In doubts for a Led light, any suggestions?

Growroom Design
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Hi, I am thinking in buying a led light, but I am very indecise and as money don’t grow in tents still more indecise. (Note: I’m in EU - spain)

I have a small not-tent size of growing area is aprox. 80 cm x 57 cm more or less. I have two divisions of that size, one for flowering, and the other with height separations for clones, vegetative/mothers.
But, possible in future I will have also 1mx1m tent (3ftx3ft more or less) for flowering. And leave the 80x57cm for making crosses (seeds) and the 1m2 for sinsemilla.

I have recently made a DOB fixture, but I’m not very happy with the PPFD results. With 100W at 12/15cm it gives about 200 -250 ppfd.

So I will have to scratch my pocket, and now it is not the best moment, but must be done.

So I have doubs between this:

Phlizon PL-1000 (samsung 281b +dimmer+ 100w) - About 99€/$

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or this
Niello -(220w) LED LM301,MN-W3000 576LEDs - 245 €/$

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This one is apparently the same as the GrowStar MN-W3000 comercialized in US/CAN, but there the price is around 170$ more or less. :sweat:

The Niello/growstar I think in buying only one, and in case of the phlizon, possibly I buy two, as I think it will give more game (in case of failure). But I don’t know if the niello/growstar will be given better results/grows.

So I don’t know what route take.

Please give any impressions, alternatives, comments… Many thanks, and sorry if I put in the wrong place.

HG!

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If you can, go for a bar style light system like the Niello you shared. The light spread is more even and my plants love it once I got the bar style in my flowering tent.

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That would be my selected light too @Pigeonman , I only bought my mars ts3000 cause I got a deal on it. I want a bar light though. :peace_symbol:

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It’s a good fixture and you have no reason to not like it especially if you got a deal!!

I own 2x TSL2000’s and 2x TS1000’s running in other tents.

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I usually compare lights based on their components. Bars/strips are generally preferable to boards.

The most important part of your LED light is going to be the white diodes. These are the bulk of the light the board puts out and I would err on the side of lights with better value in the white diodes. There are three samsung white SMD LEDs in common use which are:

LM281/LM283 - Square-ish last-generation LEDs. They are less efficient than the other two and less common.
LM561c - Rectangular SMDs that are less expensive but totally fine, especially if you’re not large scale and are growing for yourself.
LM301 series - Square; LM301b are standard, high-quality mid power white SMDs. LM301h diodes are high efficiency and longer lifespan but more expensive.

So for your Niello, each bar is 96 warm whites and 20 cool whites, 116 white diodes each. The whole thing is 464 white diodes, 88 reds, and 8 IR diodes.

For the Phlizon you’re looking at 224 white diodes and 32 reds. But as I mentioned, the type of diode matters here. The Niello you posted is using LM301b diodes, which are a quality standard component. The 281b diodes are less efficient and are mostly used to keep costs down.

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If budget is a concern I got 3 600 and 1 1000 of these with good results and I am a hps mh guy. I like the idea that if one dies I still have light and don’t have to hurry up and get a new one you could get 2 600 for $100.

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And the 600 emits almost no heat

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Thanks for the deep analysis.
I was thinking in the phlizon, basically because now could buy one… and next month another and put side by side. And in case of failure I will not be handged, and have still one.
Other light that I thinked about was the bar phlizon 2000 pro (phx4)… but not available here. So looked at phlizon ph-x6, but after contacting with them and asking what type of diodes they use… they answered with a “PHX6 is equipped with quality regular LED.” So I dismissed those for not knowing the exact type of led.

HG

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Well, here it is a little overpriced: :sweat_smile:

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HG!

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Wow $21 more guess shipping

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Considering also that 71,99€ is to change 77,57 $
With the Niello/growstar was the same 169$ and here 245€…

When the average salary here is around 1000-1200€ (net) month… oh well…

Well… no comments. :sweat:

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My advice would be to check with other European growers about where they buy their lights from and to compare the number and model of white diodes on the models to decide which ones are a good deal. Alternatively you can look on a Chinese site like Aliexpress, which usually sells lights cheaply (but they will have to be shipped as well and they may require assembly).

If you’re comfortable doing some simple electrical work, DIY strips are also very popular. People take rigid strips of white Samsung LEDs, attach them to heatsinks on an aluminum angle frame, and wire it to the correct driver to make cost-effective, quality grow lights at lower costs.

