Floodlights question

[Koncept]

Quick question guys. I'm in the process if getting my setup up and running again in the loft after moving house.

Work were throwing away some LED floodlights. I don't know much about them and wondering if they can be used along side my 400w Lumatek ballast.

Below are the specs of the light. Would be greatly appreciated if I could get some advise on them. Not really clued up on LEDs, I've had a quick read but finding it complicated haha

 

[Fubard]

You ain't kidding it's complicated, took me a bit to figure out what "colour" they are but eventually I figured out that the important part is the "C84" which means it's a 4000K light with a CRI of 85.

The Phillips driver should be a VERY decent one, so I'd be happy to stick with that as long as the light works, I'd also take the glass off, but I'll leave it to others to say how suitable they would be for growing.

 

[Koncept]

You ain't kidding it's complicated, took me a bit to figure out what "colour" they are but eventually I figured out that the important part is the "C84" which means it's a 4000K light with a CRI of 85.

The Phillips driver should be a VERY decent one, so I'd be happy to stick with that as long as the light works, I'd also take the glass off, but I'll leave it to others to say how suitable they would be for growing.

Thanks for the reply mate. I was told by the store man that gave it to me that they are 6300k and equivalent to 1000w hid light. I was a little bit sceptical as the Philips driver says 150w.

Am I right in thinking it would be equivalent to a 400w hid? From what I remember about LEDs is that the CRI should be above 95 so these would be less powerful than a hid? So confused

 

[Fubard]

Thanks for the reply mate. I was told by the store man that gave it to me that they are 6300k and equivalent to 1000w hid light. I was a little bit sceptical as the Philips driver says 150w.

Am I right in thinking it would be equivalent to a 400w hid? From what I remember about LEDs is that the CRI should be above 95 so these would be less powerful than a hid? So confused

Can't give you the answer on equivalency, but most LED floods tend to be in the 6000+K range. In this case, one site I found said that it was the 4000K 85CRI, but I since found a different datasheet from the manufacturer of your floods which state 4000K with 80CRI when the code "C84" is used. C is for colour, 8 says 80 CRI and 4 is the 4000K part, hence 4000K 80CRI. The rest of the label on the fitting tells me it's the extra large model, pulls 203 actual watts, 120 Lumens per watt, BUT be aware regarding the "AS" as that means the beam is "asymmetrical" so the angle you would hang them would be critical as the beam is not going to be "uniform" and will likely be directed more towards the bottom of the fitting rather than being evenly spread as a "regular", say, halogen floodlight does

As I say, with this info I'm sure that some LED gurus here will give you a better answer than I can.

 

[Koncept]

Can't give you the answer on equivalency, but most LED floods tend to be in the 6000+K range. In this case, one site I found said that it was the 4000K 85CRI, but I since found a different datasheet from the manufacturer of your floods which state 4000K with 80CRI when the code "C84" is used. C is for colour, 8 says 80 CRI and 4 is the 4000K part, hence 4000K 80CRI. The rest of the label on the fitting tells me it's the extra large model, pulls 203 actual watts, 120 Lumens per watt, BUT be aware regarding the "AS" as that means the beam is "asymmetrical" so the angle you would hang them would be critical as the beam is not going to be "uniform" and will likely be directed more towards the bottom of the fitting rather than being evenly spread as a "regular", say, halogen floodlight does

As I say, with this info I'm sure that some LED gurus here will give you a better answer than I can.

Thanks mate. I'll try reading more up on LEDs until someone can advise me on if I should use them or not. Appreciate the help

 

[Fubard]

Thanks mate. I'll try reading more up on LEDs until someone can advise me on if I should use them or not. Appreciate the help

Maybe if you bumped this over to the LED forum, start a thread with a link to this thread as an example, you'll maybe get more answers.

Your floods are not lightweight, the datasheet says 15kg each, so, personally, I'd be stripping things down, moving the driver from the fitting and finding another way to dissipate the heat as that whole light body is not only the biggest weight but likely also the heatsink. That can be changed for something lighter as I doubt you'll be exposing them to the same as they would be when they're on the outside of a building so such a level of protection from the elements is not necessary

When I look at the third pic, the one of the leds themselves, I can see why they're "asymmetrical" as far as the beam goes as you can see on the pic that the angle on the "left" side of the reflector is at a very different angle from the "right" side. That's easy to fix, CAREFULLY cut down at the corners and bend the reflector so it's as good as at the same angle as the other side (and the reflector will also help as a heatsink, it will help dissipate heat) and that way you'll get a more uniform beam.

