Removed AD link its a ‘fusion’ board. bought one of these the other day. One of the few Canadian assembler/seller/warranty. Hopefully it will be a beneficial addition to the bloomroom, allowing me to get thru the summer heat a little better. See if there is differences with growing with LED, without the advanced additional climate controlling devices. I figure its just ‘cooler’ and ‘brighter’… I’ll see. any tips are welcome, I’m going to start it at 2’ and move down from there…a whole 6" or so…figuring 18" at the closest? give or take? I better make sure it works first LOL nothing worse than counting your buds before harvest LOL. Ooooh the anticipation…I’m expecting it to pan out like a special seed pack you saved for and after the 6 months of growing…MEH…Ya I expect… another light… with the new LED one. LOL Just hated spending $500 on a 300 W light, I feel so…millenial…LOL Cheers
Looks like a good light. 
- LM301’s (+ extras for near IR)
- using ‘not the cheapest’ fasteners (I prefer those S/S Allen head screws)
- metal core PCB
- heatsink is 10mm thick (a proper H/S, not sheet metal)
- Mean Well driver
Best ‘dial it down’ if you want to get closer than 2’
(until you are familiar with it) It will be plant dependent.
Think about mounting the driver external to the tent if heat is an issue.
Cheers
G
Appreciate this @Gpaw, I’m not worried about the driver heat (unless it will extend driver life by being remote), it is the drawback? of led in the winter months. I run pretty much bang on in the low 80’s with 2200 w of hid. If I went all led, I would have to add heat to the room. I am not familiar at all with LED except for an old UFO I used as a supplement in veg cabinet. First time blooming with them so I am going to “phase” them in. If I like them…I mean if the PLANTS like them. I think a comparable ‘mars’type’ here was another hundred bucks…so we will see how cheap this unit turns out. They already shipped it and I called friday afternoon…Talked on the phone before ordering…not to sound rascist but, he did not have an accent, eh…factory is in Ontario…I tried to keep it North American as possible.
Now you have me curious, I’m familiar with most of the potential manufacturers in Ont.
I tried talking (…did a proper business proposal etc.) the management of my previous company into the grow light business back in 2017…
…We could have dominated…
Cheers
G
Probably still can, user on (OG I think) owns a hydro store in BC, and got the same not interested reply from any local guys. Said they were only concerned with industrial scale stuff. No interest in Home growing lights… I guess China is too cheap?..go figure
Well that was fast, light ‘kit’ arrived today…opened up with joy, no damage, packed ok, couple little boxes, paper packing…no instructions (as employee stated there was), no official reciept (ahh got one on the email), hmm solid, lets see… mounting screw holes, yup, meanwell driver with 3" stub cord and long 110 cord, yup, hmm driver must be mounted on aluminum heatsink? No tapped holes up there, not plastic feet and screws, no heatsink compound, not mounting plate for driver??? Call customer service…24 second video on youtube for assembly instructions 'I don’t got internet ’ oh. Na I do have internet but no cell phone dude…ok… video shows 1 screw mounting into hidden area on top of heatsink and is on a 45 degree… Call customer service again…send me a 10 foot extension cord for the driver and I won’t demand my money back mmmkay? Oh sir, sorry boss will call you tomorrow…OK. So re-packed my new parts in a box , and am stewing about not listening to you DIY builders, plug and play my friggin arse. Kits come complete with everything you need not to burn down your house, or void your warranty or burn out your board because of the hotspot? Well NO, but they used to… always a SAGA.
Off to the store for some wire and heat tube, plugnplaymyass grumble grumble Should have listened to what I read here…I have a feeling my ‘ways and means’ department is going to be source searching anywhere but alibooboo, here we go again chinesemadeoutsourcing grumble grumble NO WONDER HID still reigns SUPREME, Sooo anyway, search here and find out what they mount the drivers with if the use them on top ??? of the heatsink, can believe metal on metal mount there. If the driver needed heat dissipation, it would have a fan, or its’ own cooling fins/surface. I’m just way too anal with my 500 bucks, I suppose. Manufacturers with less working knowledge than users? Engineers working with crayons? yep.
Bad start cobbled the thing together avoiding the crushed washers, bent cooling fins and poorly aligned driver mounting holes shown in the assembly video. and it seems to work. Will go about mounting this mickey mouse shit and install a new 110 outlet plug in the ceiling to fit the 8 foot cord. (must have low ceilings there). presto. I’m getting up to speed now, these things are for growing in tents or closets. I’m an old guy, I live in a house and grow in a room, not hiding in a dorm or in Moms basement. I’m gonna give it an honest shot, I expect even less now. Any bets on lifespan (3 yr. warranty) OOOh I’m bitter tonight, nothing personal LED guys, I shoulda built along with ya’s
Correct mounting orientation of the driver can help avoid a fan.
It works best mounted vertical and spaced off the back (a couple flat washers).
Measure the case temperature with an IR thermometer and compare to the Lifetime graph in the spec sheet.
Cheers
G
Thanks, I’m waiting till they open today to see if they have an extension cord available to mount driver on the wall/ceiling. I’m a bit calmer today…No biggie, will test my wiring job for resistance and flexibility before I power up. I get it these things are low current, but 18 ga power leads and fittings cheaper than a 12V dc depth sounder has, really would prefer manufacturer warranty approved power supply cord. I notice the MW driver does have some raised heat exchange fins on the casing sides. As per vertical mounting, lol. any side up? My hid ballasts are all drilled keyhole style, but if mounted this way, all the driver printing is upside down…can’t figure that one either…I’ll use a raised aluiminum mounting bracket to keep it off the wall to improve air flow around it, hotter side up, close to my exhaust outlet, where I have my hid drivers mounted, need about 12’ of cable, 14 ga multi strand should do it. 2 more hours till shop opens lol.
