IF you are new to LED and want help choosing what to buy, POST HERE!

I have heard good things about Cidly, until the new Vipars came out I would had suggested cidly as the best cheaper bang for your buck.

Im not catching what you mean about the drivers and only handling five? Five what? TrueG has a apollo all white next to his 400w MH right now. sure they both help each other out with the quantity/quality balance.

Fuck post count, trust me... (or dont lol) theres a lot of jargon out there. Just have to learn what to hear out.

Best of luck to you grower! If you get bored mosey your way on over, been playing with the lady's S4.


@Tags- if he's out there, any word on the variation of models apache is talking about doing? You too EH, idk what youre thinking running only one model.... but ill trust you know...

Scotch089 said:

I have heard good things about Cidly, until the new Vipars came out I would had suggested cidly as the best cheaper bang for your buck.

Im not catching what you mean about the drivers and only handling five? Five what? TrueG has a apollo all white next to his 400w MH right now. sure they both help each other out with the quantity/quality balance.

Fuck post count, trust me... (or dont lol) theres a lot of jargon out there. Just have to learn what to hear out.

Best of luck to you grower! If you get bored mosey your way on over, been playing with the lady's S4.


@Tags- if he's out there, any word on the variation of models apache is talking about doing? You too EH, idk what youre thinking running only one model.... but ill trust you know...

Click to expand...

They were telling me the White and blue leds run at a higher output, which i think translates to hotter, than other spectrums, and therefore i was only allowed a maximum of 5 per cluster, this was what i was told from cidly directly. So i thought he would of had to upgrade it or something? I dont know which is why I'm curious. and Im also curiuos if a light is powerful and works for one plant or two, or a sog of 16, why wouldnt i want to have 3 more? I like uniformity as well as a better deal for a bulk purchase which was why I went with one maker. I wont lie tho, there are some pretty crazy things happening in the diy led category, apparently some pretty good stuff ive seen, i don't really understand half of it but it seems cool and worth learning.

Hey Scotch I don't think VIPAR uses Helio. Bridgelux + Epis yes, but I don't think Helio. Would be nice but nonetheless the diodes on mine are holding up nicely, especially compared to my Blackstars and LED_STAR.

Orion21 said:

has anyone seen or used rapidled's solderless LEDs for a DIY light? they look fairly fool proof and easy. their Cree leds, the same ones as the hans panel i think.

Click to expand...

I have..

I use rapidLED solderless led's
http://www.rapidled.com/solderless/

I use ledgroupbuy driver/dimmer and power supply.
http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/makersdriver-professional-grade-dimmable-led-driver/

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/180w-48v-3-75a-dc-power-supply/


I use heatsinkUSA for my heatsink.
http://www.heatsinkusa.com/8-460-led-t-slots/

Will also be buying this controller so I can control dimmers with a timer instead of doing it manually.
.http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/makers-controller-sunrise-sunset-controller-for-makersdriver/


Still working on building a good enclosure..tried several ways and not happy with results plus don't have too
much free time on my hands but panel and driver /dimmer is working great.

ok time to post here my first time...
Its time for me to chance fore leds. And would like to know if this are eny goood?
http://www.phytoleds.com/en/phytoled200.html

thanks rainerrocks I'm trying to decide, between the apollo 8 or ten custom made from cidly with something like this 5 red, 1 deep red, 2 blue, 7 warm white. or building my own using solder less LEDs not to sure of what ones ill use for the custom probably try do something similar to Area 51 or the Hans panel (not sure how cost effective this from my estimates it will only save me 100-150$), I've got around 300-400$ to spend.

Orion21 said:

thanks rainerrocks I'm trying to decide, between the apollo 8 or ten custom made from cidly with something like this 5 red, 1 deep red, 2 blue, 7 warm white. or building my own using solder less LEDs not to sure of what ones ill use for the custom probably try do something similar to Area 51 or the Hans panel (not sure how cost effective this from my estimates it will only save me 100-150$), I've got around 300-400$ to spend.

Click to expand...

I'd like to see you go for a DIY area 51 or Hans personally definitely the bang for your buck.. My vote is in! I almost bought the apollo 8 model myself, but its just a bit older tech.. Sure its still a good choice tho.. Good luck and hope it all works out for you!

RainerRocks said:

I was going to buy from cidly but gave up on them ..got tired of all the emailing back and forth . I asked questions about what drivers and power supply do they use and nver could get an answer.
If I were to buy a panel I would buy Area51 ( Almost did ) due to their customer service and warranty plus they are located in the USA so if anything were to go wrong the wait wouldn't be anywhere as near as cidly from China.

