how to choose tons of safety certification for LED, UL and ETL, etc

DWCgrow2017

DWCgrow2017

Active Member
Newbie for LED lighting and growing.Hunting safety LED for first round. But tons of safety certification, UL, ETL, Rosh,etc... definitly make me puzzled:confused:
How do u guys feel those LED safety certification? Is it necessary to choose led grow light? What safety certification approved works ?

Much appreciated for any advice.

Thanks everyone !
 
DankaDank

DankaDank

Well-Known Member
DWCgrow2017 said:
Newbie for LED lighting and growing.Hunting safety LED for first round. But tons of safety certification, UL, ETL, Rosh,etc... definitly make me puzzled:confused:
Click to expand...
UL is scarce with most LED manufacturers as it is very expensive and the cost can only be justified if you are producing/selling thousands of lights.

ETL is more common. Pacific light concepts is ETL and I believe Horticultural Lighting Group is in the process of gaining ETL.

DWCgrow2017 said:
How do u guys feel those LED safety certification? Is it necessary to choose led grow light? What safety certification approved works ?

Much appreciated for any advice.
Click to expand...
May I ask for some details of what lights/ manufactures you are interested in and what safety concerns do you have.
 
DWCgrow2017

DWCgrow2017

Active Member
DankaDank said:
UL is scarce with most LED manufacturers as it is very expensive and the cost can only be justified if you are producing/selling thousands of lights.

ETL is more common. Pacific light concepts is ETL and I believe Horticultural Lighting Group is in the process of gaining ETL.


May I ask for some details of what lights/ manufactures you are interested in and what safety concerns do you have.
Click to expand...
Thanks my man. Ur right. High lever safety certification always expensive. Seems u have a led grow light with some safety certification. Do u have?
Have heard of horrible accident for bad LED grow lights, including lights sparkling, power cords melt, components failed frequently...
Dont meant to offence LED GROW LIGHTS without safety certification, just little worry about my treasure..
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
Interesting thread. In my day I have seen many counterfeit certifications on products (not LED specifically, it happens a lot with electronics). Also, in the case of a grow light you have each individual part already manufacturer certified (diodes, drivers, fans etc). The people selling grow lights are really just assemblers. The certification organizations are often simply government cash grabs or outright thievery. I had this happen to me back in the late 90's assembling PC's and CSA (Canadian product safety association). They straight up tried to extort money from us, so I took him down to the production floor and went component by component with him..see PSU CSA certified, mobo, cpu etc etc all CSA certified, then politely told him to GTFO. I have never looked at certifications the same since.

So , the question is does it really matter? Certs can be faked and are, often. You have to actually check with the agency to know for sure. Also the only things that are not already certified in a grow light are the heatsink, wiring and housing.
What you really need to know, just like a computer, is what is inside, what components is the company using, are they cheap crap drivers and diodes with 24awg wiring that will fail, overheat, be dangerous? I have seen products like this from asian companies that ARE certified (CE/UL in that case I seem to recall)

For a commercial grow that is insured, your insurer will insist on proper equipment and may even give you better rates for certain types of products and safety certification/features, and it will cost you big $.

For personal grows, I dont think you can go by the certifications, they are not a guarantee of quality (although they should be). Do your own research, ask the seller tough questions, shake the tree a little...I guess is the lesson, Trust appears to be an illusion these days. Maybe it always has been.
 
nevergoodenuf

nevergoodenuf

Well-Known Member
Of all the failures I have had with LEDs, not one has ever been worse than a small puff of smoke. I have had drivers fail (yes, even meanwell), I once forgot to plug in the pumps on a watercooled fixture and the housing blew apart. No fires, no smoke. I honestly think, even a crap built light has very few dangers compared to any other grow lights source.
 
ZeroTrousers

ZeroTrousers

Well-Known Member
Okay, so here's the skinny:
You're not gonna find real UL certification for assembled grow lights for anything in market now - they're almost all made in China or Taiwan and the ones that aren't are being put together by small workshops that aren't going to bother with getting the certs.. The parts can be UL certified (diodes, COBs, Drivers, Fans, etc) but the assemblies are not gonna get certified. It's too goddamn expensive, plus it's supposed to be used in a "Damp" or "Wet" environment which means certification for most designs will be very difficult.

Now, here's the real Super Good Advice: Buy LEDs that are well known. Don't buy knockoff brands on eBay or Alibaba if you're not comfortable doing your own safety inspection. Further, make sure you're plugging into a GFCI outlet, because any real short will cause the outlet to trip.

If you're gonna DIY, make sure you're grounding the whole thing and it's being plugged into a GFCI for the same reason.
 
DWCgrow2017

DWCgrow2017

Active Member
canadian1969 said:
Interesting thread. In my day I have seen many counterfeit certifications on products (not LED specifically, it happens a lot with electronics). Also, in the case of a grow light you have each individual part already manufacturer certified (diodes, drivers, fans etc). The people selling grow lights are really just assemblers. The certification organizations are often simply government cash grabs or outright thievery. I had this happen to me back in the late 90's assembling PC's and CSA (Canadian product safety association). They straight up tried to extort money from us, so I took him down to the production floor and went component by component with him..see PSU CSA certified, mobo, cpu etc etc all CSA certified, then politely told him to GTFO. I have never looked at certifications the same since.

