GreenSanta
Well-Known Member
I disagree, I bet you will still use the exact same cobs you have now as side lighting 10 years down the road.
Is A Mars II 400 Worth a Crap?
- Thread starter DirtyMcCurdy
- Start date
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
With Mars you get what you pay for. If you want to get into LEDs cheaply and hope to recoup the cost after 1 or 2 crops then Mars are good for that. Just don't expect long life from them or as high yields as better quality LEDs and drivers. One thing you could do to try to prolong their lifespan would be to take the drivers out of the fixtures and locate them remotely. I find a 240v 1050 ma driver is fine without any external heatsinking other than sitting it somewhere in the open where the heat can dissipate. But they do get very hot, so they need to be removed from the fixtures if you want to get the most from your LED heatsinks.
kmog33
Well-Known Member
Possible but I doubt it. I generally use tents and the need for side lighting is of less use than in open grow spaces. Someone else may be using my old lights though. They tend to get passed on.
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kmog33
Well-Known Member
That is true, but I like making them and the upgraded too much to be using the same lights in 10 years. Maybe once my fiancé and I buy a permanent house that'll change, but for now my grow spaces change a lot and so do my lights.
That's pretty beast lol. That's a fairy large investment on your part.
i didn't run ac with my hid either for my personal stuff. Rooms and houses it gets necessary, but would still be necessary with cobs if you were running that many lol. What I will say is you can upgrade your diodes/arrays fairly easily and cost efficiently if you ever did want to upgrade. You can usually keep all the innards so that cuts a huge portion of the cost down. And with drivers running at ~95% efficient anyway. There's not much room to go up there. But in 5 years I can totally see 90%+ efficient arrays. Which, at that point, I may stop upgrading so often lol.
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GreenSanta
Well-Known Member
I got into LEDs shortly after I got into growing weed, so I didnt spend the money all at once hehe, but I did spend a ton of money on junk lights too... especially 4 years ago!!!
kmog33
Well-Known Member
It happens. I got lucky with the one honest box I got. It's actual draw is about 150 but it pulls weight. My 100 watt cxa panel does about the same and draws about 110 from the wall.
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Siino Gardens
Well-Known Member
regardless of all the horse hooey of false advertising they still grow weed
frica
Well-Known Member
So does inscadent lighting
Siino Gardens
Well-Known Member
side by side they might not be the best light out there but if you prefer to use LED's and want to do it cheaply it is a way to go. Hopefully one gets a few runs out of them and can then make a decision to pursue more or a better light. It isn't a bad starting point at all but the constant negativity over shit most people have never even plugged into their own wall is entertaining.
HockeyBeard
Well-Known Member
This is not a valid argument. T5 can still grow weed, and probably do it better than those crap fixtures.
HockeyBeard
Well-Known Member
Why pay a company that makes false claims and uses sub-par parts and tech? That's the only reason it's more affordable, is that it's using garbage parts. Sure, it's got a nice spectrum. It has no footprint, it doesn't do what it claims to, and there are plenty of nightmare stories about their performance right out of the box, entire modules burning out in less than a month. And the Warranty process is a huge PITA. Why the fuck would I give a company like that any money? In fact, I would actively advocate against giving a company like that ANY money, as they have no business being in business.
Siino Gardens
Well-Known Member
I found that to not be the case, you are spouting out horse shit dude stop being silly.
HockeyBeard
Well-Known Member
Am I? Then give me a good example. What did you do with your Mars fixture? Over what footprint did you do that? I've been around LED grows for the past 4 years and I watched an associate go through the ringer with Mars. The low cost was hardly worth the questionable reliability. He switched to KIND. Marginally better while way more expensive, still extremely unreliable, but producing quite well.
Let me put it this way... Mono panels are not very good and are barely scratching the surface of the benefits of LED technology. Red diodes are inefficient to run, they require a bit more energy than blues for the same output. With so many different bands and runs, your chance of fault increases exponentially...
Their PAR is lacking, and I'm being serious, I've seen some pretty good bud grown under T5. The LED might produce frostier,denser nugs, but the T5 would outproduce it noticeably.
Let me put it this way... Mono panels are not very good and are barely scratching the surface of the benefits of LED technology. Red diodes are inefficient to run, they require a bit more energy than blues for the same output. With so many different bands and runs, your chance of fault increases exponentially...
Their PAR is lacking, and I'm being serious, I've seen some pretty good bud grown under T5. The LED might produce frostier,denser nugs, but the T5 would outproduce it noticeably.
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churchhaze
Well-Known Member
I can confirm this! I constantly see native ladybugs hanging out in my veg area. Aphids beware.
Zulunature
Well-Known Member
Wow I went to sleep and the otherside of the pond woke up and took to the thread with sledge hammers and thus begins the psychological kungfu in the world of grow lighting.
I can recall a time in the 80's when some people I knew got me into HPS and HID from Sylvania, everyone said "Why wouldn't you just grow outside it's to expensive, not a good return, etc..."
They'd never heard of flood and drain back then, and let me tell you they all came over to the darkside of HID and HPS over the next 10 years.... seems like another lifetime ago now...
Seems like a lot of doubters out there regarding the cob diy path, well I'm traveling with others on this and I've got a feeling all those doubters will be like the anti-HID/HPS people way way back in the olden days, and some may even have to eat humble pie.
To all that advance our knowledge of lighting and building a big thank you.
Mars hydro lights week 8 of 12
I can recall a time in the 80's when some people I knew got me into HPS and HID from Sylvania, everyone said "Why wouldn't you just grow outside it's to expensive, not a good return, etc..."
They'd never heard of flood and drain back then, and let me tell you they all came over to the darkside of HID and HPS over the next 10 years.... seems like another lifetime ago now...
Seems like a lot of doubters out there regarding the cob diy path, well I'm traveling with others on this and I've got a feeling all those doubters will be like the anti-HID/HPS people way way back in the olden days, and some may even have to eat humble pie.
To all that advance our knowledge of lighting and building a big thank you.
Mars hydro lights week 8 of 12
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hockeybry2
Well-Known Member
Mars will produce some really nice flowers ...I've have a Mars 2 900w in my 3x3 for the past year with solid results. Are there better more expensive lights? Of course there are... But for a grower on a budget I'd totally recommend...the only dicey thing is their warranty...they'll send you replacement and you have to replace it yourself....so that's the catch
DirtyMcCurdy
Well-Known Member
It was only $180 shipped. No more expensive than hps and should be cheaper in the long run, no replacing bulbs. Thats if the Mars last like it should.
ray2013
Well-Known Member
Greetings when your light went out ,mars wouldn't honor their warranty
ray2013
Well-Known Member
This is what I mean by the proof is in the pudding. The girls look real nice.
ray2013
Well-Known Member
Greetings how would (2) mars 900 watts leds work in a 6×4 area. I'll be growing using the scrog method.