Mars Hydro L.E.D.'s ????

Budget Buds

Well-Known Member
Good or bad? should I look elsewhere or not? I'm switching to led from hps cause i'm sick of battling heat, I have about 3 hundo's to spend on them and was thinking 2 of the 600 watt led units. Let me know what ya think :) BB
 

Rahz

Well-Known Member
Don't forget about TastyLED, OpticVero, Han's and Apachetech. There's getting to be quite a handful of decent LED vendors.

BM9AGS is right though. Mars isn't as efficient as HPS. If you were to use enough Mars lamps to equal the same light intensity you currently have you would end up with more heat, rather than less.
 

Budget Buds

Well-Known Member
Here's to give you a gist or prices from kingbrite
If you got just 2 cxb3590 you'd be doing well. For heatsinks go to heatsinkusa and the rest can be bought at RadioShack.

View attachment 3526022
I'm looking to light up a 9 foot squared area with them, I could do that price if the light is going to perform very well and be able to compete with comparable hps lighting, I'm sick of my fans fucking up and stressing my plants and always dealing with heat issues.
 

PURPLEB3RRYKUSH

Well-Known Member
My 300 watt MarsHydro reflector series grows dank buds that are dense, still going strong after 7 months, really brings out the colours of your bud, a few strains turn purple or blue under it, stacks the frost.
 

BM9AGS

Well-Known Member
I'm looking to light up a 9 foot squared area with them, I could do that price if the light is going to perform very well and be able to compete with comparable hps lighting, I'm sick of my fans fucking up and stressing my plants and always dealing with heat issues.
So a ~3"x3" area. The list above would be awesome for that space. Way better than anything else out there for sure. 375 watts for the above list. That's a lot of light.

As far as the guy repoint Mars hydro 300. He of course provides no pictures and is an idiot. Light doesn't bring out plant color and plant going purple is genetics and cooler temps. So pretty sure he's working for shitty Mars and or just an idiot.
 

Budget Buds

Well-Known Member
I dont even respond to the comments that make no relevant sense , I'm looking around right now to see if I can source the parts a little cheaper, If I can do away with the shipping and paypal I'd be happier then a pig in shit :)
 

BM9AGS

Well-Known Member
I dont even respond to the comments that make no relevant sense , I'm looking around right now to see if I can source the parts a little cheaper, If I can do away with the shipping and paypal I'd be happier then a pig in shit :)
Haha yeah I hear you! Jerry at kingbrite is best thing going. Mouser is about 65$ per Cree cob so that's worse.
Ledil Stella optics are free shipping. But min order is 10.
 

DocCox

Well-Known Member
Mars is junk. People who are supporting MARS either don't realize their light is less efficient and more expensive than an average (less expensive) HPS setup or are trying to justifying to themselves how they spent all that money on JUNK. There is zero benifit to a Mars unit unless your comparing it to an incandescent light... and NOBODY is growing with incandescent bulbs.


We really need to know what your HID setup is (make/wattage/ cool tube?) to be able to suggest a setup that would equal or outproduce what you have.
For your budget of $300 for 9sq/ft buying a more efficient HPS is the best bang for your buck 9 times out of 10- quality DIY LEDs would probably be over budget and are difficult to efficiently vent waste heat outside your tent.

What has been discussed multiple times - any Watt put into a tent in any form (waste heat, photons, imaginary MARS numbers) is going to be heat eventually - so you have to manage it. The LED s would be a benifit for you when running at higher efficiency ONLY because watts from the wall can be reduced while maintaining your PAR levels and this is almost exponentially(not really exponentially - but awful nonetheless) expensive once you start moving above 50%+ efficiency.

So it's go big or go home with LEDs. That's the honest truth...for the next couple years...
9 out of 10 times - so enlighten us further on your current setup so we can get you in the 1 time out of 10 group :)
 

PURPLEB3RRYKUSH

Well-Known Member
HPS requires a aircon and some good ventilation which increases your bill, i run my LEDS in a closet without aircon and have no issues, temps stay 68 to 80 fahrenheit and outside temps are over 100
 

Budget Buds

Well-Known Member
Mars is junk. People who are supporting MARS either don't realize their light is less efficient and more expensive than an average (less expensive) HPS setup or are trying to justifying to themselves how they spent all that money on JUNK. There is zero benifit to a Mars unit unless your comparing it to an incandescent light... and NOBODY is growing with incandescent bulbs.