Plus I'm American and would rather an American make a living which is one less person who is unemployed.

Click to expand...

One of the Same exact reasons I just went with them myself!.. Rock on RainerRocks!

I was going to buy from cidly but gave up on them ..got tired of all the emailing back and forth . I asked questions about what drivers and power supply do they use and never could get an answer.

I came really close to ordering the aquarium version which had dimmers and even had my panel kind of figured out but decided against it due to their LED's which weren't CREE or Rebel or Orsam.

I would have saved money by buying a cidly panel but didn't want to take a chance of it failing in a year or so and having to wait 6 weeks for a new panel or parts and that's if they honor the warraty. I think they would but the wait for replacement put me off along with the parts they use.

Cidly isn't a bad company but people haven't been running them for anywhere near a year yet and who knows how long they will last with the parts they use. I think I read a couple of threads here where some had problems and others not but again they haven't been running them for more than several months.


All 3 companies I bought my parts from have been great to work with.

Heatsink USA forgot to send me the extra screws and nuts so I emailed them and they responded right away and fed ex them overnight.

LEDgroupbuy was willing to exchange the driver because pins on driver were bent upon arrival due to shipping but I didn't have to return them..they worked.

One bad LED (not light itself) but the connector was bad and RapidLED sent me a new one free of charge with my extra LED's I bought the second time.

If my panel fails I'll know exactly what it is and can replace it in a day or 2 because I built it.

Yes it's work to build but much easier being it'solderless as oppose to soldering LED's. It's nice to buy a panel which is plug and play but I wantd to try my hand at building my own.

I will build another one when money allows me to.

If I were to buy a panel I would buy Area51 ( Almost did ) due to their customer service and warranty plus they are located in the USA so if anything were to go wrong the wait wouldn't be anywhere as near as cidly from China.

Plus I'm American and would rather an American make a living which is one less person who is unemployed.

Orion21 said:

thanks rainerrocks I'm trying to decide, between the apollo 8 or ten custom made from cidly with something like this 5 red, 1 deep red, 2 blue, 7 warm white. or building my own using solder less LEDs not to sure of what ones ill use for the custom probably try do something similar to Area 51 or the Hans panel (not sure how cost effective this from my estimates it will only save me 100-150$), I've got around 300-400$ to spend.

Click to expand...

Goodluck Starcraftguy and hope all goes well with your panel and grow !

Stay Crafty

starcraftguy1988 said:

One of the Same exact reasons I just went with them myself!.. Rock on RainerRocks!

Click to expand...

Chines panel which can be found on Ebay for a lot cheaper and or order directly from China.

PurpleTurtle said:

ok time to post here my first time...
Its time for me to chance fore leds. And would like to know if this are eny goood?
http://www.phytoleds.com/en/phytoled200.html

Click to expand...

RainerRocks said:

I was going to buy from cidly but gave up on them ..got tired of all the emailing back and forth . I asked questions about what drivers and power supply do they use and never could get an answer.

I came really close to ordering the aquarium version which had dimmers and even had my panel kind of figured out but decided against it due to their LED's which weren't CREE or Rebel or Orsam.

I would have saved money by buying a cidly panel but didn't want to take a chance of it failing in a year or so and having to wait 6 weeks for a new panel or parts and that's if they honor the warraty. I think they would but the wait for replacement put me off along with the parts they use.

Cidly isn't a bad company but people haven't been running them for anywhere near a year yet and who knows how long they will last with the parts they use. I think I read a couple of threads here where some had problems and others not but again they haven't been running them for more than several months.


All 3 companies I bought my parts from have been great to work with.

Heatsink USA forgot to send me the extra screws and nuts so I emailed them and they responded right away and fed ex them overnight.

LEDgroupbuy was willing to exchange the driver because pins on driver were bent upon arrival due to shipping but I didn't have to return them..they worked.

One bad LED (not light itself) but the connector was bad and RapidLED sent me a new one free of charge with my extra LED's I bought the second time.

If my panel fails I'll know exactly what it is and can replace it in a day or 2 because I built it.

Yes it's work to build but much easier being it'solderless as oppose to soldering LED's. It's nice to buy a panel which is plug and play but I wantd to try my hand at building my own.

I will build another one when money allows me to.

