Picked up quite a few of these bulbs at $5, so I decided to remove(break) the cover off one to see if I could improve the light. There's 8 LED's, and they're facing down so I think that's a good thing. But there was a yellow silicone dome covering them to give the yellow light. I removed that and now it's a blue/purple light, almost looks like a black light now. Can this still be used to flower?
Philips LED bulb 11w 2700k
- Thread starter bondoman
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so far all that I did was break the glass, which was covered in the inside with white frost, and there was a little yellow silicone dome that you can remove, it's not even touching the LED's. I could actually put it back on. It's a good half inch from touching the LED's so I didn't mess with those at all.
hopefully these 2 pics explain it better. The way I see it is the yellow dome is actually impeding the light. But I was expecting the bare LED lights to be white, like the Cree 9w LED bulbs without the cover. So I'm wondering if the light is no longer 2700k without the yellow dome boot.
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PICOGRAV
Well-Known Member
I don't think it is going to be 2700K with out that part, people on here know more about these bulb lights then I do, just wait and see if they pop in and have a look but I think that yellow dome is phosphor coated or something that creates the 2700K light.
They probably use LEDs that emit a much higher wave length to start with and then use the coated dome to bring it down to 2700K, I would say this is done because LEDs are more efficient at high wave lenghts so in a way they are cheating a little, I could be wrong but why wouldn't they just start with 2700K LEDs to begin with?
They probably use LEDs that emit a much higher wave length to start with and then use the coated dome to bring it down to 2700K, I would say this is done because LEDs are more efficient at high wave lenghts so in a way they are cheating a little, I could be wrong but why wouldn't they just start with 2700K LEDs to begin with?
yeah, I'm thinking it's probably different without the yellow dome. But I know there's no phosporus on the yellow dome, it looks to be pure silicone. Possibly the glass is coated with it? the regular bulbs glow for awhile after the power is cut off. I'm in the process of building a cab right now, and I'm going to run a test to see if a seedling leans towards the regular bulb or the bulb with the glass removed. I have a feeling it's in the 5k range and maybe perfect for veg.
I did another test. Put an identical LED which I didn't mess with, alongside the LED with just the yellow dome on. Color was exactly the same for both, except the one with just the yellow dome was very hard to stare at, it was much more intense light. So possibly removing it will give you around 5k and putting it on for 2700k? making it a dual purpose bulb?
Seems much better than the Cree since you don't have to gut it to arrange the LED's in a flat pattern, it's already set that way on the Philips.
Seems much better than the Cree since you don't have to gut it to arrange the LED's in a flat pattern, it's already set that way on the Philips.
Bumping Spheda
Well-Known Member
DON'T STARE AT THE BLUE LED'S! Blue light is harmful to your eyes and can permanently damage them.
That's a remote phosphor lens. Because the bulb is supposed to be 2700k I'll go out on a limb and guess the Blue LED's are 470nm. That's a wavelength, not a Kelvin temperature. The remote phosphor lens is excited by the Blue light which in turn emits White light in 360 degrees. For this reason, light emitted by the phosphor lens (the dome shaped piece) will not be as directional as the flat LED pattern. Also, you need the remote phosphor lens in order for the LED's to do much of anything for your plants. 100% Blue light, even in the veg cycle, isn't ideal. You could have maybe three or four 2700k bulbs (glass removed) surrounding one of the 470nm bulbs (glass and remote phosphor dome removed) if you wanted the light to be more veg oriented.
Where did you find these Philips bulbs for $5? That sounds like a sweet deal.
Here's some 2700k bulbs for pretty cheap.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LG-LED-Ligh...5802121?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item4175987d89
They are also flat, although they are not remote phosphor. 20 bulbs per batch, $5 per 7.5W bulb. I thought it was a good deal until I saw 11W for $5...
That's a remote phosphor lens. Because the bulb is supposed to be 2700k I'll go out on a limb and guess the Blue LED's are 470nm. That's a wavelength, not a Kelvin temperature. The remote phosphor lens is excited by the Blue light which in turn emits White light in 360 degrees. For this reason, light emitted by the phosphor lens (the dome shaped piece) will not be as directional as the flat LED pattern. Also, you need the remote phosphor lens in order for the LED's to do much of anything for your plants. 100% Blue light, even in the veg cycle, isn't ideal. You could have maybe three or four 2700k bulbs (glass removed) surrounding one of the 470nm bulbs (glass and remote phosphor dome removed) if you wanted the light to be more veg oriented.
Where did you find these Philips bulbs for $5? That sounds like a sweet deal.
Here's some 2700k bulbs for pretty cheap.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LG-LED-Ligh...5802121?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item4175987d89
They are also flat, although they are not remote phosphor. 20 bulbs per batch, $5 per 7.5W bulb. I thought it was a good deal until I saw 11W for $5...
Great information, thanks. I would have never guessed that silicone thing was phosphorus. Never heard that about blue LED damaging eyes, hopefully I didn't do too much damage looking at them earlier. They had the bulbs on sale at home depot about a month back, but now they're back up to $10 
I'll mix them up as you suggest and see how it turns out. It was weird, these blue lights seemed just like black lights, they made certain colors glow just likes black lights do.
I'll mix them up as you suggest and see how it turns out. It was weird, these blue lights seemed just like black lights, they made certain colors glow just likes black lights do.
Bumping Spheda
Well-Known Member
Wow, you got a sick deal, man. $5 per bulb is a pretty ridiculous price. Well played!
