dwcled wrote:Almost to the day, then on one panel (of four) the blue and green LEDs are out.

This is going to be a nightmare removing from the chamber.

Solarstorm 800

Do CLW offer a modular grow light system that would save the trouble of returning the light unit to get fixed?

greeninitiatives wrote:

dwcled wrote:Almost to the day, then on one panel (of four) the blue and green LEDs are out.

This is going to be a nightmare removing from the chamber.

Solarstorm 800

Do CLW offer a modular grow light system that would save the trouble of returning the light unit to get fixed?

No, they're not modular nor customer serviceable other than the UVB bulbs. They are warrantied.

Hmmmm.... this is concerning.

I have two Solar Storm 440's. The second one failed on me after about 40 hours of use. One side of the lights went out, the UV lights wouldn't turn on and the bloom switch didn't change the spectrum at all.

The good news is that when I took it back to the shop I bought it at the owner phoned California Light Works on the spot, right in front of me, and I walked out with a new Solar Storm 440 five minutes later. I was very impressed with the support by California Light Works.

While I hope that I don't encounter any further problems, naturally, I read a post like this one and it's hard not to be concerned. Light failed only after two years? I took everybody's advice when I decided to get into LED and that was to pay the big bucks for quality and up where I am that was $1200 each for the Solar Storms so... I'm really hoping for a lot more than two years. For me, two years, is just four grows.

And all this before I've even had a chance to gauge performance? I'm nervous...very nervous....

I won't be able to get a fair idea of what the light can do on it's own as they are mixed with HIDs right now, but reliability is my first concern.

Gquebed wrote:Hmmmm.... this is concerning.

I have two Solar Storm 440's. The second one failed on me after about 40 hours of use. One side of the lights went out, the UV lights wouldn't turn on and the bloom switch didn't change the spectrum at all.

The good news is that when I took it back to the shop I bought it at the owner phoned California Light Works on the spot, right in front of me, and I walked out with a new Solar Storm 440 five minutes later. I was very impressed with the support by California Light Works.

While I hope that I don't encounter any further problems, naturally, I read a post like this one and it's hard not to be concerned. Light failed only after two years? I took everybody's advice when I decided to get into LED and that was to pay the big bucks for quality and up where I am that was $1200 each for the Solar Storms so... I'm really hoping for a lot more than two years. For me, two years, is just four grows.

And all this before I've even had a chance to gauge performance? I'm nervous...very nervous....

I won't be able to get a fair idea of what the light can do on it's own as they are mixed with HIDs right now, but reliability is my first concern.

I feel very strongly that CLW is a VERY customer service oriented company. They really want to make their customers happy, as they should because they pay outrageously high prices for quality, as you mentioned.

I also did not pay those high prices, as I was able to take part in the grower feedback program. Even so, the prices I paid were VERY high compared to comparable HID systems... the benefits and drawbacks of each are such a topic of debate I don't even want to get into it... but for initial investment cost, you can't beat HID.

Having said that, I was disappointed when my SS880 had the exact same problems you're describing... after about 2 months.


At the time, I chalked it up to being a GFP unit, probably been through a grow or two before, and/or been a refurbished unit. But I'm reading more and more about units that I assume people paid full retail price for, and it makes me wonder what's going on.

I won't lie, the LED failure of my unit was a big deciding factor when I decided to send my unit back at the end of my GFP and go to HID again. I said in my thread that I have no doubt that CLW would have made the problem right, but I did lose some confidence in the product itself with my experience.

Hopefully your problems are over though!
MC

Well I hope missing cow.

As long as the product is reliable, I don't require huge performance from the lights, just acceptable is fine by me.