Need LED's for 8x4 Tent Whats the Best Out There ?
- Thread starter letitride
- Start date
Stoney845
Member
http://opticgrowlights.com
There pretty good and they use genuine bridgelux and CREE LED's, just be careful to stay away from cheap Chinese brands with exaggerated wattage they may seem like a good idea but there not.
good luck, I'm getting about fed up with this site, it's been taken over by a bunch of smalltime DIY nutcases. No matter what light you buy they will tell you it is just a bunch of crap and they can build one much better. Doesn't help you, doesn't help me.
churchhaze
Well-Known Member
2x 600W hps.
Don't mind smowstack. Trust me on this one.. listen to the DIY nutcases, not the peddling shills.
If you don't want to DIY, farming isn't for you.
Don't mind smowstack. Trust me on this one.. listen to the DIY nutcases, not the peddling shills.
If you don't want to DIY, farming isn't for you.
and if we want to plow our own fields do we also need to build our own tractor?
churchhaze
Well-Known Member
Be fair here... you're comparing a tractor, which has multiple mechanical subsystems, all with moving parts... to a light. So how many men does it take to screw in a light? We're talking DIY light fixtures!
Wiring up a string of cobs to a prebuilt driver is a piece of cake.
not for me, I freak out when a headlight burns out on my car. I just take it to quick lube and ask them to fix it. If I try I usually break something. But I am a very good farmer. If you want to talk about watts and par and lumens and I don't know what all you have lost me. If you want to talk about some DIY organic soil I can probably share some experience. All I want to know is what light to buy?
churchhaze
Well-Known Member
Did you try twisting and pulling?
gk skunky
Well-Known Member
A51, optic, apache, bml, and rapid. If i were going to buy another light it'd be a toss up between another A51 since they have served me well so far, an optic unit to compliment my DIY unit, or something completely different and go bml. After seeing this video I'd like to give the bml a spin to compare. But those are the ones I'd look at if you want to just keep it simple and purchase.
yes, everything just shattered, could be I twisted the wrong way, but I have the pulling thing down, you will need some pliers to pull what's left out of the socket. If you don't own pliers I think they sell them on amazon.
thanks man
coolbreez1
Well-Known Member
You can build a light as good or better then anything on the market for less if you go with a DIY, If cost is not a big consideration, and time is the essence then buy something already built.
and what something "already built" would you recommend?
Timboy5
Well-Known Member
yes pretty much - get 2 of these for your 4x8
http://opticgrowlights.com/500-watt-vero-led-grow-light.html
Rahz
Well-Known Member
Where are the bigtime DIY nutcases?
Just kidding, but your statement on "no matter what" is untrue. Efficiency for a typical Chinese LED will be somewhere between 35 and 85 lumens per watt. I'm not saying it's without exception but if there is an exception I haven't seen it. Some Chinese lamps might reach 90-100 LPW and there are some non-Chinese lamps using Olson emitters touching around 100 LPW. Prior to the advent of COBs there were two companies that surpassed these typical cost effective solutions and used top bin Cree diodes. Apache Tech and Area 51 have both offered/offer single diode based lamps that probably rate in the high 120s. Now that there are COBs available other companies have joined in. Vero 29 based lamps running at or near nominal current emit 130 LPW. That would be Optic, Area 51, and Heaven Bright, that I know of. Another company Pacific Lighting Concepts as well as Area 51 will soon be offering a CXB based lamp with even higher efficiency. I don't suggest the Cree based lamps from Optic because at the higher currents there's no justifying the additional cost for minimal gains over the Vero, though others may have their own opinion.
Anyway what it all comes down to is that all those Chinese companies are borderline selling snake oil. You can't look at the watt rating they advertise in big letters, you have to check the specs and find the "wattage used" which is always substantially less than the claim. Watts x efficiency = light output. So that $200 lamp that's called a 600 might actually use 240 watts. Considering driver efficiency is probably low we'll guess it's about 200w output. Assuming 80 LPW, that provides 16,000 lumens. And Peeps are going to put that thing in a 4x4 expecting it to replace their 600w HPS. Funny thing is despite the claims, it's much less efficient than the bulb!
They would need about 1000w of Chinese lamp to come close to replacing a 600 watt HPS. So now you need to fit 5 of those lamps in the 4x4 space and it's costing $1000 to replace the HPS, along with using 400 more watts and generating a lot more heat. Not recommended!
DIY offers better quality components and uses half the electricity for about the same price.
Pay a premium and have someone else build it.
1.21 Gigawatts!
Well-Known Member
I think if I were in the market for a lower cost, higher quality LED, Area 51 would be my first choice, then Optic. Pacific Lighting is another great contender.
The 500w Optic's Veros are ran at 2.9 amps, and costs $999.00
475w worth of Area 51 costs $818.00, and the same Veros are ran at a more efficient 2.1a. You can actually get 570w worth of Area 51 for $975, still cheaper than the Optic. 1140w will fill up your 4x8 nicely, and will cost $1750.
Optic is still good though. Check both websites, and decide for yourself. Or wait for Pacific to release their light. It looks really nice.
I wish I had more money... I am making a homemade light for cheap. I just have a 3x3.
The 500w Optic's Veros are ran at 2.9 amps, and costs $999.00
475w worth of Area 51 costs $818.00, and the same Veros are ran at a more efficient 2.1a. You can actually get 570w worth of Area 51 for $975, still cheaper than the Optic. 1140w will fill up your 4x8 nicely, and will cost $1750.
Optic is still good though. Check both websites, and decide for yourself. Or wait for Pacific to release their light. It looks really nice.
I wish I had more money... I am making a homemade light for cheap. I just have a 3x3.
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Timboy5
Well-Known Member
Those lights are a better price but theyre preorder atm i figured OP wanted his lights soon
1.21 Gigawatts!
Well-Known Member
Area 51 does seem to be always on a perpetual back order. Between the high demand and releasing new stuff, they're swamped.
I joined their forum a few weeks ago, and have been PMing with the owner, and even talked to him on the phone a few times. Last I heard, he said the 1st batch of 500 units have been sold out as of a few days ago, and the next batch will start shipping in like 3 weeks.
If the OP needs something now, Optic won't disappoint. Maybe he can email or call them and haggle the price some. There's room for discounts, it's pretty easy to check on the price of the parts they use. Worst they can do is say no discounts. I asked Area 51 if I can get a single W90 for $100 and he said he couldn't do it. He did offer one of the prototypes with a 1.9a power supply for $100 though, haven't decided if I'll take it or not though. I'm pretty broke. I'm old and retired. My truck gets 8mpg, it eats up all my money.
I joined their forum a few weeks ago, and have been PMing with the owner, and even talked to him on the phone a few times. Last I heard, he said the 1st batch of 500 units have been sold out as of a few days ago, and the next batch will start shipping in like 3 weeks.
If the OP needs something now, Optic won't disappoint. Maybe he can email or call them and haggle the price some. There's room for discounts, it's pretty easy to check on the price of the parts they use. Worst they can do is say no discounts. I asked Area 51 if I can get a single W90 for $100 and he said he couldn't do it. He did offer one of the prototypes with a 1.9a power supply for $100 though, haven't decided if I'll take it or not though. I'm pretty broke. I'm old and retired. My truck gets 8mpg, it eats up all my money.