Lighting Thinking of getting a UFO - need help & opinions!

[Wienerwoods]

I have a TopLED 180 watt UFO in my veg cab. I got it for $74 U.S. shipped off Ebay.. Works perfect, couldn't be happier!

Ditto - 180W UFO headed for the veg cab. - and 2X 135W UFO's and a 300W Reflector Series (TopLED rebrands) in the Main tent.

What if I were to attempt replicating the 180W UFO?

Can you guys tell me how many diodes of each band the light has?

 

[Wienerwoods]

Alright, I've been doing a bit of research on the different spectrums and ratios. So far 3:1 ratio of red:blue is the best 'rule of thumb' I've found.

I also found out that ...

Far red AKA IR is important to the plant. Also, the 730nm is commonly regarded as a cheap crappy IR. Other sources just call it far red and tell you to get a lot of them.
UV spectrums are expensive to make, require special lenses and such and therefore it might not be worth it to have a lot of them in there in case the special requirements are neglected by the manufacturer.
6500K white can be used to replace some of the blue. It should add more variety to the overall amount of (mostly blue) spectrums and make the light a little easier on human eyes.

I see no mention of white LEDs by the manufacturer, but I'm going to ask anyway. A reasonable increase in price shouldn't be a problem.


This is what I ended up with:

10x Red 630nm
15x Red 660nm
5x Far red/IR 730nm
4x Blue 430nm
8x Blue 460nm
4x UV 380nm
4x White 6500K

That's a total of 50 LEDs with a ratio of approximately 3:1 in favor of red.

Opinions?

EDIT: I just realized that the UV light they're offering is UV-A, which probably isn't going to do any good. I requested 280-315nm UV-B.

 

[F.N.]

Alright, I've been doing a bit of research on the different spectrums and ratios. So far 3:1 ratio of red:blue is the best 'rule of thumb' I've found.

I also found out that ...

Far red AKA IR is important to the plant. Also, the 730nm is commonly regarded as a cheap crappy IR. Other sources just call it far red and tell you to get a lot of them.
UV spectrums are expensive to make, require special lenses and such and therefore it might not be worth it to have a lot of them in there in case the special requirements are neglected by the manufacturer.
6500K white can be used to replace some of the blue. It should add more variety to the overall amount of (mostly blue) spectrums and make the light a little easier on human eyes.

I see no mention of white LEDs by the manufacturer, but I'm going to ask anyway. A reasonable increase in price shouldn't be a problem.


This is what I ended up with:

10x Red 630nm
15x Red 660nm
5x Far red/IR 730nm
4x Blue 430nm
8x Blue 460nm
4x UV 380nm
4x White 6500K

That's a total of 50 LEDs with a ratio of approximately 3:1 in favor of red.

Opinions?

very well put and I learned something too

 

[Wienerwoods]

Just heard back from the seller (MES-LED Store). Very nice customer service with swift responses, this one.

They say they can match my requests for an additional $22. The UV-B lights I asked for cost considerably more the other wavelengths so it seems legit and all. Then again they might just charge extra and still slap UV-A on there. I may never know.

The seller also confirmed that the diameter will indeed be 175mm with 50 LED chips. I was a bit skeptical because there were fewer than 50 chips in all of the pictures.

I'll be ordering the light soon and I plan to use it to grow out an AutoDurban Poison from Dutch Passion. I should also be getting an in-line fan and a carbon filter in time for that.

Thanks for the help everyone! With any luck this thread will be useful for someone in the future.

 

[Wienerwoods]

I purchased the light yesterday for a total of about $95 (price of the light - 15% discount + customization)

I'll do a final update to this thread if and when it arrives.

 

[pop22]

Alright, I've been doing a bit of research on the different spectrums and ratios. So far 3:1 ratio of red:blue is the best 'rule of thumb' I've found.

I also found out that ...

Far red AKA IR is important to the plant. Also, the 730nm is commonly regarded as a cheap crappy IR. Other sources just call it far red and tell you to get a lot of them.
UV spectrums are expensive to make, require special lenses and such and therefore it might not be worth it to have a lot of them in there in case the special requirements are neglected by the manufacturer.
6500K white can be used to replace some of the blue. It should add more variety to the overall amount of (mostly blue) spectrums and make the light a little easier on human eyes.

I see no mention of white LEDs by the manufacturer, but I'm going to ask anyway. A reasonable increase in price shouldn't be a problem.


This is what I ended up with:

10x Red 630nm
15x Red 660nm
5x Far red/IR 730nm
4x Blue 430nm
8x Blue 460nm
4x UV 380nm
4x White 6500K

That's a total of 50 LEDs with a ratio of approximately 3:1 in favor of red.

Opinions?

EDIT: I just realized that the UV light they're offering is UV-A, which probably isn't going to do any good. I requested 280-315nm UV-B.

Just saw this thread. I've wondered myself about "white" spectrum LED ights. Infact I plan to try growing a small plant under a couple 15 watt LED spotlights. Building your own light would be cool but I looked into it and its probably not worth it in the long run, other than the satisfaction of having built it yourself.

My 180 watt UFO light was just perfect for my 2ft x 2ft floor space in mycabinet so I figure thats a good size space per UFO, as a guideline for those looking to use them

 

[thetreeman]

5x Red 630nm
20x Red 660nm
4x Far red/IR 730nm
2x Blue 430nm
6x Blue 460nm
4x UV 380nm
4x White 6500K
5x White 3000k (ish)

I like this better, but what you got should grow some good stuff too!

 

[thetreeman]

5x Red 630nm
20x Red 660nm
4x Far red/IR 730nm
2x Blue 430nm
6x Blue 460nm
4x UV 380nm
4x White 6500K
5x White 3000k (ish)

I like this better, but what you got should grow some good stuff too!

 

[Wienerwoods]

Help needed!

Lots of bad karma comes for predicting bad stuff it seems. As I was on my way to pick the light yesterday, I was thinking with my luck it'll probably be a defect.

The glass was kept in place by a few bendable metal strips. The LED board had screw holes in the wrong places and it was only glued on. Both had come loose during shipping. The glue had chipped everywhere and failed pretty much 100%. I removed all the crap from the inside (good riddance to the lens, I was gonna take it out anyway ), opened the case, inspected the overall condition and plugged it to the wall. The only thing that was properly installed with screws turned on - the fan.

Good news? It's pretty quiet.

I have now narrowed down the cause for the LEDs not lighting up down to the either the panel itself or the black box that transforms the electricity for it. The solders all seem to be fine on the panel and the two cords connected to the wall plug, so my main suspect is the black box. I'm gonna open it when I find a suitable screw driver somewhere...

I already contacted the seller because my buyer protection is about to end, but I'd like to know what chances I might have at repairing the light myself?
Also, would it be safe to connect the lights straight to the plug and bypass the black box for a second? This would help determine if the only faulty component is indeed the box.

 

[Wienerwoods]

Turns out there was just one red wire loose inside the transformer box. All is fine now and since everything else seems to be functional I don't think I'll bother the seller further.