We really need to know what your HID setup is (make/wattage/ cool tube?) to be able to suggest a setup that would equal or outproduce what you have.
For your budget of $300 for 9sq/ft buying a more efficient HPS is the best bang for your buck 9 times out of 10- quality DIY LEDs would probably be over budget and are difficult to efficiently vent waste heat outside your tent.

What has been discussed multiple times - any Watt put into a tent in any form (waste heat, photons, imaginary MARS numbers) is going to be heat eventually - so you have to manage it. The LED s would be a benifit for you when running at higher efficiency ONLY because watts from the wall can be reduced while maintaining your PAR levels and this is almost exponentially(not really exponentially - but awful nonetheless) expensive once you start moving above 50%+ efficiency.

So it's go big or go home with LEDs. That's the honest truth...for the next couple years...
9 out of 10 times - so enlighten us further on your current setup so we can get you in the 1 time out of 10 group :)
Awesome reply, Current is 9 square foot tent with 1000 hps in air cooled hood with 5k btu ac unit and multiple fans, I run an aeroponic sog setup and run at least 32 oz every 60 days. That being said I have more then enough meds for the patients for the next year or so and am wanting to get back into experimenting again. I dont want to reduce wattage of my hps and just all together want to try the led thing. I also said I would like to ONLY spend three hundo, I didnt say I couldnt go and dig up the funds out in the back yard. lol
So I'm in the market for an led light that could perform at the 1 k hps level, No less then 600 hps level. If it takes a few more bones to do it right then so be it. I dont want to buy something I could have a little adventure building and especially if I can get the customization and performance I want :) BB
 

DocCox

Well-Known Member
???1000W??? HPS in a 3x3?

Okay - here is a quote from @SupraSPL
This is the post he made that really sold me. Prices have changed a little - but its a great guide

Here are some units you could scale up to fit your space. To some extent, you can adjust the coverage by adjusting the distance to canopy.

@43.3%
(4)Vero 29 3500K @ 1.4A (51W ea) $112
(1) HLG-185H-C1400 $65
202 dissipation W -> 114.5W heat ->
active cooled heatsink 4590 cm² -> 3.5"X36" $45 + 80mm fan+psu $10
(4) lenses $16
87.4 PAR W covering about 5ft² = 783 PPFD
$248 = $2.84/PAR W

@45.7%
(2) CXB3590 3500K CD 36V @ 2.5A (91.65W ea) $95
(2) HLN-80H-36A $90
183 dissipation W -> 99.37W heat
(2) Arctic 64 Plus CPU coolers $26
(2) lenses $8
83.63 PAR W covering 5 ft² = 749 PPFD
$219 = 2.62/PAR W

@49.7%
(2) CXB3590 3500K CD 72V @ 1.05A (75.5W ea) $95
(1) HLG-185H-C1400 (running at ~1050mA) $65
151 dissipation W -> 76W heat ->
passive cooled heatsink 9120cm² -> (2) 10"X10" heatsink $75
or
active cooled heatsink 3040 cm² min -> 3.5" X 30" heatsink (for spread) $40 + 80mm fan+psu $10
or
(2) Arctic 64 Plus CPU coolers $26
(2) lenses $8
75 PAR W covering 4ft² = 840 PPFD
75 PAR W covering 5ft² = 672 PPFD
$243 = $3.24/PAR W passive cooled
$218 = $2.91/PAR W active cooled on bar heatsink
$194 = $2.59/PAR W active cooled on CPU coolers (uniform spread, best value?)

@ 56.3%
(4) CXB3590 3500K CD 36V @ 1.4A (49W ea) $190
(1) HLG-185H-C1400 $65
196 dissipation W -> 85.7W heat ->
passive cooled heatsink 10284cm² -> 5.88" X 38" heatsink $72 (could split in 2 to improve uniformity/spread)
or
active cooled heatsink 3428cm² min -> 3.5"X36" heatsink (for spread) $45 +80mm fan +psu $10
(4) lenses $16
110.3 PAR W covering 6ft² = 824 PPFD
$311 = $3.07/PAR W passive cooled (great value point IMO, very efficient use of driver)
$326 = 2.96/PAR W active cooled

@61.2%
(5) CXB3590 3500K CD 36V @ 1.05A (35.5W ea) $237.50
(1) HLG-185H-C1050 $65
177.5 dissipation W -> 68.9W heat ->
passive cooled heatsink 8268cm² -> 4.9"X36" $70
or
active cooled heatsink 2756cm² -> 3.5"X36" heatsink (for spread) $45 + 80mm fan + psu $10
(5) lenses $20
108.63 PAR W covering 6ft² =
$392.50 = $3.61/PAR W passive cooled
$377.50 = $3.48/PAR W active cooled

