So upgrading growroom to LED

Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
So I'm going to soon be upgrading my main flower room over to led along with my veg areas. Right now I'm I have a sealed flower room with 4- 1000w mh/hps(I switch from mh>hps in the first few weeks of flower) 1-630 cmh. This room has a 2- ton Daikin mini split and obviously run co2.
Veg area is a 4x4 tent and a 5x5 tent all filled with t5s. In between these 2 tents have 28 4ft t5 bulbs, so around 1512 watts in t5 for veg plants. Also have a cloning area metal rack with 2- 4 bulb t5s so just in veg close to 2k watts in t5 when everything is cranking.

So I'm up in the air on different models and brands of leds. Think I'm leaning toward bar style for my main flower room and maybe some boards for veg. I'm going to put at least 6 led units in my flower room.
The ones I've been checking out are the-

Kingbrite copacabana 720w

Gavita- 1700e

HLG 650r.
I'd most likely go with the hlg boards for veg space I'm thinking.

My friend owns the local hydro store around me and he been having my check out the more budget LEDS like growers choice e-720 and the photontek X600w pro, he can also get the fluence spyrd at good prices since he has had some problems with them-out of 100 unit he sold, around 30 came back with ballast problems.

I've also been looking at the thinkgrows and fohse just recently. The fohse seem really nice but a bit to more than what I want to spend. Any input would be appreciated.
 
GrassBurner

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
HLG gets my vote. Top quality, you know whats in them, great customer support, great warranty. Call them, they'll hook you up with a bulk discount.
Half of my 4x4 flower tent are qb120s, the other half are Samsung Strips. I don't see either style being superior to the other (boards vs bars).
Lights and Genetics are the 2 things I don't want to be shopping in the bargain bin for. Get a light from a reputable company, that has a website, and a direct phone number to the company.
 
Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
GrassBurner said:
HLG gets my vote. Top quality, you know whats in them, great customer support, great warranty. Call them, they'll hook you up with a bulk discount.
Half of my 4x4 flower tent are qb120s, the other half are Samsung Strips. I don't see either style being superior to the other (boards vs bars).
Lights and Genetics are the 2 things I don't want to be shopping in the bargain bin for. Get a light from a reputable company, that has a website, and a direct phone number to the company.
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Ya I was iffy going the alibaba route but the kingbrites from shenzhen kingbrite lighting have really good reviews, few people on here I trust actually directed me towards them, and they have been runing their units for a while.

I would like to go with more of name brand strictly for dealing with warranty if there are any problems with lights. I was leaning towards the gavita 1700e but I don't know, I like what I see from a few other led companies, HLG included. I wanted to see what people thought of the cheaper brands of like growerschoice as well, I haven't read the greatest reviews on these lights but who knows.
 
S

SSHZ

Well-Known Member
Do a google search "sshz and orange gasm" for a thread over at the farm........ it was my very first LED grow after growing with HPS for 30+ years. I used 2 Gavita 1700e LED's in a 4 x 8 area with no co2. It yielded 106 oz. The grow diary currently has 51,000 hits and continues to grow around 1K views a month, even though the thread has been locked for months. I vote for Gavita because 1) the light spread, 2) Gavita uses over 3300 diodes in the fixture but doesn't push them (less heat) like the other manufacturers so they last longer, 3) top bin diodes, and 4) very sturdy fixture that's waterproof. HLG is good too, I just like the fact that Gavita builds their stuff really well.
 
Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
SSHZ said:
Do a google search "sshz and orange gasm" for a thread over at the farm........ it was my very first LED grow after growing with HPS for 30+ years. I used 2 Gavita 1700e LED's in a 4 x 8 area with no co2. It yielded 106 oz. The grow diary currently has 51,000 hits and continues to grow around 1K views a month, even though the thread has been locked for months. I vote for Gavita because 1) the light spread, 2) Gavita uses over 3300 diodes in the fixture but doesn't push them (less heat) like the other manufacturers so they last longer, 3) top bin diodes, and 4) very sturdy fixture that's waterproof. HLG is good too, I just like the fact that Gavita builds their stuff really well.
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That's funny I was actually checking that out earlier dude, no bullshit. You killed it with the gavitas, came out fire. I do like the HLG but think the bar panels would work better in my room, I was leaning towards the 1700e. The gavita 1700e are pretty reasonably priced now as well.

I also like the way the bar style units spread light and hit the canopy, at least from what I've seen in person. My flower room is 13.5' x 8' sealed with co2 + a/c. I'm sure I could do pretty well with leds with my setup and environment
 
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Porky1982

Porky1982

Well-Known Member
SSHZ said:
Do a google search "sshz and orange gasm" for a thread over at the farm........ it was my very first LED grow after growing with HPS for 30+ years. I used 2 Gavita 1700e LED's in a 4 x 8 area with no co2. It yielded 106 oz. The grow diary currently has 51,000 hits and continues to grow around 1K views a month, even though the thread has been locked for months. I vote for Gavita because 1) the light spread, 2) Gavita uses over 3300 diodes in the fixture but doesn't push them (less heat) like the other manufacturers so they last longer, 3) top bin diodes, and 4) very sturdy fixture that's waterproof. HLG is good too, I just like the fact that Gavita builds their stuff really well.
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How you been mate I noticed you left the other forum. Me 2.
Gavita or HLG but definitely not the Chinese kock off's
 
Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
SSHZ said:
Do a google search "sshz and orange gasm" for a thread over at the farm........ it was my very first LED grow after growing with HPS for 30+ years. I used 2 Gavita 1700e LED's in a 4 x 8 area with no co2. It yielded 106 oz. The grow diary currently has 51,000 hits and continues to grow around 1K views a month, even though the thread has been locked for months. I vote for Gavita because 1) the light spread, 2) Gavita uses over 3300 diodes in the fixture but doesn't push them (less heat) like the other manufacturers so they last longer, 3) top bin diodes, and 4) very sturdy fixture that's waterproof. HLG is good too, I just like the fact that Gavita builds their stuff really well.
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One thing I wanted to ask is I know with gavita they charge you more for the adapter, master controller, ect. Can you daisy chain units and use one e- series led adapter?
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Dividedsky said:
So I'm going to soon be upgrading my main flower room over to led along with my veg areas. Right now I'm I have a sealed flower room with 4- 1000w mh/hps(I switch from mh>hps in the first few weeks of flower) 1-630 cmh. This room has a 2- ton Daikin mini split and obviously run co2.
Veg area is a 4x4 tent and a 5x5 tent all filled with t5s. In between these 2 tents have 28 4ft t5 bulbs, so around 1512 watts in t5 for veg plants. Also have a cloning area metal rack with 2- 4 bulb t5s so just in veg close to 2k watts in t5 when everything is cranking.

So I'm up in the air on different models and brands of leds. Think I'm leaning toward bar style for my main flower room and maybe some boards for veg. I'm going to put at least 6 led units in my flower room.
The ones I've been checking out are the-

Kingbrite copacabana 720w

Gavita- 1700e

HLG 650r.
I'd most likely go with the hlg boards for veg space I'm thinking.

My friend owns the local hydro store around me and he been having my check out the more budget LEDS like growers choice e-720 and the photontek X600w pro, he can also get the fluence spyrd at good prices since he has had some problems with them-out of 100 unit he sold, around 30 came back with ballast problems.

