"Area 51 LED" Information and discussion

AquariusPanta

AquariusPanta

Well-Known Member
Eraserhead said:
As far as I know, Optic is it. Except they use Vero v1. I would think they'd switch to v2s soon enough.

Did you all see GrowBrown changed their description for their Apollo? It's not 5w Bridgelux Vero Xtreme anymore. It's just plain Bridgelux.

They also have a video on the interwebz, they took a 3D image of an Apollo, and rotated it in a video explaining that's why they're not resellers...


They need to have some respect for themselves... Really...
Click to expand...
Yeah, I bought a few Chromes from BlackStar (around two years ago) and the design this guy shows in the video is basically the same thing. Ok, so maybe he tweaked a few things but ultimately it's the same design that he didn't create.

It's like if I were to buy a song from iTunes and then import it into Reason (music program) and then add a few effects and then resell that song. I didn't make that song, I just added to it.

Anyways, so Optic and GrowBrownDaClown are your only competition or is there more that you would like to share??

Optic sells performing fixtures at an affordable price. Do you think the green dudes at A51 will be able to not only offer cheaper fixtures at similar wattage outputs but also design a sleeker case for the fixture?
 
Swiller

Swiller

Well-Known Member
I plan on using the A51 lights to light up my retirement. I like your lights, they are working well for me, are constructed sturdy, and I have had ZERO problems with them. All the people who smoke my organic soil grown madman OG appreciate the smoothness and potency. The RW150 will produce as much bud as my Onyx which uses 220W.
 
robincnn

robincnn

Well-Known Member
Eraserhead said:
Has anyone else had to do a captcha before posting on here? I use TOR, so I get them all the time.
Click to expand...
I get them most of the time when I login here with tor. Sometimes in the middle of the session while making a post. Sometimes captcha r so tough I have to try several times.
 
gk skunky

gk skunky

Well-Known Member
One thing that will help just a little with the captcha crap is checking that remember me box when logging in. At least reduced the occurrence using TOR.
 
borbor

borbor

Well-Known Member
this is way outta my price range, but just curious, has anybody noticed they have sgs-190s for $1400 in sets of 4 units shipped from hong kong?
 
OneHitDone

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
deadgro said:
The price keeps dropping until they're all gone.
Click to expand...
This is what spooked me out of buying an led system. Even with something highly raved about like Area51, say if craps out at year 3 or 4 and that model is now obsolete - then what do you do if your not an electronics whiz that can trouble shoot it?
 
D

deadgro

Well-Known Member
OneHitDone said:
This is what spooked me out of buying an led system. Even with something highly raved about like Area51, say if craps out at year 3 or 4 and that model is now obsolete - then what do you do if your not an electronics whiz that can trouble shoot it?
Click to expand...
He offers discounts on the modules/banks of leds, they're easy to swap out, a few screws and small power plug. They keep those modules around for awhile.
 
Mellodrama

Mellodrama

Well-Known Member
The A-51's use high quality diodes. Because of that I'm guessing driver or fan failure is more likely. Fans would be easy. As long as you understand what voltage and current you're after, driver replacement should be relatively easy too.
 
Last edited:
AquariusPanta

AquariusPanta

Well-Known Member
Eraserhead said:
That's just warehouse space, not a factory. And those are not new lamps, they are from 2013 and been sitting there since, have absolutely nothing to do with what's going on with the new lamps. 2 separate things.
Click to expand...
That's an awfully far place to send your goodies for storage, especially when your customer base is located in a totally different hemisphere.

:shock:
 
H

Herb Smith

Well-Known Member
To be fair customer base today is global. I have had to email A-51 a couple of times with questions and they have been great with timely and reasonable replies. Plus they stated a while back that shipping was being moved to Michigan and China. At least I think that's what they said. I'm not rubbing butter on them or anything. Actually I have 3 SGS-160's that I have not even used yet so this is not an endorsement of the product. I'm just saying be fair with them.
 
