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 Rockahaus
No Till Newbie
Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 13
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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 Best LED light for 4x4 tent 
#770416 - 02/27/15 05:48 PM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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Hello everyone. I have grown a couple of times with some T5's,cheap nutes, and miracle grow soil, but I am ready to start a grow room and make a real go of it this time. I just got a 4x4 gorilla tent and have been researching LEDs for about a month and I'm still confused about what is the best for the money. At this point I think this is the one I want to get http://spectrumkingled.com/ The 400 series. Has anyone used this light or can recommend a good one for about a grand or less?
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 Magash
The Feminizer
Registered: 04/21/08
Posts: 6,634
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 Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rockahaus] 1
#770424 - 02/27/15 08:38 PM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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We have another mod named phychotron who you should ask this of or just wait cause when he sees this he'll answer. 
He's the resident LED master 
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All creatures tremble when faced with violence. All creatures fear death, all love life. If we can only see ourselves in others, then how could we possibly hurt another creature?
 Join us at the Growery!
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Rockahaus
No Till Newbie
Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 13
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Magash]
#770444 - 02/28/15 04:05 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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It's funny you should say that Magash. I was sent here from another group and that told me to talk to him also. He also said phychotron was the man.
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budgrowerwannabe
Bum fighter
Registered: 01/28/12
Posts: 3,360
Last seen: 3 years, 22 days
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rockahaus]
#770448 - 02/28/15 04:59 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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Wow that light is 1000 bucks lol holly shit ! I have really been lookin into leds myself. I have been growin under hps since I started now i want to see how leds work? See if i get the same yeild an all.
I have watched this light on youtube is suppost to be the beesknees !! But shit there just selling there gear.
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Chemical Addiction
Registered: 11/20/14
Posts: 1,681
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I believe phychotron recommends Advanced LED lights in other posts. I've looked at the lights but they are pretty expensive but would be nice to keep down on heat.
If I got one (for myself not a tent)I would get the 400w Diamond Series (3W bulbs) and supplement with 2 X two bulb t5 CFls on either side.
One of my 600W HID lights went out and i'm using one of the 4ft T5's for my veg ATM. Hoping it will be good enough since I cant afford two quality led lights right now.
Edit: Decided to get DS XTE 400 (5W bulbs). My 1000w HPS is way too hot also kinda bulky, hoping this plus a couple single bulb T5 cfl will be good enough. Good luck with your decision Rockahaus
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Sure. Don't expect me to compensate your wife and five retarded kids after I've drowned your exposed brain in my semen.
Spider Jerusalem
Edited by Chemical Addiction (02/28/15 08:51 PM)
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Rockahaus
No Till Newbie
Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 13
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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There isn't much information on Spectrum King other than their videos, and that makes me worried a bit. But the plants look so good and the buds were sweet and tight. His harvest video showed 1000hps was better yield, but his was more potent. I do like that their heat sink is enough to keep the light cool (He used a heat meter on light to show temp)and they do not use fans since I've read horror stories about them burning out and killing the light or being super loud. and they use Cree bulbs which are supposed to be the best. I also heard you get what you pay for and anything under a grand or two isn't worth it. Who knows until you try.
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Stoneth
D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.
Registered: 10/06/08
Posts: 25,052
Loc: No where ville, USA 
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rockahaus]
#770482 - 02/28/15 09:56 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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I've heard nothing but great things out of Advance LEDs, and Cali lightworks.
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Rockahaus
No Till Newbie
Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 13
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Stoneth]
#770490 - 02/28/15 10:48 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thank you Stoneth. I've looked at advanced, but not cali, so I'll check them out now. Thanks again
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murrtheblur
Chillin Chillin
Registered: 12/14/13
Posts: 3
Last seen: 6 years, 2 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rockahaus]
#770535 - 03/01/15 04:46 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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I have 2 lights from advanced led and can only say good things about the results I picked up a diamond series 400 just before the xte series came out and it's been a pretty good light and my veg light from them just arrived yesterday so no results from it but it's giving good coverage for my space at the moment and is quite blue, but for a 4x4 the xte 300 could give you some decent results if you're going to leave some space for airflow and moving around the edges of the tent, I was running my ds400 in a 4x8 with a 1000 watt hps and using about 4x6 of the space. I did loose some of my diodes on that light and I just dropped them an email about it and there going to take care of it when I have the time to give up my light which will be when I pick up another one from them. I'd recommend advanced led but i haven't worked with any other companies light either
hope that helpful in some way
~blur~
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phychotron
Medicated
Registered: 02/17/11
Posts: 1,995
Loc: Earth (mostly)
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: murrtheblur]
#770633 - 03/01/15 08:21 PM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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Spectrum king is a hard one because its a different style light. It appears to be very focused and very powerful. To the point that i've internet 'heard' they will burn your plants at 2 feet. It seems like more of a commercial/green house solution where you don't have the lights too close to the plants.
It has some cool features like being water proof, but I don't think it's for the tent growing market.
