Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light Discussion

[Mars Hydro]

Hi Klovneposen, thanks for the help and experience sharing.

Hi Ogug. i use the 48x5 models of reflector series i keep them at about 12 inch distance in flower. i bet you could go a bit closer if you have a good airflow in the small growbox. I do have a bit more room in height tho. about 42 inches

but how about this. M8

You make a small DWC bucket from one of the flat bedrollers or something. Then your pot height will be at a minimal and you have more room for the plants. then you would have if using a taller soil pot. here is a picture of my current grow under two 48x5 in a homemade DWC bucket with air stone and homemater airpresured topwatering sprinkler.

this is a trial run at autoflowers (white cheese) in dwc. they are 43days from transplantation to the dwc bucket. and about 50 from germinating seed.

the small in soil was germinated two weeks later so its a bit tiny still

 

[Mars Hydro]

this chart is very useful. I have already saved it.

don't know if you have these two charts they help me out a lot when in doubt

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hi jueyman, the best way is to ask the friends in US to receive it for you. In that way, it will cost much less and save much time. The courier in China will take off from Feb.4th to Feb.11th. During this period, we couldn't ship from China.

Well, I don't mind paying more for shipping but I would have preferred to get the same lights as the USA people. Well I will see if I can ask my friends to receive them for me.

 

[Neil74]

Without going far beyond the question, all LEDs are likely being given the same current as the power supplies within the unit are constant current not constant voltage. That being said each led with the MarsII 400 is receiving an extra 56.3mA which is not insignificant by any means.

While they could be constant voltage power supplies the circuit design is more complex than a similar design using constant voltage.

Another thing to keep in mind, LEDs are not linear devices, they have a linear operating region but that is it. While a ~2.5% increase in current may seem small if you are operating at the upper region of the device a small increase in current can change the system quite drastically. At a certain point in time adding extra current does nothing useful for the system as it will be operating outside of the linear region and breakdown occurs.

Engineer, in your opinion if you had two 120 x 5, 600 w fixtures side by side and one light had two led's out would the plants notice the small amount of a difference under either light? Would it hurt performance or longevity to just keep running them? Just wondering if it would be as world ending as we have come to perceive it?

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hi Cheers, Reflector96 will draw more than MarsII400. The draw power of Reflector96 is 207w while that of MarsII400 is nearly 180w. Reflector96 is brighter than MarsII400. As for penetration, they both uses 5w led chips. The penetration is supposed to be the same. However, the light intensity of Relfector on average is higher than MarsII because the gap between each led of Reflector is wider than MarsII.

Hey can you guys shed some light on this...

If the REFLECTOR 96 has the same LEDs as the MARSII 400, wouldn't the REFLECTOR 96 be "brighter" or have more light penetration, being that it has 10 more LEDs ??

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hi Engineer, they use the same drivers.

I believe the drivers are different, so the LEDs may be the same but on the MarsII they are driven at a higher current giving more light penetration. This is just my guess as I have not pulled the unit apart to see but from my knowledge what would make the most sense if both sets of LEDs were the same brand/binning.

 

[TheEEngineer]

I am very sorry for assuming that Sara, was just thinking of where the difference of the current per led comes from.

 

[Dennise]

I want to order a led light (eventually) and keeping going back to the Mars lights. Since I am in Canada, I've read there's no switches to switch between veg and bloom. Does that mean I need two lights? Also what light would I need for a 50cm by 90 cm by 120cm tent?

High Smoke... I run both the reflectors and the Mars II... You are more we welcome to check them out in my journal....

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hmm.. I just checked with the engineer. The current for MarsII is 685-700MA and for Reflector is 650-680MA.

Is it possible the MARSII 400 LEDs are able to be driven harder, because it uses 10 less LEDs than the Reflector 96 series?

 

[Mars Hydro]

yes, that's correct. The maximum current is 1A. It's not good for the longevity of leds to be driven completely.

