Latest from Cidly

[canadian1969]

I am looking at importing one of their new lights for testing (5 watt diodes) Apollo 2 ( only one model in production, larger ones in the pipeline).

From the rep:
"For cidly grow light, the red chips are about 1.6-1.7 watts for each, but the white and blue are 2.8-2.9 watts.
For the 5W Apollo grow light, the actual red is about 2.2W, white and blue is 3.5W. The actual power in total is 130W. With feature of thinner and lighter, and isolated waterproof power driver, its cost- performance is better."

Looks pretty decent. Pricing is attractive as well.

 

[Hgrow]

Maybe Look good , price is attractive . But the quality is very disappointed , It seems that price is cheap , but actually you need to spend more . That's why Apache , Area 51, Lumigrow price high. Quality is totally different .

 

[Positivity]

Not trying to become a led company basher..

But need to call things as I see it

"Even kids know how to make it" (false)....."DIY feature" (false).....not to mention the thread they started which got deleted. Can't even answer a simple question..

I'd find a real company..

But it may perform, ya never know. I put my money behind quality of character as much as performance

 

[az2000]

Pricing is attractive as well.

What is the price? Are you considering buying directly from Cidly or one of the AliExpress companies? Do you know the spectrum/ratio?

 

[Abiqua]

I call bullshit on the umol ratings.

 

[canadian1969]

@az2000
I buy direct. I am getting a sample order shortly so we will see what the actual measures are soon enough. Soon as I get it we will rip it apart and post details. Cost depends on how many you buy and how they are shipped. I would guess at a MSRP of $250-$300. You can customize the spectrum, as usual. primarily red/blue balanced with whites. I will verify when we order.

@Hgrow yeah, that photo isnt real helpful, and it was huge, try a link next time. I am not moved by photos of returned items. If you tell me that they have a 10-15% failure rate and that would be valuable information. Anything over 2% is bad. RMA is a fact of life.

Domestic LED is way overpriced IMHO. I am also looking at EverGrow (we have had some demo units for about 8 months now and they are pretty damn good, but the sales reps are awful), so I think I will try these out and post some results after the summer is over.

@Abiqua really? Looked about right to me. I use LUX primarily, but nothing jumped out at me as overly exaggerated. I do not possess a PAR meter though. Its on my Christmas list.

@Positivity I have no idea what you are talking about. I have no issues with bashing companies that deserve it, but I try to support my claims. What thread are you referring to?

 

[Positivity]

There was a thread the day before you posted. It was a Cidly rep introducing the new Apollo..I'm sure they had it deleted after they figured out what they said translated too.

It's all good bro...

I personally can't stand a lot of these companies that hawk leds...it's why I said f them and built my own.

Just my opinion that I try to control as much as possible..lol

Good luck with your business venture

They did admit that their leds are Nissan quality compared to rolls royce. Their analogy..

No Nissan leds for me...ferrari only.

So replying in this thread was to help other newbies make a decision for better quality leds...

But I'm not a professional led builder...entrepreneur....or speaker. Just my humble 2 cents

Maybe it makes sense now...maybe not. Depends your perspective

 

[Hgrow]

Here is the link you want http://heliosgrowlights.hubpages.com/hub/The-Truth-Behind-the-LED-Grow-Light-Industry

 

[Hgrow]

@Hgrow yeah, that photo isnt real helpful, and it was huge, try a link next time. I am not moved by photos of returned items. If you tell me that they have a 10-15% failure rate and that would be valuable information. Anything over 2% is bad. RMA is a fact of life.

Here is the link from Canada guy . Luke

http://heliosgrowlights.hubpages.com/hub/The-Truth-Behind-the-LED-Grow-Light-Industry

 

[az2000]

I buy direct. I am getting a sample order shortly so we will see what the actual measures are soon enough. Soon as I get it we will rip it apart and post details. Cost depends on how many you buy and how they are shipped. I would guess at a MSRP of $250-$300. You can customize the spectrum, as usual. primarily red/blue balanced with whites. I will verify when we order.

Do you have a custom spectrum in mind, or will you use their spectrum? (I'd like to know what their spectrum/ratio is, if you can find out.).

I'm using an Apollo 4 with custom spectrum[1]. My plants like it. It's in a tent with an XGS and a Blackstar v2 HO (veg, cool white light). Got it for $150 free shipping. I don't mind fooling around at the $100-$200 level (for a 2x2 footprint). I don't know if I could justify $300. But, nothing wrong with being the first to try something, provide hands-on guidance for others who might consider it.

One thing seems odd to me: the theoretical draw is 200w, actual 130w. My Apollo 4 is 180w, 118w (measured with a Kill-A-Watt meter). An extra 12w actual power doesn't seem worth an additional $100. Is there something about 5w chips that make it worth the money?

My first impression is that I'd buy two Apollo 4s (236w actual) for $300 and get more coverage/reflector angles. I can see how 5w chips could penetrate further. But, at the same power per sq. ft., it seems like it would be the proverbial "robbing Peter to pay Paul" (reducing the number of reflected angles for more concentrated beams?).