This from led.meanwell.com…Q48
How long can I extend DC cable of the driver?
Ans
Owing to line (voltage)-drop, we suggest the extension made from AC cable. In case DC cable extension is necessary, please consider Line-Drop leading to insufficient Vf so that the LED model or lamp may fail to switch ON. Moreover, EMC performance and characteristic may also be affected by DC cable extension.
SOOOO it’s a NO homegrown solution. ok screw on light heatsink crooked and hope for 3 yr life.
I have this cheap garden probe which has moisture, light and ph on it. just comparative with led output compared to hid. my led there puts out about equivalent to 400 w sodium with the cheap thing, probably lumens? I know light quality is different and not an accurate comparison at all. but at 320 watts it ‘looks’ as bright as a 400 not a 600 by any means. Plants look nicer with a ‘whiter’ beam,to the naked eye, but plays havoc with my camera LOL Lots to learn… Oh put some seeds in paper towels, last night. Pura Vida from OG seedrun, Divine Raspberry from Sunleaf seeds , OG OG OH from Ethos and Jungle spice f2 from @lefthandseeds Cheers.
Got an e-mail from light kit reseller, lol. Did offer refund (not sure if I had to pay shipping). Told him how I mounted driver, he said he looked at one of the kits and saw no way to mount it. I told him I tapped the frame and installed the driver. He said if I show him the pics of my install he will honor warranty, if needed. So good on him, I removed the link to the ad above and won’t mention where it came from other than Canada, lol. Too bad, I can imaging peeps hoping to plug and play, may just cut some corners and cause some issues. I assume the 2 twist ties are to ‘mount’ the dimmer switch , on another wire , SMH. I’m just not used to this Amazon style chinese shit in a box economy yet…I am a dinosaur btw
Nice thread. How’d you like that Bodega Bubblegum? I went on a seed buying frenzy this past summer and got a bunch of Greenpoint stuff (along with a lot of other stuff), grabbed a pack or two of that Bodega. Just chopped two California Cannons two months ago. It’s decent. Definitely my least favorite of the plants I harvested last round. Good yielder, though.
Ran a few packs, liked the Bodega bubblegum. Was a average yeilder good stone, finicky plant, but was sooo pretty. Had no bubblegum taste/smell though. The best seeds I have grown from Greenpoint were Lucky 7’s, awesome tasty weed, no ‘lucky charms cereal’ pheno, but damn good weed, easy grower, good yeild and pretty as well, we crossed that one with our med male and also got outstanding results with those seeds. we didn’t care for cowboy kush, dynamite diesel and another one I mention in the grow thread. Greenpoint regs use a very dominant Male Stardog, which the owner of Greenpoint created a huge seed company with that breeding male. Well they used to, Gu doesn’t make seeds nor his head breeder anymore so I haven’t tried any recent offerings. Greenpoint made some great seeds for the price for sure.
Yeah, I’ve heard that about Gu/Greenpoint. Honestly, I’ve heard very few good things about him/them, but I had some money and figured I’d just check it out for myself. I started four of the Stardawg f2’s this round, ended up with one female. She’s growing differently than the CA Cannons; we’ll see how she smokes. I started four Tombstones last round, those actually grew VERY different from the CA Cannons, super-branchy, but all four turned out male. We’ll see how that Stardawg turns out. After this grow, I’ll probably lay off the GPS for a while; I have way too many other seeds I wanna check out.
soooo many seeds, so little time lol I’ll check around for the blue hawaiian seeds for ya
Update a cpl of things later, including progress with promix connect treated plants vs. no treatment…until then…
Third covid wave coming…This stuff is getting old…Everytime I hear another wave coming it takes me to the beach, NEXT WINTER PACIFIC OCEAN, I will pee in you once again…LOL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFDRqnq_ob4&ab_channel=OldiesButGoodies Another essential family visit to Sask. after Easter, Grandson will see Uncle for first time and grandson will see mountains on an essential educational side trip for a few days of Alpine isolation and Mountain sheep mocking. Its like African Lion safari in the spring in Banff. Get your shot, social distance and carry on. Stay safe, but stop hiding out, get outdoors with family. Awesome looking weekend, but ice fishing is done for the year…moose searching in Algonquin or scouting trout streams for the upcoming opener? decisions decisions…ahh the Sun, good morning.
All the seeds cracked except for 1 out of all 4 strains, now starting to show in dirt, pura vida is the fastest so far, impressed with all. Reason for these choices Jungle Spice and Pura Vida are OG members work, I have been reading @lefthandseeds posts for a few years, dedicated and passionate guy. Pura Vida sang out as we like to visit Costa Rica…Divine Raspberry was an auction from Soak n Beans and well raspberry, lol and Ethos seeds may have came from Sebring or Seedsherenow freebie ? I forget who supplied the 3 pack, sry… Haven’t tried either Ethos or Sunleaf before, so seed viability of them is A1. Hope I can keep rooms going smooth for a few months, and don’t fall victim to apathy, lol. Really hoping to stumble across some dank sweetness, maybe some nice sativa leaners and bit of gas and furniture polish along the way this year. Haven’t decided who is going outside yet, shame on me, but I gotta smoke the moms first lol the children are growing in veg, waiting for their chance lol Upcoming episodes of “Run it or Cull it”, (growrooms favourite game show) being filmed now, after last seasons smash hits “Name that Bug” and “Phenotype Feud” spellbound viewers. Dank and Dabby didn’t make a guest appearance, though…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=capVLbKftec&ab_channel=TinaBellamy