If by driven harder you mean using a higher current yes, most current single diode LEDs are not driven to their maximum current. Typically it seems they are driven somewhere to the 75% range for longer use and safety.

 

[Mars Hydro]

Cheers, the lumen of Reflector96 is 9040lm under110v and MarsII400 is 7895lm under 110v. To human eyes, Reflector96 may look brighter.

Yes, what im saying is if the LEDs and drivers are the same in both units, the MARSII unit with [10] less LEDs, will seem "brighter." But i guess we have to wait to see what the rep says..

 

[Mars Hydro]

yes, this is probably the reason.

From what I understand the reflector lights have more of a diffused light since they are designed for more of a spread, where as the mars 2 is more of a focused light in to one area. So it makes sense that even tho the reflector has more led's the mars 2 will seem brighter to the eye.

 

[Cheers]

Thanks for all the replies SmokeSara, seems like my assumptions were true. Think ill save some $ and go with the Reflector series!

 

[Mars Hydro]

thanks for the info, Engineer.

Without going far beyond the question, all LEDs are likely being given the same current as the power supplies within the unit are constant current not constant voltage. That being said each led with the MarsII 400 is receiving an extra 56.3mA which is not insignificant by any means.

While they could be constant voltage power supplies the circuit design is more complex than a similar design using constant voltage.

Another thing to keep in mind, LEDs are not linear devices, they have a linear operating region but that is it. While a ~2.5% increase in current may seem small if you are operating at the upper region of the device a small increase in current can change the system quite drastically. At a certain point in time adding extra current does nothing useful for the system as it will be operating outside of the linear region and breakdown occurs.

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hi, smokiebear, Reflector has switches for Veg and Bloom. You don't need two light. You can consider about Reflector144, which will cover 60cmx122cm. The best thing is that Reflector144 is on sales in Canada. It has 10% off discount.

I want to order a led light (eventually) and keeping going back to the Mars lights. Since I am in Canada, I've read there's no switches to switch between veg and bloom. Does that mean I need two lights? Also what light would I need for a 50cm by 90 cm by 120cm tent?

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hi Ogug, for the noise, it differs from people. The sound is not loud. Some people will feel quite whille some couldn't accept it. Personally, I think it's not noisy.

Hey Klovneposen that does look lovely!

I would love to try dwc, but im stuck with soil as my medium really (cant afford more nutes etc) But thanks for the idea! So you think i might be able have it a little lower possibly? For air circ,,, being microish and all would be a 9" fan across the plants - but only a 120mm pc fan as exhaust/passive intake - would that cause more probs?

I was thinking though, if i hung the led say 1" or 2" from the roof of it, with the 9" pot - at seedling stage i would have about 24" to the light. The plant could grow to 12" to keep the led 12" away. I would lst and (Attempt to first time ever) scrog. I could put an inch less of soil in the pots and get maybe an extra inch at a push.

It's either go with this led - or just use a 200w cfl in a 26" cab (they have to be trained in there to about 12" aswell)

Could i ask aswell, how is the fan noise on them as its kind of stealthy!

I'd love to get the reflector 48 in that 34" cab if i could.

 

[Mars Hydro]

haha, most will turn on both for the whole cycle.

For the bloom and veg switches don't worry about it. Those of us with switches just leave them in bloom all the time even when vegging. The veg switch just turns off a large portion of the leds. Not sure why you would only want part of your light turned on...

 

[Mars Hydro]

We will owe to the courier. They are super nice sometimes.

As a Canadian buyer, the biggest surprise to me was ordering a Mars 2 and having it delivered two days later for free! Great service.

LOL, this Windsor guy received (2) 144 5w delivered in one day, free too.

 

[Cheers]

Hey Sara, i plan on buying the Reflector 96 unit. Any forum discount codes? Unit will be purchased in the US.

 

[Mars Hydro]

that's all right, Engineer.

I am very sorry for assuming that Sara, was just thinking of where the difference of the current per led comes from.