Mars Hydro FC or FC-E ?

Wabbles

Member
I asked the question in another thread off topic so I thought Id try a thread on the question.
Are current Mars Hydro lights good lights for the price ?
Im looking to light a 4x4 tent, I was considering either the FC 4800 or the FC-E 4800.
Any help ?
 

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
There's links with the spec on post #2.
idk what the exact price is tbh but imo the fc is a cracking light, yes I'd buy one,
 

Milky Weed

Well-Known Member
I asked the question in another thread off topic so I thought Id try a thread on the question.
Are current Mars Hydro lights good lights for the price ?
Im looking to light a 4x4 tent, I was considering either the FC 4800 or the FC-E 4800.
Any help ?
i don’t know if it helps but I looked at them, and noticed the regular FC 4800 has more output at same wattage, but does not have removable light bars. It does fold I think.

The FC-E 4800 has removable light bars, but lower output. They both seem to use the same mix of diodes, I think it’s neat they include some UV diodes in both.
 

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
Lm301s in the fc and bridgelux in the fce at a higher diode count for efficiency.

Eta... The fce has some clever design features but I'm not familiar with bridgelux diodes, if you research them they might well be better, idk.
 
Last edited:

Severed Tongue

Well-Known Member
The lm301 they use in the FC4800 are the lesser of the series, and less efficient than B or H. I can't remember exactly how much less, I looked it up a while back...

Anyways it's annoying if you search YouTube all these videos and reviews claim its using "H" or "B," when in fact if you look at specs it's "D".
Screenshot_20210908-150143_Chrome.jpg

As for the FCE, it's a great fixture, but the driver/dimmer not so much....

I bought the FCE-3000 last fall, but had issues with the driver/dimmer and a sneaky sale (amazon.ca) that turned out to be not a sale (in fact its still that same price today lol), so returned it. It was a nice fixture but for that price I expected the driver/dimmer to be reliable. If it was I'd have kept it.
 
Last edited:

MarsHydrofactory

Well-Known Member
I'm thinking of going with the FC 4800.
I'v just read so much negative about past Mars lights. But recent improvements look much better.
So the consensus is YES mars Hydro lights are worth the money?
mars hydro never stops improving, yeah, mars hydro led grow lights are worth the money. :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
below are some pictures of the FC series, hope it is good for you to make the decision:)
plants under fc 4800 and tsw 2000
FC4800+TSW2000+8X8 GROW TENT-MONKEY DOUGH X NUKEN+SKUNK MONKEY X NUKEN. f...jpg
plants under FC 3000 and grow tent
mars hydro fc-e-2.jpg
FC 6500 vertical growing
FC 6500 vertical growing.jpg
fc room set up
fc-1.jpg
this week, will come flash sale for FC 4800, don't forget to follow us for the newest thread:) Good Luck:):hug::hug::hug::clap::clap::leaf::leaf:
 

Severed Tongue

Well-Known Member
mars hydro never stops improving, yeah, mars hydro led grow lights are worth the money. :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
below are some pictures of the FC series, hope it is good for you to make the decision:)
plants under fc 4800 and tsw 2000
View attachment 4985936
plants under FC 3000 and grow tent
View attachment 4985937
FC 6500 vertical growing
View attachment 4985943
fc room set up
View attachment 4985944
this week, will come flash sale for FC 4800, don't forget to follow us for the newest thread:) Good Luck:):hug::hug::hug::clap::clap::leaf::leaf:
Looking fwd to the flash sale, hope it's good!
 

Wabbles

Member
You need to drop a link to the specs of you want help on this. That pic doesn't really say so much.
thanks,


 

end_of_the_tunnel

Well-Known Member
I know the subject has been brought up, ad infinitum. But LOL at those ebay ads. Stating product is 3000W/4800W/6500W, and also stating consumption is 305W/480W/650W is kind of skirting the near the edges of mis-selling. I wonder if US consumer law would favour the customer if they put in a claim about the product bought. Good that the seller has 100% feedback and a lot of units sold, I guess?
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
thanks,


Of the 2 I'd go for mars: much better spread and much better diode count. Also mars spectrum is better, more red. Also more watts on mars, for cheaper. And sincerely I call full bull shit on the vivosun 2.9ppf/w, no f-in way they can pull that off with so few diodes.

Tip: take the diode count of the light and figure out how many watts per diode. Vivosun for about .5w per diode mars about .18w. lower power per diode will be much less likely to fail, well at least the diodes.

Also: no par map on the vivosun, wtf!?!
 
Last edited:

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
This is the thing, they don't really answer these kinda queries. It's why, even though the mars bar lights look at least decent on paper, with really good diode counts, I have a hard time supporting them. They seem to care less about their customers (current and future) than they care of the appearance of caring about customers.

That other light: not easy to evaluate, can't find diode count or specific details on diodes, only Lumiled and osram. No details on driver but seems like not meanwell. Maybe inventronics which have a rep for being maybe a bit more reliable than meanwell when it comes to higher wattage.
465w seems like a weird and not common model.
5 y warranty: check what's covered and what's not. Can you buy it from your own country? What is service like, get a new bar and fit it yourself or sending it back for repair?

Spectrum looks like 5000k + loads of red, instead of 4000k and medium red. Haven't seen enough favour one or the other.
If it's Lumiled, could they be a rebrand of those lumatech lights that use lumileds?
 
Top