Help me choose a 4x4flowertent light

coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
KezuSajai said:
HLG would be a great company if they charged a couple hundred more than Ali lights. But they are charging way over that to the point it is just greed. More people would be buying them and they would have constant and repeat business. If I had the cash I would love to visit the factory, order pallets of boards and heatsinks and drivers and get them branded. Sell them for 65% of what HLG does and brand my light the GHL 435 :D
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You make a fair point, but labour in the usa and labour in china come at very different prices. There are already a lot of companies who do exactly that , rebrand the ali lights and sell for something somewhere between HLG and ALI boards.
Non of these existed until HLG made the boards , got the rep for them, sent them out for free for growers to grow and show.
They did the leg work, the rest are riding the coattails
 
KezuSajai

KezuSajai

Member
coreywebster said:
No. No. No.

HLGs boards are manufactured in the US, the first models were originally made in china and they moved manufacturing back home, at that point the clones started showing up on ali and there have been 100 companies knocking them out, some been proven to be using the wrong diode, others are using genuine ones.

Trade assurance doesn't mean anything, the only thing that means anything is how many years the company has been registered on there.
When you have a problem trade assurance will take the sellers side 90% of the time, in the 10% they don't it takes months to sort out.
Its not ebay.

The 5 year warranty on the driver isn't worth anything, meanwells come with 7 year warranty but you need to send it back to the authorised dealer you bought from who will send it back to meanwell. You cant do that with baba, if you do send it back you will be expected to pay shipping and that will cost you a chunk of money.

Do you know what happens when mejui have to honour their warranty? They just say well you've had it 6 month so we will give you 50% of the board value for the board that's burnt out. That's not really a 1 year warranty us it.

Everyone on ali claims to be the factory that make them, but 95% of them are just middle men.


I used to import electrical goods , I know how quick companies you thought you had a good relationship with can turn that warranty to dust or just go dark on you.

Everything on ali is buyer beware. Buy with the understanding that the warranty isn't just words and you wont be disappointed.
Most people accept that.
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I only had one item that needed to be returned. I paid shipping which was 65, they looked at it, sent me a replacement. And can you show me a source for HLG now manufacturing their stuff in the USA? I thought they claimed to import and assemble in America for quality control?
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
KezuSajai said:
I only had one item that needed to be returned. I paid shipping which was 65, they looked at it, sent me a replacement. And can you show me a source for HLG now manufacturing their stuff in the USA? I thought they claimed to import and assemble in America for quality control?
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In the Quantum board thread, the whole history is there, though its long.
They have a whole factory in the US, its not like they are just importing the boards and slapping them on a heatsink. There own pick and place , reflow machines
Everything is third party tested, genuine diodes direct from Samsung ect.

Yeah it was due to quality control.

Im not daft enough to say all ali lights use fake diodes, the ones who do sink to the bottom of the pile due to info on here and other places, people know which companies are more reliable if they look for the info, but people always want to think they have found the bargain of the century and for every canny buyer there are 5 daft ones.
There has been some really shady goings on with the poorer companies.

Im not against people having the right to buy where they want. Just the idea that they are getting the same thing for half the price with the same support level and legal protection. Since China do not obey the same rules of business.

That meanwell warranty is a great example. Its just words.
 
diggs99

diggs99

Well-Known Member
coreywebster said:
In the Quantum board thread, the whole history is there, though its long.
They have a whole factory in the US, its not like they are just importing the boards and slapping them on a heatsink. There own pick and place , reflow machines
Everything is third party tested, genuine diodes direct from Samsung ect.

Yeah it was due to quality control.

Im not daft enough to say all ali lights use fake diodes, the ones who do sink to the bottom of the pile due to info on here and other places, people know which companies are more reliable if they look for the info, but people always want to think they have found the bargain of the century and for every canny buyer there are 5 daft ones.
There has been some really shady goings on with the poorer companies.

Im not against people having the right to buy where they want. Just the idea that they are getting the same thing for half the price with the same support level and legal protection. Since China do not obey the same rules of business.

