Best LED panel for my situation?

PatchKid

PatchKid

Well-Known Member
Hey guys! Just a quick question, where my LED experts at???

I am going to be replacing my 400 watt HPS with an LED panel here soon. it would work best save some energy, and way less noise!(fans).
I am looking for a panel that would be able to grow in a 3x2x5 grow tent. I have 3 plants in there and I plan on scrogging to maximize space and get the most out of my girls.

I'm looking to spend about 350 dollars AT most, can you guys help me out?

I've seen a few that are 400 watt and come with good spectrum ranges but it seems too good to be true (about 250 for a 400w)

Will a 180 be enough to do a small 3 plant scrog??
 
PatchKid

PatchKid

Well-Known Member
Ok well as much as I appreciate everyone's feedback I've narrowed it down to 2.

Blackstar 500
Pro Grow 260

keep in mind I will be in a
4x2x5 tent, running a scrog
 
PatchKid

PatchKid

Well-Known Member
great question I forgot to mention I would like to use a single panel for the whole grow I've seen good results from both in flower, and I would have no problem adding in CFLs for extra light
 
PSUAGRO.

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
For your situation ($350) and tent size their is no best led;-) but lots of mediocrity......also progrows& Blackstar are junk.

Save up for a better led panel or use a cooltube in the summer months for cheap.
 
PatchKid

PatchKid

Well-Known Member
It needs to be stealthy so I cannot have loud fans blowing enough air to cool a 400 watt HPS in a small tent

and I've seen a few grows where the plants have extremely close nodes and dense buds given the right training and feeding with those, more noticeably the pro grow series. what makes you say they're junk?
 
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PSUAGRO.

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
PatchKid said:
It needs to be stealthy so I cannot have loud fans blowing enough air to cool a 400 watt HPS in a small tent

and I've seen a few grows where the plants have extremely close nodes and dense buds given the right training and feeding with those, more noticeably the pro grow series. what makes you say they're junk?
Click to expand...
For stealth, stay away from cheap panels......always use Pos fans.

I owned the pg 180 and could hear it across my apt. Had to fight to get my refund too.

Haven't seen a good PG grow since endive ran them 3 yrs ago.

Got links to these impressive grows?
 
PatchKid

PatchKid

Well-Known Member
Well damn I really had no idea that they were that loud that sucks

I need this shit to be stealthy so help me out what are the quietest fan and light combo I can get? I could spend about 400 bucks on whatever is needed

I already have a 400 watt HPS bulb, cooltube, and reflector. I would just need a ballast.

What if I bought a MH conversion bulb and used it to veg and the 400 watt HPS to flower inside a grow tent inside an air conditioned room?

How quiet could I make that setup cause I'll totally do that! id prefer HID over Christmas lights all day ;) (sorry led growers)
 
gk skunky

gk skunky

Well-Known Member
You would have to run exhaust to somewhere else. It's not easy to regulate heat dumping heat into the same area you are pulling air from and trying to cool with an ac. Always best to displace exhaust air into a completely separate area.

For you your best bet led other than diy is spend $450 on a rapid led onyx bloom.
 
PatchKid

PatchKid

Well-Known Member
I have seen good results with vipars as well! I ended up getting a 400 watt vipar LED I will be using a very small tent only growing one plant (WW) under a scrog
 
Yodaweed

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
I have 3 blackstar panels and they work great. I have two 240 panels and one 426 ion 8 they are pretty good but I do think A51 LED's would have been a better investment , but at the time I did not know a lot about LEDs.
 
Commander Strax

Commander Strax

Well-Known Member
What is it with you LED people, every time someone asks about what panel to buy, one of you pipes up a with the "Just Build One".

If I had a garage I could build my own car and it would be AWSOME! But that is clearly not the same as going to a dealership and buying one.
 
DynamiteBob

DynamiteBob

Well-Known Member
PSUAGRO. said:
For stealth, stay away from cheap panels......always use Pos fans.

I owned the pg 180 and could hear it across my apt. Had to fight to get my refund too.

Haven't seen a good PG grow since endive ran them 3 yrs ago.

Got links to these impressive grows?
Click to expand...
not sure if this is "impressive" but it's my first grow (using a pg400)

I got 4 ounces (2 on each plant)
 

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Mellodrama

Mellodrama

Well-Known Member
PatchKid said:
I need this shit to be stealthy so help me out what are the quietest fan and light combo I can get? I could spend about 400 bucks on whatever is needed
Click to expand...
Aluminum heatsink is expensive. Fans are cheap. That's why cheap LED lights are always going to be louder than quality LED units. Instead of spending money on big heavy aluminum heatsink, they'll slap some cheap fans in there and run 'em hard. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that cheap LED panels always have less efficient LED's and power supplies inside, which create more heat than an expensive panel that would cover the same area. So it's a downward spiral with cheap LED - more heat, more noise, less useful light.

I don't have a recommendation for you. I'm just trying to point out that there have been a thousand growers before you, already asking for the same thing ("please point me to a cheap LED that does all the things an expensive one does") and there is no magic answer.

Can it be done? Yes. Strax and many others have grown bud with cheap lights. I'll bet some of those folks could grow with kerosene lamps, but that's another story. I'm just saying you need to set realistic expectations.
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
TO be comparable to a 400 HPS you need 240 actual in LED. If we are talking 3 watt diodes, that's a panel with 150 diodes. Or two 75+ for better penetration and coverage. The more the better. LED panels (a least mine) only increase grow area temp by 10 deg nominal, so venting shouldn't be an issue if there is enough space in the grow area. Of course you need regular air exchange and a CO2 genny is a good idea. Fans are nowhere near as loud as an inline cooling HPS, unless you had some super expensive stealth blower. you will note that air circulation is better too which seems to increase respiration (and evap) so watering cycle will need to be tuned. My 2 cents at least. for what its worth.
 
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