Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light Discussion

[LEDBud]

I added more heat sinks to my 300w old style panels. There was space to add two 1x6" heat sinks to the middle and one 1x6" on each end of the board.

My reason for doing it besides the obvious is that I noticed the center fan vents were not as warm as the side vents I deduced the missing center heat sinks were the cause so I added them. The center vents air is now as warm as the side vents exhaust air.

As a side effect my panels gained 10w of wattage even after its warm / to temp. I say that as when you first plug the panel in the watts read higher by 10-20 watts then 5 or 10 minutes later it settles back down. I think its the heat that cause the watts to drop after the panels warm up. The added heat sinks help fix it.

they were 190w when warm now 200w

 

[randy355]

An Apple Iphone and a knock off Sciphone are both made in the same country, but there is no comparison in price or quality.

Your friggin Yugo will be in the junk yard soon especially after you turbo charge it, but I'm not telling you any thing you don't already know.

I don't know about you, but there is no way in hell I am forking out that kind of cash for the super duper remote controlled model no matter who makes it. Common sense must prevail. I don't replace my phone every time they add a little memory capability either. I don't try to keep up with the Jones

I feel somewhere the point was missed that most of us do not have a light but we have many lights and to step up to a newer and better light is something we might do but it needs to fit in with what we have or at least have been tested and shown superior to our existing lights. Perhaps when it is shown to be a large improvement or when it is carried by the local shippers and the price drops I might consider it if existing lights need replacement but for now why have a remote control or smart light when the rest are stupid like their owner.

 

[LEDBud]

I think the people using LED's are the opposite of stupid , they work great and cost less to operate then the cheaper HID

HID lights suck 1/3 to 1/2 more energy then LED panels and need to have the bulbs replaced every 6 months. That can add up , especially with the electric bill.

The future really is friendly , check on some peoples LED grow journals here on the site - AMAZING results can be had from a cheap set of LED panels.

My 600w at the wall watts in LED panels only cost me $360 from Mars Hydro.

 

[randy355]

So Sara with all these lights being altered where does Mars Hydro stand on the warranty?

 

[Mars Hydro]

thank you flyboy for the advices. The flange design is really convenient.

Cool air from where , the top of the hot tent , and I've never seen a computer that has heat sinks that blow on them , they pull air off them and out of the case , all computers are built with the air being blown out , not into
, with my design there is not hot air anymore, that's what I have been saying , the whole thing is now cool to the touch , the case , the top , everywhere... Don't think the fans will have a problem.

And now my fans are pulling cool air over the drivers and caps and heatsinks, then blown out the top and removed by my inline centrifugal fan.

I tested this over 5 years ago with the 1w chips and it helped , just thought I'd pass on a why to extend the life of your investment and keep your room cooler more efficient, it would be possible to make a light with fans blowing up and then have an attachment for 4 inch ducting to run through my tent to outside , then I could remove another energy drain and use the fans already in the lights .

If you took the black dog design, which is ideal, and put a flange on one side so you could attach ducting to run out of tent ,this would be an awesome implementation imho. It would pull air all the way through your tent and out , while removing the hot air from the light and then it would give you the options of flush mounting your lights , if necessary.

Just looking at those other ones , one can see how the whole case aides in air flow and removal, air flows straight through, over big heatsinks and right out the other side , no vents on 2 sides or the top , so air can only go through and out , one way . Much better design and could be implemented into the MarsHydro very easy , then leave the glass on as this design removes the build up of heat in the case , and that is part of the problem right there , the case , as hot air is blown down into your lights and over the heatsinks and drivers before it blows into the walls of your tent it losses some heat to the case and heats the case , this could be better .

 

[randy355]

I think the people using LED's are the opposite of stupid , they work great and cost less to operate then the cheaper HID

HID lights suck 1/3 more energy and need to have the bulbs replaced every 6 months. That can add up.