@64%
(8 ) CXB3590 3500K CD @ 700mA (23W ea) $380
(1) HLG-185H-C700 $65
184 dissipation W ->66W heat ->
passive cooled heatsink 7920cm² -> 4.23"X44" $68 (could split these into 2 or 4 units)
or
active cooled heatsink 2640cm² -> 3.5"X36" heatsink (for spread) $45 + 80mm fan + psu $10
active cooled heatsink 2640cm² -> 1.8"X44" heatsink $34 + 80mm fan + psu $10
(8 ) lenses $32
117.8 PAR W covering 6ft² = 879 PPFD
117.8 PAR w covering 7ft² = 754 PPFD
$545 = $4.63/PAR W passive cooled (great option if your area is high electrical cost, Hawaii, NYC, SoCal etc or if your grow is already heat limited and you want to increase yield without running more AC, ducting and fans)
$532 = $4.52/PAR W active cooled 3.5"
$521 = $4.43/PAR W active cooled 1.8"


So in summary, the higher the efficiency goes, the more appealing passive cooling is. Less wires, less moving parts, less points of failure for about the same cost.

@ 56.3% is probably the most popular option. We see you can make a 200 Watt light for the $300
The good news is that 200W light could replace around 300W of HPS. The bad news is - almost zero DIY or commercial LED lights allow a cool tube style setup - so that 200W is in your tent and has to be dealt with (higher air exchange or AC) and you probably won't be able to use CO2

1000W HPS setup you have for such a small tent is maxing out the plants photosynthetic response. You would need around 700 watts of LEDs at ~$1000 but would gain big time on even lighting for your scrog canopy. 4 of these 200Watt bars could max out your plants (way max out). 5 of them would be awesome to demonstrate photoinhibition if left at full blast and you would have to dim them (cause you probably can't use CO2 with LEDs without wasting it)

I would replace your HPS with a more efficient 800W HPS/reflector or build 3 of the 56% bars. If you can figure out how to cool tube them you won't need to run any AC - if you don't cool tube them it might be a heat battle still
 
I guess people here really hate mars hydro lol. I have to say though my personal experience of 1 test flower run of 3x reflector series 144 was much better than my past 2 years trying to battle hps heat. Yeah the mars still make heat but it was nowhere near the 1k hps they replaced. They advertise it as 4x2 coverage but I would say its more like 3x1.5 MAYBE 3x2 (I used 3 over a 4x5 space).

I ran the same 9 strains I did under hps and had much better results with the led. Seemed alot more frosty. Much denser and 2 of my strains ended up with rock solid (nowhere near as dense under the hps). No exaggeration they were literally solid as a bud can be but gave me my first case of bud rot on a few tops :(. My biggest clean tops were a little over 6g dry which Im sure is small time to alot of people here but in my case a huge improvement over the hps

Long story short theres always gonna be someone who hates a brand and another who loves it. My experience with the mars lights was impressive enough for me to make a huge investment into building my own cree leds. If you can afford/understand/build the diy cree just do it and skip the premade lights. If you need something now and dont wanna wait or build your own then the mars could be worth the temporary investment. I only tried mars because it seemed like the best value and I was skeptical about leds and wanted to see first hand before investing in a full swap from hps
 

Budget Buds

Well-Known Member
I guess people here really hate mars hydro lol. I have to say though my personal experience of 1 test flower run of 3x reflector series 144 was much better than my past 2 years trying to battle hps heat. Yeah the mars still make heat but it was nowhere near the 1k hps they replaced. They advertise it as 4x2 coverage but I would say its more like 3x1.5 MAYBE 3x2 (I used 3 over a 4x5 space).

I ran the same 9 strains I did under hps and had much better results with the led. Seemed alot more frosty. Much denser and 2 of my strains ended up with rock solid (nowhere near as dense under the hps). No exaggeration they were literally solid as a bud can be but gave me my first case of bud rot on a few tops :(. My biggest clean tops were a little over 6g dry which Im sure is small time to alot of people here but in my case a huge improvement over the hps

Long story short theres always gonna be someone who hates a brand and another who loves it. My experience with the mars lights was impressive enough for me to make a huge investment into building my own cree leds. If you can afford/understand/build the diy cree just do it and skip the premade lights. If you need something now and dont wanna wait or build your own then the mars could be worth the temporary investment. I only tried mars because it seemed like the best value and I was skeptical about leds and wanted to see first hand before investing in a full swap from hps
You have any pics??
 
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