On Blue light and damage to eyes:
http://www.maestrogen.com/product_detail.asp?Pid=42
These guys are using 470nm dominant wavelength LED's to illuminate silicone in a lab environment. They use amber tinted goggles, or an amber tinted lens to protect their eyes. It's no joking matter, especially how you were staring directly into the LED's. I wouldn't worry yourself too much, what's done is done. I've even stared directly at a few panels I've made just to see "how bright it is," and it felt like I gave myself laser eye surgery. >.< But stay safe, dude, and wear shades around those Blue lights, imo. I realize you'd mostly be going in to check out your plants, but I do the same and sometimes inadvertently catch a glimpse of the LED's. For this reason I always try to put on a pair of sunglasses before going into my flower tent which has single wavelength Blue LED's inside. Inside my veg tent it's all White LED's and only ~90W so I don't worry about it.
About the black light effect. Not sure. Usually UV-A causes things to fluoresce. I wouldn't imagine there's much, if any, emitted UV-A from those LED's, but who knows. I have a remote phosphor spot light in my flower tent and without the phosphor lens it does have a very mystic looking Blue tinge to it. And oh God is it bright. I would never want to stare at 100W of 440-470nm. Hurts my brain a little just thinking about it.
On Blue light and damage to eyes:
http://www.maestrogen.com/product_detail.asp?Pid=42
These guys are using 470nm dominant wavelength LED's to illuminate silicone in a lab environment. They use amber tinted goggles, or an amber tinted lens to protect their eyes. It's no joking matter, especially how you were staring directly into the LED's. I wouldn't worry yourself too much, what's done is done. I've even stared directly at a few panels I've made just to see "how bright it is," and it felt like I gave myself laser eye surgery. >.< But stay safe, dude, and wear shades around those Blue lights, imo. I realize you'd mostly be going in to check out your plants, but I do the same and sometimes inadvertently catch a glimpse of the LED's. For this reason I always try to put on a pair of sunglasses before going into my flower tent which has single wavelength Blue LED's inside. Inside my veg tent it's all White LED's and only ~90W so I don't worry about it.
About the black light effect. Not sure. Usually UV-A causes things to fluoresce. I wouldn't imagine there's much, if any, emitted UV-A from those LED's, but who knows. I have a remote phosphor spot light in my flower tent and without the phosphor lens it does have a very mystic looking Blue tinge to it. And oh God is it bright. I would never want to stare at 100W of 440-470nm. Hurts my brain a little just thinking about it.
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
Did anybody notice the engines are laid out in a perfect merkaba? Those globes should kick some ass
I was just thinking that, going to start wearing sunglasses when I play around near these. It's funny yesterday staring at the yellow phosphorus for a couple secs hurt a lot more and left me seeing spots for awhile lol, and the blue I didn't really notice, but I understand how blue damages without actual pain. These led's seem much more intense without the glass cover. They still have the CREE brand for $6 at home depot, so I think I'll pick up more of those for 2700k and use the philips for blue light. For veg is there a reason I would only use 1 blue per a few yellows? I would think it would be the opposite.
Bumping Spheda
Well-Known Member
$6 Cree's?! Your Home Depot rocks, dude.
On spectrum, most people consider Neutral White (~4000k) a more than acceptable veg spectrum. It looks something like:
As you can see the Blue and Amber/Red peaks are relatively equal.
Here's what one Royal Blue and four 2700k LED's might look like:
Quite a bit more Blue!
Here's what four Royal Blues and one 2700k might look like:
Waaay too much Blue.
If you're going back to Home Depot for more Crees, why not buy some Neutral White's? You could mix the Neutral White and Warm White in a 1:1 ratio and it'd be a nice veg spectrum.
I wouldn't take the remote phosphor off of too many of those. The 2700k CCT is quite nice for plants as-is. It helps more than it hurts, imo. Removing the glass is fine, but I'd leave the RP domes where they're at. Just my 2 cents.
On spectrum, most people consider Neutral White (~4000k) a more than acceptable veg spectrum. It looks something like:
As you can see the Blue and Amber/Red peaks are relatively equal.
Here's what one Royal Blue and four 2700k LED's might look like:
Quite a bit more Blue!
Here's what four Royal Blues and one 2700k might look like:
Waaay too much Blue.
If you're going back to Home Depot for more Crees, why not buy some Neutral White's? You could mix the Neutral White and Warm White in a 1:1 ratio and it'd be a nice veg spectrum.
I wouldn't take the remote phosphor off of too many of those. The 2700k CCT is quite nice for plants as-is. It helps more than it hurts, imo. Removing the glass is fine, but I'd leave the RP domes where they're at. Just my 2 cents.
JMD
Well-Known Member
I noticed the most common way to mount 8 LEDs evenly. It kinda sounds like it has become a religion for you to look for 'the pattern' everywhere.
Ok finally getting around to running tests on this bulb. I started a seedling for a tomato plant, possibly a pepper don't know which one sprouted lol. Right now I have 3 bulbs on it, a Philips 2700k with globe on, a Philips 2700k with globe removed AND remote phosphor removed, and a Cree 5000k daylight bulb. Just this morning I put the seedling inbetween all 3, evenly spaced. A few hours later I checked it, and it leaned completely into the blue light(Philips 2700k with phosphor removed). I rotated the small cup so that it was leaning more to the Cree 5000k more than anything else, and a couple hours later it's moving back to the blue light. Seems to love it. So it seems to me you can use this bulbs for 2 purposes, remove the remote phosphor to veg, and put it back on for 2700k flowering. Still going to test it for at least a month to see what happens.
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greenghost420
Well-Known Member
nice i was wondering about these bulbs and will make a purchase so i can do some experiments myself. ill be watching what you do, good luck!
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