Ebay LED grow experiment

The best bet for Chinese leds. Get aquarium models. From places that do custom spectrum. Aq led panels have less diodes so they run the leds softer. Which makes them last longer. If I knew that when I bought my Apollo it would have lasted longer if I got that model. Since they run softer. You can have more white leds. They run less watts and slightly higher par than grow models. Cheaper too. Chinese led grow panels don't last because they drive them so hard. Maxing out the usable watts per led. Like a51 leds run around 1.8 -2 watts on 3 watt leds. Apollo grow panels for example run 2.4 watts each. The aq panels run around 2 watts each. Drive softer (less watts) = lasts longer.

idk at which Speed the fans run there, but for my DIY chinese led, i just increased the fan from 5V to 7,5V and temps sunk from about 30°C to 25°C @ 22°C ambi (backside of the heatsinks). And Standard voltage is 12V but then its getting much much louder. So with a Little mod you could run them easily at higher W, if heat was the prob... or just add 1-2 fans at low Voltages... Is this true: from looking at Pictures of People it Looks to me like These cheap led fixtures just have a Little Aluminium plate on which the leds get attached, some fans and thats it? Looks like there is no proper heatsink.

the Led I bought run at a lower wattage as well. And my heat sink must work because there is minimal heat output.

UPDATE!!

Okay so my shipment arrived on wednesday, sorry for the late update I was busy with work so this is the first time I have had the opportunity to post a completely. Since then I have installed everything into my grow box. I'll tell you one thing my buddies plant sure likes the new light. (His plant is in my box long story short i'm growing it for him.) So here you will see my set up my box is 2.5x2.5 one 180w led ufo and one 300w panel

SPECS-
Spectrum of both.
430~440nm,450~475nm 620~630nm, 650~660nm, white and IR 730nm epistar leds from Taiwan, panels built in shenzhen china.


View Angle of leds:
90/120°Mixed

That plant was grown with just the 180w led. And one 23w cfl that I use for background lighting and as a way to view the plants with some natural spectrum. That one bulb shouldnt skew the results by much. I'm excited to see the difference with the 300w added.

with the real powers, does it mean the 180W is 90W real and the 300W is like 160W? Did they mention that in their descriptions that they r only driven with 550mA or did u have to Figure it out?

lax123 said:

with the real powers, does it mean the 180W is 90W real and the 300W is like 160W? Did they mention that in their descriptions that they r only driven with 550mA or did u have to Figure it out?

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I'm not sure about the 300w, but the 180w is suppose to draw 96-103w on 110v and 93-99w on 220v.

IMO light is light, the thing with cheap/Chinese/E-bay LEDs is that its (agin IMO and I guess many others) more safe in any means to buy from a place like A-51 or Fero etc and like you said, if you have the money you also like the quality, after all its not like you (hopefully) have to buy multiply panels every year

but the cheap works, if they works as well, or Etc 80% so to speak do to lower quality is only a guess, same with the time they last and the warranty aso

about heat, mine make my ambi temperatures go up like 1C at the canopy nothing to speak of, nothing compared to my old 600W HPS even with a cool hood on it (IMO best thing about LEDs make the grow much more easy)

I have two panels a "expensive" Fero/Apollo fixture with secondary optic in a customized spectrum (another positive thing about buying quality) that set me back +600$



120x3W LEDs with a actually Watt on 280

second one is a cheaper model with out secondary optic (300$ish)



96x3W and 192 actual Watt

both works perfect

View attachment 2809644

Ok. It states that my 180w is 99 actual and my 300w is 200. But the wattage doesnt concern me as much as if i was using conventional grow lights. I feel like the lack of watts is compensated by the PAR intensity and the lack of wasted lumens in regards to the plants usable spectrum. Oh and slip on mine has a 3 year warrenty and i had the option to customize the light spectrum. But i went with the standard. And the 180 i owned for a while and shes still running beautifully. Personaly i would say the quality isn't bad i would say the quality you might recieve is unpredictable you might end up with good pieces of equipement like my self or you might get faulty workmenship. The chinese panels are all hand made the photos of their factory resemble a sweat shop minus whips lol. So if you get the work of an experienced worker your good if you get the work of a newly hired employee or trainee you might have quality issues.

