patro46
- 6
- 3
In Having played the indoor cannabis game since the late 70's, I've tried many forms of indoor lighting, and no matter what, I ended up returning to what I knew worked every time-HPS.
I remember several years back tossing some hard earned green into the emerging LED arena on some rather expensive though pretty "blurple lighting". No need to hash out what simply returned me to an HPS lamp yet again. However, technology is and has changed, and a LOT.
Anyway, back up to around the time Oklahoma decided to remove Amsterdam from my bucket list forever {YIPPY}, I began looking at LED lighting, more for HVAC savings and lighting electrical savings and to grow on a much larger, LEGAL scale .
Once this decision was made, I began calculating the cost of electrical usage between HPS and HVAC cost on say a 3 month period running 32 1000 watt HPS lights per room and sizing an AC unit to deal with heat in a sealed environment with C02. I was floored with even a conservative average, and I'm an 30 year HVAC technician, used to cooling off hot boxes of all kinds.
It was then LED lighting became the number one topic to me, followed with a solid year long quest for a legit HPS replacement.
I build a cobb array that can cover a solid 4x6 canopy, and even it impressed me, but the thought of assembling over 100 them left my head spinning in uncontrollable 360's.
I then bought a PAR meter and began a quest for my best possible cost-effective LED solution.
I hit hydro stores for information and combed the internet, studying review after review for a solid solution and kept coming up with a mixed bag. From MARS to Nextlight to many I simply cant remember, they all left me wanting more.
A about a year ago I stumbled into a local hydro store that had an HLG Quantum 550 on display right alongside a much larger Nextlight. I ran out to my truck and grabbed my PAR meter and went to work, looking for an elusive 800 to 1000 PAR reading without having to be 3 inches from the canopy.
The Nextlight reading made me yawn, reminding be of my blurple days. I then moved over to the HLG Quantum setup and thought my meter took a big knarley doo-doo. After a few double takes this light was the first LED that really got my attention.
I then began to research this light, from the Samsung LM-301 diodes to the Quantum boards with a solid aluminum heatsink to the Meanwell 480 driver. This was about a year ago, and I remember commenting on how I didn't like the idea of the driver secured to the middle of the heatsink (not even any standoffs for airflow) and even questioned the solid heatsink with no heat dissipation fins, wondering how well it really removed heat.
But even after all of these gripes those PAR reading didn't lie. This light looked promising as a potential HPS replacement.
Being sidetracked with building construction, RO water room distribution and a plethora of other indoor grow issues like HVAC requirements, ect., the lights hit the back burner again until recently.
I ran across a company named Atrium that also handled their own version of a Quantum board, utilizing the same Samsung LM-301 diodes, Meanwell drivers and a frame that tied it altogether and really got my attention.
After speaking with them, I arranged shipping for one of their light kits to perform some independent testing. The first thing I noticed was it wasn't a kit you can assemble in 5 minutes much less 30 minutes. This said what I CAN say is WOW! The frame is machine cut T-channel with all the cool spring loaded clips, mounts, brackets, screws, ect that gives users the ability to slide the boards around on the frame for a perfect adjustable lighting footprint. Now THATS pretty sool if I do say so myself. I haven't even got into the perfectly machined TRUE heatsinks for each of the four Quantum boards or the clever bracketry that mounts the Meanwell driver to the frame, far away from the boards heatsinks. The frame and board/heatsink design is hands down 100% improvement over the HLG design.
So all in all the decision had pretty much been made-and was confirmed last week on my last visit to the hydro store to look at the HLG 550 one more time. This time it was turned off, so I rolled the light upwards to look at the 4 Quantum boards (it's WAY too bright to look at when on).
What I seen confirmed my personal fears a good year ago on the HLG 550 design. The white plastic that surrounds the LM-301 diodes has separated visually and bubbled up. I then plugged the light in. The good news is ALL of the diodes are still plugging along as they have done for a good year or so of being there on display. Also, in HLG's defense, the light is located under a large display shelf with little to no air movement, something you wouldn't have in a grow room. I'm sure that contributed to the bubbling of the board.
So the moral of the story is the Quantum boards (LM-301's) are the baddest little chip on the market, no matter which way you go.