I've also been looking at the thinkgrows and fohse just recently. The fohse seem really nice but a bit to more than what I want to spend. Any input would be appreciated.
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On your light choices:
I'd suggest changing out the 650R to the Diablo scorpion, it's only bout 100$ if you buy from HLG direct (also remember RIU10 discount voucher).
The 650R uses about 150w per board, which (IMHO) is a bit much both for thermal performance and for hanging height/spread. The fact that the boards are bunched quite tight together compounds this issue and means it has a bit of a hotspot. These lights are good for a larger size grow with crosslighting. For a smaller space go for the scorpion, it's the closest hlg got to a bar/rack light. In fact I favor this approach to bar lights unless you're pushing the bar light down right on top of the cannopy.

This is not to say that the other lights are bad, just that I wouldnt use the 650R as my hlg alternative.
 
Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
On your light choices:
I'd suggest changing out the 650R to the Diablo scorpion, it's only bout 100$ if you buy from HLG direct (also remember RIU10 discount voucher).
The 650R uses about 150w per board, which (IMHO) is a bit much both for thermal performance and for hanging height/spread. The fact that the boards are bunched quite tight together compounds this issue and means it has a bit of a hotspot. These lights are good for a larger size grow with crosslighting. For a smaller space go for the scorpion, it's the closest hlg got to a bar/rack light. In fact I favor this approach to bar lights unless you're pushing the bar light down right on top of the cannopy.

This is not to say that the other lights are bad, just that I wouldnt use the 650R as my hlg alternative.
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None of those listed are alternatives, they're all top notch lights. 6 of the gavita 1700e would fit perfectly in my flower space. Those gavita are kickass lights , seen them in action and they can produce some beautiful buds and throw yields as well.
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
What I'm saying: I'm not suggesting scorpion over the other lights mentioned, only that your hlg alternative should be the scorpion, not the 650r. All of them have merit, but if your looking for bar style light the scorpion is the hlg version of that. And also IMHO a better option than the 650r. Better spread, lower hanging height, less watts per diode.
 
S

SSHZ

Well-Known Member
Dividedsky said:
One thing I wanted to ask is I know with gavita they charge you more for the adapter, master controller, ect. Can you daisy chain units and use one e- series led adapter?
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No, 1 adapter per led but only 1 master controller but everything can be daisy chained. I have 2 adapters and one El2 gen 2 master controller, all brand new if anyone is interested. I bought them for my system but decided not to use them for only 2 lights. I run everything at full power and just raise and lower the led’s As need be.
 
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S

SSHZ

Well-Known Member
Also, regarding hanging distance and ppfd.......... I see one way company's manipulate their grid numbers is by adjusting the hanging distance. Lower the distance, more intense the photon stream is. Only issue is though, too close and the plants react poorly. I find in veg, I can't get closer than 26 or so inches or the plants start to show strange results in the leaves. In flowering, I can get closer, maybe 18-20 inches. So company's that show a 14 inch hanging height might show good grid numbers but your plants will look like shit.

So, make sure everything is apples to apples, not apples to oranges, when comparing LED's.
 
Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
SSHZ said:
It's also important not to buy more light than you need......bigger isn't always better, especially when heat is a concern. Here's 1/2 my current room, Ethos "End Game", day 46 or 47......... In my 4 x 4 space on each side, I figured about 650 watts was ideal.

View attachment 4953336
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Damn your canopy is on point dude. It's always impresses me seeing the canopy maintenance with some led grows.

Heat shouldn't be an issue, I have a 2-ton minisplit so even if I got 6-1700e my a/c would still be oversized.
 
Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
Honestly it's hurting my head with all the led companies out there. Seems like the tech catching up has kicked opened the floodgates with led companies popping up.

I've been always rocking HIDs for years, fuck bought my first 1000 watt hps in 03'. Since then and years taken off from growing in between I always came back to HPS/MH AND CMH, was always tried and true to me. I ran leds years ago when the tech was not that great yet, I wasn't impressed. Ran a bunch of area 51 leds just to test out a small grow. Now I think the innovations in LED grow lights have really made leaps in even the last 3-5 years. I've seen some runs and leds have throughly impressed me with what they can do in a dialed in environment all while using less wattage than most HID.
 
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