Exciting stuff!! I've jumped in with both feet as well & ordered 6 of their 50" bars sans cases. The plan is run three bars over 10 plants in each 5'x6' area
I am already planning upgrading from the ONYX in a couple of my spaces... Should be a good market for used LED fixtures Good to see Duck jumping in with both feet!!! Word has it he hasnt been the same since the lights went out.... Wasteing away to a mere shell of what he once used to be....
I've always said growing was an addiction, there was a time I couldn't smoke but I sure as hell grew, because I love growing...prob more than even smoking. Trying to figure out what my game plan is, thinking a 40 possibly a 50 added to the other LED area, then reconfigure some things to get a nice overlay of hps.
LOL man and some of the more pioneer guys that have been at it for years and testing different things out have light collections that rival some glass collections.
There Here!!Fedex just paid a visit to my farm with a nice HEAVY box from Rapid LED.I have 4 of the 3 foot bars - no more fan - just a very dense heat sink. These come in 2 foot, 3 foot 4 foot 5 foot - actually Rapid will make any length you need.I am running 4 bars off of 2 power supplies - no issue there.Just put them up - these units are heavy (8.5 pounds each) - all heatsink as the power supply and driver unit is external.I hung them in the same format as I have done with the previous model Rapid light - Bllom Onyx. I put them in the same size space (5.5 x 4). I space the bars 16 inches on center. Fired the unit up - grabbed my light meter and my light meter batteries are dead readings will have to wait till tomarrow.Impressions - the entire space is MUCH brighter to the eye with wall to wall coverage - unlike the space next door with 4 Bloom Onyx fixtures.I have them running now for a couple hours, temp is not an issue - the heatsinks are hot to the touch but a wall mount fan takes care of buisiness and the cooling fan is working no harder than any other space.Attached are some unboxing and setup pictures.These fixtures are really well made - beautiful fit and finsh. The mounting arm (on each end of the bar) rotates 360 degrees so many mounting options exist.Rapid has the 1 foot and the 2 foot up on their web site. I would give them a call to find out pricing and availability of the other sizes - ask for Mike when you call - he lurks on here as well.http://www.rapidled.com/horticulture/ /monthly_2015_05/IMG_5221.jpg.5116110fbd626f2faa4f556c6ed61b54.jpg /monthly_2015_05/IMG_5222.jpg.9015ec6adfb110a606b7eeead91ef79a.jpg
Sweet looking lights, nothing like santa coming eairly! So no big heat issues above the heatsinks....i can see where the regular plant fans would kill two birds with one blow. Moving air for plants and helping cool heatsinks on lights. Oh, one tech question if you know, could I run one of these on/with my bloom onyx power supply?
I bet I could run three onyx on one power supply- also same power supply new fixtures and old I run a 19 inch wall fan blowing down on the lights works just fine . My co2 controller is tied to tempo and fan so it all works out If you really wanted to - you could mount the fixtures inside a duct and just cool them there is no heat energy in the light output unlike the radiant heat from hps
I have been watching these threads since they were started. The argument is the savings on electric and bulbs makes it a no brainer. But you guys keep 'upgrading' , spending way more than your saving on electric. Where does it end?
Because you get engulfed and want to experiment more. It's almost like learning to grow all over again to an extent. Though I'm sure his upgrade isn't really setting him back. When I did my diy light it definitely didn't set me back. Might use my discounted A51 upgrade for my xgs once he releases the new cob units. It's part of the original purchase for future upgrades. I've got about $1600 invested in that little tent It's paid for itself no problem. Still getting by with a 4" centrifugal for exhaust and electric bills are nada. $65-90/mo on average for a 1500sqft 3bd house. Not bad.
Its a combo of those things and way less heat, so way less cooling and smaller sized lights/fixtures and quality of the leds and the fixtures that got me to switch, led is perefect for small space growers like me. The best perks are faster flower, and more thc crystals. Before I bought them I thought they were alittle steep but compaired to other lights that cost more than double and were not as good, it was easy to buy. I just chopped a two net pot dwc tote of off brand blue berry and the major load of buds were chunky, as good as a 600w hps easy. The upgrades are what bigger growers are looking for with the light spred more on the sides, these new lights will most likely be the straw that will make the people on the fence jump into led land. Worth the money, the new lights are a decent price also. everyone that has one will agree. I know I am getting 2 of the new ones, daddy wants two more dwc totes in the flower spot. Lol
First and foremost - this was a new space not an upgrade of existing spaces. You have to think about this expense as investment in the business yes it is a business The led units do pay for the, selves in savings If I choose to upgrade my older led units i will sell my old units and upgrade - the upgrade will allow me to increase my plant count in the same space due to the better footprint and as has been covered newer led technology produces more light, less heat and uses less electricity For me - no brainer
With an expected life expectancy of 5+ years I think they'll pay for themselves just by not having to preplace Mh & HPS bulbs alone, never mind the increased yield, power savings and overall efficiency. I've got 6 of Rapid's 60" bars on order and I'm not worried about the initial cost at all. :bong-2:
One thing to keep in mind when going with the more powerful LEDs is light intensity. With the HID we could tell the plants were getting too close to the lights when we saw heat issues. Not so with the LEDs! Though heat won't be prominent, intensity can and will bleach the buds that get too close. My OG and Critical kush will turn snow capped if I don't keep and eye out. Be Cool, CG
Agreed - it is a learning curve - and it took a few runs to get back on track. Now I am pulling record numbers in at harvest time. Back to the new lights from Rapid - I just took the temperature of the heatsink - 89 degrees - that is AWESOME - I have already noticed my fans are running less. The huge heatsinks definitely benefit from a 16 inch wall mounted fan above the units blowing across them.
:thumbsup: Yeah, with the air movement and the CO2, heat shouldn't be a really big issue at all. Be Cool, CG
The new lights design is pretty sweet how the leds are spaced/set up also. DXE: are the lenses designed different? Are the angles basicly the same?
Not sure which lenses the prototype I am running have but rapid had three different lenses available - I will give them a call later today and get specifics on the available lenses
movingAllI am going to start updating the progress of the grow under these lights to a thred in the grow logs forum. I have 8 girls under the new lights now week and a half. I can already see them taking advantage of the larger footprint in bushing out with good growth.These lights are what anyone should be looking at - none of the gimmicky color toys - you get what you pay for with these lights.I plan on upgrading another room next month from the older Rapid lights to the new bar style lights. /monthly_2015_06/IMG_5247.jpg.b90700964f6d91aaeb261d75fc4c3bbf.jpg
Here's a realworld number for you 909 watts! That the current draw of (3) 50" Indus light bars running fully warmed up. I've assembled the three bars on a rack spaced 16" O.C. for a total light footprint of approximately 48" deep X 58" wide before there's noticeable cut off with the lights 18" above the canopy. Penetration is outstanding, way deeper then I ever saw growing with a 600w HPS, maybe 25-30% deeper. I think it's fair to say it'd take at least 3 600s to cover the same square footage but then there's the issue with penetration so in reality 2-1000s would be closer to apples to apples. Of course I'd imagine that keeping temperatures in check running 2k watts would take a much larger exhaust fan than the LED's, maybe 10". Currently my 8" vortex S line fan running at 50% speed a fair amount of the time keeps the temperature hovering between 79-80 deg. So far I'm happy to be riding along on the LED bandwagon :redbong:
