Led Users Unite!

datruth585

Active Member
hey guys I just wanted to share with you what im experiencing with my plants. i have 5 beauties 1 bag, 1 purple haze, 1 spr haze, 1 armageddon, 1raw diesle. the bag seed is the oldest i kinda lost count but i believe she's 7wks but the other for are only 3.5wks they are on day 4 of flower and i have all ladies! now i have customized my own led panel (best choice i coulda eva made)
288pc * 3wchips that is 864w led wats and atcual power consumption is 600w each led rated at .7w and i based my wave lengths off the graph(I used all, even the 410nm). Now my plants are monsters compared to my buddies(600w hps) we are sharing seeds btw. All my buddies plants are str8 bean poles while mines are full of colas(well i guess i should say future bud sites) and im talking all my plants. the bagseed has over 30 and the younggings all have atleast 8. And also I have trouble finding a sweet spot with the nutes (FF complete set) i feed full strength and also have to foilar feed often just to get my plants thru to next watering because the begin to yellow 2-3days after feeding, Once I foilar feed them they liven right back up and become lush green again. Im guessing the light absorption rate and intensity is making my plants use up nutes faster then the plants need watering. Im going to have to sort this out before the plant pack on weight in late flowering, any one experiencing this? Any suggestions from the pros?



View attachment 1696191
 

newworldicon

Well-Known Member
hey guys I just wanted to share with you what im experiencing with my plants. i have 5 beauties 1 bag, 1 purple haze, 1 spr haze, 1 armageddon, 1raw diesle. the bag seed is the oldest i kinda lost count but i believe she's 7wks but the other for are only 3.5wks they are on day 4 of flower and i have all ladies! now i have customized my own led panel (best choice i coulda eva made)
288pc * 3wchips that is 864w led wats and atcual power consumption is 600w each led rated at .7w and i based my wave lengths off the graph(I used all, even the 410nm). Now my plants are monsters compared to my buddies(600w hps) we are sharing seeds btw. All my buddies plants are str8 bean poles while mines are full of colas(well i guess i should say future bud sites) and im talking all my plants. the bagseed has over 30 and the younggings all have atleast 8. And also I have trouble finding a sweet spot with the nutes (FF complete set) i feed full strength and also have to foilar feed often just to get my plants thru to next watering because the begin to yellow 2-3days after feeding, Once I foilar feed them they liven right back up and become lush green again. Im guessing the light absorption rate and intensity is making my plants use up nutes faster then the plants need watering. Im going to have to sort this out before the plant pack on weight in late flowering, any one experiencing this? Any suggestions from the pros?



View attachment 1696191
How about some pictures of what youre describing...
 

Gary Busey

New Member
Blackstar is sounding more and more sketchy everyday. I'm still happy with my 2 Blackstar panels though.

If I do end up buying more, I want the same ones I already have, I know those work good and gave me good yields, and is quite bright.

If they replace that unit with a newer version that is inferior to the last, I will shop elsewhere.

It has also been reported to be noticeably dimmer then the previous 500W model.
All the new Blackstar models are reportedly dimmer then their previous iterations.
Sounds like Gotham Hydro isn't cranking the diodes as hard as they used to, which could be a good thing for the lifespan of these lights.
 
Hey everyone. Hope I'm not interrupting, just figured I'd check in here, talk about my LED panel that I've been using for a little while now. Here's a couple pics to save time describing it. First one is face up, and with the overhead light on, the second is face down, with only the LED on.

DSCF0982.jpgDSCF0983.jpg
This thing runs cool too, it's been on for over a month strait and is still cool to the touch. Only weighs about 2 pounds. It may look like a "lite-brite" but it is bright light! As for results, here's a pic of what ended up being a male, taken the day I added that desklamp with a CFL you see there. So, it got it at least that far.
DSCF1103.jpg Right now I'm using the LED in combination with that desklamp and another "regular" houselamp I just got, with a CFL in each. Here's what's up so far with my current project.
DSCF1360.jpg But you can't see the LED in that pic unfortunatly, I had to retie the string holding it up, and now it's a little higher above it, but it's there, it's the most recent pic. Anyways, I keep hearing people talk about how expensive LEDs supposedly are, but this one didn't cost anywhere near that much, and it does it's job fine. I literally paid just over $40. I swear. There are good LEDs at good prices out there, you just have to keep looking, took me about an hour online before I found this one. Maybe I just got a good deal, seen similar "panels" go for more, but still under $100. I'm just sayin' you DON'T have to pay $1000 for energy savings like some think. Quality LEDs CAN be found for much less. I'd tell you where I got mine but I'm sure you can find good prices on your own, plus I'm not here to promote any particular site or brand, just telling my story of finding a low cost LED that works for me. All I did was search for "LED grow lights" in Bing. After a few pages I found it. Long story short, that "high price" wall people think exists is full of holes and gaps. I found my way through and I'm new at this.
 

newworldicon

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone. Hope I'm not interrupting, just figured I'd check in here, talk about my LED panel that I've been using for a little while now. Here's a couple pics to save time describing it. First one is face up, and with the overhead light on, the second is face down, with only the LED on.

