Dead LED bulb...does it affect grow?

grasscropper

Well-Known Member
I am in the same boat and was wondering the same. However I guess it depends on which spectrum bulb is pooched. if they are 3w then would we not take off 3 watts from to total lamp wattage.
 

caretak3r

Well-Known Member
you could always replace it - I just replaced about 30 blue leds with white in an old panel that I had laying around.
 

JavaCo

Well-Known Member
You sure , you have a light out. Specs on that light say it has a IR led chip. We humans cant see IR light. That might be the chip you think is out.
 

LEDmania

Active Member
Probably not dead, it might be a long-length wavelength such as 850nm IR LED. FranJan is an expert at this issue.
 

FranJan

Well-Known Member
Yeah, usually if you lose a bulb on a BS 135, it should take a whole circuit out so anywhere from half to all the lights would be out, unless of course it's a BS knockoff and it's using Zeners to keep the cicuit going. Take a picture of the panel when it's on. If the offending diode is glowing in the photo it's an IR.

I don't think it's going to really mess with what you're growing. You can always add a CFL/LED bulb to help it out.
 

JavaCo

Well-Known Member
i thought led lights didn't burn out???
No They dont last forever. Most are rated @ 50,000 hours But they can last as long as 100,000 hours. But you can still get ones that will fail before that. Mainly the cheaper bands you will see more of them fail then say the better brands like Cree and Bridgelux.
 

randybishop

Well-Known Member
Thanks ya'll.
Here is a photo (it almost blinded me taking it), the dead bulb is next to the center bulb and to the right (slightly down).
 

JavaCo

Well-Known Member
That is the IR Chip. Kinda looks like it is out also. Usually you see a faint red glow in there.
 

FranJan

Well-Known Member
I was just looking at the Lighthousehydro site and that diode is the 730nm diode from what I can tell. Also I noticed that the 135 appears to have Zeners, which explains why your panel didn't go out. It really should light up on camera but the one at LH doesn't either so maybe I'm wrong about that. Weird I always thought cameras pick up infared, time to hit the books. Also a true 730 will glow red faintly so it is probably out. I don't think 1 730nm is going to have that much effect on flowering. A Cree 2700k bulb might even put out more Far Red than that 1 730. If it's still under warranty call Sean or Vince at Gohamhydroponics. They may swap it for you. Good Luck, hoped that helped.

 

randybishop

Well-Known Member
Thanks Fran!
Here is the response I got from lighthouse hydro:
What you are referring to is not a dead LED. It's a 380nm UV chip that is outside the visible spectrum of the human eye, you just can't see it although it operates properly. Besides, having just one chip that is out would be impossible since they are connected in series, so if one was out the whole circuit would be out.
Best regards,

Lighthouse Hydro
 

FranJan

Well-Known Member
Ooops, well I stand corrected. So which one is the 730nm because from the photo I was looking at I assumed it was the one that was out. A 380nm should be more visible IMO, it's only UVA, right. That's blacklight. Personally I would get some more opinions, they are a LED company after all ;) LOL. I know I could see the light from my 240's 380s, but never saw anything from the 730nms till I took a picture of the.

Now I'm confusing myself. Fuckit, grow some monsters with that 135 RB!
 

vostok

Well-Known Member
There is a post . someplace on how to fix these leds, but you do need the gear and cree?
 

LEDmania

Active Member
Not true about the 380s. You can get LEDEngin 365nm on Mouser. I'm pretty sure ThorLabs makes them also. 365nm for curing are getting down in price. Lower than 365nm ones are out there too. There are UVC diodes for disinfection too.
http://www.mouser.com/new/ledengin/ledengin365nmuvled/
http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=154120973
Fantastic~ but very expensive, they quoted at 25$ a 365nm LED last year, I am still a bit suspected about the new tech....
 
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