Disected: Lighthouse Hydro 90W UFO POS

JoeyV

JoeyV

Well-Known Member
I bought this thing a few years back to power my mini grow cab. Lighthouse Hydro 90W UFO. But after a few days, I just couldn't stand the violet colored light. It made my girls look sick (in a bad way). The damn thing is, uh, WAS, bright as hell, but just not to my liking. I tried reselling it on Ebay, but no takers. So it sat and collected dust.

I've been in awe of the new street lamps that are going up. I figure even if they're not the best spectrum, they'd probably make killer grow lights.

I haven't been keeping up with LED tech for a while, focusing on my T5 set up...but then I found Sir Gaius's
Battlestar Ganjatica thread, and I've decided to tinker around again with LEDs in a DIY sorta way. (Props to Gaius)

So, I decided to first look at what I might be able to do with my old UFO. As it turns out, it has some interesting components.

Image15.png Image16.png Image17.png Image18.png Image19.png Image20.png Image21.png

Looks like some decent hardware. All Chinese made, but at least there's some stuff to experiment with. I doubt I'm gonna use the LEDs for anything. I am looking at the power supplies and the fans...

I figure I'm going to use the drivers, but they're both 65-130V and 300mA. That's a bit high for most of the higher power LEDs but I think I'm going to try stacking some cheap china 10-15-20 watt COBs, and take voltage/current/lumen measurements.

I've got $60 or so of low end COBs in my cart at Amazon, plus I'm looking at a new DMM, Luminance Meter, and IR thermometer. I've got tools and hardware already.

Anyone got any advice? (Other than buy high end...I'm just experimenting for now.)
 
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A

az2000

Well-Known Member
I have a Blackstar 130w (85w actual) UFO. I think it grows pretty well. I wouldn't recommend it because I think it's just a rebranded Chinese epi-whatever import sold for a premium. But, I was getting 1g/w with it. Added Cree LED "lightbulbs" from Home Depot as sidelighting and got 1.26g/w. I agree the purple color makes it hard to assess your plant's condition. But, adding those white "lightbulbs" improves that considerably.

This shows what I do with mine. (<<link). You might give it a try. Those lightbulbs are $7 to $18. At the bottom of that page are some corncob-style lights from AliExpress. I order some but haven't received them yet. @mauricem00 uses them and says they're as good if not better than the Crees. Less expensive but no 10-year warranty. Not as convenient to acquire as stopping by your local Home Depot.

I'd do that before I tried to retool your UFO with better diodes.
 
JoeyV

JoeyV

Well-Known Member
Nah, not retooling. Shit! There's 180 solder connections on those LEDs. I've done lots of soldering in my days. It gets old, quick. If you look closely the solder connections on these things, it's for shit. It would never pass QA at work. But that's not my target either.

I'm more interested in learning the ins and outs of new LED technology...in at least as much as I have time and money for.

I do like those new Phillip flat bulbs. They'll work nicely as side lighting between plants. Especially now that the price has come down to reasonable levels. The LED Floods are nice, and the prices are starting to come down on those too, but much more slowly. Too bad too, cause I could use ten of those things, in dimmable fashion, for the ceiling lights in my basement. The old filament floods are getting are starting to go.

Looks like you got some nice plants there, az2000. Interesting tent setup, too. Can't stand the purple light though. Sorry. It's just not my thing. Yeah, I know, it's more in the plants usable spectrum, but white light is a combination of all colors of lights. I'd rather experiment with the color temps (kelvin) than the wavelengths. Same concept as used with floro's or even HIDs.
 
Yodaweed

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
I just spoke to victor at gotham hydroponics today , he wasn't saying much but he told me they are releasing a new series light, COBs with reflectors all cree, I am really looking forward to that. Lates all.
 
AquariusPanta

AquariusPanta

Well-Known Member
Yodaweed said:
I just spoke to victor at gotham hydroponics today , he wasn't saying much but he told me they are releasing a new series light, COBs with reflectors all cree, I am really looking forward to that. Lates all.
Click to expand...
VICTORRRR!!!!

Yeah he seems like a cool cat...

Cree COBS from LHH? WTF?!

JoeyV said:
I bought this thing a few years back to power my mini grow cab. Lighthouse Hydro 90W UFO. But after a few days, I just couldn't stand the violet colored light. It made my girls look sick (in a bad way). The damn thing is, uh, WAS, bright as hell, but just not to my liking. I tried reselling it on Ebay, but no takers. So it sat and collected dust.