View attachment 1696346View attachment 1696347
This thing runs cool too, it's been on for over a month strait and is still cool to the touch. Only weighs about 2 pounds. It may look like a "lite-brite" but it is bright light! As for results, here's a pic of what ended up being a male, taken the day I added that desklamp with a CFL you see there. So, it got it at least that far.
View attachment 1696353 Right now I'm using the LED in combination with that desklamp and another "regular" houselamp I just got, with a CFL in each. Here's what's up so far with my current project.
View attachment 1696361 But you can't see the LED in that pic unfortunatly, I had to retie the string holding it up, and now it's a little higher above it, but it's there, it's the most recent pic. Anyways, I keep hearing people talk about how expensive LEDs supposedly are, but this one didn't cost anywhere near that much, and it does it's job fine. I literally paid just over $40. I swear. There are good LEDs at good prices out there, you just have to keep looking, took me about an hour online before I found this one. Maybe I just got a good deal, seen similar "panels" go for more, but still under $100. I'm just sayin' you DON'T have to pay $1000 for energy savings like some think. Quality LEDs CAN be found for much less. I'd tell you where I got mine but I'm sure you can find good prices on your own, plus I'm not here to promote any particular site or brand, just telling my story of finding a low cost LED that works for me. All I did was search for "LED grow lights" in Bing. After a few pages I found it. Long story short, that "high price" wall people think exists is full of holes and gaps. I found my way through and I'm new at this.
Please be kind to him people, he sounds nice LOL.
 

mattman

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone. Hope I'm not interrupting, just figured I'd check in here, talk about my LED panel that I've been using for a little while now. Here's a couple pics to save time describing it. First one is face up, and with the overhead light on, the second is face down, with only the LED on.

View attachment 1696346View attachment 1696347
This thing runs cool too, it's been on for over a month strait and is still cool to the touch. Only weighs about 2 pounds. It may look like a "lite-brite" but it is bright light! As for results, here's a pic of what ended up being a male, taken the day I added that desklamp with a CFL you see there. So, it got it at least that far.
View attachment 1696353 Right now I'm using the LED in combination with that desklamp and another "regular" houselamp I just got, with a CFL in each. Here's what's up so far with my current project.
View attachment 1696361 But you can't see the LED in that pic unfortunatly, I had to retie the string holding it up, and now it's a little higher above it, but it's there, it's the most recent pic. Anyways, I keep hearing people talk about how expensive LEDs supposedly are, but this one didn't cost anywhere near that much, and it does it's job fine. I literally paid just over $40. I swear. There are good LEDs at good prices out there, you just have to keep looking, took me about an hour online before I found this one. Maybe I just got a good deal, seen similar "panels" go for more, but still under $100. I'm just sayin' you DON'T have to pay $1000 for energy savings like some think. Quality LEDs CAN be found for much less. I'd tell you where I got mine but I'm sure you can find good prices on your own, plus I'm not here to promote any particular site or brand, just telling my story of finding a low cost LED that works for me. All I did was search for "LED grow lights" in Bing. After a few pages I found it. Long story short, that "high price" wall people think exists is full of holes and gaps. I found my way through and I'm new at this.
Dude those LEDS are terrible, they are ALL over ebay and most of them you can talk them down to like $20 bucks b/c they are that shitty, the actual LEDS in the panel are less than 1w a piece. I guess they are not that bad for your 1 plant you having going. Also, for LEDS its not the Brightness that counts, its the Photosynthetic Active Radiation that's worth a shit, and those panels put out close to none. This means that what light the panel does put out, the plant can only use a small portion of it. Hell man have you actually budded out a complete plant from seed to finish with one? If you haven't you are in for one hell of a surprise.
 
Considering you only have a picture to go off of, you sure know alot about my light (Sarcasm). As for brightness VS PAR, it's got 60 Blue LEDs=465 nm and 165 Red LEDs=650 nm, so now you have a number to go off of, Is that in the right range? hmm? This is my first female, so, my first try, I'm almost done though, I'll let you know. And no, I didn't get it from eBay. I'm sure lots look like this one, that doesn't mean they are the same lamp.
 

newworldicon

Well-Known Member
Considering you only have a picture to go off of, you sure know alot about my light (Sarcasm). As for brightness VS PAR, it's got 60 Blue LEDs=465 nm and 165 Red LEDs=650 nm, so now you have a number to go off of, Is that in the right range? hmm? This is my first female, so, my first try, I'm almost done though, I'll let you know. And no, I didn't get it from eBay. I'm sure lots look like this one, that doesn't mean they are the same lamp.
It's still not powerful though dude, what are wattages of the diodes, how many chipsets and what they drive at? You need other spectrums as well and this is all why your plant although very nice for a first attempt is stretched and unproducing. In time you will see this, look some more at other LED benchmarks.
 
