A51 RW-150 or ONYX bloom? Hmmm.....

Follow-up: I purchased the Onyx Bloom. The light intensity is incredible, growth on my plants have been vigorous, but the footprint is not very big. I have two larger plants under it, and the footprint does not reach the ends of both. We shall see how, or even *if* this can replace my 400 watt HPS, and to be honest, after spending the $450, I do not see it, the coverage is lacking, I will have to add light even for two plants. Sad...$450, one plant, sigh.

I also purchased this:

http://www.amazon.com/LIGHTS-SPECTRUM-PLANT-GROWTH-SYSTEM/dp/B00DLJ7VRC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_lg_1/191-7389031-7531758?ie=UTF8&refRID=14NEF7VNB2N79S66ASWX

A Neo Sol knock-off. Same chips, Surexi F3, only 24 LED's, and not 54 like the $1300 Neo Sol. Growth has been very vigorous under this as well, but the footprint from the light fixture is more spread out....too spread out? We shall see, but the Surexi chips are very bright. This fixture is serving two plants easily.

trying the onyx more vertical...like this



that one onyx veg covers nearly the whole 4x4 tent

hi you all ,i did my home work and read a lot of stuff ,even if think i'm not yet on a DIY level,far from it .


Hans panel / A51 /ONYX / ISLED are only option for low budget who wants quality stuff and avoid chinese loterie ...

after all i read, i cannot make my choice

just want to grow 6 plants (7L air pot) in a 80X80X200 tent.

it feels like the hans panel is made for really low low low ass plant...

i think it's my first message here ,so be easy on me

cheers

lodosswar said:

hi you all ,i did my home work and read a lot of stuff ,even if think i'm not yet on a DIY level,far from it .


Hans panel / A51 /ONYX / ISLED are only option for low budget who wants quality stuff and avoid chinese loterie ...

after all i read, i cannot make my choice

just want to grow 6 plants (7L air pot) in a 80X80X200 tent.

it feels like the hans panel is made for really low low low ass plant...

i think it's my first message here ,so be easy on me

cheers

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I think once you get down to the good stuff like you have done, which is nice research BTW, then its personal choice? I know a51 is moving and won't be able to supply you till a week or more, onyx seems great, and Han's panels seem to be pulling a g a watt...the Hans panel you would def need multiple for your tent size. Captain Morgan just did a comparison with a-51 and Onyx but had some issues, but maybe pm him if you have any other questions...have you thought of multiple panels such as the Hans or a51-75w? Just a thought as well haha. I know this was no help really but just go with what ya feeeeellllll

Personally I went with all Onyx and have no regret whatsoever right now.
I actually wouldn't mind having a couple area51 or an apache model of some kind but am pretty much done spending money until it comes time to upgrade to newer tech.
I might add the Onyx is the only panels I know of that use only Cree xml2 in their panels. I was looking at some panel(maybe Advanced) and they actually name their panel xml but for the most part their panels are made with lower wattage emitters and only contain a few cree xml.

dbkick said:

Personally I went with all Onyx and have no regret whatsoever right now.
I actually wouldn't mind having a couple area51 or an apache model of some kind but am pretty much done spending money until it comes time to upgrade to newer tech.
I might add the Onyx is the only panels I know of that use only Cree xml2 in their panels. I was looking at some panel(maybe Advanced) and they actually name their panel xml but for the most part their panels are made with lower wattage emitters and only contain a few cree xml.

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Yeah advanced made two newer ones. The XTE then that XML2 you are talking about. Got a couple buddies using onyx and a51 now. Everyone's happy.

vitamin_green_inc said:

I think once you get down to the good stuff like you have done, which is nice research BTW, then its personal choice? I know a51 is moving and won't be able to supply you till a week or more, onyx seems great, and Han's panels seem to be pulling a g a watt...the Hans panel you would def need multiple for your tent size. Captain Morgan just did a comparison with a-51 and Onyx but had some issues, but maybe pm him if you have any other questions...have you thought of multiple panels such as the Hans or a51-75w? Just a thought as well haha. I know this was no help really but just go with what ya feeeeellllll

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thx a lot for your reply Vitamin, yes I was about to order 2 Hans (80w panel) for my 6 future plants, because his panel is very liked in France...., then I found all the "Petflora" posts ,the internet leds expert(,if i count the number of time i crossed his posts (LOL). all you guy drop more knowlege than in our french forums anyway...)
so,yes i assume 2 panels will give me the best coverage ,A51 guy told me exactly the same!

regarding the onyx yes the heat issue bother me a bit ,i will ask him !)

dbkick said:

Personally I went with all Onyx and have no regret whatsoever right now.
I actually wouldn't mind having a couple area51 or an apache model of some kind but am pretty much done spending money until it comes time to upgrade to newer tech.
I might add the Onyx is the only panels I know of that use only Cree xml2 in their panels. I was looking at some panel(maybe Advanced) and they actually name their panel xml but for the most part their panels are made with lower wattage emitters and only contain a few cree xml.

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thx for your reply Dbkick; Yes that's what made me hesitated the most ! more wattage ,less expensive ,respected by PETFLORA (haha),using Cree xml2 and more "powerfull" than the others in the same categorie..... feel like the onyx is about to win even if the lack of actual grow report bother me . AND So, why people don't RUSH on the onyx panel ,that will be my final wondering ?????? ...

gk skunky said:

Yeah advanced made two newer ones. The XTE then that XML2 you are talking about. Got a couple buddies using onyx and a51 now. Everyone's happy.

