Led Users Unite!

[kush groove]

I am running a grow with two 357 Magnums. The link is in my sig. They aren't as cheap as Blackstar but they are way cheaper than Stealth. IMHO Stealth actually uses CREE leds and Blackstar doesn't. I know I'll probably start a fight saying that but I'm totally 100% behind the move to LED's but so tired of the B.S and knock-offs that give them a bad name. I have asked the question on numerous threads and no one has been able to answer......the new CREE XP-E series led's start at $3.43 a piece WHOLESALE if you but them in lots of 10,000. I used to work in commercial electronics manufacturing and checked out some prices myself to get some straight facts. If Blackstar is using 80 x 3W Cree led's then the cost alone would be over $270 not including the case, fans, power supplies or PROFIT. Also Cree doesn't make an LED in the far-red spectrum (660nm) which I think is important and Stealth Grow uses and they are the biggest and most reputable name in LED's. That is why I don't think they are using ALL CREE LED's. This is just a hunch but I suspect that at best they are putting in 3W CREE for their white lights (so probably a handful in their panel) and the rest are not. Either way I felt that there was enough doubt that I'd rather spend $700 and get what I want than $300 to get ripped-off.

As for ordering off the internet, that's how I got my 357's. The actually have a real shopping cart with a merchant account, not PayPal, so that didn't hurt their credibility with me

I bough the 357 because I wanted actual 3W leds not to be confused with 3Watt/3 chipsets which are just 3 1 watt diodes packed into a single housing.

To get penetration WHICH IS WHAT LED'S HAVE BEEN LACKING you need to get hi-power LED's. Just running more 1watt leds won't cut it. There are lots of 300W panels out there with 288 1W leds. If you want to grow minature plants or lettuce I'm sure they'll work fine

BTW there is a guy on here LedBudBuy who just grew with all 170W ISIS panels which has the same parent company as my 357's. They are under $400 so might be a good option if you are looking for a quality light in that price range. He pulled just over 27 oz off 24 short plants under 5x170W or 850W of ISIS panels. .9g per watt. Definately respectable off little plants in dirt.

Dude, I dont wanna make it seem like Im bashing you cause Im a nice guy, but after further review, you have officially wasted your cash. Rule Number one when ordering online.......check out the website and actually read it.....heres a quote from the 357 magnum website

Q I hear a lot about CREE LED’s being the best, why don’t you use them?

A CREE LED’s are the highest quality LED in the industry but their price tag is astronomical. We use Bridgelux, a long-standing and high-quality manufacturer. In numerous tests we found Bridelux LED’s to provide results only slightly below their CREE counterparts. This same panel manufactured with CREE led’s would produce about 8% more output and cost about FOUR times as much. Here at www.357MagLed.com we figure you’d be better off with two 357 Magnum LED Grow Lights (so about 85% more output) and a trip to the Amsterdam for what we would have to charge for a CREE panel.

Sorry I had to ruin your day .....do some resarch next time

 

[longranger]

I am thinking of adding more Light to my current LED grow cause the growth is way more than I anticipated. This has been with 2 blackstar 240 W vegg/clone panels and one 300W mostly red 8;1;1 chinese panel. Will consider Kessil vs more Blackstar. Will ask which LED spectra are cree and which are not if I call Gotham.

Great job KG. really nice buds. Sure they will make you proud.

 

[kush groove]

I am thinking of adding more Light to my current LED grow cause the growth is way more than I anticipated. This has been with 2 blackstar 240 W vegg/clone panels and one 300W mostly red 8;1;1 chinese panel. Will consider Kessil vs more Blackstar. Will ask which LED spectra are cree and which are not if I call Gotham.

Great job KG. really nice buds. Sure they will make you proud.

What are u gonna flower with?

 

[longranger]

I will just add extra red spectrum light to areas not well enough covered now by the one 300 w red panel and two blackstar 240W. The 240W panels are about 50% red LEDs and will provide UV and strong blue to help make my nugs extra firm. At least that is what I am hoping.

very tempted to try 2 red kessils to see how they finish these plants compared to the rest of the grow. have enough room and plants to do it since the kessils would only cover two 2' circles out of a grow of at least 25 square feet. Otherwise will go with blackstar blooming models, probably 100 W units for flexible positioning. Either way my tent will have at least 1000W of led lights with about 70% red spectra.

 

[Viagro]

Remember, Kessils have superior penetration. I'd augment your panels with them.

 

[KushMan Saoud]

Nice Grow Kush Grove. How much dry weight did you pull off of it?

 

[longranger]

If I go with kessils it will be for 2 red units. Wish I could add more but they are still pretty pricey.