If I were to buy a panel I would buy Area51 ( Almost did ) due to their customer service and warranty plus they are located in the USA so if anything were to go wrong the wait wouldn't be anywhere as near as cidly from China.

Plus I'm American and would rather an American make a living which is one less person who is unemployed.

Click to expand...

ok so i think I'm going to make my own right now I'm trying to figure out what ill need and how much out of curiosity what is the length of the LED? and how close can they be placed together?

Actually .it's the problem that you choose good quality led lights or good price led lights .

Considering growing with an LED instead of a 250wHPS as im setting up a small 12/12 from seed cab with as many little plants as possible which is (W)73cm (D)45cm (H) 72cm. My options are either a 250w HPS in a cooltube which will cost me £100. I have found some LED panels for around that price and am wondering if you guys would recommend going with them to keep heat down or just overall performance. Here are some of the ones I've been looking at 1 2 3.

MorroN said:

Considering growing with an LED instead of a 250wHPS as im setting up a small 12/12 from seed cab with as many little plants as possible which is (W)73cm (D)45cm (H) 72cm. My options are either a 250w HPS in a cooltube which will cost me £100. I have found some LED panels for around that price and am wondering if you guys would recommend going with them to keep heat down or just overall performance. Here are some of the ones I've been looking at 1 2 3.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry to say it, but all of those LED lights that you're looking at are junk.
They're made from cheap, shitty parts, and won't deliver the kind of growing experience that your looking for.
Don't look to Ebay for LED's, 95% of what is on there is pure garbage and a waste of money.
Blackstar's are the only inexpensive LED's on Ebay that I've seen decent results from, but they don't have the best track record for longevity either.
Good LED's are expensive, it's that simple, and you'll get what you pay for.
I'd recommend saving up more money and doing tons of researching in the meantime.
If you do it right, you'll have a great grow light that can last you up to 10 years.
If you do it wrong, you'll have a piece of junk, that will break after a year.
Good luck.

Bad Karma said:

I'm sorry to say it, but all of those LED lights that you're looking at are junk.
They're made from cheap, shitty parts, and won't deliver the kind of growing experience that your looking for.
Don't look to Ebay for LED's, 95% of what is on there is pure garbage and a waste of money.
Blackstar's are the only inexpensive LED's on Ebay that I've seen decent results from, but they don't have the best track record for longevity either.
Good LED's are expensive, it's that simple, and you'll get what you pay for.
I'd recommend saving up more money and doing tons of researching in the meantime.
If you do it right, you'll have a great grow light that can last you up to 10 years.
If you do it wrong, you'll have a piece of junk, that will break after a year.
Good luck.

Click to expand...

Alright then thanks, I will go for a 250w hps cooltube instead I just thought it was worth exploring all options in a similar price-bracket.

Orion21 said:

ok so i think I'm going to make my own right now I'm trying to figure out what ill need and how much out of curiosity what is the length of the LED? and how close can they be placed together?

Click to expand...

13/16 at it widest and 1" 3/4 at it's longest which is end to end of the connectors at each end . Width usually
is about 1" but I have mine spaced a tad bigger due to the way I laid out the LED's which is a Merkaba layout.

I have 15 led's on each heatsink (x4). I rather it this way than one big heatsink. This way I can move
them around as plants grow.

Recieved this email today so if anyone is interested here it is.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY MY FELLOW AMERICANS !

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi XXXXX


Happy 4[SUP]th[/SUP] of July!


In honor of this great occasion we’d like to offer you 10% off all items in our store except for Neptune Apex and Ecotech products. Simply enter code 10JULY4 at checkout to receive the discount any time before midnight on July 5[SUP]th[/SUP] PST, there is no minimum order and you can use the code as many times as you’d like! As always please feel free to email us at [email protected] with any questions or give us a call at 650 589 3885. We wish everyone a Happy and Safe 4[SUP]th[/SUP]!


Regards,
The Rapid LED Team

I'm contemplating sticking an LED lamp outside in my greenhouse to add some supplemental lighting for the night time. What do you guys think about this? Could you recommend a fixture you think would do well?

FoxFarmGuardian said:

I'm contemplating sticking an LED lamp outside in my greenhouse to add some supplemental lighting for the night time. What do you guys think about this? Could you recommend a fixture you think would do well?

Click to expand...

What footprint are you looking to cover? If you only want to prevent plants from flowering early, you can use incandescent bulbs. They don't need to be on for very long.