AquariusPanta

AquariusPanta

Well-Known Member
Herb Smith said:
To be fair customer base today is global. I have had to email A-51 a couple of times with questions and they have been great with timely and reasonable replies. Plus they stated a while back that shipping was being moved to Michigan and China. At least I think that's what they said. I'm not rubbing butter on them or anything. Actually I have 3 SGS-160's that I have not even used yet so this is not an endorsement of the product. I'm just saying be fair with them.
Click to expand...
I'm just going off their FAQ page found on their website; says they only ship to U.S. and Canada, with a few exceptions in Europe and "down under". Maybe they just haven't updated that part of the site?

Interesting that your profile was created over five years ago and yet this is where you choose to make your first post?
 
D

deadgro

Well-Known Member
AquariusPanta said:
I'm just going off their FAQ page found on their website; says they only ship to U.S. and Canada, with a few exceptions in Europe and "down under". Maybe they just haven't updated that part of the site?

Interesting that your profile was created over five years ago and yet this is where you choose to make your first post?
Click to expand...
And how is someone an active member with only one message and one like?
 
H

Herb Smith

Well-Known Member
I actually did not realize it was 5 years now that I found this place thanks for the info. I am an avid raised bed vegetable gardener I found this place searching for the best gardening information I could find( I guess it was about 5 years ago). It appears the folks that grow weed are fanatical about something( lights, nutes, soil, air, indoor, outdoor ) Great place to learn. I didn't say anything for 5 years because I didn't have anything to say. I see the tit for tat communication that takes place here just seems strange to me. If I ever post a message here it will be a true statement to the best of my knowledge, a question or just an opinion which is what I did this time. As I start to add more variety to my gardening as I go into retirement soon I am sure I will be here asking more questions. I don't mean to be harsh but I am not looking for validation of any type I could truly could not care less if anyone believes my post is legit. I was actually steered to A-51 by this forum, then I saw the guy ya'll refer to as EH actually post in here. ( In case he see's this I recently emailed about voltage variance in the lights ) at least he'll know I'm real. Well he cleared it up I was happy. I have a couple G8LED, and a couple of kessils and some others . My goal is to see which ones work best. I haven't used any of them yet. But I look forward to comparing them soon. I must conclude I learn a lot here.
 
Last edited:
thenotsoesoteric

thenotsoesoteric

Well-Known Member
AquariusPanta said:
That's an awfully far place to send your goodies for storage, especially when your customer base is located in a totally different hemisphere.

:shock:
Click to expand...
I think you got it. Ain't nobody shipping shit to China to store it in a warehouse. That doesn't even make sense but what does make sense is this dude is having the lights made by one of the many led light factories over in china then shipped to the US.
 
E

Eraserhead

Well-Known Member
And you are?
thenotsoesoteric said:
I think you got it. Ain't nobody shipping shit to China to store it in a warehouse. That doesn't even make sense but what does make sense is this dude is having the lights made by one of the many led light factories over in china then shipped to the US.
Click to expand...
Let me do the math for you. I'll even number it for you.
1) As described on the website, housing cases and heat sinks are made in China.
2) Housing cases and heat sinks are sent to the USA via ocean freight at a cost per $2.75 per 1 housing case and 1 heat sink set.
3) Assembly is done in the USA
4) Finished products are shipped to 2 places, Niles, Michigan at a cost of $8 per finished unit via FedEx. The other is back to China at a cost of $4.50 per finished unit via ocean freight.
5) It costs on average to ship a lamp to anywhere USA based, about $22.50usd per finished 1 lamp.
6) It costs on average to ship a light to the UK or Australia from the USA, about $105usd per 1 lamp.
7) It costs on average to ship a lamp from China to Australia or the UK about $75usd per lamp.

8 ) Parts from China to USA = $2.75 + back to China as finished lamp $4.50 + shipping to AU or UK $75 from China = $82.25USD
9) Total cost to ship to AU or UK from the USA: Parts from China to USA $2.75 + Niles, Michigan at a cost of $8 per finished unit via FedEx +$105 shipping from the USA to AU or UK $105, total $115.75, vs. $82.25 from China $33.50USD cheaper overall.

Do any of you as customers want to pay an extra $33.50 for anything, if you don't have to, especially if you're getting the same exact thing anyways, in pretty much the same amount of time??

Anything else?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top