The future really is friendly , check on some peoples LED grow journals here on the site - AMAZING stuff

If this is directed to me I referred to stupid as in no remote, set up and control by hand, I parked my hid lights long ago and only run LED's and will never go back now as for me I'm old and don't want any remotes except for the TV and perhaps stupid since I can't understand why I would need one.

My last grow was only 600 grams per plant avg hope to do better next time Have a good one

 

[LEDBud]

I have seen people send the panels back over 1 led light going out ( obsessive compulsive ? )

Mars still stands behind them !

 

[Mars Hydro]

well said randy, I am not an expert in mechanics. The fan and air-flow design is the test result from our engineers. The modification sounds reasonable, but we can not assure the performance. Personally, I hope it will turn out to be useful.

The big thing in a enclosed area whether a tent or a room is air flow, colder air settles so intake should be at the bottom and hot air rises so exhaust at the top and the air in the middle should be mixed at different levels (multiple fans and oscillating) to fight mold or hot spots and strengthen the plants. With good air flow I have never had a Mars Hydro light that ran over 105 f and my tent stays in the mid 80's with the equivalent of four plus 1200 lights without any modification.
As for the direction of flow the factory way gives a unobstructed intake and controls the exhaust to the outside of the case, with the fans reversed and the glass removed you have no control of where the air is coming from and no control of what is getting cooled in the many passages between the drivers and power supplies. Air, water, or electricity will always follow the path of least resistance and that path might not be to what really needs cooling.

 

[LEDBud]

If this is directed to me I referred to stupid as in no remote, set up and control by hand, I parked my hid lights long ago and only run LED's and will never go back now as for me I'm old and don't want any remotes except for the TV and perhaps stupid since I can't understand why I would need one.

My last grow was only 600 grams per plant avg hope to do better next time Have a good one

I totally agree , lol. NICE HARVEST per Plant WOW

I have no use for sunset and dazzle features myself either..

 

[Mars Hydro]

thank you for the input, plugged, I agree, a flex from outside is better.

Ok but the cpu makes the heat and the fan is not sucking the heat off the heatsink. The case fan does exhaust. If your exhausting your tent there shouldn't be alot of temp difference top to bottom. If you really want to cool it attach a flex from outside the tent to the fan blowing into the light which would do more for cooling.

 

[Mars Hydro]

Alibongo, thank you, you actually said the same as the engineer after I checked with him.

I certainly won't disrespect your knowledge. But I fail to see why your idea is better than what's already in place. Yes heat in a grow room rises. Hence there usually being a carbon filter at the top pulling air out with passive vents dotted about pulling cool air in. If air flow in a tent is well dialed in the top to bottom of a grow room won't differ by more than a couple degrees. Il pop a pik on. It's my room now. After 17 hours of a 20/4 light cycle. My thermometer has two numbers. Top numbers top of tent were the thermo is and bottom numbers at plant hight..... The heat sinks need air hitting them to cool them. Even warm air hitting them is better than warm air being pulled from them.

 

[Mars Hydro]

a little confused cause I don't have talent in mechanics as you do, a little anticipating cause I am bold myself, nevertheless, I have to say, that's a good job.

Here is my modified one , didn't have any black tape or it might look better
I dremeled the spots out for the fans to fit and glued them to hold in , not really necessary. Only the other end is open for air to flow across , I bought a laser temp gun and ran some preliminary tests , case was at about 70 or less all over , pointing it inside onto the heatsinks gets into the 80s the LEDs are hot no matter what, the board runs 140+ and the LEDs are 150+ , if it's in a tent with a small 6 inch fan pointed up at it with no glass it's cooler . I'll have exact specs soon , when everything turns on tonight I will get temps from my modified MarsHydro 1200w that I changed the fans to blow up instead of in and one unchanged.

 

[Mars Hydro]

welcome Stoney, the old mode 60x5w will work great. Check the grow journal where you will find growers share the grow with 60x5w. You will like there.

I just got a 60x5w 300 watt marshydro led I have it next to my 400 watt HPS. My grow area is a 38x38x79. I would love to hear from anyone who has completed a grow with this model the 60x5 300 watt. Like is it worth it did it live up to your standards and so on. Thanks

 

[Mars Hydro]

yes flyboy, we will take it. Thank you very much.

