Onyx or A51?

dbkick

Well-Known Member
I hope he didn't mind I copied and pasted that but that's the kind of attitude that will make Rapid go places , especially in the horticulture field.
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
I think on the onyx. Using 10w leds. They should use less per panel. Half as many. Then the light would be cheaper , less watts and cover the same area. Leds barely cover beyond the size of the panel regardless of watts.
 

Chronikool

Well-Known Member
I think on the onyx. Using 10w leds. They should use less per panel.
So not use the XM-L2's then? I dont think they are driven to 3 amps (10w's) although they are driven quite hard 7-7.5w's i think.

So you mean they should use different drivers (less current)? right?
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
So not use the XM-L2's then? I dont think they are driven to 3 amps (10w's) although they are driven quite hard 7-7.5w's i think.

So you mean they should use different drivers (less current)? right?
less amount of chips. I think that's alot for a 6"x12" panel. Or double the size of the heat sink. These are designed for fresh water aquariums. Have to penetrate quite a bit of water. Not horticulture like scotch said before.
 

Mike24

Member
Hey guys, just hopping on to say hello! Thanks for the feedback so far, all of it is taken very seriously and we will consider it all as we develop newer models in the future. I see there have been some questions on the Onyx unit so I just wanted to see if I could help clear anything up or provide any insight into the light. Again, not trying to push our product since we aren't sponsors of the site so only looking to answer questions if there are any. Just to clear the most recent point up, the Onyx Grow was designed specifically for horticulture. Our aquarium Onyx uses mostly XT-E/XP-G CREE LEDs, not the XM-L2 like we have on the Onyx Grow. We felt we needed more power (to get better yields) so we went with the XM-L2's, but we aren't running them at full blast (3A). They're being run closer to 2.2A each, or roughly 7W per LED.

If there's anything you'd like to know please feel free to PM, email, call, or ask it here and I'll do the best I can to help answer those questions. Thanks again and looking forward to speaking with all of you!
 

dbkick

Well-Known Member
Welcome Mike.
Love your lights so far.
Good luck and expect another couple orders from me.
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
Welcome to RIU MIKE24! Hope to see you around these forums we have a great LED section here for DIY or manufactured LEDs. There has been a lot of talk lately about these Onyx grow lights hopefully we can get someone to setup a full grow with your lamps so we can see what type of yield and product we can achieve.
 

spazatak

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, just hopping on to say hello! Thanks for the feedback so far, all of it is taken very seriously and we will consider it all as we develop newer models in the future. I see there have been some questions on the Onyx unit so I just wanted to see if I could help clear anything up or provide any insight into the light. Again, not trying to push our product since we aren't sponsors of the site so only looking to answer questions if there are any. Just to clear the most recent point up, the Onyx Grow was designed specifically for horticulture. Our aquarium Onyx uses mostly XT-E/XP-G CREE LEDs, not the XM-L2 like we have on the Onyx Grow. We felt we needed more power (to get better yields) so we went with the XM-L2's, but we aren't running them at full blast (3A). They're being run closer to 2.2A each, or roughly 7W per LED.

If there's anything you'd like to know please feel free to PM, email, call, or ask it here and I'll do the best I can to help answer those questions. Thanks again and looking forward to speaking with all of you!
good to have you here Mike...
 

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, just hopping on to say hello! Thanks for the feedback so far, all of it is taken very seriously and we will consider it all as we develop newer models in the future. I see there have been some questions on the Onyx unit so I just wanted to see if I could help clear anything up or provide any insight into the light. Again, not trying to push our product since we aren't sponsors of the site so only looking to answer questions if there are any. Just to clear the most recent point up, the Onyx Grow was designed specifically for horticulture. Our aquarium Onyx uses mostly XT-E/XP-G CREE LEDs, not the XM-L2 like we have on the Onyx Grow. We felt we needed more power (to get better yields) so we went with the XM-L2's, but we aren't running them at full blast (3A). They're being run closer to 2.2A each, or roughly 7W per LED.

If there's anything you'd like to know please feel free to PM, email, call, or ask it here and I'll do the best I can to help answer those questions. Thanks again and looking forward to speaking with all of you!

Welcome to RIU Mike!!.................Love the remote driver(wish it was dimmable though) and the top bin xml-2 ww leds. Are you going to offer polished aluminum inserts with no diffuser down the line with your onyx products(90/100 degree options)??? The chances of emitter damage are low, and cleaning would be a breeze(dust off cans), it would significantly reduce your light loss%/more light onto the canopy which we want as growers. I would prefer if the diodes where spaced out a little more/larger casing for better coverage in the future.