That meanwell warranty is a great example. Its just words.
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you said everything I wanted to say but wasn’t smart enough to say it lol

as always Corey out here dropping that knowledge, don’t ever stop bro
 
KezuSajai

KezuSajai

Member
coreywebster said:
In the Quantum board thread, the whole history is there, though its long.
They have a whole factory in the US, its not like they are just importing the boards and slapping them on a heatsink. There own pick and place , reflow machines
Everything is third party tested, genuine diodes direct from Samsung ect.

Yeah it was due to quality control.

Im not daft enough to say all ali lights use fake diodes, the ones who do sink to the bottom of the pile due to info on here and other places, people know which companies are more reliable if they look for the info, but people always want to think they have found the bargain of the century and for every canny buyer there are 5 daft ones.
There has been some really shady goings on with the poorer companies.

Im not against people having the right to buy where they want. Just the idea that they are getting the same thing for half the price with the same support level and legal protection. Since China do not obey the same rules of business.

That meanwell warranty is a great example. Its just words.
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I will have to take a gander. I thought they were asked about supposedly moving manufacturing and never provided evidence? Or am I just not fully caught up and they have now done so? I thought they initially claimed to move to Taiwan, then said they were assembled in the US? I am confused myself now :D
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
diggs99 said:
you said everything I wanted to say but wasn’t smart enough to say it lol

as always Corey out here dropping that knowledge, don’t ever stop bro
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Haha diggs your smarter than me man! least by 5%

I am biased a bit, I was here before HLG was even a company back when it was northern grow lights and johnsons, watch it all develop and was one of the first people to get QBs, then watched the rise of the clones and all the threads where people got duped with epistar diodes instead of Samsung, or didn't get top bins ect.

Years have passed and it is what it is, its the way of the world. At least we have threads dedicated to separating the wheat from the chaff as far as the clones go. But even with the most trusted companies you have to go in with your eyes open.

Half the folks I would consider friends on here are running Chinese boards, but they all took the warranty with a pinch of salt. :bigjoint:
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
KezuSajai said:
I will have to take a gander. I thought they were asked about supposedly moving manufacturing and never provided evidence? Or am I just not fully caught up and they have now done so? I thought they initially claimed to move to Taiwan, then said they were assembled in the US? I am confused myself now :D
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I think the Taiwan thing is still in the pipeline, just a source of Samsung diodes. I know there have been times where they struggled to get the supply they needed. Everyone wants Samsung top bins these days ey. lol.
We should of all bought shares a few years back.
 
KezuSajai

KezuSajai

Member
coreywebster said:
Haha diggs your smarter than me man! least by 5%

I am biased a bit, I was here before HLG was even a company back when it was northern grow lights and johnsons, watch it all develop and was one of the first people to get QBs, then watched the rise of the clones and all the threads where people got duped with epistar diodes instead of Samsung, or didn't get top bins ect.

Years have passed and it is what it is, its the way of the world. At least we have threads dedicated to separating the wheat from the chaff as far as the clones go. But even with the most trusted companies you have to go in with your eyes open.

Half the folks I would consider friends on here are running Chinese boards, but they all took the warranty with a pinch of salt. :bigjoint:
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Hey mate, just found the write up from GLI and yeah they are still importing from Asia as of 2020. HLG wrote to the guy after his write up and addressed the quality control and customer service issues. Johnson are one of the companies that formed HLG! However the does confirm they are assembled in the US, not manufactured there:

growlightinfo.com

HLG Quantum Board LED Grow Light Review (Is The Hype Real?)

HLG quantum board LED grow lights are much reviewed and discussed on grow forums and held in high esteem. But much of that is manufactured hype. The truth is...
growlightinfo.com growlightinfo.com

"HLG 550 is only lamp that had higher failure rates. This is because of Meanwell driver. We have worked with Meanwell to fix this issue. MW now makes all drivers for us in Taiwan instead of China and is better quality. and we now also use inventronics driver that has much less failure rate than MW."
 