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'
thx for your reply ,
why people don't RUSH on the onyx panel then ,maybe i must just take one of the 3 randomly ....or the onyx and save about 150$,that i will put for some dr greenthumb seeds(even if i don't really beleive in all his "og kush ,original ghost cut" thing )





sorry for my english !

The Onyx grow panels are new to the market,less than a year. So a lot of people have not heard of them. They've been making quality aquarium reef lights and selling quality DIY supplies for like 5 years and have a great reputation. I'm on my second grow with one and it's a light I would recommend.

You can't go wrong with Area 51 or Onyx.

Has anyone actually put the onyx on a kill a watt meter?

it's just hard to believe they are getting 250 watts out of what is a220 watts MAXIMUM output light without making an ungodly amount of heat.

purplegrower02 said:

Has anyone actually put the onyx on a kill a watt meter?

it's just hard to believe they are getting 250 watts out of what is a220 watts MAXIMUM output light without making an ungodly amount of heat.

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I think they dialed it down since the driver issues surfaced....................It's not drawing around 250w anymore

purplegrower02 said:

Has anyone actually put the onyx on a kill a watt meter?

it's just hard to believe they are getting 250 watts out of what is a220 watts MAXIMUM output light without making an ungodly amount of heat.

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I think you got your numbers wrong,the light has 28 of the 10 watt XM-L2's in it and they're driven at 70%. I put mine on a kilowatt meter and it was about 220 watts at the wall if I remember right,I'll double check that later. I mentioned the 250 watt number that's on the website to Mike at Onyx and they were suppose to correct that.

@ captain so how do i have my numbers wrong? The website is wrong then...

even at 75% doesn't the set-up get very hot?

i believe max input on those lights is 3000ma if i remember correctly

I run three of there panels in a 4x4 and my temps are 73-77 at the cannopy its about 10 degrees over ambient temps I also use a 8 inch exhaust on a speed controller and have active intake

purplegrower02 said:

@ captain so how do i have my numbers wrong? The website is wrong then...

even at 75% doesn't the set-up get very hot?

i believe max input on those lights is 3000ma if i remember correctly

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You said a 220 watt max output but it's 280 watts. 28x10=280 280x.7=196 196 + 24 watts for PS,driver and fan =220 watts at the wall.

The heatsink gets quite warm to the touch but they assured me that it was within tolerances. They decided to drive the unit slightly harder at 70% to help keep the cost down,if they drove it softer they would have to increase the size of the unit and add more LED's to get the same output at a increased price. I'll let them know about the web site again.

10 degrees? My 2 rw-150's in a 3x3 tent is 1 degree above ambient, sometimes the tent is a degree cooler than the room its in. It has a 6" td-silent fan running on low for exhaust. With hid I needed air conditioning 8 months of the year, I won't be going back to that.

epicfail said:

10 degrees? My 2 rw-150's in a 3x3 tent is 1 degree above ambient, sometimes the tent is a degree cooler than the room its in. It has a 6" td-silent fan running on low for exhaust. With hid I needed air conditioning 8 months of the year, I won't be going back to that.

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Yeah my RW and XGS in a 2x4 runs 3-5* warmer than the ambient temp with the 4" growbright centrifugal fan even at 50%. Stays about the same at full blast just humidity goes down.

YEA i meant to type 280 not 220.

i don't have the chart for the xlm2 but they probably could of got away with the same lumen output with just one more led but driven at a much lower current since the lumen per watt decreases the harder you run them.

idk just hard to imagine paying $450 for a light that i could build the exact light for under $200

Yea every one knows that the onyx runs a little bit hotter than area 51 Im very happy with my purchase my temps are still in check and I don't need to run my ac anymore it never runs over 77 its usally about 72-75 in my 4x4 i was going to pull the trigger on 3 rw-150 but I went down to rapid and talked to mike and got a killer deal I could have got 4 onyx led for what I would have paid for 3 rw-150 plus if have any problems with my unit I can just stop by rapid I'm really like the way my plants are growing under led lighting

s0ur said:

Yea every one knows that the onyx runs a little bit hotter than area 51 Im very happy with my purchase my temps are still in check and I don't need to run my ac anymore it never runs over 77 its usally about 72-75 in my 4x4 i was going to pull the trigger on 3 rw-150 but I went down to rapid and talked to mike and got a killer deal I could have got 4 onyx led for what I would have paid for 3 rw-150 plus if have any problems with my unit I can just stop by rapid I'm really like the way my plants are growing under led lighting

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Still WAYYYYYY better than HPS heat. LOL Yeah my buddy DXE just absolutely LOVES his. He's got the veg and flower room completely outfitted now. Definitely can't go wrong with either as far as performance.

purplegrower02 said:

YEA i meant to type 280 not 220.

i don't have the chart for the xlm2 but they probably could of got away with the same lumen output with just one more led but driven at a much lower current since the lumen per watt decreases the harder you run them.

idk just hard to imagine paying $450 for a light that i could build the exact light for under $200

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Hint, buy multiple units and see if they'll haggle.
I think if I had it to do over again I would have saved a little on the two veg panels and went diy on them.
That would have freed up a little coin for towards another couple bloom models. I'd like to run 6 bloom on a lightrail but only own 4 at the moment, finances at this time aren't that great and it isn't gonna happen for awhile. Thought I was doing the right thing by getting 2 veg 4 bloom.