Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light Discussion

[Zombiewoof]

HiSara !
been away while ,
my Mars II 3 each 900's & 3 each 400's produced the best weed I've ever smoked , bested even the top shelf @ the dispensaries here in my area .
tric production was off the hook on both Bomb's THC & Barney's LSD
tight assed buds as well

I'm interested in that new 5watter reflector

NOW does that come with Cree 5 watt leds ?
are they all Cree ?
is the IR infrared leds still there ?
are they in stock in the USA ?

 

[TheMunchies]

The one hanger that was loose in the video has now completely fallen off the light, I received these lights last Tuesday and went to hang them today. So disappointed, I'd even say heart broken. This has stopped my operation completely. I didn't feel comfortable leaving the other light hanging considering i was holding one of the other lights hangers, in my hand.....

I am hoping to return these to get my money back. ($400+) or Get them replaced with a Mars 2 as it seems the reflectors are poorly made.

 

[Robert Celt]

I wouldn't say they were poorly made mate. As much as we would like it otherwise, when it comes to mass production, 100% QC never happens. This is why Mars Hydro tries to keep construction simple so we can fix minor problems ourselves. Shipping it back to the company for repairs costs us as growers because we lose our lights for weeks.
Just like buying a new car that has problems, only you can't take it to a local dealership

 

[TheMunchies]

I wouldn't say they were poorly made mate. As much as we would like it otherwise, when it comes to mass production, 100% QC never happens. This is why Mars Hydro tries to keep construction simple so we can fix minor problems ourselves. Shipping it back to the company for repairs costs us as growers because we lose our lights for weeks.
Just like buying a new car that has problems, only you can't take it to a local dealership

At this point one of them must be sent back for repairs, I'm going to send both and hopefully get a mars 2 1200 as a replacement.

 

[uhewekguilw]

Money transfer from PayPal complete ! 60x5 light just ordered on Amazon !!!

Awesome! I was thinking the one they gave me was the ufo but I ended up with the 48x3 reflector. I'd rather have the reflector anyway, but with 5 watt diodes... but hey, it was free and when it gets here I'll decide if I want to go all led for veg or keep my t5. I'll do a check on the reflector when it gets here, seems like I need to grab some Loctite for the hangers before I install it though. Enjoy your light uptosumpn!

 

[Wahtoogee]

Munchies, the hangars just have a nut on the inside that came loose... It will take about 5 minutes to fix if you wanted to. I can see you wanting to upgrade to the Mars II, don't get me wrong. But at these prices...these lights are a steal. Me, I'd just add a dab of silicone sealer on the loose corners, fix the hangars and grow some weed... But I'm not trying to tell you what to do... I'm sure Sara and crew will make you "whole"..

 

[Xodium]

I'm not sure if some people in this thread have "drank the kool-aid" so to speak or what. But that's 2 people in the last 24 hours that have posted about receiving bad products from M.H. and it really makes me nervous about purchasing their lights. I was pretty much set on purchasing 2 144x5s but now I'm not so sure. I don't want to fix a brand new light, I don't care how easy it is to fix. I don't care if all I have to do is turn a screwdriver 2 times. As a consumer I shouldn't have to worry about any of that. I realize this is 2 in 904 pages and the lights are cost-effective but that's no excuse. There are plenty of people that seem to love their Mars Hydro lights and that's great but with my luck I'd be one of the few who ends up getting a defective light. I'll wait to see how this all turns out before I make my purchase.

 

[Wahtoogee]

Bad products from Mars Hydro??? One has a noisy fan.. One has a hangar loose and the reflector isn't held in the greatest. Me thinks people are making mountains out of molehills... Don't sweat the small stuff. This is SMALL STUFF but if course, IMHO. Actually... Not so humble.

 

[Robert Celt]

Koodos Wahtoogee, I agree whole heartedly LOL

 

[MonkeyTime]

Bad products from Mars Hydro??? One has a noisy fan.. One has a hangar loose and the reflector isn't held in the greatest. Me thinks people are making mountains out of molehills... Don't sweat the small stuff. This is SMALL STUFF but if course, IMHO. Actually... Not so humble.

Reflector not held in the greatest? I can't hang one of my two because the reflector would fall to the ground. I took pins out of one fixture to make one of the two unusable. In my not so humble opinion, that's not a small thing for a brand new, found like that when being opened fixture. What I have seen is a lot of people saying "just fix it yourself",

This particular fixture has just been changed/redesigned. It could be nothing except the diodes that changed, but I find it funny that since they did change it, we're finding the same issue in multiple units.

I have fixtures from other manufacturers, none of them would be considered top of the line, high end fixtures, but none of the others have had issues right out of the box (I've actually had no issues with any of them). I've called two of the manufacturers, spoken to someone that day and had questions answered. It was a simple process.