[1] As close as I could get to Grow Northern's Rebel spectrum using Epi leds:

    7%   1x IR 730
   60% 9x deep red 660
   13% 2x blue 450
   20% White avg 5116k
      7% 1x white 3350k (3200-3500k)
     13% 2x white 6000k (5500-6500k)

If I swapped the white's 1:2 to 2:1 (warm:cool) it would have the exact color temperature as the Rebel. But, Epi's warm white looks funky to me. Eventually I'll try it.

 

[gk skunky]

You confuse me man... LOL Sometimes I see you posting things that seem novice, then other times you seem like you're pretty experienced. Now you are talking about getting a cidly light, but have a review for the AT600 on growershouse and the only good thing you can say about the light is they use actual watts? Also, what's with the comment that if something goes wrong with the panel it's done and making it sound like there is no warranty and that you will lose your crop? Do you even own an AT600? If so, why in the hell are you even looking at cidly? LOL Just curious.

 

[Abiqua]

You confuse me man... LOL Sometimes I see you posting things that seem novice, then other times you seem like you're pretty experienced. Now you are talking about getting a cidly light, but have a review for the AT600 on growershouse and the only good thing you can say about the light is they use actual watts? Also, what's with the comment that if something goes wrong with the panel it's done and making it sound like there is no warranty and that you will lose your crop? Do you even own an AT600? If so, why in the hell are you even looking at cidly? LOL Just curious.

Saw that too, he also proclaimed he could build a better more modular LED than the Apache, so why Cidly? And the thread was started the day after the Cidly "rep" wouldn't answer any questions. They had a picture of them using an Apogee too and would answer my umol/s question, then this comes along in the morning.

Kwinky dink?

 

[purplegrower02]

Ah I'd rather go with high quality cree chips, 300 actual watts of CREE for about $300, it will outperform a 600w hps in every way.

 

[canadian1969]

put away the tinfoil hats people. This wasn't intended to be an advert for Cidly. I am sure it is no coincident that the email that appeared in my inbox from cidly roughly coincided with Cidly's post here (which I didn't see, despite checking in every few days). Had I seen it I would not have posted this. Was only looking for feedback as this is the first all 5 watt unit from a Chinese manufacturer that seemed reasonably priced. If memory serves Bysen is the only other, although that could have been COBs, I converse with overseas OEMs daily, but am not affiliated with anyone,or in anyone's pocket etc. I have been buying panels from various sources for about 2 years. I get the sense that asking an opinion about any foreign manufacturer will get the same response, so I will refrain from that in the future.

But for anyone that is curious I was able to get the 5 watt diode selection from their rep.


Available in 5 watt:

If I were to select spectra I guess I would go with something like this:
2x 2700
2x 12K
24x 660
4x 620
8x 460
no ir/uv, waste of money imho, probably be some time before you see 5 watt 390-410nm diodes anyway, but I still think they're a waste. Best results I have had are the red/blue balanced with whites. I suspect that supplemental UV via floros is the way to go, but I have not tested this. I do not see the point of adding IR/FAR red to a panel, if anyone can explain why this would be a good thing I am all ears.

I dont have English spec sheets for the older Apollo, but it appears as though they are achieving roughly the same output by using fewer (5 watt) diodes than the previous models (3 watt). Fewer diodes, same output (roughly). So there doesn't seem to be any price advantage over the old series. Still going to get a demo so I can see for myself.

Cidly said their primary service issues are drivers, either defective or come unconnected during transport. I asked for a failure rate in %, we'll see if they answer that one or beat around the bush. (edit: just emailed me 0.03%), also noted their best sellers are Apollo 20,18 and 16. If there are any resellers out there I would be interested to hear if you think their RMA estimates are correct.

 

[gk skunky]

No one said this was an advertisement. But you say apache has all those cons yet you expect something as good or better from cidly? That's what has me curious and confused. No bashing because it's cidly Just comes off a bit as If you were possibly talking out your ass in the apache review. But if you think you can honestly have a better panel built for cheaper I'll be watching. Don't think it will be cidly but if so you would probably want to have your own specs and components. I would ask more about using specific drivers diodes thermal past specific heatsinks and not just their generic stuff. Idk that's just what I'm thinking.

 

[Positivity]

There's no tin foil here buddy. Just experience with led companies from day 1.

Their just selling 10 cent leds nicely wrapped.

All the chinese companies seem to behave exactly the same...same mission statement? Weird..

Oh well. Now that growing is getting back to whites, Chinese red and blue lights won't cut it anymore. And their whites aren't up to par..

It was a good idea last year..but that train is about to derail.

 

[canadian1969]

Saw that too, he also proclaimed he could build a better more modular LED than the Apache, so why Cidly? And the thread was started the day after the Cidly "rep" wouldn't answer any questions. They had a picture of them using an Apogee too and would answer my umol/s question, then this comes along in the morning.

Kwinky dink?

Pretty sure that was an implied association with Cidly. Certainly the way I inferred it.

 

[gk skunky]

Pretty sure that was an implied association with Cidly. Certainly the way I inferred it.

Well it's inferred that you keep dancing around the question at hand. Do you own an At600? What's your experience with apache both performance and customer service wise, since you touched on both in your review. And lastly what makes you think you can build a better light through cidly? Especially while relying solely on them for components instead of inquiring about a true custom build with better components....?

Seriously if you can't answer that then basically we all know you're just making shit up. You've posted up saying you can do better, but Then your looking at a company using lower quality components and just asking them spec info? You need to be feeding them spec info if anything.