I have lights from the same manufacturer and ive had good results with them. Im a firm believer in cheap Chinese led being just as good as brand name units of the same wattage. I've got 2 180w panels and 1 240 w panel in a 2x3 closet tent. Got 5 white widow clones that have been planted for about a week and the one Jamaican jam in the small pot but that belonged to a friend and ive given it back now that their lights arrived

Adjorr said:

I have lights from the same manufacturer and ive had good results with them. Im a firm believer in cheap Chinese led being just as good as brand name units of the same wattage. I've got 2 180w panels and 1 240 w panel in a 2x3 closet tent. Got 5 white widow clones that have been planted for about a week and the one Jamaican jam in the small pot but that belonged to a friend and ive given it back now that their lights arrived
View attachment 2810949

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You certainly have that tent crammed full of lights and plants, nice. Are those 3 or 5 gal. pots?

thanks, there 3 gallon pots. They have been growing very well. I topped each one a few days after they were planted, im hoping to grow some nice short and dense many cola bushes. The original mother plant for this strain got to be 3' wide x 2' wide x 3' tall when I flowered it. A clone was taken from it before I flowered and a friend with more space then I do grew it into a similarly large beast of a mother plant.
the original widow 2 weeks before flowering 2 month veg under 2x 180w Chinese leds (had 3 other plants as well) I just added my 240w panel for this grow and im hoping for even better results

very impressive . Two green thumbs up. good use of your 180's!!

please keep us posted on your progress I think you will make a good edition to this thread.

My best mate found a seed in some pretty potent kush, he gave me the seed. It is currently in a germination shot glass, if it successfully germinates ill post picture updates I hope so because it was a good strain regardless of its animosity. Hopefully it is a strong seed male or female I have been wanting to dabble in the art of genetics and this would be a good donor providing it is a healthy plant with ample vigor.

youngbuzz101 said:

please keep us posted on your progress I think you will make a good edition to this thread.

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Will do, i'll post up some new pics in a couple weeks to show how its going

Adjorr said:

thanks, there 3 gallon pots. They have been growing very well. I topped each one a few days after they were planted, im hoping to grow some nice short and dense many cola bushes. The original mother plant for this strain got to be 3' wide x 2' wide x 3' tall when I flowered it. A clone was taken from it before I flowered and a friend with more space then I do grew it into a similarly large beast of a mother plant.
the original widow 2 weeks before floweringView attachment 2811015 2 month veg under 2x 180w Chinese leds (had 3 other plants as well) I just added my 240w panel for this grow and im hoping for even better results

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One nice milt. (mom I'd like to toke)

decided to start my own thread and journal it, I put it in newbie central because I still consider myself a newb and that's where 90% of my posting and reading is done https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/720830-600w-chinese-led-power.html#post9586543

cool man go for it, ill drop by here and there to see what your up too. im excited to see anyone use these chinese leds because there is to much unknown about them. people are afraid of what they don't know or cannot completely understand. because of this there is alot of negative opinions in regards to these chinese fixtures. but the more we investigate the more it seems cheaper might be better... not on quality basis..although i have still to find fault in my cheap lights. but definitely quantity. for the price of a 1000w led name brand you can buy 4 Chinese. ill find it hard to believe that the 4 couldn't out preform the one at the same cost point. so make your post and at the end if you would like to post your end results here I would be honored. I want a central location where people can find various examples in one spot. less searching because all of us know how hard it was to find information on these ebay leds on the web. it was all like "dont waste your money" or "made in china = garbage" etc etc. lets change that.

update shortly..