4 x 8 Gavita LED 1700e vs Gavita DE HPS

Khyber420

Well-Known Member
Hi, so here's the new setup. I'm going to be testing the Gavita 1700e LED vs the traditional HPS DE. A friend of mine doesn't believe that LED can come close to the yield of HPS, so I'm going do do a few runs and see what grams per watt comes in at for each fixture.

Haven't decided if the tent can handle 1000w DE or if I'll need to dial down to a 600w DE on the HPS side. Irrigation will be an automated drip Floraflex system with GH Florapro nutrients. AC infinity 8" exhaust on carbon filter w/passive intake. Popped 36 beans while I wait for the rest of the setup to come in the post.

20201126_160029.jpg

At the end of cycle I'll have access to a Purpl Pro tester to compare THC contents and hopefully find a couple of keepers. After that I'll clone the winner and do a run with 16 a light to compare yields.

Right now sitting on the heatpad is:

-Donny Burger WSS
-Mc Kush Mints WSS
-Kashmir x SSDD x Acapulco Gold Bad Dawg Genetics (just noticed I labeled these wrong woops)
-Mac Burger WSS
-Cream Caramel CBD Sweet Seeds
-Some other random freebies that are probably garbage.

Will veg these out in solo cups under the COBs, take cuttings, root. Sex them in another tent and then take cuts of the ladies again in the two gallons floraflex pots and put them under the bad boys.

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JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
If its an open fixture, i would not run more than 600w DE. Even that is pushing it. DE really needs to be in a Sun System air cooled hood if your using it in a tent.

My 5x5 (1000w)

IMG_6536.JPG
 

Khyber420

Well-Known Member
If its an open fixture, i would not run more than 600w DE. Even that is pushing it. DE really needs to be in a Sun System air cooled hood if your using it in a tent.

My 5x5 (1000w)

View attachment 4752939
Yeah thats what I was thinking, the DE i have is the standard Gavita open reflector and 1150w (dimmable) ballast. I was looking at that setup you have, its pricey though. I guess I'm in so deep what's another few hundred. Do you think I could get by with a reflector that is air cooled but not sealed like the Sun System?
 

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Yeah thats what I was thinking, the DE i have is the standard Gavita open reflector and 1150w (dimmable) ballast. I was looking at that setup you have, its pricey though. I guess I'm in so deep what's another few hundred. Do you think I could get by with a reflector that is air cooled but not sealed like the Sun System?
No. Do not use any air cooled DE reflector that allows air to pass directly over the bulb. DE bulbs like to be HOT. You cool them, they draw more power and put out less light. There is one knock off of the sunsystem out there but i would just go with the quality unit. 1000w of de is a lot for my 5x5, for a 4x4 foot print that would be tough to not cook your plants. Were talking keeping temps at like 70 when lights on, massive air movement, co2, etc etc. Ive got an 84'' tall tent and the light is at the very top and its still pushing the limit of what plants can handle in the center hot spot.

Check around for a used Sun System DE reflector. I got both of my for 100$. Also make sure your bulb is at least close to matching whatever wattage you are going to run. Gavita makes a bulb rated to run like 600-880w. A 1000w bulb dimmed to 600 is probably not going to perform well.

Double ended HPS really does close the gap of efficiency between a single ended HPS and a high end LED fixture. DE run about 30% more efficient than SE.
 

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Yeah thats what I was thinking, the DE i have is the standard Gavita open reflector and 1150w (dimmable) ballast. I was looking at that setup you have, its pricey though. I guess I'm in so deep what's another few hundred. Do you think I could get by with a reflector that is air cooled but not sealed like the Sun System?
And as you can tell by my cooling setup, heat is something that needs to be dealt with properly. Thats a 8'' vortex fan, all 8'' ducting, 10''x39'' phat carbon filter. Im going to try to keep the tent 75 or less during flower. This is going to be an interesting winter.
 

Khyber420

Well-Known Member
How is the test going. Looking forward to seeing the outcome.
Will post an update this weekend, most of the seeds popped and are happy. Except for the DonnyBurger F3s, about 50% of them were stunted. I know its not a process issue because every other strain popped. Little disappointing, reached out to the breeder no response.
 

Khyber420

Well-Known Member
Here's what they looked like Dec 1:

20201211_214524.jpg

Here they are as of today:

20201211_214503.jpg

Right now they are just under 6 COB LEDs dimmed to 150W. Someone else was watching them and over watered a bit but they are doing well, 33 of 36 popped. The Donnyburgers are the weakest out of the gate and the Kashmir SSDD are already looking distinct from the rest. I'll probably rotate these into the Gavita 1700 in 10 to 14 days.
 

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F80M4

Well-Known Member
I can tell you right now. The LED will beat out the DE. How do I know? I'm running the exact same test but with co2 and stuff.
 

p0opstlnksal0t

Well-Known Member
I've ran four 1kw de's in a 10x10 tent. It wasn't ideal and I used a digital controller to dim the output down at certain temps to help regulate heat as well as used 2x 8" 600 cfm fans for exhaust. Don't expect to be able to have a steady relative humidity with the way that things going to be exhausting.

http://instagr.am/p/BqfaTcUB6MV/
 

Khyber420

Well-Known Member
I've ran four 1kw de's in a 10x10 tent. It wasn't ideal and I used a digital controller to dim the output down at certain temps to help regulate heat as well as used 2x 8" 600 cfm fans for exhaust. Don't expect to be able to have a steady relative humidity with the way that things going to be exhausting.

http://instagr.am/p/BqfaTcUB6MV/
Yeah I don't think the 1k DE is going to work in the tent probably have to downsize to 600w.
 
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