So , the question is does it really matter? Certs can be faked and are, often. You have to actually check with the agency to know for sure. Also the only things that are not already certified in a grow light are the heatsink, wiring and housing.
What you really need to know, just like a computer, is what is inside, what components is the company using, are they cheap crap drivers and diodes with 24awg wiring that will fail, overheat, be dangerous? I have seen products like this from asian companies that ARE certified (CE/UL in that case I seem to recall)

For a commercial grow that is insured, your insurer will insist on proper equipment and may even give you better rates for certain types of products and safety certification/features, and it will cost you big $.

For personal grows, I dont think you can go by the certifications, they are not a guarantee of quality (although they should be). Do your own research, ask the seller tough questions, shake the tree a little...I guess is the lesson, Trust appears to be an illusion these days. Maybe it always has been.
Click to expand...
Thanks a ton man!!! just run personal grow.. Yeah trust matters. but also difficult. Thats why Im asking help from grower folks not the salesman.. lol lol... but I do have an LED with UL certification. It works amazing now:)
 
DWCgrow2017

DWCgrow2017

Active Member
nevergoodenuf said:
Of all the failures I have had with LEDs, not one has ever been worse than a small puff of smoke. I have had drivers fail (yes, even meanwell), I once forgot to plug in the pumps on a watercooled fixture and the housing blew apart. No fires, no smoke. I honestly think, even a crap built light has very few dangers compared to any other grow lights source.
Click to expand...
Oh man just a samll puff of smoke. How lucky!! where u bought ur lights? Amazon?
Have u got warranty for the failed drivers?
 
DWCgrow2017

DWCgrow2017

Active Member
ZeroTrousers said:
Okay, so here's the skinny:
You're not gonna find real UL certification for assembled grow lights for anything in market now - they're almost all made in China or Taiwan and the ones that aren't are being put together by small workshops that aren't going to bother with getting the certs.. The parts can be UL certified (diodes, COBs, Drivers, Fans, etc) but the assemblies are not gonna get certified. It's too goddamn expensive, plus it's supposed to be used in a "Damp" or "Wet" environment which means certification for most designs will be very difficult.

Now, here's the real Super Good Advice: Buy LEDs that are well known. Don't buy knockoff brands on eBay or Alibaba if you're not comfortable doing your own safety inspection. Further, make sure you're plugging into a GFCI outlet, because any real short will cause the outlet to trip.

If you're gonna DIY, make sure you're grounding the whole thing and it's being plugged into a GFCI for the same reason.
Click to expand...
Hey man the skinny always make ppl upset:cry: I do own a LED with UL certification.. Appreciated for ur amazing advice. I never trust Ebay & Alibaba store where lots of fakes make ppl puzzled and costly. Prefer official site . Poor for electric and DIY..:cry: what light u use? what brand lights u recommend ?
 
nevergoodenuf

nevergoodenuf

Well-Known Member
Years ago with blurples I had driver issues a few times and they warrantied them, but now I build my own lights. The Meanwell they replaced right away, I won't use anything else.
DWCgrow2017 said:
Oh man just a samll puff of smoke. How lucky!! where u bought ur lights? Amazon?
Have u got warranty for the failed drivers?
Click to expand...
Yes a $300 puff of smoke, actually a pop. The watercooled housing blew apart from the water pressure and no pump on. 2 watercooled CPU coolers destroyed and 2 Luna 300s toast.
 
DWCgrow2017

DWCgrow2017

Active Member
$ 300 bucks !! Terrible disaster:cuss: If I have suffered it, im sure will never use LED GROW LIGHT..
DIY pretty cool, my man. Any pics for ur own lights?:hump:
 
nevergoodenuf

nevergoodenuf

Well-Known Member
DWCgrow2017 said:
$ 300 bucks !! Terrible disaster:cuss: If I have suffered it, im sure will never use LED GROW LIGHT..
DIY pretty cool, my man. Any pics for ur own lights?
Click to expand...
When I built this, I made the mistake of having separate power for the COBs and the fans/pumps. When I plugged the lights into 240v, I forgot to plug the pumps in.client_PART_1452144087741_PART_1452144086596_IMG_20151231_194446795_HDR.jpg client_PART_1452144090726_PART_1452144012004_IMG_20151231_154731804.jpg
 
Pjten

Pjten

Member
DWCgrow2017 said:
Hey man the skinny always make ppl upset:cry: I do own a LED with UL certification.. Appreciated for ur amazing advice. I never trust Ebay & Alibaba store where lots of fakes make ppl puzzled and costly. Prefer official site . Poor for electric and DIY..:cry: what light u use? what brand lights u recommend ?
Click to expand...
care to tell us what light you have that has the UL certification on it ?
 
DWCgrow2017

DWCgrow2017

Active Member
Pjten said:
care to tell us what light you have that has the UL certification on it ?
Click to expand...

UFO80LED from Unit Farm, one of sponsors on RIU. my buddy recommends those guys as I want to try LED grow light, especially plug & play. LED works well by far... pic took when I received the light... lol lol

 
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