unclebuck134

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Planning my 45 cube and I was thinking about going with LEDs from rapid led. Was going to go for either their 40breeder kit or a 36 led kit. Just wanted to see if anyone ha experience with their kits and how they are with sps. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated. Steve
 

Widdy

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RapidLED is a great company to deal with...very knowledgeable and willing to help. I've dealt with them on several occasions and never been disappointed. I bought individual parts for my builds, so can't comment on their kits. However being theirs kits are a makeup of raw parts, I can't see them being bad. G'luck!
 

Reef_Paddy

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RapidLED is a great company to deal with...very knowledgeable and willing to help. I've dealt with them on several occasions and never been disappointed. I bought individual parts for my builds, so can't comment on their kits. However being theirs kits are a makeup of raw parts, I can't see them being bad. G'luck!

+1. Built a DIY led system from them. Good company to deal with.
 
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RapidLED is a great company to deal with...very knowledgeable and willing to help. I've dealt with them on several occasions and never been disappointed. I bought individual parts for my builds, so can't comment on their kits. However being theirs kits are a makeup of raw parts, I can't see them being bad. G'luck!

+1

I built a nano set up from them, it's excellent. They are GREAT to deal with. Do not hesitate to email them directly, they actually get back to you.

One thing of note, in the past they were suggesting LED combos of cool white and royal blue only. Recently though people have learned that a good light has more of a "full spectrum" combination of LED's, not just those 2 LED colors. I agree with this completely and am about to actually adjust my fixture to include some other colors to fill out that spectrum.

While some RapidLEDs kits might still be cw/rb only, talk to them about a more "full spectrum" build and they will work with you. Definitely want to include some violet, cyan, true (aka cool blue) and even a deep red. There's also a lot out there about using Neutral White over Cool White. Again, talk to them...they are into the full spectrum theory now and will work with you on exactly what you need.
 

lnevo

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Bellmore, NY
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Im planning to get their solder-less LEDs with a MakersLED heat-sink when Im ready to build my 36" - 77 LED full spectrum build. Planning to use Steve's LED drivers and power supply for PWM control and manual dimmers. I've been doing my research for a while now. I really like RapidLEDs selection and the price on their solder-less LEDs are sooo reasonable. Pricing out the diodes, it was only like $30 more than soldered ones.

The only thing I'm stuck on is an external enclosure for my drivers and power supply and wiring/connectors to connect that to the fixture....oh and the $700 to get everything I need. Not bad though considering it would be equivalent to 3 AI Vegas or 2 Radions :)

Anyway, back to Rapid...definitely a nice selection, great prices, and I would go for their kit if I weren't looking for some very specific things.
 
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Im planning to get their solder-less LEDs with a MakersLED heat-sink when Im ready to build my 36" - 77 LED full spectrum build.
That's a nice heatsink I've been looking at as well. Very innovative design.

Planning to use Steve's LED drivers and power supply..
I've heard good things about these too. And I like the single PSU feeding multiple dimmable driver design. If I had to do it over again, I'd go that way. 1 PSU with a few 4 ups and the board to interface to the Apex Variable voltage ports.

The only thing I'm stuck on is an external enclosure for my drivers and power supply and wiring/connectors to connect that to the fixture.

I wound up getting a plastic project box from Radio Shack and drilling and/or dremeling a lot of holes in it. It's pretty much Frankenstein, and looks horrendous but it works and is mostly hidden. I mounted a 120mm PC fan on it to blow across the Meanwell drivers. Be interested to hear what you come up with for an enclosure. When the time comes to do it again I'd like something less ugly and more wife friendly.

Not bad though considering it would be equivalent to 3 AI Vegas or 2 Radions :)
I would argue better given that YOU get to choose the exact LED color ratio...and save probably 2/3rds of the cost, especially if you are talking Radion Pros. I still don't know how they are going to price them over the v2s they way they have hinted. And all the difference really gets you is more spectrum...I just bought 2 violet spectrum LED's for 6$....
 

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