VIPAR LED Review (6 months later..)

Vipar 864w COB led grow light -
For the record they have stopped selling these lights on Ebay *must not get paranoid *
I figure Vipar are about to release a new range of lights on Ebay. I've seen a few combo LED lights (with COBs and 3watt LEDs on board) ..maybe Vipar will go for something like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Led-Lux-59180-with-4-COB-grow-lights-High-power-620-watts-Full-spectrum-/141783211792?hash=item2102f01f10:g:pKMAAOSwKIpWAzsJ

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-power-Full-spectrum-grow-Led-lights-940-watts-Lumens-67900-with-6-COB-/141782043692?hash=item2102de4c2c:g:clkAAOSwsB9WAX~s

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-power-1250-watts-grow-lights-Led-Full-spectrum-Lumens-75350-with-8-COB-/141782038477?hash=item2102de37cd:g:-Q0AAOSwsB9WAXyY


Anyways, back to the grow (please bear in mind i'm no expert grower ..as you can tell). I'm in Week 4 of bloom and i sees plenty of buds! No stonking HPS buds ..but buds i'm happy with considering the room temp is 24.5 at the moment when the lights are on (perfect) and no need for any temp control etc. For the record, in my area using a 600 HPS would absolutely get the '50' involved (and thats without all the extra stuff to manage heat, smell etc). However I will wait until week 8-10 before i decide if the bud size beats my Mars2 results (past grows have shown me i get the biggest increases in bud towards the end of flower *thanks Overdrive!*).

I'm taking pics (sadly i'm no photographer) and will post them once i cut down.
I do have some ideas on these Vipar COBS and the best way to use them. i.e. only use their central footprint (basically the size of the unit itself) and then move this around your room to get even bud size/coverage. This will i'm sure annoy some but putting this light on electric rails would be great (next time maybe). Also, the distance they are recommended for use (24 - 35 inches) is just plain silly to me (and would greatly effect performance). So far i've used this COB at as little as 12inches (generally leaving it at 15 inches approx.) and the only thing that happened was the buds got bigger! (if i had done this with my old Mars2 the top of the plant would be fried in a day or so). This COB might even allow for closer placement (will test that later into the bloom). Makes me wonder if this is a 'true' COB (given how close i have tested the light with no LED burn at all so far - or maybe i'm lucky and picked the right strains). I've been wondering if some people have been using COB lights at too great a distance from the plants.
Bear in mind i conditioned the plants to the light from sprouting (kept it at a far distance then slowly brought it to the plants towards the end of their growing stage and into the start of Bloom *all plants auto*)

4 to 6 weeks to go!
Peace.

Vipar 300w 60x5w update. Just noticed..... My Viper/Evergrow/Ocean Revive has 2 more blue diodes crack and burn. These correspond to the first 2 that failed in the other modules and which Ocean Revive repaired with one green and one blue diode. Was just gonna wrap it up and sell it. Maybe 14 months actual use. Mine is the 4 module square light and draws 172w at the wall. Plenty of power to flower but they break. No bargain here!

My 5w Cree a51's have twice the "miles" and have been perfect.

hillbill said:

Vipar 300w 60x5w update. Just noticed..... My Viper/Evergrow/Ocean Revive has 2 more blue diodes crack and burn. These correspond to the first 2 that failed in the other modules and which Ocean Revive repaired with one green and one blue diode. Was just gonna wrap it up and sell it. Maybe 14 months actual use. Mine is the 4 module square light and draws 172w at the wall. Plenty of power to flower but they break. No bargain here!

My 5w Cree a51's have twice the "miles" and have been perfect.

Click to expand...

Hi Hillbilly.
Well thats annoying, have you asked Vipar for a replacment? And if so, what was their reply and did/what did they charge?

On a side note; I'd be interested in what the price difference between your Vipar 300w 60x5w and the one with '5w Cree a51's'?

No, but it is now 2 yrs old and is a spare or maybe a donation. The 300w was $178 at the time, now $140 or less. Took it out and checked the other day and the same blue diodes were burned in remaining "modules". The a51's were $365 to $495 it seems. They don't replace bad modules, just diodes. Two failures in about a year of 12/12. A51 products have been perfect and cover almost twice the area.