Well I never claimed it was a super powered light, but it's still a good light. Don't know how many "chipsets" or "what they drive at" so can't answer that. I have the CFL bulbs backing it up for more spectrums, and I never got to give it extra nutes or bloom boosting stuff, plus it's slightly under watered, which is why she isn't at her full potential. When I get more seeds I'll get some "big Bloom" or something and see how she does then, I wouldn't be so quick to put it all on the light, after all it's doing better than other Lowryder #1 grows I've seen using "better" lights. I'm just saying you don't have to pay $1000 for a light that works. Side note, I only added the 2nd CFL a few weeks ago, for a while it was just the one CFL and LED. Anywhoo, back to tv.
 

Bad Karma

Well-Known Member
Blackstar is sounding more and more sketchy everyday. I'm still happy with my 2 Blackstar panels though.

If I do end up buying more, I want the same ones I already have, I know those work good and gave me good yields, and is quite bright.

If they replace that unit with a newer version that is inferior to the last, I will shop elsewhere.
At this point the only way you're getting anymore of the older model Blackstars (like the ones that are currently working for you) is to keep a close eye on the "used" section of Ebay for LED grow lights.

I would however really like to see someone take the internal temp on the new models and compare them to the older models.
The older models ran pretty warm inside for an LED, so it would be nice to see if Gotham has finally addressed this issue with their lights.
Although they may not be as bright, the new models may actually be a better buy if the lifespan of the diodes has been increased.
That is just a working theory at the moment though, we'll see as time goes on.
 

curly604

Well-Known Member
At this point the only way you're getting anymore of the older model Blackstars (like the ones that are currently working for you) is to keep a close eye on the "used" section of Ebay for LED grow lights.

I would however really like to see someone take the internal temp on the new models and compare them to the older models.
The older models ran pretty warm inside for an LED, so it would be nice to see if Gotham has finally addressed this issue with their lights.
Although they may not be as bright, the new models may actually be a better buy if the lifespan of the diodes has been increased.
That is just a working theory at the moment though, we'll see as time goes on.
ya i would also like to see some tests on that but i could see there company being more like if it aint broke dont fix it or more interested in other shit about the light i would hope they would start to address problems such as this. hey i also got a general question for this thread if a company uses 3w diodes for a say 600w unit and they only run at 1.7w each or some shit would a 600w unit using 5w diodes running at whatever the same i guess ave etter grow results or would a 600w with 2w diodes be best i heard there more efficient at lower watts.
 

Bad Karma

Well-Known Member
ya i would also like to see some tests on that but i could see there company being more like if it aint broke dont fix it or more interested in other shit about the light i would hope they would start to address problems such as this. hey i also got a general question for this thread if a company uses 3w diodes for a say 600w unit and they only run at 1.7w each or some shit would a 600w unit using 5w diodes running at whatever the same i guess ave etter grow results or would a 600w with 2w diodes be best i heard there more efficient at lower watts.
The 600W light with 2W diodes would be the most energy efficient of the three scenarios you mentioned.
And theoretically, a 600W light with 5W diodes would outgrow a 600W light with 3W diodes because the 5W diodes should get better light penetration through the foliage canopy.
This is assuming the a fore mentioned lights all have the same spectrum and that the diodes are being run at the same percentage levels (based off of your 1.7W per 3W diode example).
 

curly604

Well-Known Member
hmmm ok thanks and can anyone over here clear up the claims i heard that leds have capasitors and transformers that can up the wattage.....sounds kinda sketchy to me but im no good with electronics.
 

TshirtNinja

Well-Known Member
AND you obviously know very little about LEDs. A finned heatsink and switchable spectrums are not snake oil and you are not building a monster computer because you are not smart enough. Go away
lol at the wattages that these are mounted a finned heat sink is completely unneeded. Switchable spectrums are just switching on and off different diodes in most cases which is counterproductive..... if i have diodes i want them all on. i didnt mention building monster computers so you have the wrong chap on that one /b/rosif.
 

longy

Active Member
can anyone with led experience tell me what size led would i need to match a 400w Hps would like to do 4 over a 4x4 table thanks in advance
 

ColoradoLove

Well-Known Member
i didnt mention building monster computers so you have the wrong chap on that one /b/rosif.
Oh but you did......

nice to come back to this thread and see the same people i saw 6 months ago ripping on blackstars are still at it............. i have 3 240w and 1 100w and $/watt they are the best around and use the same guts as the rest minus snake oil tactics such as "switchable spectrums" or "finned heatsinks" im not building a monster computer or growing a bunch of different things.......... i grow weed and these panels do it efficiently.
And this brings us to why I don't respect you....
 
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