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Anyone Have Experience With This Brand Of Led Light System?


DoobieWan

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Background on me - Did a little growing about 20 years ago. Haven't smoked for 15 years. Now having back problems and looking into Michigans medical situation. Having trouble convincing my current wife but going ahead and educating myself and planning in preparation anyway. I have an area about 5' X 10' that I am thinking about setting up a 4' X 4' tent in (so I will have room for a 4' X 2' Clone/Mother tent and a 2' X 2' drying tent later as time and $ permit). Now on to my topic:

 

Originally I was planning on a 1000W air cooled HPS for my 4' X 4' tent. Since I am starting from scratch I decided to look into LED and see how that technology is going. I found this website Googling around - http://www.truliteled.com/ and it looks promising. The company is very cannabis friendly and seems to have a lot of good info and support. Just wondered if anyone here has heard of them or has experience with their stuff. They have some grow journals going but they have not completed yet. They do spell out some environment changes to grow successfully with LEDs. It appears that they only sell direct which would explain why I haven't seen them at stores or major grow websites.

 

Cost wise it figures to be about 50% more initially. I had estimated about $1000 on my 1000W setup (ballast, reflector, MH and HPS bulbs, cooling fan and fan muffler) and their TL440 system that they recommend for 4' X 4' space is about $1500. But costs over the long term should be reduced so it may be a wash or even a possible savings.

 

One concern was that my yield may be less in my limited space. They are indicating greater than 1 gram per watt which, based on various sources, 1 g/W sounds to be about average (depending a lot on variables like experience and strains, etc.). But just using that figure as a comparison, their system is 440W I believe, so the 1000W HPS may yield twice as much in the same 4' X 4' area.

 

I could summarize the info I found on their site but thought I would let people unfamiliar with them browse for themselves. Others with experience can advise. Discussion by all is appreciated.

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skip the LED for best cheapest results. vegetate under cheap t5 bulbs (100 watt - 500watt?) or more expensive (400-600?)metal halide ones, then change to High Pressure Sodium Bulbs(hps)(600-1000 watt?) you know the ones.....street lights, lol) for your flowering time.  this will guarantee that your results will not be related to inferior lighting.

LED is attractive I know, and I even spent hundreds playing. they sit on a shelf in a closet, for all but the first year man.

best of growing to ya,

 

Welcome to the forum, and back to the cool ones!

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are Light emitting diodes made anywhere else but china?

 

I've had awesome vegetative experience with LED lighting. the problem comes when penetration and intensity is needed in flowering. The test results form LED grown cannabis buds were different than buds grown the same but under HID. the way I understood my ridiculously expensive experiments was insufficient photosynthesis will not allow a cannabis flower to fully express itself. when I discover a flower that did not fully express correctly, I discard it.

 

those led bulbs burn out often, and a five yr warranty is not enough to warrant the ridiculous cost that's being reaped for them. A couple years, or some secret film from planet mars greenhous growing, and maybe we'll be on a better track with quality led lighting.

 

these are the answer to everyday flowers and greenery typically sold by the greenhouse market. If these were the trick, we'd all be using them instead, and they'd be the way its done.

 

spend a grand and check it out in a tent, you'll see. nice light though.

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I know about the issues with previous LED lights and appreciate sharing your past experience, however this is a new company that started in 2011 and spent 2 years of R & D to develop LED lights that work specifically for growing without all the false claims of the original LED grow lights. I think they just started selling them last year. Take a look at their site. This appears to be the next generation of LED.

 

I sent an email last night and got a response back today with questions on the TL440 model. Here are the answers for anyone interested, I suppose you can guess the questions from the response so I won't bother including it here.

 

Hi Joel -
 
Thanks for contacting us.
 
Longevity - 50K hours or about 8 years of continuous usage which is a limitation on the fans, not the LEDs. All components are replaceable and we carry a 3 year warranty on all parts if needed...LED modules are replaceable as well.
 
Amperage on the 440 is approx 4A.
 
Heat generated...exhaust air runs about 90-105 degrees. Let me know if this is what you mean or if you need an HVAC load requirement.
 
Grams per watt...if you are getting 1g per watt with HPS, you should be able to do VERY well with LED by following our guidelines. Average growers can get in excess of 1g/watt with our TL440 and I have seen in excess of 1.5g/watt. It all comes down to ability and strain selection along with following some simple but important guidelines.
 