Evergrow, vipar and ocean revive are all the same China outfit. Ocean Rivive repaired it and used one nice green led. One of these should make it through a grow or two. I had to ship it there. Had 1 year warranty, a51 is forever.

The way to go now is quality cob based lights, either from advertisers here or diy. Quality cob fixtures are simpler to make and more efficient.

I used to think Vipar was just the same as Mars.
Seems like the cooling of Vipar panels is way worse resulting in diodes cracking (even sooner than Mars)

Those 60 diodes drew 172 watts less fan. Heat sinks are very light. Definitely put off more heat than an sgs or xgs. The red diodes are 2 chip diodes and the blues are single chips.

Thanks for that info Hillbilly. Slowly slowly i be learning

For your pearls of wisdom i give you a sneak peek at my Vipar 864w COB led grow (start of week 5 bloom).
fyi - Room is 1 meter square-ed (height 2m).
The 'red' pics show the light 'Au-naturel'.
The other pic of the Vipar COB light was taken through my Method Seven LED Glasses ..as was the 'fruits of my labour' pic
For the record, i have had no issue with the light and all COBS working at 100% (no broken leds on the chips)

Basic setup:
Left side - desk fan connected to homemade co2 generator (thank you 2 litre plastic bottles, baking soda and Citric acid).
Middle bottom - Pillar fan turned horizontal and hung from parachute cord (covers the whole room that way).
Middle top - Vipar 864w COB light.
top left (on light) - Fly paper!
Right middle - 'Smart' co2 grow bag.
Out of shot (top left of tent) - extraction fan+carbon filter.
Out of shot - oil electric heater (outside tent but located behind fan (so fan will blow warmer air *heated by the tent material*).
8 plants in tent at start of grow. However, i moved the Northern Lights #5 X Haze out to a 'mother' tent (as it wasn't auto like the rest and i will use it for clones later ..after i bulk her ass up in veg

Strains are: (all grown in soil *Biobizz with no added nutes*)
2-super sativa*SAS* (Buddha seeds)
1-Diesel Haze (Sensi seed bank)
2-think different (Dutch Passion),
2-blueberry (Dutch Passion),
1-Northern Lights #5 X Haze (Sensi seed bank)
Biobizz nutes for the most part (with one hit of Advanced Nutrients Sensi Bloom ..just to be safe) and the usual assortment of bud candy, bud X, big bud and (will use this in weeks 6+7) Overdrive.







Vipar 864w COB led grow light (natural view)




Vipar light, as viewed through Method Seven LED glasses:







And finally, the fruits of my labour!
Ok, not HPS sizes but who says LED doesn't grow buds, eh ..EH?!

fyi - this light cost me £220 (£5 shipping) which is well under the retail price. I am a very happy chappy with these results ..considering i didn't focus too much energy on getting a great yield or anything (just wanted to test the COB light). fyi - the 'blurb' states this light uses blue, red and GREEN lights (yep green, there seems to still be a debate in the LED world about using green ights for growing (as they are part of photosynthesis). Did i say i put this at 12" from top buds and got no burn (i still have to experiment with how close you can go!), the grow increase at that distance was pretty darn fantastic (as is i reset it to approx. 15-20").
Plants are way too close together but i didn't care about the bottom of the plants during this light test.







And a shot of one of the SAS plants ..just because this one was showing some purple-esque colouring. You can almost smell it can't you ..how close to harvest do you think? i could probably attack them now but i want to flush (although i was very conservative with nutes i used the additives at full strengh-2ml per litre- although i only fed+watered them (throughout grow) once a week (dropping the humidity so they drunk more from the roots). This allowed them to quickly drink up any leftover water in the plant bases over the next couple of days after watering. Throughout grow I never removed excess water ..instead letting plants drink it up.

The vero and Cree cobs have "plenty" of greens in all the various k ratings. HazexNorthern Lights will be fun!

hillbill said:

The vero and Cree cobs have "plenty" of greens in all the various k ratings. HazexNorthern Lights will be fun!

Click to expand...