I can't make an opinion on it until I see some results.
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Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
 Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED
“Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
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phychotron
Medicated
Registered: 02/17/11
Posts: 1,995
Loc: Earth (mostly)
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: phychotron]
#770653 - 03/02/15 12:41 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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The light I like right now is the XML650 that Advanced LED. Not currently for sale, but should be within the month or so. It's going to cost $1600 and they said it would cover a 5x5. I emailed them and they said that two of the new XTE400's ($2400 for both) would equal one XML650. They have different configurations of diodes, 5w XTE vs 10w XML. As much as I like the XTE400, I'm going to have to go with the XML650 next. Its two thirds the price to cover about the same area. A little less versatile, but the thing is pretty sweet.
They just started offering the lifetime warranty on the new fixtures, they will send you parts as long as they are in business. Because they're modular its going to be easy to fix and the replacement parts are relatively cheap.
I just had my DS400 burn out a bank of diodes 2.5 years into warranty. They sent the FedEx guy with the label, all I had to do was box it up and open the door and hand it to him. I had an older design from their first manufacturer they had problems with and this one only had a few patches of heat sink under the fans. They ended up replacing the whole light board and heat sink so that its full size. Basically giving me a whole new light right before my warranty ended. I asked how much for the repairs after warranty and he said anywhere between $65 and $650, and that's where he's going in and soldering in new diodes--no guarantee the diode right next to the one he just replaced isn't going to go out soon.
That's the problem with being non-modular. The Diamond Series is a good light, it produces really good bud, but the thing is not sustainable. No matter what LED you end up getting, make sure it is modular and easy to repair.
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Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED
“Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
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Rockahaus
No Till Newbie
Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 13
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: phychotron]
#770661 - 03/02/15 02:14 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thanks phychotronM
It sounds really good, but it would take me forever to save up that much money for the XML650. I'm having a hard time coming up with a grand. But I know the light is the most important part, so I want to get the best I can afford. It's just so hard because everyone says they are the best and I've heard not all specs listed are true on some sites.
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phychotron
Medicated
Registered: 02/17/11
Posts: 1,995
Loc: Earth (mostly)
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rockahaus]
#770679 - 03/02/15 09:31 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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I know its tough finding that fixture/company to invest money in, but it really does help to get the higher end stuff. I was talking about the Mars 2 fixture on ICMAG recently and someone who has never used one was all defending them about how they're not that bad, blah blah blah, but when I pointed out that after 12 inches it no longer has enough PAR light to flower cannabis properly (@700 µmol for lowest branches) the thread just sorta died. I've never used one either, but I knew from the go they were garbage, then my friend's room mate got two and I was convinced.
And the mars 2 did sort of impress me with its heat sink, one of the most noticeable features (finned aluminum being kinda rare on those cheapies) but that's the deceptive part. It gives the illusion of quality. They even claim "5w diodes" but the whole fixture runs an average of 2.25w (180w/80 diodes) when you include fans, so its actually less without cooling. To compare, Advanced LED is running their 5w Cree diodes at 3.9w each--mars is only 57% of the wattage. My Diamond Series with 3w diodes are running at 1.95 with cooling.
With Advanced LED, sure they're still importing the lights from China, but I tell people they NEED to pay one of those types of companies that are actively developing the lights to work for our cause. They are trying to push the light to the limit, unlike other companies that really are just re-sellers of generic fixtures--Like GrowBlu (works good but too focused and overpriced for its efficiency) selling a common fixture that they most likely had no part in developing.
Advanced LED just built a machine/robot that will test the par data on individual diodes so that they can combine the best in the future generations. They've also tested a bunch of spectrum before going with their new series of lights
So here is the XML350 for $1000 (they claimed in an email will outperform a new XTE400 by about 10%)that they say will cover a 4x4 (I think that's pushing it, but again I've never used one personally). I would suggest holding out for the XML650 and spending a bit of extra cash just to get the added kick. There are more than double the amount of 10w Cree diodes on there--9 modules and (10) 10w-diodes on the XML350 vs 16 modules and (24) 10w Cree's on the XML650.
Check out the un boxing of one of the first one's.
I was looking for other LED companies to invest in (got a GrowBlu because it was modular) but Advanced put an end to that search when they started coming out with new lights. They really are working on developing the lights and making it as good as possible. If they were just a generic reseller I'd say you'd be fine rolling the dice with anyone of those companies but they offer more to their lights than just covering the 3yr warranty period other companies do.
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Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED
“Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
Edited by phychotron (03/02/15 09:35 AM)
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Rockahaus
No Till Newbie
Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 13
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: phychotron]
#770777 - 03/03/15 07:45 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thanks again. You have some good info. I just can't afford the XML650. It will take me a year to get that much money. But the XML350 looks good. The only reason I'm still leaning toward Spectrum King 400 series is they completed Cree’s Thermal, Electrical, Mechanical, Photometric and Optical (TEMPO) testing process and list Cree's logo on their page whereas Advanced doesn't list anything about them. Advanced has a BUNCH of fans on their lights, and I was told the better lights do not need fans. And Full spectrum light that covers all spectrums is better than a mix of lights that only do a few spectrums. At least I'm down to these two lights.