As far as I understand, 4000K isn't too bad a colour for growing and there will certainly be a hell of an amount of light coming off them but, as I say, others will have more experience than me. Given that they're free, I'd definitely give them a go once I modified them somewhat

 

[Koncept]

Maybe if you bumped this over to the LED forum, start a thread with a link to this thread as an example, you'll maybe get more answers.

Your floods are not lightweight, the datasheet says 15kg each, so, personally, I'd be stripping things down, moving the driver from the fitting and finding another way to dissipate the heat as that whole light body is not only the biggest weight but likely also the heatsink. That can be changed for something lighter as I doubt you'll be exposing them to the same as they would be when they're on the outside of a building so such a level of protection from the elements is not necessary

When I look at the third pic, the one of the leds themselves, I can see why they're "asymmetrical" as far as the beam goes as you can see on the pic that the angle on the "left" side of the reflector is at a very different angle from the "right" side. That's easy to fix, CAREFULLY cut down at the corners and bend the reflector so it's as good as at the same angle as the other side (and the reflector will also help as a heatsink, it will help dissipate heat) and that way you'll get a more uniform beam.

As far as I understand, 4000K isn't too bad a colour for growing and there will certainly be a hell of an amount of light coming off them but, as I say, others will have more experience than me. Given that they're free, I'd definitely give them a go once I modified them somewhat

Good idea with taking it apart from the fitting as it is quiet heavy.

I'll definitely be trying to sort the reflector. I'm going to have a look if I can find a better housing unit for it and just DIYing the LEDs and driver to it.

Thanks again mate. I'll leave the post here for a bit and see what people say before I make another thread

 

[Fubard]

Good idea with taking it apart from the fitting as it is quiet heavy.

I'll definitely be trying to sort the reflector. I'm going to have a look if I can find a better housing unit for it and just DIYing the LEDs and driver to it.

Thanks again mate. I'll leave the post here for a bit and see what people say before I make another thread

I wouldn't go so far as a new housing. You're not going to be spraying water on it so you don't need it to be waterproof or anything like that so it can be "open".

Rip it apart so you have the driver and led/reflector assembly.

Extend the cables so your driver is remote from the fitting, that way the driver can get rid of it's own heat easier and that's less weight to hang. You're talking about using your loft so there's no issue with hanging some sort of basket/frame to hold the driver, just screw it onto whatever roof truss is nearest.

Modify the reflector, then the fun bit is finding something to use as a heatsink. The reflector will be metal so that is one nice open surface to help with heat, but you'll need more than that. Obviously the LED's can be unscrewed from the reflector so there should be no issue in taking them off so you can bolt the likes of two or three of these onto the reflector, as an example as I can't tell the physical sizes so more or fewer may be needed, from Digikey, and you could even have a regular fan blowing over them just to help move the heat. Keeping the reflector also gives you something to bolt hooks/eyes onto for hanging the bugger.

Or you could go for actively cooled heatsinks, ones with their own fans, instead

Either way, no housing of any kind should be necessary, the more everything is exposed, the better the cooling from the airflow you will have in your setup anyway.


Note:- This is all hypothetical due to me not having my grubby paws on one of these fittings. I am not responsible for anything that goes wrong but, as I see it from the pics, as long as a way can be found to manage the heat, like what I've said, there shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Viceman666]

I was told by the store man that gave it to me that they are 6300k and equivalent to 1000w hid light.

Am I right in thinking it would be equivalent to a 400w hid?

That one is a good one.. the store man told you 1000w? Lol

Look lets put it this way, this light is about 24k lumens (203.8w @ 120lm/w) which is the equivalent of a 250w HPS.. so no really off a 1000w hps and not close to the 400w hps.. it will still grow.. but not sure how much you pay.. just dont expect a lot from this light alone........