IF you are new to LED and want help choosing what to buy, POST HERE!

butsack said:

thanks for continuing to help with my questions!
So I looked into both of these options,
the at600 i found for 2600$
the a51- rw150 i found for 400$(x4) 1600$

then I found a Mars II 1600w LED for 600$
http://www.mars-hydro.com/mars-ii-led-grow-light-1600w-88.html

this light on paper has everything I want. I was wondering why it had not been mentioned. Is it a piece of garbage? thanks!

Click to expand...

You're welcome, sir. Yes, Mars II (aka TopLED) are not good lights at all, stay away! We don't recommend them on this forum because they are exactly what you called them, garbage.

Bad Karma said:

You're welcome, sir. Yes, Mars II (aka TopLED) are not good lights at all, stay away! We don't recommend them on this forum because they are exactly what you called them, garbage.

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okay cool so I looked into the diy 600 cob and its no cheaper than 4 of the rw-150s.
I was just wondering about the heat output on the rw-150's. It says they run between 77 and 86F. Is it possible to run 4 of these in a 5x5 sealed tent with co2?

butsack said:

I was just wondering about the heat output on the rw-150's. It says they run between 77 and 86F. Is it possible to run 4 of these in a 5x5 sealed tent with co2?

Click to expand...

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible. What's your concern about those low temps?

Saw this

http://m.ebay.com/itm?itemId=131345236905&txnId=0

Had to bid, won it. With a 90 day "no questions asked" money back guarantee, I might just go for it?

Shall we run an experiment and document her up?

MAY AS WELL.

keysareme said:

Saw this

http://m.ebay.com/itm?itemId=131345236905&txnId=0

Had to bid, won it. With a 90 day "no questions asked" money back guarantee, I might just go for it?

Shall we run an experiment and document her up?

Click to expand...

Hope your money back is guaranteed................filing a claim in Shenzhen's district court doesn't seem easy;lol

PSUAGRO. said:

Hope your money back is guaranteed................filing a claim in Shenzhen's district court doesn't seem easy;lol

Click to expand...

Always wanted to goto China...

Bad Karma said:

You're welcome, sir. Yes, Mars II (aka TopLED) are not good lights at all, stay away! We don't recommend them on this forum because they are exactly what you called them, garbage.

Click to expand...

Why are the Mars II garbage? I'm looking to buy LED lights for a 8x8 tent, and I wanted to go with 4xMars II 1600W. I live in Europe, and unfortunately there aren't that many choices at such low prices as in the United States, so, I would welcome advice; but please, if you could also support your argument, that'd be awesome. For example, I saw some people saying that there is no difference between Mars II and BlackDogLED. I don't understand anything anymore lol.

Sebastian1234 said:

Why are the Mars II garbage? I'm looking to buy LED lights for a 8x8 tent, and I wanted to go with 4xMars II 1600W. I live in Europe, and unfortunately there aren't that many choices at such low prices as in the United States, so, I would welcome advice; but please, if you could also support your argument, that'd be awesome. For example, I saw some people saying that there is no difference between Mars II and BlackDogLED. I don't understand anything anymore lol.

Click to expand...

Because Top led panels are horribly inefficient (cheap generic encapsulated diodes)...........@ comparable wattage , hps will destroy it.

PSUAGRO. said:

Because Top led panels are horribly inefficient (cheap generic encapsulated diodes)...........@ comparable wattage , hps will destroy it.

Click to expand...

So which brands can I trust?

Sebastian1234 said:

So which brands can I trust?

Click to expand...

Unfortunately in Europe their is mostly professional grade, not consumer.............hence the $$$$$$$$$

http://www.heliospectra.com/
http://www.valoya.com/
http://www.fionialighting.dk/

http://www.bonsaihero.com/index.php/ledgrow-led-panel-80-w this is the cheapest option, but you would need 16 of them in your area and it would be a clusterfuck of power cables/ hanging kits imo.

Sebastian1234 said:

For example, I saw some people saying that there is no difference between Mars II and BlackDogLED. I don't understand anything anymore lol.