That HazexNorthern Lights is the first strain I've had which stinks while still in the grow stage! (no preflowers / Pistils yet!). I hear its a great one for cuttings though (no lose of cutting quality ..even after 10/15 years!).


quote - "The vero and Cree cobs have "plenty" of greens in all the various k ratings"

Offhand I wasn't sure how much other manufactures used them. I think my confusion came from the number of people in forums I'd read who were using Green light during lights off cycles (to view their plants) who had said green light doesn't effect the plant to any degree (although papers i'd skimmed through stated that it is a very important colour for photosynthesis *only a small amount is used but i had read it was very important to have it to fuel the process*).
Maybe if/when i get brave enough it'll be worth diy-ing a CREE cob unit ..just for sh*ts and giggles.

Been reading the blerb on those A51 lights,Hillbill. Very very nice!
I might well sell my old LED lights from my first grow (one mars 2 400watt and ..weirdly, a Dr Schimmel Purple Power Led grow light!?! nothing detailed online about 'the Shimmel' i figure the company collapsed). Then use that to get one of the a51's. I had been eyeing the Kind led lights but the a51 just seem like such a good deal overall

A51 is one of the quality led cob builders. So are Tasty, Timber, Johnson, Go
Green, Pacific Light Concepts. Your main trouble will be finding cob lights in stock and ready to deliver to meet your needs. Some offer discounts to RIU members. I would expect excellent service and results from any of these. Almost everything else out there is obsolete or of low quality. Did I miss any?

At this time only Vero and Cree cob-based led grow lights are even worthy of consideration.

hillbill said:

At this time only Vero and Cree cob-based led grow lights are even worthy of consideration.

Click to expand...

Not true.
Luminus Devices, samsung, Nichia, Seoul all have COBs that are at least Vero level efficacy.

And more coming each day. Sorry.

OP here. Still using these replacement ViparLED lights almost three years later. I used only one for 12 months before getting into the other. The 12 month panel is noticeably dimmer but not burned out.

My Woder Woman is in a 3x3 with one 450w LED for two weeks of veg. Currently on week three flower in this photo. Keep in mind I had five plants AND clones all from ~225w draw. I'll admit, whilest not the hugest plants, I propetually harvest every two weeks at over an oz per plant. Potency beats most products at three local dispensaries with just 50/50 ocean forest/happy frog soil and tap water. I don't deal with heat or replacement bulbs.

Real simple, nothin' fancy.

Dear All,

I would like to include my knowledge to Chinese imports and there representation in our markets.

All response and communication is conducted from far eastern factories, whilst consumers are under the influence they are UK or us registered eBay or amazon. No doubt the products are stocked by UK distribution companies. It avoids tax whilst shipping next day to us/

UK distribution law allows this ?

Never the less, The only reason I posted this information is because I have today bought and received a 300 watt vipa. I do not wish to slate their brand but simply their importation and representation.

Best of luck. Stay safe.

henchman.

I have been using a Viparspectra LED (formerly known as Vipar LED before they added a reflector) and it has been awesome... 450w mixed spectrum, not running hot at all and it was cheap as shit.. wayyy better than my 400w HPS.. especially when you grow in summer in a ridiculously hot area its an absolute life saver. This brand might be cheap but on Ebay Australia I paid $150 for the 450w and its not a cheap quality unit at all, its really well made and the fans are quiet.. I don't know what they were making before but this is an awesome light.

Hi

Got a notification on this thread do thought I would show my results

I just ordered a few more 300 watt vipaspectre led.

I have been running mine for 6months 24/0, no problems. No heat. No bills. Good par/lumen output

Continued. Ficking stoner hit post reply.

With these lights. You can afford so much more light because there's no heat. combined with the price You can run 900watt led (3x300) cheaper than one single 400 watt hps.

Don't get me wrong there no spectrum king but In my mind you can overload with these lights and there so cheap to replace who cares. I know I'd rather have a plant a light instead of 1 hps covering 4-5

Just my story.IMO vipaspectra - very good overall product.

I agree entirely Henchmen, people would assume this light is rubbish on account of the price, but this light is made better than any of the others I have seen or held in my hands. Its no platinum LED or Black Dog LED, buts its better than mars hydro and half the price.

If you pro vipar guys ever get a real led light you'll understand why people don't like those chinese "things"....

I feel the presence of Vipar spirits. Sudden appearances on multiple threads. Sudden multiple new members that are Vipar fans. What is this that dwells among us?