Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light Discussion

[randy355]

Hmmmm, I thought my group of friends was the only ones who used "PFM", maybe we know each other.

I agree with what you say, I have a lot of experience with electronic systems. Back in my signal corps days we didn't attribute defective modules to "inappropriate usage" we simply wrote down "operator head space" as the reason for failure.

I beat up aircraft before retirement and PFM was easier than explaining to management what really was wrong

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hello ganjaz9r, thanks for the first post and checking the tread from 1st post till now.
MarsII and Reflector are the series we have now. Our new series Mars Pro will come out soon and can take pre-order now.
Just as MarsII, Reflector has been updated to 5w now. The penetration is the same.
Reflector has switches for veg and bloom, while only MarsII 1600w has switches.
25~50w per sqft is a widely recognized range. If it's over 50w sqft, you may need CO2 supplementation and take much care of heat.
For 1.5ftx1.5ft, Reflector 192x5w is overkill. The draw power of Reflector 192x5w is about410w. You will get about 180w per sqft.
Reflector 48w is square and will fit for your tent. The draw powr of Reflector48 is about 100w. For your 1.5ftx1.5ft, the true power per sqft is about 40w/sqft.

Hey I'm new here on this Forum and just want to say hi to all led / Mars hydro lovers in this Thread.

i did some research on led Lights and would like to convert my actual setup into led. I saw many good grow reports here using both Lights from Mars hydro.

I Started at page 1 with reading, but stopped after i recognized that there are 1064 Pages =D

I'm really unsure which Light to get because there are so Many different Models from Mars hydro.
i would love to hear some opinions from People who already used Mars II or/and reflector Series and maybe the difference between the two. i know that Mars II seems to have better Penetration but they use the Same 5w Chips and Same spectrum as new reflector Series. So why is penetration better? I saw that many of you use the Mars II only for Flowering.

My Plan is to perform the grow in 1 tent with about 1.5ftx1.5ft, maybe i'll get a second tent for veg only later.

i already know that i should have 25-50w per sqft. Does it affect anything when i have much more power?

my Plan was to get one of the new 192x5w reflector Series because it fits exactly in my tent (it is Square) and i have veg and Bloom Switches but before placing an Order i would love to hear what you are thinking.

i'm sorry if this question was already asked many times before


i'm looking forward to read all your Comments

thanks in advance

ganjaz9r

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hello nivek~

oh, good q

 

[Mars Hydro]

wow, it's very thorough. very good advice about the distance. The power difference results in different coverage. In fact, the average watt per sqft at the same height is close.

For those asking about height from seedlings. I have a Mars II 1200w and find it needs to be raised well in excess of the recommendations on the Mars Hydro website for germination. If you look at the website you will see that whether the model is the 400w or the 1600w, the recommended height is the same, which doesn't seem quite right to me considering there is a massive difference in power between the models.

So I have my 1200w light no closer than 1.5m from freshly popped seedlings and they seem to thrive. Short node distances, nice squat plants. I suspect it could be raised to the top of the tent and they still would grow fine.

Another tip - if you have a small humidity dome with a couple of peat pellets / rockwool cubes in it, you can sit it on top of the light and this will aid in germination - just make sure you don't cover up any of the fans and the dome is air (and water) tight. I did this recently and the temperature of the light was perfect at approx 30 degrees celcius. For a humidity dome I used one of those empty food containers like what you get when you buy a bakery treat such as a croissant or apple danish etc as they are extremely light and used a couple of small peat pellets and they germinated twice as fast as any other method I've used.

 

[Mars Hydro]

Yes, it is, thanks ,randy.

It is the power cord that came with the light

 

[Mars Hydro]

thank you for the help, Dennise

I have a 96x3 and a 144x5 so not exactly but close. I haven't seen a differences in temps but I think the penetration is better with the 5w....

 

[Mars Hydro]

thank you! randy, you explain it better than me, in a more practical way.

Heat is always a big problem with electronics exhaust should be at the top of the enclosure (heat rises) air inlets at the bottom and as much movement as possible by fans at different levels check the temps and humidity in different areas if air is circulating should be near the same everywhere as the plants get larger more fans are usually needed and carbon filters should be hung from the ceiling not on the floor.
If you spray your leaves to feed your plant do it an hour after the lights are off and cool and any on the light will dry before they come back on just common sense will go along way in keeping your lights happy

 

[ganjazz]

Some tops becoming cola's

 

[gudyul]

Hi Sara, OK moisture may be the culprit. Can you find out what level of humidity would be too much humidity for Mars -hydro lights? or is moisture a moot issue now with the upgraded drivers? Thanks for your kind response in advance.