I've been in awe of the new street lamps that are going up. I figure even if they're not the best spectrum, they'd probably make killer grow lights.

I haven't been keeping up with LED tech for a while, focusing on my T5 set up...but then I found Sir Gaius's
Battlestar Ganjatica thread, and I've decided to tinker around again with LEDs in a DIY sorta way. (Props to Gaius)

So, I decided to first look at what I might be able to do with my old UFO. As it turns out, it has some interesting components.

View attachment 3311597 View attachment 3311598 View attachment 3311599 View attachment 3311600 View attachment 3311601 View attachment 3311602 View attachment 3311603

Looks like some decent hardware. All Chinese made, but at least there's some stuff to experiment with. I doubt I'm gonna use the LEDs for anything. I am looking at the power supplies and the fans...

I figure I'm going to use the drivers, but they're both 65-130V and 300mA. That's a bit high for most of the higher power LEDs but I think I'm going to try stacking some cheap china 10-15-20 watt COBs, and take voltage/current/lumen measurements.

I've got $60 or so of low end COBs in my cart at Amazon, plus I'm looking at a new DMM, Luminance Meter, and IR thermometer. I've got tools and hardware already.

Anyone got any advice? (Other than buy high end...I'm just experimenting for now.)
Click to expand...
I was taking apart my BlackStar (240W V2) just last night... it has 3x drivers (50-70V, 580-630mA each) and a 12V (800mA) PSU for the fans. Not to much to it really, just the basics. Easily replicable. (The HS is sort of a joke imo)
 
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nogod_

nogod_

Well-Known Member
Buy a heatsink, stick the fans on the top, stick your cheap cobs to the bottom, let there be lyte.

JoeyV said:
I bought this thing a few years back to power my mini grow cab. Lighthouse Hydro 90W UFO. But after a few days, I just couldn't stand the violet colored light. It made my girls look sick (in a bad way). The damn thing is, uh, WAS, bright as hell, but just not to my liking. I tried reselling it on Ebay, but no takers. So it sat and collected dust.

I've been in awe of the new street lamps that are going up. I figure even if they're not the best spectrum, they'd probably make killer grow lights.

I haven't been keeping up with LED tech for a while, focusing on my T5 set up...but then I found Sir Gaius's
Battlestar Ganjatica thread, and I've decided to tinker around again with LEDs in a DIY sorta way. (Props to Gaius)

So, I decided to first look at what I might be able to do with my old UFO. As it turns out, it has some interesting components.

View attachment 3311597 View attachment 3311598 View attachment 3311599 View attachment 3311600 View attachment 3311601 View attachment 3311602 View attachment 3311603

Looks like some decent hardware. All Chinese made, but at least there's some stuff to experiment with. I doubt I'm gonna use the LEDs for anything. I am looking at the power supplies and the fans...

I figure I'm going to use the drivers, but they're both 65-130V and 300mA. That's a bit high for most of the higher power LEDs but I think I'm going to try stacking some cheap china 10-15-20 watt COBs, and take voltage/current/lumen measurements.

I've got $60 or so of low end COBs in my cart at Amazon, plus I'm looking at a new DMM, Luminance Meter, and IR thermometer. I've got tools and hardware already.

Anyone got any advice? (Other than buy high end...I'm just experimenting for now.)
Click to expand...
 
BigEasy1

BigEasy1

Well-Known Member
Bad Karma said:
Hmmm, all Cree you say? I'll believe that when I see it, Gotham/Lighthouse/Blackstar, isn't exactly known for being honest about parts.
Click to expand...
Yea, those dudes sent me a light that was smashed in a little on one side. When I called to complain that dude from Gotham told me "that's cosmetic". Needless to say they've never gotten another dime of my money or any of my friend's money. I don't go buy a new truck and take one with the bed smashed in because it's only cosmetic damage. After I got the smashed up light hung a couple days later one of the fans stopped working. I called Gotham again and they sent me out a new fan. That was good seeings how it was still under warranty. I had to install the thing myself and the replacement was not the same as the original. The original fans has small lights in them for show. The new fan did not have the light in it. When I go to sell it not only does it have a huge dent but you can obviously tell the fan is aftermarket as well. That kind of fucks me so I said fuck them. I'll buy my shit somewhere else.

With that being said, my light grows good weed.
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
(4) vero 18, 80cri, 3000k or 3500k
1 Big heatsink
1 constant current driver

You have yourself a UFO killer. Looks like that UFO is already killed.

DEATH TO UFOS!
 
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