Was it worth it!! Cheap Chinese Crap

So i'm planning on building a light with 5 vero 29's.. However I was looking for drivers and well the Meanwell at $60 cdn, x 5, + 175 for 5 chips wasn't something i wanted to pay for a hobby.. So of course i go to ali express, and I find these http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6433485633.html?orderId=65296307465061

120 watt chips, running on 100 watt drivers, 17 dollars cdn a piece.. I mean honestly if i hate the cob's idgaf.. I'll buy the vero 29's and replace them, but apparently they are 9000 lumen, and some simple math says 45000 lumen, which i think is crazy for 70 bucks. Even if i get half and i dislike them, i'm assuming I can pop in the Vero 29's, even though they run at 3000m +- 5 percent.. It's a crap shoot but for the cost of one meanwell driver why wouldn't I..

Feed back will definitely be appreciated. Also I ordered the warm white 3000-3500...

I would ask @SupraSPL but you might need a driver that handles more voltage than "36v" I think you need 40ish volts when running at higher currents....
general rule of thumb for drivers:
Usually when going for the cheaper "knock-off" options, you'll sacrifice efficiency and life expectancy for cost and quality...

I've been there and did it. I can say 600w of those multichips will out perform a 600w hps watt hps by a little.
In saying that I am starting a new grow soon with veros
good luck.

I dont know, I am all for saving a buck, But NO NAME generic Drivers, Who you going to sue when they burst into flames and it burns down your house ?

Maybe he doesn't live in the USA and not concerned about suing I've used these without issue but beware they are open frame
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5pcs-100W-Constant-Current-LED-Driver-AC100-250V-to-DC30-36V-3000mA-for-100W-High-Power/1305956043.html

I got those, plus some cheap drivers.. So assuming the manufacturer is 50 percent right.. That's 250 watts of somewhat efficient light for 80 dollars Canadian, add a heat sink etc for maybe 15, and 50 watts for 30 bucks, canadian... Can you really go wrong??? Especially since i'll just replace the cobs if i dislike them... It beats the generic $100 300 watt (180 actual watt) i'm using to flower... Which got me a whole sweet 7 grams on my first grow (please stop laughing. lol)

Tristan Rogers said:

It beats the generic $100 300 watt (180 actual watt) i'm using to flower... Which got me a whole sweet 7 grams on my first grow (please stop laughing. lol)

Click to expand...

Are you sure it was the light?

I'm pretty sure. After all the reading etc. A 180 watt light for a 4x4 space, and several plants. The light was a mixed spectrum, not enough red to help build dense buds. I've got some clones in there now with abunch of 2700k cfl's and I can already tell the difference.

So i got the cobs from china the other day.. I'm going to order a vero 29 for s&g (sh*ts and giggles) and compare.. However tonight i was hooking them up, 100w, on a arctic alpine fan, and i turned it on, a single one, and damn near went blind. I actually had to grab a pair of sunglasses to look at it.. The difference in light between it and a cfl is staggering, the light is just crazy. Also the cpu fan does a great job and after a couple minutes was hot to touch but would not instantly flash my skin.. I'm curious to see the difference with a branded high quality cob..

I did a few tests with a luxmeter to compare the lux//W. The generic COB performed reasonably well and it even survived an hour of being run at 3.2A. Also worth mentionng, I measured VERY low temp droop with the generic COB, even lower than the Vero29. Maybe it was a fluke I will have to run the test again. But if it is true that means the generic COBs don't lose much output when improperly cooled, (as most cheap commercial lamps probably use insufficient cooling)

$4.37 Vero10 2700K @ 157mA -> 385 lux/W
$10 Generic 3000K "100W" @ 157mA -> 409 lux/W
$2.80 Generic 3000K "50W" @ 157mA -> 158.8 lux/W (this COB was apparently partially damaged)
$42 CXA3070 3K AB @ 157mA -> 526lux/W (for reference)



All these tests were done at 2.4A, 12" distance, pulsed at 23C.

$10 Generic 100W COB warm white
322.32 lux/W

CXA3070 3K Z2
378 lux/W

CXA3070 3K Z4
388.5 lux/W

CXA3070 3K Z4 test #2
386.4 lux/W

CXA3070 3K AB1
406.6 lux/W

CXA3070 3K AB2
411.4 lux/W

CXA3070 3K AB3
423.6 lux/W

CXA3070 3K AB3 test #2
423.4 lux/W

CXA3070 3K AB4
423.8 lux/W

CXA3070 3K AB4 test #2
428.17 lux/W

CXA3070 3K AB5
408.83 lux/W

CXA3070 3K AB6
410.3 lux/W

CXA3070 3K AB7
426.46 lux/W

Vero29 3K #1
419 lux/W

Vero29 3K #1 test #2
420.2 lux/W

Vero29 3K #2
427 lux/W

Vero29 3K #2 test #2
425.2 lux/W

Maybe the Chinese reverse engineered a cree cob? I know the Chinese crap and the good crap will in time probably be on par. And no need to pay retarded prices for something that doesn't cost much to produce

So i've got them built and set up.. It's been a week of flower, everything seems good, the temp is 78 degrees or so.. Not raising the tent at all it seems.. The power supplies aren't scorching hot.. Now I sort of bastardized the creation.. I took a stainless dishwasher door, cut it down to about 2.5x2.. I then cut the ends and mounted the fans and heatsinks using tiny angle brackets. I needed something to attach the wires to, ie a block. So new Bosch dishwashers have an interesting electrical connection, which i used, it worked perfectly (the plastic box in the centre). I then mounted some rings to attach the hangers, and everything seems peachy.

Tristan Rogers said:

So i've got them built and set up.. It's been a week of flower, everything seems good, the temp is 78 degrees or so.. Not raising the tent at all it seems.. The power supplies aren't scorching hot.. Now I sort of bastardized the creation.. I took a stainless dishwasher door, cut it down to about 2.5x2.. I then cut the ends and mounted the fans and heatsinks using tiny angle brackets. I needed something to attach the wires to, ie a block. So new Bosch dishwashers have an interesting electrical connection, which i used, it worked perfectly (the plastic box in the centre). I then mounted some rings to attach the hangers, and everything seems peachy.

Click to expand...

A dishwasher door...true upcycling. Nice work.

So 2 weeks (roughly) left to go.. BC Juicy fruit.. I love the smell of it, it's amazing inside the tent.. Everything seems to be going as planned.. 4 cheap chinese lights, 80 bucks Canadian... And this is the current state of affairs.. I am thinking about adding 2-4 more, 2 on each side, that run vertically... Who knows.. We'll see what the finished weight is.. That or i'll order some Vero 29's and do a test half the tent with the Vero's and half with the Aliexpress specials.

Remember to double-check the Vf of the Vero29 at the chosen current! at 3000 mA it will need closer to 40v.

I used generic drivers for my build and they work great, good specs measured too. If they last a grow or two, they will be worth the $8 I spent easily.

Link: ---> http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Waterproof-LED-driver-60W-50W-1-5A-6-12X5-QiHan-constant-current-power-supply-lighting-transformer/32265565611.html