48Sams Review:
Bought two 3000K 48Sams, for my 4’x4’ tent; mapped them individually, centered on a 2x4 grid; and as a pair, centered on each half of a 4x4 grid; using an Apogee MQ-500 with sensor centered on 6” squares.
Mapping was done at 6” height intervals between 12” and 48”, at three dimmer settings: lowest, highest, and medium (medium set by taking middle PPFD reading between lowest & highest dimmer settings at center of each fixture at 12” height).
The 2x4 grid was placed with its length parallel to the tent door, approximately midway between door and back wall of tent. The 4x4 grid filled the entire tent, with fixtures parallel longwise to tent side walls.
In both 2x4 and 4x4 mapping configurations the door of the tent was completely open (4’ wide), for ease of mapping. This resulted in little or no reflection of photons on that side of the grid, resulting in a minor impact on PPFD moving from the center of the grid to the door. In other words, values at the bottom of each mapping table are slightly lower than they would be with the tent door closed.
Mapping readings were recorded in standard PPFD units (umol/meter sq/second), but are presented as PPFD/1000, rounded to one decimal place for ease of presentation, and to focus attention on uniformity across the respective grids.
Individually, both fixtures gave the same readings at all height and dimmer settings, showing the amazing uniformity of these Samsung diodes/boards. I have attached the 2x4 mapping for one of the fixtures; and for the 4x4 mapping.
For reference, PPFD readings in the 300-600 range (comparable to 0.3-0.6 in these tables) are considered good for veg; 600-1000 are considered good for flowering without CO2; 1000-1500 are considered good for flowering with CO2.
2’x4’ Mapping:
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4’x4’ Mapping:
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My Opinion:
The Timber 48sams fixture has the same Samsung LM301B boards and boardcount, as HLG’s current top-of-the-line fixture (HLG 550 V2); with a somewhat different layout, different drivers & heat sinks, standalone dimmer, and a sweet aluminum frame. Add to this package Timber’s current pricing, and this fixture is a hands down superior offering!
Overall, I love these streamlined, lightweight fixtures. They have outstandingly uniform coverage - especially for a 4x4. You can lay down uniform 1000+ PPFD using numerous height and dimmer combos.
I particularly like the dimmer device on the 48sams, which makes it easy to adjust intensity when fixture is in a high location or in limited space.
I have no electrical expertise, so I don’t know the tradeoffs involved; but in this configuration, I would have preferred a single plug fixture. Given Timber’s custom buikd approach, you can do what i didn’t, ask Dan to work up a single driver design so you can have a single plug per fixture.
I look forward to seeing what quantum boards can do for me, someone used to growing 1/2 lb (dry) plants under Kind leds.