For the plants under the Kessils that would be the primary light source. They would also get some supplemental light from the existing panels.

I have full confidence from the vegg that the tent has enough light as is for a decent grow. Now the trick is to get just the right spectra for optimal bud growth and potency during flower. That would end up being an interesting experiment.

Will only do it if enough of my plants are ladies. Just flipped a week ago. 30 plants from regular seed. So far 4 definite girls and only one male. Fingers crossed for ladies

 

[TshirtNinja]

go to nirvanas website they are not stocking any autos at all anymore because they have had problems with them. Nirvanas autos have tended to be bunksties. That is why they are all out of stock maybe you got one of the funny ones. Some people had no problems though.

untrue i have the short riders which they still sell to this day

 

[kush groove]

Nice Grow Kush Grove. How much dry weight did you pull off of it?

I just harvested yesterday, so I wont know for a couple days....Looks like it may be aroud 2.5 to 3 ounces of bud.

 

[Michael Sparks]

you should get a red and purple, I have two purple H150's

 

[Cereall]

how do you like them michael? are those your only lights or do they compliment something?

 

[Michael Sparks]

I use two kessil's H150 purple with a 40w UFO panel and a few china (no name) blue panels i will be probably be adding an HID 400w for flower right now i am in week two of veg and must say the sativa i am growing is real compact 5 nodes and only 4" tall all together about 400w

 

[Cereall]

LED users... how close do you distance the light from the plants?
6" for flower ???
10" for veg ???

i know with HID... close as you can without burning basically but leds seem to be slightly different

i am currently about 10" away vegging my plants and i had the lights about 5" away and seemed to bleach the leaves

opinions?

 

[Michael Sparks]

I keep my led's a few inches away on the sides the kessil's i keep about ten or so inches away the kessil's are a bit hotter then the panels but have nice little fans inside them.

 

[dunit]

Dude, I dont wanna make it seem like Im bashing you cause Im a nice guy, but after further review, you have officially wasted your cash. Rule Number one when ordering online.......check out the website and actually read it.....heres a quote from the 357 magnum website

Q I hear a lot about CREE LED’s being the best, why don’t you use them?

A CREE LED’s are the highest quality LED in the industry but their price tag is astronomical. We use Bridgelux, a long-standing and high-quality manufacturer. In numerous tests we found Bridelux LED’s to provide results only slightly below their CREE counterparts. This same panel manufactured with CREE led’s would produce about 8% more output and cost about FOUR times as much. Here at www.357MagLed.com we figure you’d be better off with two 357 Magnum LED Grow Lights (so about 85% more output) and a trip to the Amsterdam for what we would have to charge for a CREE panel.

Sorry I had to ruin your day .....do some resarch next time

No worries about bashing so don't take it personal when I ruin yours...lol It's all about being informed consumers and cutting through the adspeak and marketing B.S. In a perfect world we would know what we are buying but it ain't so I like to do some research. Anyway, maybe re-read my post. I never made any claim that my Magnums had CREE LED's. I said that Stealth Grow were the only ones who use them. Maybe you think that Stealth Grow make my lights but it is a different company. I was well aware that the panels I bought used Bridgelux and in fact I was looking for Bridgelux panels because I couldn't afford to buy CREE and as a former employee in commercial electronics who purchased LED's (although not horticultural) I knew that Bridgelux was pretty much number 2 in the industry.

I sure didn't say that I'd have bought Blackstar if they were more money. I was just pointing out some simple math. An led panel that RETAILS for $250 can't contain $274 worth of WHOLESALE parts. I'm not sure exactly what went on with the whole Blackstar/Growboys scam but it certainly threw some doubt on their credibility. When the number don't add up on other claims is makes me think that they're not credible. If you research some of my posts on here I've actually suggested that people buy Blackstar if that's what they can afford and that it will grow pot. I just don't think it's reasonable to compare them to better quality products.

On another observational error, I can't speak for the Americans you mention throwing their money away as you can clearly see under my Avatar I am Canadian

As for me wasting my money.......have you looked at my grow journal? Does it look like my lights aren't working?

Anyway, the whole point of being on here is education. You are the first person I have found that used Blackstar exclusively to grow. I will be watching your weighout because I'd like to figure out what the grams per watt and the grams per dollar spent is because in the end that's the only way to figure out if something works which is why I'm journaling the 357's. If they suck, and they sure don't seem like it so far, then maybe I can make sure no one else wastes their money.

Anyway, you just cropped out and I have 6 weeks to go so right now your Blackstar is kicking my ass......but I'm coming.....

