Are LED's on Alibaba legit?

kuruth

Member
At this point that does seem to be the only way it could be a scam, not using the diodes they advertise. It's possible, I mean its 1000watts running in a 6x3 closet, so it's reasonable to expect some heat...
 

Lucky Luke

Well-Known Member
Ok well for anyone wondering I did pull the trigger. I bought two of the HLG 550 v2 Chinese version off of Alibaba After shipping(express),taxes and trade assurance it still came to less $ to buy two of them off Alibaba then to buy one from HLG.

I'll post pictures and quality test when they arrive in a week or two for anyone who is curious.

The price is 276$usd per unit on alibaba as opposed to 1049$usd from HLG. express shipping for two units was 160$
and there was a 14.42$ assurance fee, optional.
Seems to be quite a few people running Chinese boards with great success. Any chance of a link to your seller?
 
Wouldn't let me post the link I am new,2 people like my other reply and I should be good lol. she told me they only had the y diodes out for a bit and pulled them put Bava never put them in production.Swears you get what you ask for and they do not rip anyone of.If they have I believe they sont no more,they realize word gets out fast and it can ruin them lol.Or maybe not,maybe the first samples are the top line and then the big order is mixed,so if your getting a few act like a company and say samples lol,thats what I did.They are brite as hell and the same you just get 2 for one basically.I didn't get the dimmer either wish I did,and its my fault for not checking if the driver was dimmable one becouse the A one you can dim by the screw.
 
If you want go to Alibaba find Bava Message asking for Rita and say you talked to Ryan and would like to get however many samples you want and say the top bin lm301b if you want that one over the last bin which this is the best one right now.so you can test them and she will swnd you the correct ones I believe.Get the A drivwr or dimmer if you want more control.They have tents and carbon filter kits to.
 

kuruth

Member
So I am out of my element here..you could even call me "Donny". Can anyone point me towards the easiest solution for me to dim these lights/drivers? I cant seem to find any dimmers on Meanwell's website.. I don't own a soldering iron either. Do I need to buy a potentiometer or can anyone point me towards some premade dimmers that will work for this driver?
 

Attachments

Yeah gotta order a dimmer most likely,should have ordered the a driver you can dim with the screw.I am also having that issue and figuring out how I am going to hang them.
 

kuruth

Member
I think im just going to buy the dimmer from them and pay the shipping. 12$ each so 24$, plus 24$ shipping. plus some fee when it hits the border. anwyays under 100$, my fault for not getting them to begin with.
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
This is solely personal preference, to be taken with a grain of salt, but I avoid Alibaba and would recommend finding legitimate sources—parts, kits, or pre-assembles—that you don’t have to second-guess on. Lights are the heart of your grow, it’s important to be sure about them.

Better to support small business, anyway, than a Chinese supercorporation. No isolationist sentiment intended. Stop giving your money to the already-wealthy who rip you off anyway.
 

kuruth

Member
For me its not about supporting or not supporting small businesses, its about getting the exact same lights for half the price... I was skeptical before I ordered on alibaba, but im happy I did now. If it was the same price, or even close I would have ordered locally... but I saved myself 1000$ from using alibaba instead of hlg and im happy if this thread helps others save money too. also it might force HLG to have more competative pricing.
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
For me its not about supporting or not supporting small businesses, its about getting the exact same lights for half the price... I was skeptical before I ordered on alibaba, but im happy I did now. If it was the same price, or even close I would have ordered locally... but I saved myself 1000$ from using alibaba instead of hlg and im happy if this thread helps others save money too. also it might force HLG to have more competative pricing.
They aren’t always the exact same lights. I’d rather pay for the extra assurance.
 

kuruth

Member
yeah, I hear ya. thats sort of the point of this thread.. when I started it i didnt have peace of mind, I worried from the day I made the payment in alibaba until the day my lights arrived. Now im glad to say they are the real deal and no extra assurance is needed. I assume your not the only one who wants to pay extra for the peace of mind, but I also know there are many people who would rather save the money. so this thread is just for the people like me who want to save the money, now atleast they wont stress like I did.
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
Here's another link to Chinese boards n diodes with a bit of testing.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/diy-fotop-grow-board-280x900x2-0mm-l29-52-xw9-18.960546/

I was offered their latest lm301b 800 led boards from Rita at Shenzhen Meijiu and she has said they are Not top bin, they are probably comparable to the top bin lmc.