Unfortunatley that has not been the case at all with Mars-Hydro. I've had emails and PM's not replied to. There is no english phone number to call. And the only consistent way to get anything from this company is thru this forum which is a day to day thing. I joined 420mag to post on this thread about these fixtures.

Maybe someone with an older 144 reflector fixture can chime in on how their reflectors are held onto the fixture. Is it just a small plastic ribbed stud (push in, friction hold)? Even some of mine that were still in place don't hold the reflector up. Which whether you consider that something small or not, isn't. Changing the reflector or lense in any way can make a huge difference on the photometerics.

If Mars-Hydro cares at all about the product they ship, I would think they would want to know about this design flaw so they can evaluate it and make changes. You can't fix something you don't know about.....

Sara, can you provide the ies (photometric design file specific to a fixture) files for your fixtures? I would like to run a few calculations on my space to see what I should be getting out of them at different spacing and heights.

In case you didn't see/get my email, my sales number was 5910.

I can't wait to hear all the support I get over saying anything but a glowing review of these lights, should be fun!

Healthy green all,

MT

 

[TheMunchies]

I'm not sure if some people in this thread have "drank the kool-aid" so to speak or what. But that's 2 people in the last 24 hours that have posted about receiving bad products from M.H. and it really makes me nervous about purchasing their lights. I was pretty much set on purchasing 2 144x5s but now I'm not so sure. I don't want to fix a brand new light, I don't care how easy it is to fix. I don't care if all I have to do is turn a screwdriver 2 times. As a consumer I shouldn't have to worry about any of that. I realize this is 2 in 904 pages and the lights are cost-effective but that's no excuse. There are plenty of people that seem to love their Mars Hydro lights and that's great but with my luck I'd be one of the few who ends up getting a defective light. I'll wait to see how this all turns out before I make my purchase.

I couldn't agree more, when buying any product you don't want this situation. When you open your package your first thought shouldn't be "how to fix it" how could one say this is "small stuff"
Who is looking at a BRAND NEW product the day you're going to set it up and see it has this issue and thinks "oh it's not that bad" . My concerns aren't how to fix it or where I need to glue the panel. I don't work for mars hydro
My concern is my hard earned money was spent on a product that is clearly defective and unable to be used properly, and how it's going to be resolved.

To me this is not small stuff, this is a huge problem for me actually.

 

[Robert Celt]

I feel your frustration Monkey, but as I stated earlier, 100% QC in mass production is near impossible. My father bought a brand new Dodge truck in 1990 and it disscusted me for ever wanting to own one. No major issues but too many minor ones that took the truck out of service for days on end.
Shit happens mate. If I was closer I would offer to fix it for you but doubt I am close enough.
The things you are describing, although major for your grow, are minor in the grand scheme of things when you consider the number of lights produced and sold by Mars Hydro.
I am not trying to diminish your problems, just trying to show that 2 lights out of thousands having problems is actually a pretty good track record considering the number of units sold.
I know fixing things yourself seems ODD, but I feel this is an awesome option offered by MarsHydro. It saves us time (and money for commercial growers) when it comes to our girls and the light they need.

 

[Xodium]

Most certainly! I am not saying that Mars Hydro is a terrible product and nobody should buy them. Not at all and I'm sorry if that post came across like that. I only meant to say that it makes ME nervous to see these types of issues. Like I said, I was 100% on board with buying their lights. I've heard and seen some great things from other growers, Now maybe not 100%.

 

[MonkeyTime]

I feel your frustration Monkey, but as I stated earlier, 100% QC in mass production is near impossible. My father bought a brand new Dodge truck in 1990 and it disscusted me for ever wanting to own one. No major issues but too many minor ones that took the truck out of service for days on end.
Shit happens mate. If I was closer I would offer to fix it for you but doubt I am close enough.
The things you are describing, although major for your grow, are minor in the grand scheme of things when you consider the number of lights produced and sold by Mars Hydro.
I am not trying to diminish your problems, just trying to show that 2 lights out of thousands having problems is actually a pretty good track record considering the number of units sold.
I know fixing things yourself seems ODD, but I feel this is an awesome option offered by MarsHydro. It saves us time (and money for commercial growers) when it comes to our girls and the light they need.

I completely agree on the QC topic and understand that. I can buy a few hundred fixtures for a project and I know that there will be a percentage that will show up either damaged or not working. And that is the same if it's a top end manufacturer or cost effective one. The difference is in how these fixtures are handled. As for your two fixtures out of thousands, You've got 4 out of how many people on this site with the new fixtures? It's not a case of one in a thousand, it's 4 out of about 12 since I started reading this thread and they changed the 144 to 5W diodes. Puts it in a different perspective doesn't it?

