 8 plants wouldn't receive sufficient lighting? Have you or anybody else got any experience with the coverage on LEDs?

I don't know if I've made myself very clear lol I'm a little higher than usual right now haha

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Click to expand...

I am no lighting expert and there are great articles about COB lighting all over the internet. COBs use white light instead of a mixture of different colored lights and they are highly efficient as well. They are also a bit more expensive than other LEDs.
 
Jarimuana said:
For mine and others benefit can you explain more about what Circuit on Board technology is / does?

My concern with platinum is the dimensions and coverage of their lights. The P300 for instance is only 48cm X 13cm and from what I've read the secondary lenses for each diode is 45°? I worry that in a square metre of grow space if I have 9 medium sized plants that the outer 8 plants wouldn't receive sufficient lighting? Have you or anybody else got any experience with the coverage on LEDs?

I don't know if I've made myself very clear lol I'm a little higher than usual right now haha

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using 420 Magazine Mobile App
Click to expand...

Most LED's with dual lenses are like this and very directional with very little coverage outside the actual dimensions of the light itself.

Best advice to you is request a PAR measurement chart over a 4'x4' grid at multiple heights. If the company is serious about their coverage area they should be able to provide this. If they don't then most likely they are falsifying their coverage as most of them do.

If you manage to get the PAR charts.. 500+ is what you are looking at for measurements. Anything less than 500 will give you a lower yield and you have chance of airy buds.

Most LED companies will quote their center par only, and then shout it to the world saying "we are the brightest.. or most par or whatever"... most of those companies that do this...stay away as they are clueless about plant lighting measurements because if they knew how silly reciting a center par reading are, and how it apply to nothing, they wouldn't do it.

If a company can give you a 4x4 chart with their PAR measurements, its the only way to truely know how well a light will cover.

Don't believe anything these LED companies say, as almost all of the companies on the market are full of it when it comes to accurate info.
 
Icemud said:
Most LED's with dual lenses are like this and very directional with very little coverage outside the actual dimensions of the light itself.

Best advice to you is request a PAR measurement chart over a 4'x4' grid at multiple heights. If the company is serious about their coverage area they should be able to provide this. If they don't then most likely they are falsifying their coverage as most of them do.

If you manage to get the PAR charts.. 500+ is what you are looking at for measurements. Anything less than 500 will give you a lower yield and you have chance of airy buds.

Most LED companies will quote their center par only, and then shout it to the world saying "we are the brightest.. or most par or whatever"... most of those companies that do this...stay away as they are clueless about plant lighting measurements because if they knew how silly reciting a center par reading are, and how it apply to nothing, they wouldn't do it.

If a company can give you a 4x4 chart with their PAR measurements, its the only way to truely know how well a light will cover.

Don't believe anything these LED companies say, as almost all of the companies on the market are full of it when it comes to accurate info.
Click to expand...
Thanks to yourself and Mr. JuanCarlos I feel a lot better informed than I've felt throughout my research. You guys really know what your talking about and your expertise has not gone unappreciated Thanks guys.

As you both seem non bias and reputable do you mind listing your top 3 trusted LED brands that offer good coverage spectrum and par? Maybe in order of budget? Bump to you both sirs *bow*

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Icemud is better equipped to answer that question as he has actual experience with a ton of lights, not just LEDs. My information comes from reading mainly aside from seeing a few things from friends experiences (such as the Mars old style burning diodes). I will say that Neil from Perfect Sun has a video where you can watching him take PAR readings for his Goliath light I believe it is. COB LED there is some great information out there, if you search "diy cob led" you will find tons of articles to read and gain information from.
 
There is a member her named Fanleaf. He has a very impressive setup. I hope he gets news of this thread so he can delight us with his DIY skills :D

What are your thoughts on the UV and IR diodes available on some LEDs? Same question to Mud thanks again guys

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If you haven't already seen it, search YouTube for Fanleafs 42 Cree CXB3590

With an set up light that wouldn't the height diminish the actual par received by the plant? Given the lights can't be lowered. Also what does Cree mean?

I know I can google some of these definitions but I'm hoping this thread can help a lot of people not just me. :thanks:

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Jarimuana said:
Thanks to yourself and Mr. JuanCarlos I feel a lot better informed than I've felt throughout my research. You guys really know what your talking about and your expertise has not gone unappreciated Thanks guys.

As you both seem non bias and reputable do you mind listing your top 3 trusted LED brands that offer good coverage spectrum and par? Maybe in order of budget? Bump to you both sirs *bow*

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using 420 Magazine Mobile App
Click to expand...

Top 2 brands I have used and absolutely would recommend are:

Budmaster (GOD, COB and HPS series) used all of them, very well built, not rebranded or built in China, owner actually understands plant lighting, premium LED chips.

Advanced LED XTE series. Well built panels, use high quality cree and osram chips, quiet running, manual dimmers.



A brand that is a sponsor, that I haven't used:

Timber LED, they sell DIY kits featuring high quality drivers and LED chips.
 
Jarimuana said:
There is a member her named Fanleaf. He has a very impressive setup. I hope he gets news of this thread so he can delight us with his DIY skills :D

What are your thoughts on the UV and IR diodes available on some LEDs? Same question to Mud thanks again guys

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using 420 Magazine Mobile App
Click to expand...

IR diodes are important to help the Emerson effect, however if an LED panel has white chips or is all white, then it already puts out "far red" (IR is not the proper term, even though most LED companies use it). So for COB and all white spectrum chips, FAR RED or 730nm is NOT needed, however if it is a "blurple" blue/red LED panel, then adding Far Red 730nm is necessary.

UV is not efficient enough at this time in LED form, therefore no LED lights use UV LEDs (in UV-B) except for one that I forgot the name of. A UV chip takes so much energy to create light, and their lifetime is very very short (about 1,000 hours max) they aren't worth putting UV LED's in grow lights yet.

IF you wanted to use UV, get a reptile bulb, bug zapper bulb or other UV-B source. LED (UV)isn't efficient enough to be a benefit, plus costs are very expensive.
 
Those reptile bulbs do the trick quite nicely. I have 2 that i move around the tent in flower and i believe they help coax out more trichomes.
 
I'm a COB man myself. I use custom COB arrays but these COB panels look promising for the non-DIY'er.
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