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I’m jumping on the opportunity.

I’m earing people saying that bars are better than arrays but in term of lights i’ve always experienced the reverse with others tech. Your know, crossing HPS 600 etc … for my outdated mind not yet ready for leds, i’ve difficulties to integrate the reverse. Any hint on it will be well appreciated.

Beside that, the Samsung LM301H is the diode i’m lurking the most in grow logs. Just because the buds below. They are also given for 60K hours, in perpetual it’s over 10 years.
I don’t believe it personnally, in general i see users complain after a bit less than 5 years of intensive use. In general, not specifically with these diodes.

For now my “spying game” on grow logs have barely stated that an array of 500 LM301H per 2x2 can be nice with a sweet spot the closer possible to 3 µmol/J. This rate look like to make more comparative differences with buds than the PPFD of the stuff given in the spec sheet. I put aside the “spare diodes” generally implemented, i’ve allready well integrated that the white is top prior in results.

Any opinion very welcome ^^

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Bars vs boards is more of an LED vs LED than LED vs HID thing, though the concept still applies. When you cluster LEDs closer and closer together, they behave more like a point source of light (like a bulb). The extreme example of this is a COB (Chip On Board) LED, where all the diodes are stacked together into a single circle/square, and it behaves a lot like a bulb.

The main benefit is spreading out your light to get better coverage of the plant. Consider your HPS setup. You could have two 600w HPS bulbs covering an area, or four 300w bulbs. The 600w setup will have greater light intensity in the area with the strongest light, but more variability in intensity over the area it covers.

The LM301H, LM301B, etc. are referred to as mid-power LEDs, and in practice people often run them at 50-75% power, which makes them more efficient and extends their lifespan greatly. Also, because the light generates less heat, and is less intense, you can compensate for the decrease in intensity by bringing the light closer to the canopy of the plants, whereas you can’t bring COBs or HID lighting very close to the canopy without frying them.

I’m going to be switching to outdoor growing in a few weeks as my current stuff finishes, but if I were in the market for a light by far the best value I’ve seen is the GLS Pro Grow 640 off their own website or LED grow lights depot. It’s a $420 light with 2016 lm301b whites and 144 reds. Most DIY strips are ~96 white LEDs on their own, so this is equivalent to 21 strips (I would value the strips at no less than $18 each), plus the reds, plus the driver, the frame, and the convenience of not assembling it. I would consider it a strong value based on components alone and the bar design is more desirable than arranging the same number of diodes on a large board.

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Thank you very much, sir :+1:

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I got it totally by accident, some off the wall seller on eBay posted 3 of them for $139 each​:open_mouth: the price of a ts1000 which I have 2, by the time I looked at them a second time 1 was gone I hit buy it now and when I did the last one was snapped up. $300 lights.:peace_symbol:

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growlightaustralia, some of the best LED’s I ever used. I got far more light from them for my money, and they worked some magic as my shipping was WAY cheaper then when I calculated it’s cost.
I’ve been using LED for a long time now, and love mine.
All the best to ya!

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I have been using my SolStrips for about x4 years now and I also have another SolStrips rig ( with six strips and MeanWell driver - still to use.)
It’s @Baudelaire ’s lights ( give him a shout.?!.)

And I have a ‘Protech 430’ led bar light in my 4 by 4 tent, i bought it for a great price from eBay - it was from ‘Migro’ - the guy that reviews lights on YouTube - it was brand new - he only had it on for testing and i got it for a nice price but coz of Brexit, i had to pay 20% import fees etc - so an extra £90 , but i still got it cheaper.than the retail price :+1:.

I recommend any decent bar style led lights - just shop around and you’ll find something in your price range that will work for you …
Good luck @Piter …:crossed_fingers:.

Happy growing peeps’ …
:facepunch:
Gaz

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My veg side I’m running a Chilled X3, and bud room is running an Illuminar ILogic8. Couldn’t be happier with them. A little more than I had budgeted for, but got a real nice deal on both of them, so couldn’t resist.

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my best advice is wait and save and buy a good led light dont cheap out yes some chesp light csn grow but you need to look at long term and in my opinion the cheapest brsnd id go to eould be mars hydro and go for bar style fixture they cover more evenly no hot spot in middle

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Local used market can have killer deals depending on where you are. Grow shop pin board, craigslist, etc. No guarantee of success but worth looking into. GL!

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