Mars Hydro FC-E3000 lifecycle performance

I have been researching the Mars Hydro FC-E3000 for a 3x3 tent. I see a lot of posts with plants in the veg or early flower stage but not many in full flower. How does this light do for flowering?

The Mars literature says its good for 3x3 personal grow coverage or 2.5 x 2.5 commercial grow. What’s the difference? Does it really not cover 3x3? What makes a larger coverage (obviously less performance) acceptable for personal but not commercial grows?

I can spend more money on a light but looking at the specs for the FC-E3000, the competition doesn’t look a lot better. Can someone help me understand why others are better besides just saying Samsung is better. If the specs are the same, is there something extraordinary that Samsung does better? What are you successfully using in a 3x3?

Just ordered the FC-E4800. I got their 4x4 kit. My understanding is, simply put, the Samsung diodes have overall better quality and reliability. Mind you this is off of limited research and new to LED growing. I think the light you have chosen is a great starting point and are getting your money's worth.

The E4800 has a nice PAR layout. Pretty even for most of the tent.

I've been reading a bit and samsung isn't always the best diodes because they are in such demand it is rare to get top bin diodes.

The fce uses brigelux diodes and the fc uses samsung, or did last year.

Star Dog said:

The fce uses brigelux diodes and the fc uses samsung, or did last year.

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The FCE has 630 more diodes than the FC. Mars Hydro claims there is very little difference between the two.

What you need to understand is some companies will say anything to sell their product.
Because nobody is going to do anything about it.
That's a great example of BS saying it will cover 3x3 or 2.5 x 2.5 in commercial.
I wouldn't trust the par maps either .

All that said the light doesn't know any difference and it will grow well in your space

coreywebster said:

What you need to understand is some companies will say anything to sell their product.
Because nobody is going to do anything about it.
That's a great example of BS saying it will cover 3x3 or 2.5 x 2.5 in commercial.
I wouldn't trust the par maps either .

All that said the light doesn't know any difference and it will grow well in your space

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A certain company also used a photo editor to stretch out a cola.

bigbo420 said:

Just ordered the FC-E4800. I got their 4x4 kit. My understanding is, simply put, the Samsung diodes have overall better quality and reliability. Mind you this is off of limited research and new to LED growing. I think the light you have chosen is a great starting point and are getting your money's worth.

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Samsung's LM301 is a little more efficient than most, I never heard anything about Sumsung having better quality or reliability.

1212ham said:

Samsung's LM301 is a little more efficient than most, I never heard anything about Sumsung having better quality or reliability.

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Thank you for the more accurate correction.

I am on my third run with the FC-E3000 in the 3.3x3.3 and it has been great. Tent stays at a stable temp and the plants are always praying. I have been running from seed only and not doing any plant training under that light so can't comment on yield potential definitively, but I would say a lb shouldn't be hard. Only time will tell of its longevity but bridglelux seems to make good diodes and there are considerably more in the E so they aren't being run very hard. For the price I would say it's one of the best bang for the buck light series out. I will be buying an E4800 in the next few days as I have been pretty impressed so far. The one criticism I really have is the hardware they provide is shit. It doesn't really affect the usability of the light so it's something I am willing to tolerate for the price/performance ratio. I would check out CCFC rundown of the E series as his tested numbers tell a better story than my anecdotal evidence.

I’ve had an fce 4800 in my flower tent for a year now. It works great.

Greengrouch said:

I’ve had an fce 4800 in my flower tent for a year now. It works great.

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If you don't mind me asking, what size tent are you using it in?

Half of an 8x4

Maybe they mean in a tent vs no reflective walls. But commercial would have overlapping light though.

Been running the FCE-3000 since 4 weeks of veg, now in 3rd week of flower after 2 full months of veg and this light does the trick pretty well, granted I'm running one plant but it's tall and dummy thick. I'd recommend for a good starting set-up!

First Run with two fce4800 in my 4x8 seems to be going well

I went ahead and put a fce4800 in my 3.3 x 3.3. The coverage is insane.

I did the same thing with my 3x3, it is indeed an awesome spread. My 3x3 is actually 35x35 inches so it's a tight fit with the 4800. I like that I can put the driver outside of the tent, really keeps the heat down.

MEB4856931 said:

I did the same thing with my 3x3, it is indeed an awesome spread. My 3x3 is actually 35x35 inches so it's a tight fit with the 4800. I like that I can put the driver outside of the tent, really keeps the heat down.

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What are your temps like with that in a 3x3