Click to expand...

Blackdog, Blackstar, HydroGrowLED, GrowBlu are rebranded Chinese imports sold with mystery spectrum hype for a premium. If you were going to buy those, just get TopLED/MarsHydro without the middleman.

I've watched Mars grow journals and I'm not as pessimistic about Mars as others here. There's not a lot of money put at risk, and the company has a public support forum at 420mag which makes it much less risky than dealing with an anonymous eBay seller in private email. Just look at the grow journals and make your own decision. There's a guy doing one right now in the newbie forum. (<<link).

Another Chinese light which is suggested as a last-resort is VIPAR (on ebay).

With either light I think you'll want to step up to something more efficient. But, I could see using a cheap import for a couple grows to get started. They'd serve as backup fixtures, a fallback when a fixture fails.

I don't know if I'd buy as deeply into it as you've communicated. If my goal were to cash-crop, starting with inexpensive lights to generate some revenue to afford more expensive ones, I'd probably start smaller.

Check out the 420mag support forum. You'll find photos of grows there too.

Sebastian1234 said:

I live in Europe, and unfortunately there aren't that many choices at such low prices as in the United States,

Click to expand...

A popular European light has been Grow Northern. However, they've been in a state of transition since last May. They originally fell into the "overpriced rebranded Chinese import" category by selling an Apollo light. What made GN a little different was that they published their spectrum and ratio. They didn't pull the "proprietary blend" nonsense that the other overpriced rebranded venders do.

What *really* set them apart was that they sold an upgrade module called the Rebel Module with Phillips and Osram LED. They published the spectrum and ratio of this too.

Last May they announced they would produce an entirely new fixture using the Rebel spectrum/ratio. They discontinued their Apollo model -- and since then they've had nothing to sell. It's unclear what's happening, when they'll have something, etc. It could be worth your while to contact them and see what's happening. Or, visit the autoflower.net forum where there are a large number of GN users. There's certainly updated info there.

I'm planning on starting a pc grow and I think using led strip lights would be the best method for my lighting, stealth, and electrical cost needs. what ratio of light colors do i need? Is it possible to never have to change lights between veg and flower? As I'm growing in a pc case, would it be best to run 12/12 from seed to harvest? What kind of power adapter do I need for the 5050 led light strips?

I'm also waiting for Dutch Passion to release their new LED ( http://www.dutch-passion.nl/en/cannabis-seeds/product/led-grow-light/ ). I'm hoping they'll come up with a relatively cheap-ish and efficient product. The idea is that I'm willing to spend around €2500 for lights only, and I want to keep them for a long time. So, it's better if I spend more money initially on quality products ,and not have to worry about them for years to come. Plus, there's more yield.

Arcane Tarsius said:

What kind of power adapter do I need for the 5050 led light strips?

Click to expand...

See: https://www.rollitup.org/t/5050-smd-microherb-light.631611/

Just for the record.....

In Europe you always have PlantPhotonics, a company that we ignore a bit too much.
http://plantphotonics.com/

And I'm pretty damn sure the parent company of Top/Mars is LG LED Solutions Limited, no relation to LG Electronics. They probably make quite a few panels for quite a few companies and I doubt anyone who works designing panels for LG LED Solutions has ever grown weed.
http://www.lgledsolutions.com/index.asp
http://www.lgledsolutions.com/products.asp?selectclassid=014011

I have a bunch of those LG-LED reflector panels. I'd expect the MARS to be about as good for flowering as the LG's and would not recommend them for flowering. I do still use them and the quality of the build and components has lasted as long as 1 1/2 years for the oldest one I have. But I would not recommend them to my worst enemy for anything other than vegging/clones/seedlings. They do a fine job for that. But after switching to CMH for flowering, I ran a test run on clones from the same mother I had flowered under the LG's and the CMH produced 3x the weight. So yes, they can flower, but you'd do better to buy a bunch of Cree bulbs if you're looking for any kind of weight/density from them.