Contact: Rita Fang
Shenzhen Meijiu Lighting CO.,LTD
Mob: +86 187 1852 1186 Tel: +86 0755 23270209
Skype: rita.fang2010 E-mail: s15www.mei9led.com www.mei9led.cn
Add: F4/B3 , Dong'long'xing Industrial Park , Da'lang , Long'hua Town,Shenzhen , 518100
------
 

eNt31

Active Member
Quick question @Moflow -

I plan on running one of the 800 boards in a 2x4 (closet, scrog).

The heatsink they list with the HLG320 kit is 195mm wide and looks a bit odd.(narrower than the board itself)
I've seen your posts, and you run a couple of em soft with no heatsink.

Do you reckon I even need to mount it to one, for a small 2x4 grow?

Thanks in advance!
 
Last edited:

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
Hi! About dimming you just need a 2$ potentiometer 100K ohms(0.5w) that you link to dim+/dim- wires...nothing hard to do!
About Alibaba most of the cxb3590 built made 3 years ago came from there and especially from Kingbrite! I still buy from them because they have legit products at the best prices with an awesome customer service(since they work with US and EU a lot) To me it is the best Alibaba seller you can ask him a lots of services to avoid more fees with custom : ) !
30$ for a lm301b board and 40$ for the driver...160$ for 200w of top bin samsung(plus 20$ wires screw hang and a small aluminium plate) 180$ if you prefer run it at 60w so 200$! So 500w is 400$ a bit less than half price!!!
I build my first panel of cxb3590 3 years ago and everything still working very well(I just need to replace the 3 years old thermal paste with some graphic pads soon but that's it and it is only to do thing right and prolonged cobs life!) And everything I bought or someone I know bought is still in function with great results! That's why I don't understand why people still looking for a legit and safe Chinese seller as there is already one since years!
Have a lifted one
 

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
Quick question @Moflow -

I plan on running one of the 800 boards in a 2x4 (closet, scrog).

The heatsink they list with the HLG320 kit is 195mm wide and looks a bit odd.(narrower than the board itself)
I've seen your posts, and you run a couple of em soft with no heatsink.

Do you reckon I even need to mount it to one, for a small 2x4 grow?

Thanks in advance!
Hi! With qb 288 you don't need heatsink if you stay under 70w! But I would add a piece of aluminium anyway to be sure and it's easy to find free aluminium or very cheap pieces from a scrap yard or from aluminium company who have small pieces they sell to scrap yard! I found heatsink in a trash and aluminium plate in the back of some old washing machine! You should go to a scrap yard they sell aluminium by weight so if you are lucky as I was you will find everything you need for 20%!of the price!
Have a lifted one
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
Quick question @Moflow -

I plan on running one of the 800 boards in a 2x4 (closet, scrog).

The heatsink they list with the HLG320 kit is 195mm wide and looks a bit odd.(narrower than the board itself)
I've seen your posts, and you run a couple of em soft with no heatsink.

Do you reckon I even need to mount it to one, for a small 2x4 grow?

Thanks in advance!
For all the extra you'd pay I'd go with the heatsink.
I checked edge of board temps and they're lower than center temps which is why the heatsink is narrower.
Just means you've the option to run board full blast if needed, about 377 watts!
You'd have to hang it higher obviously :bigjoint:
300 watts will sit nice in your 2 x 4
 

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
hi Lil jacob,
Do u have a link for 301b boards for $30:confused:

Sounds crazy cheap :clap:
Hi! It's been a while! Hope everything is going well for you my grower brother from another mother!!!
To be honest I don't know how to add a link...but it is easy you just Google Alibaba Kingbrite and you will search lm301b to find it! I guess it is 28$ now the more they sell the lowest it will be...remenber the cxb3590 it was about 60$ per chip and now it is half price! And Kingbrite never disappointed me Jerry always find a solution! I bought and a lots of DIY was made from Kingbrite since a few years now and I never had issues and same for all the people I send There! You know that EU residents are supposed to pay 20% tva (added valour tax) on everything who come from outside Europe sometimes you have to sometimes you don't and they base it on the price printed on the package so if 500€ turn into 200$ it is always 60€ less to pay!
Have a lifted one and lots of good vibes from France
 
Top