Going from HPS to LED. Worth it?

[NukaKola]

I'd never buy a light with a fan in it, but that's just me.

Something I learned from years of growing with HID's. Ballast with active cooling = cheap with high failure rates, ballast with passive cooling = expensive but high quality.

 

[Chunky Stool]

But he's kind of right, a fan has the ability to fail. I don't know the thermal protection of such a unit under fan failure?, but I would personally prefer something that is designed to be passively cooled. That way you require multiple other failures to really be in the shit.

That's why there's redundancy -- fewer single points of failure.
One of my platinums has had a dead fan for almost a whole year and works just fine.

I'll get around to that one of these days...

 

[Buddernugs]

LEDs produce rock hard.....and I mean rock hard buds....no contest even with 1000w...they also produce buds with way more crystals and resin....iv done side by sids with led and 1000w hortilux and when I put that shit in the dab press the LEDs had waaaaaaay more yeild

 

[Chunky Stool]

I'd never buy a light with a fan in it, but that's just me.

You could say the same thing about computers.

A tablet pc doesn't pull as much power as a high performance gaming system, but that's just me...

 

[PadawanWarrior]

LEDs produce rock hard.....and I mean rock hard buds....no contest even with 1000w...they also produce buds with way more crystals and resin....iv done side by sids with led and 1000w hortilux and when I put that shit in the dab press the LEDs had waaaaaaay more yeild

No shit, they are hard as fuck. What looks like an ounce is really 2 because they're so dense. CMH makes them frostier, but LED makes them denser.

 

[Chunky Stool]

LEDs produce rock hard.....and I mean rock hard buds....no contest even with 1000w...they also produce buds with way more crystals and resin....iv done side by sids with led and 1000w hortilux and when I put that shit in the dab press the LEDs had waaaaaaay more yeild

The biggest mistake I see people make with bright LEDs is underfeeding. That's where the 'meh' buds come from.
Gotta dial up the nutes, especially cal-mag.

 

[mistergrafik]

LEDs produce rock hard.....and I mean rock hard buds....no contest even with 1000w...they also produce buds with way more crystals and resin....iv done side by sids with led and 1000w hortilux and when I put that shit in the dab press the LEDs had waaaaaaay more yeild

Weren't you asking what dabs were earlier tho?

 

[PadawanWarrior]

You could say the same thing about computers.

A tablet pc doesn't pull as much power as a high performance gaming system, but that's just me...

We weren't talking about computers. WTF does that have to do with anything, lol.

 

[mistergrafik]

Is this legit wax?

Buddy ran into this was wondering what it is

www.rollitup.org

 

[mistergrafik]

I still think LED are responsible for some of the resin-less buds i've smoked. Sure they were dense though

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I still think LED are responsible for some of the resin-less buds i've smoked. Sure they were dense though

It's because they lack UV, but you can add it. The UV makes a huge difference for frostiness. My favorite is CMH with LED. Best of both worlds. Dense and frosty.

 

[NukaKola]

You could say the same thing about computers.

A tablet pc doesn't pull as much power as a high performance gaming system, but that's just me...

LED diodes and drivers run perfectly fine with passive cooling heatsinks. So why stick them in a box and then add fans to cool it. Seems redundant IMO.

 

[Chunky Stool]

Never plan on buying another pre-built light. Not gonna knock a light I never used this. Especially since Chunky Knows his shit.

This is true. Passive cooling has its own related costs though, but insurance against failure is a big plus.

Thanks for the compliment! Growing is an adventure and I usually learn by fucking shit up.

Regarding lights, high quality pre-builts are expensive AF!
Most growers would be WAY better off to go with a DIY kit if they are looking for value.

My LED lights were actually given to me by a close friend who quit growing and tore is grow room down. (It was better than mine by a long shot.)
It was a very generous gift and I am grateful.

Karma can be a good thing...

 

[Chunky Stool]

It's because they lack UV, but you can add it. The UV makes a huge difference for frostiness. My favorite is CMH with LED. Best of both worlds. Dense and frosty.

Depends on the light. My black dog has UV-B but the platinums don't.

Gotta be careful with UV supplementation. It doesn't take much to reach a point of diminishing returns.
Lizard lights are pretty safe and work great in small spaces.

 

[chronnie49]

It's because they lack UV, but you can add it. The UV makes a huge difference for frostiness. My favorite is CMH with LED. Best of both worlds. Dense and frosty.

Yup I agree. I've only done 1 run with the led and cmh but I liked the results.

Ive also used hps and cmh together which turned out good too.

 

[Chunky Stool]

This is the thread you seek. Results show that UVB isn’t necessary.

THC, CBD, Terpene test results – UVA vs UVB vs none

As some of you might know, former member Or_Gro did a side-by-side comparing three different types of LED boards with supplementary UV reptile bulbs. He also did a control grow without any UV at all. The test results are interesting because UV clearly works – an increase of almost 20%! But...

www.rollitup.org

UV is not necessary but I think it makes a difference.
If you grow with MH, you're already getting UV as part of the blue spectrum.

I've got a 1,200w frankenlight with 2 fixtures that I used to run MH & HPS together. (2 - 600w digital ballasts.)
It worked GREAT -- and I could use cheap bulbs, which saved a ton of moolah.

I would use it again if the conditions were right. (Relatively small grow space w/cool temps where the extra heat is welcome.)

 

[Chunky Stool]

Something I learned from years of growing with HID's. Ballast with active cooling = cheap with high failure rates, ballast with passive cooling = expensive but high quality.

Yes indeed.
All of my ballasts are passive -- and it's because the models with fans only have ONE fan.
Fans die, they just do.
That's why redundancy is good.

When a ballast fan goes out, ideally the software would detect the failure and shut down.
Worst case is undetected overheating and all the fun that goes with that...

 

[Star Dog]

I like to experiment I also believe in light spread I'm going to try a 250w hps against with my led once I get a little stash put aside.

My own buds strain dependant take a bit beating for frosty using mh and hps.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Yes indeed.
All of my ballasts are passive -- and it's because the models with fans only have ONE fan.
Fans die, they just do.
That's why redundancy is good.

When a ballast fan goes out, ideally the software would detect the failure and shut down.
Worst case is undetected overheating and all the fun that goes with that...

I'd rather have one less thing that can fail. I don't buy stuff knowing that the shit's gonna fail on me. I consider it old school tech.

 

[NukaKola]

Yes indeed.
All of my ballasts are passive -- and it's because the models with fans only have ONE fan.
Fans die, they just do.
That's why redundancy is good.

When a ballast fan goes out, ideally the software would detect the failure and shut down.
Worst case is undetected overheating and all the fun that goes with that...

The fan is pointless. Passive heatsinks work fine on their own, they don't need a fan, and don't fail. When you stick a heatsink inside a closed box, then it needs a fan because it can't do its job properly. Why take something that doesn't fail or have a risk of overheating and create a situation where it can. Just a poor design.