While I haven't tried the MARS lights. I've tried to follow some grows with those to see what the results were. It seems they all stop short of the final weigh-in and that raises red flags for me.

Arcane Tarsius said:

I'm planning on starting a pc grow and I think using led strip lights would be the best method for my lighting, stealth, and electrical cost needs. what ratio of light colors do i need? Is it possible to never have to change lights between veg and flower? As I'm growing in a pc case, would it be best to run 12/12 from seed to harvest? What kind of power adapter do I need for the 5050 led light strips?

Click to expand...

I have used those strip lights as supplemental lighting with T5s and I think a mix ow warm white and cool white would work best for a veg/flower light. I cut the strips into short lengths and ran 15 strips in series (positive to negative connection between strips. using just a bridge rectifier and capacitor salvaged from an old computer to convert my ac line voltage to dc gave me 164 volts DC.with 15 strips this gave me 11 volts per strip. cheap and easy.with 13 strips in series this would provide 12.6 volts per strip which is the nominal output of many 12 volt power supplies. the warm white strips make a great replacement for 3000k tubes in a 6000k/3000k T5 mix and distribute light evenly over a large area so can be place close to plants. one other option you could consider is led light bulbs like these http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CE-Rohs-9W-12W-15w-18W-GU10-SMD-5730-led-bulb-Warm-White-white-24LEDs-36LEDs/2017957158.html. gu10 sockets are available very cheaply on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/151436743889?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT. these could be used like CFLs

FranJan said:

Just for the record.....

In Europe you always have PlantPhotonics, a company that we ignore a bit too much.
http://plantphotonics.com/

And I'm pretty damn sure the parent company of Top/Mars is LG LED Solutions Limited, no relation to LG Electronics. They probably make quite a few panels for quite a few companies and I doubt anyone who works designing panels for LG LED Solutions has ever grown weed.
http://www.lgledsolutions.com/index.asp
http://www.lgledsolutions.com/products.asp?selectclassid=014011

http://www.lgledsolutions.com/UploadFiles/file/2014_5_10_50515_103758.pdf
View attachment 3292338​

http://lgledsolutions.en.gongchang.com/about

LG-LED Solutions Technology Limited is a joint venture (with Netherlands) High-tech Enterprise located in Shenzhen, China. We are a professional manufacturer which specializes in the R&D, pattern design and product manufacture.

LG-LED People is always adhering to one concept "LED is green and your life will be good". We always pay close attention to the protection of the Intellectual Property Rights and currently we have applied several Patent Rights for our main product lines. With a strong sense of supplying Environment-friendly and Energy-saving products, LG-LED has become one of the leading lighting manufacturers in China.

Our product family is composed by two main series. One is high power LED Commercial Lighting, which is considered as one of the most widely used LED lighting applications like LED light strips, ceiling lights, grid lamps, tube lights, bulbs and spotlights. The other is one of the most professional High Power LED Grow Lights which are in the top position of the field with their patent rights.

"Lighting the life, lighting the future" is our slogan! Aiming at overseas market, LG has gradually established worldwide market.

"Quality First, Customer Orient, Quick Improvement, Excellent Service" is LG's mission. For more and more colorful of the world, LG is making more efforts to fulfill our mission with our enthusiasm.
Basic Company Information
​

• Company Name:
  LG-LED Solutions Technology Limited
• Business Type:
  Manufacture
• Main Category:
  Lights & Lighting > Lighting Fixtures > Residential Lighting > Ceiling Lights
• Main Products:
  Led grow light, commercial light, led bulb, led ceiling light, led spot light, led recessed down light, high power led tube, led spotlight, led tri-band led grow light, led grid lamp
• Year Established:
  2009
• Own Brands:
  LG-LED

​

Click to expand...

actually the makers of the mars lights used growers at another site as "beta testers" for their lights and discussed the design in that chat room. it seems all these companies use the same bridgelux diodes and many offer a similar mix of 430,460,630.660nm and cool whites (7000k) it seems the growers using high efficiency white leds ( Crees cxa 3070) are getting just as good of results as those using multiple band monochromatic lights.