If I thought Sara/Mars sending me a bag full of these studs would solve my problem, I would be fine with a temporary fix followed by the defective and missing ones being replaced. That however, would not solve the issue. I have tried pushing them back in, but either the studs are bad, or the mount they get pushed into is too large because they don't hold.

If no one says anything, how do they improve on an obviously poor design choice? This could be as simple as them changing who they outsourced this particular item from and the new company having poor QC (actually, this is the most likely the case lol).

I was unhappy about this to start, but after my last post, I went in to check on my plant before lights out and found one of the reflectors laying on top of my plant. Again, not good.

If I disassemble the one that isn't hung and find that mounting these lenses permanently (superglue, etc) isn't going to cause issues in the future, I have no issues with doing it. But it still gets me that I have to do it from DAY ONE. Especially with a company that so many say has outstanding customer service....... Customer service is more than saying fix it yourself.

I still have high hopes for the fixtures, but would like to think that I can help make Mars aware of the issue while feeling like I got what I paid for.

 

[Six9]

@MonkeyTime, you have a good point on support phone number. I waited two days for some type of order confirmation, was a little uneasy I had to post here to get a shipping confirmation. I know how this works, I've bought many items direct from China, but if pushing for broad USA (or other country) acceptance, support has to be there. With that said, I think they're trying. Good luck!

 

[Robert Celt]

Good point, I agree that reporting issues will help improve their product.

 

[Dennise]

Monkey I can't honestly say I feel your frustration cause out of over 20 lights I have received from Sara every single one has been in perfect working order... I'm not sure how I would feel being in your shoes either... I have been put in that position with another LED company and it was a serious and dangerous situation and I will never run their light again... however in M-H case I would have to agree with all that has been said.... I'm sure Sara will allow you to send the unit back and send you a new one but that takes time.... a thing she has learned is the one thing growers will go ballistic over... girls with no light = no harvest and she knows this.... that is why she gives you the option of fixing little things and it not voiding the warranty... M-H is in the process of trying to find service centers across the country here and in other countries but as she has stated it takes time too.... I am sure that once you get things straightened out... your girls are going to love the lights.... and no I am not in any way form or fashion associated with M-H.... I simply love my lights and the customer service I have received has been above reproach.... I truly am sorry you have had such a rocky start with M-H and I hope it is all straightened out for you soon......

 

[SweetLeef]

Just got my free light!

So stoked!

Thanks Sophia, Sara, and the rest of the family at Mars-Hydro!

Now, to figure out where to hang it... I know! How about in my weed tent!! Hooray

 

[TheMunchies]

Monkey great point on saying that it has mainly been issues with the new 144x5.

I think this is the case as well as I did a lot of research and even had first hand experience with a 144x3 that a friend owns, i never saw any unpleasant post on the light build quality until recently. I almost feel the 144x5 lights that have been sent out were test models or something along those lines.

The way my panel is popping out of the fixture just makes me so paranoid, I don't want to go into my garden one day and have my panels sitting on top of my canopy like you found yours. What a dangerous situation. I'm also glad the hanging fixture came apart when it did as well rather than hanging in my tent and then crashing to the ground.

I'm eagerly waiting for a response to see how they are going to handle this.
The "fix it yourself" motto some people keep bringing up is something I don't want to deal with, this is a brand new product. Even supposed the "newest" of their lights because of the upgraded diodes if I'm not mistaken

 

[Dave Groomer]

Monkey I can't honestly say I feel your frustration cause out of over 20 lights I have received from Sara every single one has been in perfect working order... I'm not sure how I would feel being in your shoes either... I have been put in that position with another LED company and it was a serious and dangerous situation and I will never run their light again... however in M-H case I would have to agree with all that has been said.... I'm sure Sara will allow you to send the unit back and send you a new one but that takes time.... a thing she has learned is the one thing growers will go ballistic over... girls with no light = no harvest and she knows this.... that is why she gives you the option of fixing little things and it not voiding the warranty... M-H is in the process of trying to find service centers across the country here and in other countries but as she has stated it takes time too.... I am sure that once you get things straightened out... your girls are going to love the lights.... and no I am not in any way form or fashion associated with M-H.... I simply love my lights and the customer service I have received has been above reproach.... I truly am sorry you have had such a rocky start with M-H and I hope it is all straightened out for you soon......

Dennise is correct. I had a problem with one of my 400's. I was not able to fix it myself. Sara sent me a shipping label. Boxed it up and sent it out on Monday. Their repair center in Pittsburgh received it on Wed. They shipped it out Thurs and I received it Mon. While not perfect it got my light fixed and I was satisfied with the results. I have suggested to Sara that maybe they could have loaner lights at their repair centers that could be shipped out (Credit card or something for collateral) and when you get your light back fixed you return the loaner. That way you have a light while yours is being fixed.