KezuSajai

KezuSajai

Member
Couch_Lock said:
HLG does manufacture and assemble in the USA now, fact.
all parts are made in China most likely, like EVERYTHING else.

Beats CMH's and Timber cobs, both of those reside in my basement pantry.
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They don't manufacture, if they are buying chinese made diodes, they are manufactured in China. When my Grandad stopped building his products here, he no longer legally could advertise them as being manufactured here. Which is why HLG never say it.
 
Couch_Lock

Couch_Lock

Well-Known Member
KezuSajai said:
They don't manufacture, if they are buying chinese made diodes, they are manufactured in China. When my Grandad stopped building his products here, he no longer legally could advertise them as being manufactured here. Which is why HLG never say it.
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Ya, you are right. Parts made in China......My yr old light has not changed in any way, I'm more then satisfied with the 550V2 rspec.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
KezuSajai said:
They don't manufacture, if they are buying chinese made diodes, they are manufactured in China. When my Grandad stopped building his products here, he no longer legally could advertise them as being manufactured here. Which is why HLG never say it.
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Not manufactured, just ASSEMBLED. There's a vid floating around YouTube somewhere of Stephen J right next to their machines as a board goes through the solder dye, pick and place, then reflow oven machines.
 
KezuSajai

KezuSajai

Member
Airwalker16 said:
Not manufactured, just ASSEMBLED. There's a vid floating around YouTube somewhere of Stephen J right next to their machines as a board goes through the solder dye, pick and place, then reflow oven machines.
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I don't know if I place US assembly any higher than Chinese to be honest. I remember seeing footage of the steel works in China from the 80s and thinking fuck me why would anyone buy from China. Looking st some of the better suppliers now, they have third party inspections and videos up of their production and assembly, it is pretty astounding quality compared to just 10 years ago. And the Chinese state have a vested interest in expanding into this sort of thing as their steel production becomes more and more potemkin.
 
Sfrigon 1

Sfrigon 1

Well-Known Member
Has anyone told op to go with the most power ? I would choose whichever one I think will yeild me the most . New here so sorry to offend anyone
 
Couch_Lock

Couch_Lock

Well-Known Member
KezuSajai said:
I don't know if I place US assembly any higher than Chinese to be honest. I remember seeing footage of the steel works in China from the 80s and thinking fuck me why would anyone buy from China. Looking st some of the better suppliers now, they have third party inspections and videos up of their production and assembly, it is pretty astounding quality compared to just 10 years ago. And the Chinese state have a vested interest in expanding into this sort of thing as their steel production becomes more and more potemkin.
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You kidding? Child labor and human rights violations , thats China. They manufacture so much because they pay very little for labor. Machines manufacture but Id trust USA assembly over children in China, lol.
 
KezuSajai

KezuSajai

Member
Couch_Lock said:
You kidding? Child labor and human rights violations , thats China. They manufacture so much because they pay very little for labor. Machines manufacture but Id trust USA assembly over children in China, lol.
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They are not using child labor for anything but agriculture, refinery and construction work in 2020. And the HLG boards are using parts made in these same places, so either way, if child labor is being used, buying HLG does not extricate one from the practice. Quantum boards now take 10 minutes to assemble using a screwdriver and wire strippers. I don't see how a child or an American differ in the quality of assembly.
 
Couch_Lock

Couch_Lock

Well-Known Member
KezuSajai said:
They are not using child labor for anything but agriculture, refinery and construction work in 2020. And the HLG boards are using parts made in these same places, so either way, if child labor is being used, buying HLG does not extricate one from the practice. Quantum boards now take 10 minutes to assemble using a screwdriver and wire strippers. I don't see how a child or an American differ in the quality of assembly.
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Hate on HLG all you want, I'll continue to use the best LED for a 4 x 4 made.
 
Sfrigon 1

Sfrigon 1

Well-Known Member
And why is it every time a product is defended it's someone w ten msgs? Like they came here to just talk about the product. Not saying to his guy is but ??? I'm new so I may be wrong here
 
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