$450 for 250 actual watts of high quality leds is a decent price IMO........good luck and happy growing
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
Fewer but bigger cobs- 30-50w actual draw

Welcome to RIU Mike!!.................Love the remote driver(wish it was dimmable though) and the top bin xml-2 ww leds. Are you going to offer polished aluminum inserts with no diffuser down the line with your onyx products(90/100 degree options)??? The chances of emitter damage are low, and cleaning would be a breeze(dust off cans), it would significantly reduce your light loss%/more light onto the canopy which we want as growers. I would prefer if the diodes where spaced out a little more/larger casing for better coverage in the future.

$450 for 250 actual watts of high quality leds is a decent price IMO........good luck and happy growing
 

Mike24

Member
Welcome to RIU Mike!!.................Love the remote driver(wish it was dimmable though) and the top bin xml-2 ww leds. Are you going to offer polished aluminum inserts with no diffuser down the line with your onyx products(90/100 degree options)??? The chances of emitter damage are low, and cleaning would be a breeze(dust off cans), it would significantly reduce your light loss%/more light onto the canopy which we want as growers. I would prefer if the diodes where spaced out a little more/larger casing for better coverage in the future.

$450 for 250 actual watts of high quality leds is a decent price IMO........good luck and happy growing
Thanks! We typically see aluminum reflectors on multi-chip LED arrays as they'll allow for better color blending and because making a new mold for a plastic lens can often be cost prohibitive. When you mention it decreases the chance for emitter damage can be you a bit more specific as to the type of damage? We've never seen much emitter damage from using a single secondary lens though admittedly we never looked for any. In our opinion if used correctly a secondary lens can often "protect" the LED chip from the elements, which is of course important for aquariums (ie. salt creep, moisture, etc). I'm definitely not a lens expert so I'd have to talk to some lens manufacturers to compare the light loss/gain % from using a standard secondary lens like we have now versus an aluminum insert, if the insert proves to be more effective then that's definitely something we can think about using for future models of the light. Our goal is definitely the same as yours, to get more light to the plants as cost effectively as possible.
 

Mike24

Member
Fewer but bigger cobs- 30-50w actual draw
This is also something we can consider moving forward, as long as it gets balanced light spread and doesn't create a lot of "hot spots" directly underneath the areas where the COBs are. We've seen some COB samples before but have never sold them, my initial thoughts at the time we saw them was that they do produce more light in total, but less light per watt than using a 5 or 10W CREE LED. It's been a while so I could be mistaken but we'll keep an eye out for COBs moving forward as we do see them fairly often.
 

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
Thanks! We typically see aluminum reflectors on multi-chip LED arrays as they'll allow for better color blending and because making a new mold for a plastic lens can often be cost prohibitive. When you mention it decreases the chance for emitter damage can be you a bit more specific as to the type of damage? We've never seen much emitter damage from using a single secondary lens though admittedly we never looked for any. In our opinion if used correctly a secondary lens can often "protect" the LED chip from the elements, which is of course important for aquariums (ie. salt creep, moisture, etc). I'm definitely not a lens expert so I'd have to talk to some lens manufacturers to compare the light loss/gain % from using a standard secondary lens like we have now versus an aluminum insert, if the insert proves to be more effective then that's definitely something we can think about using for future models of the light. Our goal is definitely the same as yours, to get more light to the plants as cost effectively as possible.
Aluminum reflectors is nothing new, its on 95%+ of the horticultural lighting on the market. Light passing through anything will come at a loss, no way around this:) To lower cost you can use a reflective coating on a plastic shell/cone like the hans panel

035.jpg034.jpg with a 120 degree primary lens on your xml-2 emitters, they are generally protected in a grow environment.
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
The reflectors are better imo because lens lose clarity over time and need to be replaced. They also reduce your light by concentrating the beam.
 

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
Hey Mike thanks for making the Onyx grow :joint: It has some of the best numbers out there and probably the best price/photon. The choice of XML2 T4 3000K was a very good one IMO.

Regarding small LEDs vs COBs, amazingly, COBs are topping the XML2s already. As an example, at 2A the XML2 3000K cost $0.80/W and is 29.8% efficient. The Cree CXA3070 3000K at 1.4A cost $0.82/W and is 36.24% efficient. As I always say that may not seem like a big difference but it means the CXA creates 21.6% more photons for the same price and wattage, very impressive.

I was worried about the hot spots issue from COBs as well but happy to report it is no problem. I am using CREE CXA3070 bare at 6-8" from the canopy and the lighting looks even and the ladies are happy. They have a 115 degree beam angle. Red/White/Blue module on the left COB module on the right. The buds are at 3 weeks in this pic.

View attachment 3025248 IMG_0194a (2).jpg IMG_0194b (2).jpg
 
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