Wattage...our TL440 has 336 diodes in it that can run at 3w each...or over 1000w of total available power. We have it tuned to about 440w to increase reliability and keep the heat in check. If we run at full power, heat builds up in the circuit board that can reduce lifespan and alter the wavelengths.
 
Let me know if you need anything else - always happy to help.
 
Cheers!
 
Mathew Butka
Co-Founder / R & D Chair
Trulite LED
# 1-800-850-5131 Toll Free
603-545-7334 Direct
928-437-6303 Fax
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If and when the day comes that I can move ahead with my master plan I just might go LED. Until then I will continue to collect information and attempt to make informed choices. And if I do go that route I will either be sharing my victory or begging for help!

 

BTW if I already had a garden set up with an HPS system and was able to churn out good buds I wouldn't even be looking at LEDs. Especially in your case where you already went down that road and got burned. So I completely get where you are coming from.

 

But if your bulb and ballast happen to burn out at the same time, and your drop your reflector and ruin it, AND your hood fan is also starting to fritz AND your vents get torn up well then maybe MAYBE if this thing ends up being what they claim then you might almost think about getting one. But then again probably will not!

 

 

Buy it ! let us know

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Your reflector will never drop if installed correctly. You seem like a smart guy who would use chains and secure them properly. I don't use hood fans in my sealed rooms, but I do have an inline "hood fan" running on a stink sock since 09 with no fritz. it cost a hundred dollars.   

like trying the spoiled milk in the morning, and putting back in the fridge to check it tomorrow.

When the millionaire growers around the world change out their massive grow room sucking hid lights and replace them with LED, I'll take another look. I just hat being a test subject for them until they get their techy right.

If and when the day comes that I can move ahead with my master plan I just might go LED. Until then I will continue to collect information and attempt to make informed choices. And if I do go that route I will either be sharing my victory or begging for help!

BTW if I already had a garden set up with an HPS system and was able to churn out good buds I wouldn't even be looking at LEDs. Especially in your case where you already went down that road and got burned. So I completely get where you are coming from.

But if your bulb and ballast happen to burn out at the same time, and your drop your reflector and ruin it, AND your hood fan is also starting to fritz AND your vents get torn up well then maybe MAYBE if this thing ends up being what they claim then you might almost think about getting one. But then again probably will not!

 

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my 2 cents.. after doing tests and much much research around the world....

most plants need far red above 650nn... up too 700 to 780

the only man on the planet carries the patent for it on leds...

manufacturers around the world are limited to about 650 due to building

specs of limitations....

There is only one...... who can produce FAR RED above 650nn

any other who claims their leds can produce far red are false..

until they want to license off their patented technology the world is stuck in B.S.

I have spoke with every sidewinder talk salesguy out there from the top 10...

and when you ask for the owner or engineering for far red they spill their beans 

I CAN NOT build  FAR RED HERE ........so hurry and wait......it may be several years

before the owner will share his technology with the rest of the world, in the meantime 

continue on w. hps and mh

 

peace

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the LEDs being sold by east detroit 'street vendors'--they sell out of their house but never from their house--have no maker info or label, altho the skinny 2 prong cords 3' long do show a 'UAL' label.  the ones i know of go for $400.  they are 4 foot long and about 1 1/2 feet wide, packed with red and blue and white lites, with a fan in the white housing.  the 3 of them that i know of have been lit continuously five months doing perpetual flowering of 18-inch plants, and the buds come out tight and dense and as long as the plant is tall, with the 3 LEDS touching the plants on two sides and top, making a 'light box' with no lights at the ends.

 

a separate set-up outdoors in sunlight has yet to have a harvest.

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  • 3 weeks later...

my 2 cents.. after doing tests and much much research around the world....

most plants need far red above 650nn... up too 700 to 780

the only man on the planet carries the patent for it on leds...

manufacturers around the world are limited to about 650 due to building

specs of limitations....

There is only one...... who can produce FAR RED above 650nn

any other who claims their leds can produce far red are false..

until they want to license off their patented technology the world is stuck in B.S.

I have spoke with every sidewinder talk salesguy out there from the top 10...

and when you ask for the owner or engineering for far red they spill their beans 

I CAN NOT build  FAR RED HERE ........so hurry and wait......it may be several years

before the owner will share his technology with the rest of the world, in the meantime 

continue on w. hps and mh

 

peace

Wow, I didn't know Bill Schuette was an LED designer too! What an evil genius, thwarting our progress at every turn!

 

(Just joking, and I still can't find that smiley face button. What a lame-o!)

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