In the fit, finish and design category, Atrium not only gets my nod, but they earned my business.
I remember several years back tossing some hard earned green into the emerging LED arena on some rather expensive though pretty "blurple lighting". No need to hash out what simply returned me to an HPS lamp yet again. However, technology is and has changed, and a LOT.
Anyway, back up to around the time Oklahoma decided to remove Amsterdam from my bucket list forever {YIPPY}, I began looking at LED lighting, more for HVAC savings and lighting electrical savings and to grow on a much larger, LEGAL scale .
Once this decision was made, I began calculating the cost of electrical usage between HPS and HVAC cost on say a 3 month period running 32 1000 watt HPS lights per room and sizing an AC unit to deal with heat in a sealed environment with C02. I was floored with even a conservative average, and I'm an 30 year HVAC technician, used to cooling off hot boxes of all kinds.
It was then LED lighting became the number one topic to me, followed with a solid year long quest for a legit HPS replacement.
I build a cobb array that can cover a solid 4x6 canopy, and even it impressed me, but the thought of assembling over 100 them left my head spinning in uncontrollable 360's.
I then bought a PAR meter and began a quest for my best possible cost-effective LED solution.
I hit hydro stores for information and combed the internet, studying review after review for a solid solution and kept coming up with a mixed bag. From MARS to Nextlight to many I simply cant remember, they all left me wanting more.
A about a year ago I stumbled into a local hydro store that had an HLG Quantum 550 on display right alongside a much larger Nextlight. I ran out to my truck and grabbed my PAR meter and went to work, looking for an elusive 800 to 1000 PAR reading without having to be 3 inches from the canopy.
The Nextlight reading made me yawn, reminding be of my blurple days. I then moved over to the HLG Quantum setup and thought my meter took a big knarley doo-doo. After a few double takes this light was the first LED that really got my attention.
I then began to research this light, from the Samsung LM-301 diodes to the Quantum boards with a solid aluminum heatsink to the Meanwell 480 driver. This was about a year ago, and I remember commenting on how I didn't like the idea of the driver secured to the middle of the heatsink (not even any standoffs for airflow) and even questioned the solid heatsink with no heat dissipation fins, wondering how well it really removed heat.
But even after all of these gripes those PAR reading didn't lie. This light looked promising as a potential HPS replacement.
Being sidetracked with building construction, RO water room distribution and a plethora of other indoor grow issues like HVAC requirements, ect., the lights hit the back burner again until recently.
I ran across a company named Atrium that also handled their own version of a Quantum board, utilizing the same Samsung LM-301 diodes, Meanwell drivers and a frame that tied it altogether and really got my attention.
After speaking with them, I arranged shipping for one of their light kits to perform some independent testing. The first thing I noticed was it wasn't a kit you can assemble in 5 minutes much less 30 minutes. This said what I CAN say is WOW! The frame is machine cut T-channel with all the cool spring loaded clips, mounts, brackets, screws, ect that gives users the ability to slide the boards around on the frame for a perfect adjustable lighting footprint. Now THATS pretty sool if I do say so myself. I haven't even got into the perfectly machined TRUE heatsinks for each of the four Quantum boards or the clever bracketry that mounts the Meanwell driver to the frame, far away from the boards heatsinks. The frame and board/heatsink design is hands down 100% improvement over the HLG design.
So all in all the decision had pretty much been made-and was confirmed last week on my last visit to the hydro store to look at the HLG 550 one more time. This time it was turned off, so I rolled the light upwards to look at the 4 Quantum boards (it's WAY too bright to look at when on).
What I seen confirmed my personal fears a good year ago on the HLG 550 design. The white plastic that surrounds the LM-301 diodes has separated visually and bubbled up. I then plugged the light in. The good news is ALL of the diodes are still plugging along as they have done for a good year or so of being there on display. Also, in HLG's defense, the light is located under a large display shelf with little to no air movement, something you wouldn't have in a grow room. I'm sure that contributed to the bubbling of the board.
So the moral of the story is the Quantum boards (LM-301's) are the baddest little chip on the market, no matter which way you go.
In the fit, finish and design category, Atrium not only gets my nod, but they earned my business.