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phychotron
Medicated
Registered: 02/17/11
Posts: 1,995
Loc: Earth (mostly)
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rockahaus]
#770788 - 03/03/15 11:44 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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If you get one I'd love to see the thing in action, are you planning on doing any grow logs or anything like that?
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Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED
“Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
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Rockahaus
No Till Newbie
Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 13
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: phychotron]
#770792 - 03/03/15 12:06 PM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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I'm going to try to do a grow log and take pics. Never posted to youtube. I'm sure it can't be to hard though. I know for the first grow, I'm just going to let things grow and see what happens. I plan on using SubCool's supersoil recipe only. See if it really works with just adding water. Depending on what happens, I'll adjust for the subsequent grows.
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Rahz
Stranger
Registered: 01/17/13
Posts: 22
Last seen: 9 years, 6 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rockahaus]
#771444 - 03/09/15 11:55 PM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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The spectrum king might be a decent option provided you have the lamp 2-3 feet above the canopy... although 25 watts per foot is a bit on the light side. I will say though that it's comparable to other offerings as far as price goes. The main consideration if you're okay with the wattage is whether the lamp is quality, and that's something I can't comment on.
Another forum I frequent raves about Area51 lamps, also uses Cree emitters and assembly in the states. Two of their 190s (which I think they're out of at the moment) would be about the same cost and would provide a better footprint while getting the lamps closer to the canopy.
Although... even the panel LEDs available on the market tend to provide conical coverage meaning the space below the lamp receives much more light than the space to the side. It's kinda irksome because the main potential advantage of LED over HPS currently is the ability to spread the emitters out and provide even coverage over the entire grow space. (LED and HPS are neck and neck in efficiency at the moment, though that will be changing in the next couple years) Retail LED lamps tend to be compact because it's less expensive to build them that way. The retail LED grow light market is difficult because they tend to push the emitters hard and use cheaper parts. One of the cool things about LED is that the efficiency goes up the softer you drive them.
My solution was to build my own lamps. I've been using under driven VERO COBs cooled with radial heatsinks mounted to aluminum frames, no fans. I just recently completed a 350 watt lamp for a 2x4 tent providing about 140 LPW. It provides about 43 watts per foot and got 1.2 GPW (actual wattage) on the first run (1.35 GPW by lamp output). The parts for the lamp ran about $800, so for $1600 you could build a lamp that would likely yield almost 2 lbs in that 4x4 tent from 700 watts. You would need to spend at least $2000 for the same results with retail lamps. For the same cost as that Spectrum King you could DIY a 525 watt lamp that would provide about 33 watts per foot over every foot in your tent.
So something like that might be worth considering. DIY LED can seem daunting, but with the advent of COBs the workload is dramatically reduced... and using Bridgelux Vero series with molex connectors mean no soldering whatsoever. Drill, hacksaw, screwdriver, wire stripper/pliers, tap bit and handle and you're in business, although I would highly recommend a small drill press which can be bought for under $100.
There is an even cheaper way to go about things, and that's DIYing a lamp with fans. I was attracted to the fanless option and it still came out less than retail so I was sold. Having not priced things out for fan cooled DIY LEDs I can't really comment on how much cheaper it would be.
I don't usually post here but I'll check back and if you're interested in the DIY option I will be glad to provide more info if you like.
Edited by Rahz (03/10/15 12:17 AM)
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Rockahaus
No Till Newbie
Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 13
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rahz]
#771471 - 03/10/15 05:55 AM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thanks Rahz,
I've heard COBs are not as efficient by as much as 50% or more over top bin lights. Never been that good at DIY. Especially with electricity. I'll check out Area51 again. I want to stay with Cree full spectrum bulbs since most people say they are the best. I hate spending this much on something I'm not sure about.
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Rahz
Stranger
Registered: 01/17/13
Posts: 22
Last seen: 9 years, 6 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rockahaus]
#771512 - 03/10/15 01:05 PM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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If you're not into DIY, fair enough. I'm not much of an electrician either. Took me several weeks of research and asking lots of questions before I felt confident enough to start pricing parts.
As far as efficiency, it's true COBs were less efficient when they were first introduced but that margin has disappeared. My lamp is running about 140 LPW and the yield per watt speaks for itself... but datasheets for comparison are available for all the emitters in the Cree and Bridgelux lineup.
I've also heard good things about Advanced LED, and another company called Apachetech (though those are a bit pricey).
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Rockahaus
No Till Newbie
Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 13
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Re: Best LED light for 4x4 tent [Re: Rahz]
#771535 - 03/10/15 04:55 PM (9 years, 9 months ago) |
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I just figured I couldn't build a better light than an engineer that works with leds all the time. I would love to save some money though.
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