 

[Asiana]

Email sent) I was waiting all the weekend to get the answer. Hope I worried for nothing...

Hello Asiana, could you send me the email again? My computer got crashed and couldn't find the email.　

 

[flexy123]

Be very careful with the Canna Terra Pro. It is great soil, however, I find it needs some perlite added to it to help me avoid overwatering issues. I have been using it for a while and add as much as 50% perlite into the mix. Remember, Canna Terra Pro is mostly peat and has nowhere near the amount of perlite as something like Pro-Mix HP (from what I can tell visually anyway, as Pro-Mix is not available in my country). If you look at Mr Tight's Youtube videos you will see what I am talking about, there is a big difference.

Also make sure you feed - water - water because it will trap nutrients in it and if you are using inorganic nutrients you will get some serious nutrient burn when those salts build up. Trust me, I speak from experience.

So what you're saying here (trying to understand, I just got up ) that CTP holds too much water and also that the water doesn't drain off that easily as with other soils? I think I see what you're saying here since I see that too, it holds water for a long time and I have not actually managed it to water and see water flowing off. Interesting. So....that would also mean that if I get nutrients in the future I should buy organic nutrients since there wouldn't be this buildup? I will take a look at those videos for sure.

 

[Mars Hydro]

haha, that's good idea and it's possible. We are considering about adding grow accessories like glasses. Any more ideas are much appreciated.

A word of advice to any one who thinks of trouble shooting their lights on their own:
Don't do what I did.

I set it on edge on the kitchen table with it facing down the hall. It was late at night and when I plugged it in it was so bright that I could see the curtains on the back wall of my bedroom smoking some 40 feet away and all the neighbors thought I was being abducted by aliens!

If you think a 1200 W Mars II seems bright inside the tent, let me tell you it's a laser show out in the open.

Speaking of which, Sara, have you considered adding LED glasses to your product line?

You might even include a pair with each more expensive fixture. Or just give them away because you love us so much.

 

[arellanobrian]

Glasses would be awesome!! i feel like im going blind when i spend to much time in the garden lol and the growing supplies i use are trimming scissors, scrog net, pots, light hangers, duct/inline fans, and of course nutrients and soil but i've never heard of Chinese nutes!! haha i'd try them

 

[Asiana]

Yay! Thank you so much Sara! My light and tent is on the way!

Does anyone have an idea if its hard to instal everything myself or I will definatelly need some help from a man?

 

[Gnarl E Green]

Yay! Thank you so much Sara! My light and tent is on the way!

Does anyone have an idea if its hard to instal everything myself or I will definatelly need some help from a man?

It's very simple to install yourself unless you are vertically challenged then you might need some one taller to help, doesn't necessarily have to be a man.

 

[Mars Hydro]

lesson learned, thanks, Gnarl, so "operator head space" is the better expression for the situation. Maybe "inapproriate usage" will incur some negative feeling...

Hmmmm, I thought my group of friends was the only ones who used "PFM", maybe we know each other.

I agree with what you say, I have a lot of experience with electronic systems. Back in my signal corps days we didn't attribute defective modules to "inappropriate usage" we simply wrote down "operator head space" as the reason for failure.

 

[Mars Hydro]

just curious, what is PFM

I beat up aircraft before retirement and PFM was easier than explaining to management what really was wrong

 

[Mars Hydro]

bon grow!

Some tops becoming cola's

 

[Gnarl E Green]

lesson learned, thanks, Gnarl, so "operator head space" is the better expression for the situation. Maybe "inapproriate usage" will incur some negative feeling...

No Sara, "operator head space" implies that the user didn't have enough brains to operate the machinery properly. (Human error) And PFM means Pure F@cking Magic. How did you fix that? PFM ....

I was having fun with the post, but actually looking for exact technical reasons for drivers and power supplies failing so soon. Such as resistor R7 burned out or capacitor C3 shorted to ground or something similar.

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hi gudyul, the ratio of broken driver in all the drivers in use is very small. In most cases, the drivers can stand the humidity within 80%. If the humidity is above this and the temperature drops sharply, the water vapour will condense to waterlogging. The drivers in new light are better than before. And not only for the new light, the new production will also come with better drivers, as we are keeping upgrading.

Hi Sara, OK moisture may be the culprit. Can you find out what level of humidity would be too much humidity for Mars -hydro lights? or is moisture a moot issue now with the upgraded drivers? Thanks for your kind response in advance.