GroErr Grows...

Enigma

Well-Known Member
Holy shit, mang. You went HAM on that basement, it might take a while to catch up to where you are now.

You may not be a die hard DIY'er but you are damn sure good with hand/power tools. Sub floor for plants and holes for reservoirs, low energy footprint.. I'm impressed.

:clap:
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Holy shit, mang. You went HAM on that basement, it might take a while to catch up to where you are now.

You may not be a die hard DIY'er but you are damn sure good with hand/power tools. Sub floor for plants and holes for reservoirs, low energy footprint.. I'm impressed.

:clap:
Hey thanks, I screwed around in a cabinet for a while and outgrew that quick. Took some effort but it's been low maintenance and I can just focus on the grows :)
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
So the blurple panel in my main 2x4x5' veg tent lost a whole section (4+ years old running 18/6 or 20/4, not bad). Rather than leave it like that until my replacements arrived, I threw one of my 315w Sun Systems in there with the 4200k bulb, added an intake booster fan. Temps were a little high at first but managed to get them down to ~82F average. Still too warm but better than letting them stall. Well wholly crap, that light in that space looks like one of those scenes from an Alien movie, when you open the flaps it lights up the whole basement. I wish I could run it there permanently but I'd need a bigger expiration fan with too much noise. it should be replaced this weekend shipment arrived for the veg LED's last night. Check out thew growth in 4 days under the LEC, Sunday was Day 0/1, 1/2 were up-potted Saturday/1/2 on Sunday. Second pic is just after they were up-potted from party cups into the 1gal pots. Threw all of them in there for a few days since the coverage was great.

Phoneshot-Veg-Day5-6-22-2017.PNG
Pheno-Hunt-Veg-Day1-1.JPG

Cheers :bigjoint:
 

Underground Scientist

Well-Known Member
Ever use a lux meter to dial in lights or check coverage? I havent wanted to spend on a ppfd meter, but a $20 lux meter helps me get an idea of intensity. Tested the LePower 100w cheapo COB. I convert lux to lumens, 32,400 lux is about 3,000 lumens.

IMG_20170621_222601659.jpg IMG_20170621_230145211_HDR.jpg IMG_20170621_223613865_HDR.jpg
Need to do some vent/temp testing. 100,000 lux at 6"
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Ever use a lux meter to dial in lights or check coverage? I havent wanted to spend on a ppfd meter, but a $20 lux meter helps me get an idea of intensity. Tested the LePower 100w cheapo COB. I convert lux to lumens, 32,400 lux is about 3,000 lumens.

View attachment 3965721 View attachment 3965722 View attachment 3965723
Need to do some vent/temp testing. 100,000 lux at 6"
No never really looked at light meters other than a couple of apps that don't work or measure anything under blurple panels. What colour did you end up grabbing? Plans to use it for veg or flower? I should be able to get those Chinese fake COBs up in the veg tent this weekend to see what that looks like in there. I'm sure they won't be anywhere near as bright as the LEC but too many mods and noise required to run the LEC in there.
 

Underground Scientist

Well-Known Member
No never really looked at light meters other than a couple of apps that don't work or measure anything under blurple panels. What colour did you end up grabbing? Plans to use it for veg or flower? I should be able to get those Chinese fake COBs up in the veg tent this weekend to see what that looks like in there. I'm sure they won't be anywhere near as bright as the LEC but too many mods and noise required to run the LEC in there.
Just for Veg, 6000k. I've requested the spectral analysis from the manufacturer but I'm not holding my breath. They're probably still translating my email...lol. I figure with that one light, I could easily do seedlings and young veg. I'm curious if 3 would give my 400w MH a run for it's money. There would be better coverage in the 2x4 tent for sure. I usually run that at 30-50,000 lux, and it's a fine line between wanting to stretch or getting stressed. It's going to come down to heat I think. The glass doesn't get hot, the heat sinks radiate some heat though.
 
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GroErr

Well-Known Member
Just for Veg, 6000k. I've requested the spectral analysis from the manufacturer but I'm not holding my breath. They're probably still translating my email...lol. I figure with that one light, I could easily do seedlings and young veg. I'm curious if 3 would give my 400w MH a run for it's money. There would be better coverage in the 2x4 tent for sure. I usually run that at 30-50,000 lux, and it's a fine line between wanting to stretch or getting stressed. It's going to come down to heat I think. The glass doesn't get hot, the heat sinks radiate some heat though.
Lol, yeah I wouldn't count on an answer, or at least a comprehensible answer. That should do well in a small tent/footprint for clones, seeds. I grabbed 3x 70w fake COB units for my 2x4x5' tent for now, will see if I need another but three should cover it off. If I like them I'll grab some more for my 2x4 cabinet. All my original blurples are slowly dying off, may re-use the cases/sinks/fans with either 561's or COBs later. Not bad though, I bought most of those blurple panels cheap and some have run as long as 4+ years at 18/6 or 20/4, no "bulb" changes or maintenance costs, I'd say I got my money off them, they were cheap, even at the time.

On the older bay-light style units I have are similar to the one you just grabbed. I removed the glass altogether and they still don't produce much heat. I originally bought those for the heat sink the were so cheap. It was cheaper to buy the whole light with free shipping, than buy a heat sink locally. I modified one with 3070 COBs and left the other one as-is, they're still running but I don't use them much other than in the 2x2 tent for breeding.
 

Evil-Mobo

Well-Known Member
Lol, yeah I wouldn't count on an answer, or at least a comprehensible answer. That should do well in a small tent/footprint for clones, seeds. I grabbed 3x 70w fake COB units for my 2x4x5' tent for now, will see if I need another but three should cover it off. If I like them I'll grab some more for my 2x4 cabinet. All my original blurples are slowly dying off, may re-use the cases/sinks/fans with either 561's or COBs later. Not bad though, I bought most of those blurple panels cheap and some have run as long as 4+ years at 18/6 or 20/4, no "bulb" changes or maintenance costs, I'd say I got my money off them, they were cheap, even at the time.

On the older bay-light style units I have are similar to the one you just grabbed. I removed the glass altogether and they still don't produce much heat. I originally bought those for the heat sink the were so cheap. It was cheaper to buy the whole light with free shipping, than buy a heat sink locally. I modified one with 3070 COBs and left the other one as-is, they're still running but I don't use them much other than in the 2x2 tent for breeding.
You should retrofit them with QB's of the existing drivers will work for you the board themselves are only like $75
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
You should retrofit them with QB's of the existing drivers will work for you the board themselves are only like $75
Yeah I've already measured and they'd fit right into the existing gaps. The larger "450w" panels have 3x sections, the smaller "300w" panels have 2x sections and the QB boards would fit in there nicely. I would replace the 4 year old Chinese no-name drivers but drivers are cheap anyhow. Disconnect the fans, not needed Imo with the QB's. Would be a relatively cheap overhaul and the existing sink would be more than enough to handle them. First I'm going to see if I can find someone to do it though, time is not something I have, but I'm willing to pay for it ;)
 

Underground Scientist

Well-Known Member
Lux, foot candles, lumens.. none of these are seen by the plant.

PAR is.

:leaf:
True, it's more of a tool to say this light performs well with the plants at this level, and you can check your coverage and intensity fade. There's bound to be a porportional relationship between lux and PAR. I know I can't directly compare MH to this, but you gotta start with an educated guess, then the plants will tell ya the rest. :bigjoint:
 

Enigma

Well-Known Member
It is all about wavelength.

Lux, foot candles, lumens all measure light we see. Plants don't use that spectrum much, they are more interested in the wavelengths higher and lower on the electromagnetic spectrum.
 
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