LED lighting panel $145

T

tuumi

New member
I've interested in both gardening and reefing. My brother gave me an indoor growing magazine and I was shocked at how many advertisements there were. It doesn't seem like it would be very difficult to fine tune the colors to just what we need as reefers. In fact, some of the lights are already being sold in specific colors to suit different purposes. Flowering vs. vegetative growth.

I did a bit of searching and found this panel.

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=407

I was thinking about picking up another 250 MH retro which usually sell used for $120-150. I'm really considering buying this just to see how it does. This isn't a plant light. They are specifically advertising this as a reef light.
Has anyone measured the PAR these put out?

Comments?

If this has been discussed. I apologize and please post relevant link.
Thanks
 
This looks real interesting. They have another panel that is about like 14k lighting. I would like to no if someone has had experience with these? I would also like to know if the reef tank shown in the pictures is lit by these LED's?
 
I'm going to order one next week and give it a shot. Hopefully, someone locally can help me measure PAR. If it proves ineffective it's the right color to start tomato seeds.
 
Keep us posted if you buy these lights, please. I'm setting up a tank and I would like to go the LED route but Aqua Illumination fixtures would cost me a small fortune whereas an option like this would be much more palpatable price wise.
 
There are several similar fixtures out there, unfortunately none of them include anything even resembling meaningful specs.

Imagine if you were shopping for a reef lighting fixture and all the vendor would tell you was that it was "fluorescent" and consumed 120w. No information about wether it was T5, T8, T12, NO, HO, VHO, reflector shape or specifications, etc. That's about the equivalent of buying one of these fixtures, or the one posted in the thread here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1688514

In an ideal world, lighting vendors would tell us something useful, like PAR tested in a standardized manner. Since that's never going to happen, at least we could hope that they would tell us what's used inside the fixture. When you buy an MH pendant, or a T5HO fixture, at least you usually know what brand and model of bulb they're using! The equivalent for these various LED panels would be if the vendor told us the model and bin of the LEDs used, but unfortunately that's not the case.

Maybe they put the best LEDs available in these fixtures and just didn't bother to tell anyone, but I doubt that. If they were using top shelf LEDs, I would expect they'd be flaunting it. And consider that they'd be losing money on these panels if they WERE using the best LEDs, which cost $4+ even if you're buying a thousand at a time. And the difference between "the best" LEDs and "average" HB LEDs can be pretty huge - again, imagine the difference between a NO T5 lamp and a VHO T5 lamp.

I suppose I look like a party pooper. I would love it if someone would buy these fixtures and test them - perhaps I'm totally wrong, but it looks like a classic case of getting what you pay for.
 
These are only 1 watt LEDs and cheap LEDs DIE too. Don't waste your money as they can not match the PAR output what a 3 watt Cree can.
 
Wow that was really useful information I wont even bother looking at this bargain bin stuff anymore and since I dont have the DIY experience its time to go purchase Aqua Illumination. Thanks for saving me some wasted money on this crap, thanks guys!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15531200#post15531200 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by C-21 Usaf
http://smgsllc.com/

Was thinking about giving these guys a shot...anyone heard of them or had any experience?
Click to expand...

Try these guys since they are in the US and could workout cheaper if you buy from them.
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-DIY-Retrofit-Kits/Categories

They don't have much choice on the LED drivers and the one they are selling are not dimmable. I am sure they can sell you the LEDs alone if you know where to buy the correct LED drivers to suit your needs.

Glad to help
 
Just FYI...The guys for the link provided are located in Albuquerque NM

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15535996#post15535996 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tahiriqbal
Try these guys since they are in the US and could workout cheaper if you buy from them.
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-DIY-Retrofit-Kits/Categories

They don't have much choice on the LED drivers and the one they are selling are not dimmable. I am sure they can sell you the LEDs alone if you know where to buy the correct LED drivers to suit your needs.

Glad to help
Click to expand...
 
Since I am being elitist and picky, I have two beefs with rapidled.com:

1) They sell Q4 XR-E at about the same price as other places sell (more efficient) Q5's.

2) The mean well driver they sell isn't dimmable.
 
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