It's pretty thick and absorbs quite a bit of heat , it's about 3mm thick. And yes I agree with the fan in or out , really doesn't matter , I would prefer it blow up and is therefore caught immediately by my exhaust fan . All I'm saying is I think the design can be improved upon and MarsHydro could implement changes in the future that would benefit us all .

 

[ugdfuiga]

At the end of the day , all I use are marshydro, and a lot of them . I think they are bad ass and I will continue my support for the company

 

[ganjazz]

Harvest from 3 plants so far.

Two more ladies left, cut soon.

(send pm Sarah)

 

[Mars Hydro]

yes we will.

I think he's saying it's cooling the sinks with the air generated being sucked in across the sinks and out the other end.
I kind of understand your theory. No I do understand ur theory completely. I just can't get my head round why?

Is there an overheating problem with these? And do these fans have enough power to pull air for cooling? Pushing is one thing but pulling is another

I'm sure mars will listen they seem to be good at taking customers opinions on board and implementing them if it's for the good

 

[Mars Hydro]

Gnarl Gnarl Gnarl... have I ever told you how much I love the way you talk. I like the faint "sarcasm" in your words with fragrence, haha. I do agree that our labor is cheap, but inferior materials, maybe some of them are inferior. Sometimes, there are more than one way of looking at one phenomenon. In some cases, the same product with the same materials will differ a lot in price, considering the target customer, the brand name, the advertisement and the demands and supplies, etc.
Why they are overpriced? I totally agree that there are reasons, better chips and better design. However, is it really worth that much？A few of you guys want to overkill in tent. Enough is good. In most cases, even though we are the basically the same, they still charge more.
As for the copy, we need to make a deep research and trace to the education systems difference in Western countries and China. Nevertheless, the fact is that copy costs less comparing to the cost of infringement of patent law. The remark is just for the common situation. Our light has got patent already. If you guys found other company has the same design as us, tell us.
A little wordy here, sorry, Gnarl, I just feel so excited to talk to you again after the happy holiday!

I promised myself I'd be less opinionated on this forum, but I knew that wouldn't last so I will just make a couple of points here.

First, why not alter the lights?

No matter if your alterations are good or bad they violate the warranty, which considering the failure rate of drivers, is not a good idea. Mr Tight who is a tester of the 1200 posted in his last grow vid that a driver failed and he will be posting a vid how to change drivers soon.

Lastly, why did you choose to purchase from Mars Hydro?

Price.
We all know that any thing made in China is a cheap knock off whether it be a cell phone, fighter jet, aircraft carrier, baby formula, drywall or an LED light. China uses cheap labor and inferior materials to copy some other product and do it at a fraction of the price. We all know that.

Myself I chose the Mars Hydro because it was a fraction of the cost of a Black Dog. I couldn't justify paying what Black Dog was asking and I bought the Mars Hydro fully aware of the reputation of Chinese made products, but I hoped that it would perform well enough to accomplish my goals. All in all it has and I am satisfied that I got the best light for the price I paid.

You don't buy a Yugo expecting it to be a Cadillac, but when you buy that Yugo you knew what you were getting before you paid the piper.

If you alter a product, violate the warranty and it fails I would think you are just spit out of luck.
If you want a light that sucks instead of blows I don't recommend that you alter it, just buy what you want in the first place.

As long as my Mars keeps doing the job and Sara and Lucy keep doing a great job for me I am happy with what I have. I knew what I was getting when I bought it.

 

[Mars Hydro]

nice~~

Here is a pic of my current grow with the old 300w Mars Hydro.

 

[Mars Hydro]

haha plugged, now the remote control is weeping at the corner. The system is very intelligent. Our MarsII and Reflector will still be available.

Where is Black Dog stuff made ? Now Mars Hydro is as costly as the others with advent of the stupid remote control (IMO ) I want my friggin Yugo to make highway speed maybe a turbo will do it