 

[dunit]

LED users... how close do you distance the light from the plants?
6" for flower ???
10" for veg ???

i know with HID... close as you can without burning basically but leds seem to be slightly different

i am currently about 10" away vegging my plants and i had the lights about 5" away and seemed to bleach the leaves

opinions?

Depends on the power of the LED's and the lens angle. The higher the wattage of the individual LED's in your panel or light the further they should be placed from the plant tops. 120 degree lens angle provides way less intensity than 90 degree lens angle so they can be closer.

 

[SWUSAZ]

I only hope that we all realize that all LED's when produced are batched with every manufacture offering several different levels of accuracy on output wavelengths. All wave lengths are offered by CREE ,Lux and others. Prices are high and prices are low volume equals cheap and buying futures paid big dividends for some. Understanding all the BS from different sales people on the forms is neat in away but we must all always revert back to the most basics. The proof is in the pudding,sensimilla pudding that is.

 

[dunit]

I only hope that we all realize that all LED's when produced are batched with every manufacture offering several different levels of accuracy on output wavelengths. All wave lengths are offered by CREE ,Lux and others. Prices are high and prices are low volume equals cheap and buying futures paid big dividends for some. Understanding all the BS from different sales people on the forms is neat in away but we must all always revert back to the most basics. The proof is in the pudding,sensimilla pudding that is.

CREE doesn't make a 660nm or what some people call far-red. Totally agree with your post and not being argumentative, just thought that little fact might help some people sort out the sales BS.

@ Kush Grove, Viagro, HudsonValley I'm new to Kessil lights. First I heard of them was KG when he bashed me Looks like my old LED spotlight that had some high power LED's and a really focused lens for intensity. 32Watts of LED and $300? Covers a 2x2 area at 18". You guys used these and what's the deal? Trying to figure out what advantage or use they might have.

 

[dunit]

Hello all. Just looking for past experience as I'm curious what size of effective footprint people are seeing out of their grow lights.
I have a 260w I use for vegging and a 550w for flower I picked up from hydroponics hut. Both really nice lights and wondering if anyone had any experience with the 550 or something similar. It uses 135° angle and the 260w uses 90°.

I plan on short, bushy plants and was thinking a 5'x5' area and would appreciate any input

I will be growing in a grow tent and do nt know what size to get for the 1 light as I plan on doing 600w hps vs 550w led in same size tent, same clones and same nutes

Thanks in advance

The footprint doesn't have so much to do with the power of your panel as the lens angle. Basically if both those panels use the same lenses then the 550W would just be brighter in it's footprint than the 260W.

Lens angle can change that. With 90 degree lenses your footprint increases by 12" in all directions for every 12" you raise the light. Let's say your panel is 12x12. At 12" off the plants it has a 3ft by 3ft coverage area.

135 degree lens angle is way more spread out. For every 12" you raise your light the footprint increases by 29" in all directions so your 12 by 12 panel now has a footprint of just under 6ft by 6ft.

In other words your 135degree panel is trying to cover 4 times the area of your 90 degree panel if they are at the same height. Take 550 watts divided by 4 and you get 137.5 watts. The amount of watt's per square foot if you hang both lights at the same height is actually higher with your 260W panel.

I guess the short answer is to get the best intensity hang the 550W light lower because the lens angle is higher

If your 550W panel is roughly 12" by 12" then hanging it at 10" off the canopy will give you a 5ft by 5ft coverage area and short bushy plants is the way to go because with that lens angle it will lack penetration.

 

[jdizzle22]

The footprint doesn't have so much to do with the power of your panel as the lens angle. Basically if both those panels use the same lenses then the 550W would just be brighter in it's footprint than the 260W.

Lens angle can change that. With 90 degree lenses your footprint increases by 12" in all directions for every 12" you raise the light. Let's say your panel is 12x12. At 12" off the plants it has a 3ft by 3ft coverage area.

135 degree lens angle is way more spread out. For every 12" you raise your light the footprint increases by 29" in all directions so your 12 by 12 panel now has a footprint of just under 6ft by 6ft.

In other words your 135degree panel is trying to cover 4 times the area of your 90 degree panel if they are at the same height. Take 550 watts divided by 4 and you get 137.5 watts. The amount of watt's per square foot if you hang both lights at the same height is actually higher with your 260W panel.

I guess the short answer is to get the best intensity hang the 550W light lower because the lens angle is higher

If your 550W panel is roughly 12" by 12" then hanging it at 10" off the canopy will give you a 5ft by 5ft coverage area and short bushy plants is the way to go because with that lens angle it will lack penetration.

Woot, I know who uses 90 degrees haha. Can people actually patent that?