⚠️Light rail 4.0 or not?⚠️ (light mover)

R

RCJR

Active Member
So I'm trying to decide if a light rail 4.0 or 3.5 (light mover) would be beneficial with this 12 plant sketch up or should i line up all 4 lights over top just the 6 plants in a row and not expand to the 12?
The lights are hlg scorpion diablos (the light hang height is not proper in the sketch up, they would be adjustable)
The sketch up dimensions are 8ft wide and 19 ft long. The light mover would move 1 light over top 3 of the plants (marked in red)
What would you do?
If you use a light rail please post some pics.
Screenshot_20240112_215334_Fusion 360.jpg
 
I have the 4.0 and had planned to use it to move 2 - 600W HIDs mounted back to back to cover a 4x8' flowering space. Never did get around to building that space so just use it when my flowering area gets a bit too spread out for a single light. Then one 600 can cover enough area I don't need to use the 1000W or add another light. A lot cheaper at 9W to use the mover than add more light to get adequate coverage.

You can connect rails to use one or two lights to cover all 19' tho I think that would be stretching it unless you're using hella powerful lights. I think I paid $400Can for my Light Rail 4.0 but I'm pretty sure it paid for itself a couple times over in saved power over the last 8 years or so.

:peace:
 
Lou66 said:
Light movers are useful with point source lights. For LEDs they offer no advantage.
Instead buy wall to wall quantum boards and have better performance with less moving parts.
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Id agree. OP one way of judging whether light rail is any good for your situation would be to set up the lights over your cannopy and judge on how much shadow you see in the cannopy. If (as is most likely) you dont see much shadow then light mover is probably not going to move the dial very much on your grow.
 
Lou66 said:
Light movers are useful with point source lights. For LEDs they offer no advantage.
Instead buy wall to wall quantum boards and have better performance with less moving parts.
Click to expand...

That's not right. If you are covering a 6' wide area with an LED light designed for 4' then a light mover is still of use rather than use a larger or more lights to fill in the shadows.

Everybody is always claiming how much less power you need with LEDs and all I see in every good grow is LEDs using as much real wattage as an HID to get the same results. Cooler maybe but in my case with a cool grow room I need the extra heat. Can't just paint every situation with the same brush.
 
OldMedUser said:
That's not right. If you are covering a 6' wide area with an LED light designed for 4' then a light mover is still of use rather than use a larger or more lights to fill in the shadows.

Everybody is always claiming how much less power you need with LEDs and all I see in every good grow is LEDs using as much real wattage as an HID to get the same results. Cooler maybe but in my case with a cool grow room I need the extra heat. Can't just paint every situation with the same brush.
Click to expand...
Sure it would have a use in this case but instead of paying 400 bucks for a light mover why not buy a light instead?

The rest you say is just wrong. A plant needs a certain amount of light every day. It doesn't matter what footprint the light has or what efficiency.
Moving the light around to compensate a bad footprint for the space results in it needing fmore output than without moving. And LEDs are up to twice as efficient as HID. If you use the same wattage you got some crispy plants.
 
Lou66 said:
Sure it would have a use in this case but instead of paying 400 bucks for a light mover why not buy a light instead?

The rest you say is just wrong. A plant needs a certain amount of light every day. It doesn't matter what footprint the light has or what efficiency.
Moving the light around to compensate a bad footprint for the space results in it needing fmore output than without moving. And LEDs are up to twice as efficient as HID. If you use the same wattage you got some crispy plants.
Click to expand...

I've got much more than the $400 back in power savings at over 30¢/kwh here and by running the light closer it more than makes up for the extra area it has to cover with the increased intensity. An LED light needs a lot of space between it and the canopy when it's not moving so it could also be much closer for the same results without coughing up a bunch of cash for another light.

I'd have to lay out a few thou to replace my HIDs then due to them running cooler have to supplement heat even when the light is on for more costs so it makes no financial sense for me to switch. As it is a 600W won't even trigger my exhaust fan to turn on so I already add CO2 via an alcohol lamp when it's like that.

I'm not growing enough any more to need new gear. With pounds of pot stashed in the freezer waiting to be made into oil there's no need except for some CBD seeds I'd like to get going.

For people that need gear and plan to grow long term I'd be saying get LEDs too but for someone starting out on a low budget a good HID light can be had for next to nothing and might be all they need to see if they can even grow decent bud at all. A while ago the market was flooded with near new gear from peeps who decided to try growing when it became legal then found out they had brown thumbs so sold it cheap.

I've got a 5 bulb COB light that pulls 200W from the wall and an 11 bulb DIY LED to cover the other half of my little 2x4 grow tent in the spare bedroom. Once I've decided on keepers they can go into 2gal pots then downstairs under a 400MH until big enough to go into 4gal pots and under a 600 or 1000 depending on how big past grows got.

CrowdedTent.JPG
 
I use a 600W bridgelux.DIY in a 6x10foot space with a mover and I like the way the plants don't lean to the light. No shadows. The light area is 4x4' and i grow in a 4x10' area also run a fan pointing straight down at the center of mover. Over the driver and most of the light. It moves at night also. Giving everyone a nice breeze. Pretty much eliminated bud rot. I can't really see any differnce growth wise. I usually have it turned down a bit in a 4x4. Run full with the mover.
May not make as much as installing another 600w but for me the cost of power vs having a bit more weight isn't worth it. May different ways to skin a cat. I say go for it.
 
Turpman said:
I use a 600W bridgelux.DIY in a 6x10foot space with a mover and I like the way the plants don't lean to the light. No shadows. The light area is 4x4' and i grow in a 4x10' area also run a fan pointing straight down at the center of mover. Over the driver and most of the light. It moves at night also. Giving everyone a nice breeze. Pretty much eliminated bud rot. I can't really see any differnce growth wise. I usually have it turned down a bit in a 4x4. Run full with the mover.
May not make as much as installing another 600w but for me the cost of power vs having a bit more weight isn't worth it. May different ways to skin a cat. I say go for it.
Click to expand...
What kinda yields do you get using this system, 600w led on a mover over a 4x10?
Congrats on no budrot :)
 
OldMedUser said:
all I see in every good grow is LEDs using as much real wattage as an HID to get the same results.
Click to expand...
Whhhhat? I don't see how, unless they're using generic lights with really low efficiencies? 35 watts per sq/ft is giving me about 1000ppfd under Samsung 561c leds.
 
nxsov180db said:
Whhhhat? I don't see how, unless they're using generic lights with really low efficiencies? 35 watts per sq/ft is giving me about 1000ppfd under Samsung 561c leds.
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Just go look at some of the grow journals they have going on right now. Guys are using over 600 real watt LEDs in 4x4 tents where I would use a 400W HID MH then maybe switch up to a 600 SHPS for flowering. I grow in a 7x9x6.5'h room so my area under cultivation depends on how many plants I have going at any given time.

When I've had a big enough grow to use a 1000W light it has to be 18" above the canopy but on the mover it can be as close as 12" without burning or bleaching tops. I'm using EYE Hortilux SHPS bulbs for all flowering chores in 400, 600 or 1000W. Only my 600W ballasts are digital with the rest all magnetics.

:peace:
 
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