1200w LED Opinions please

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
Hello
I would appreciate hearing the opinions of LED users about the 1200w MARS 2 panel
LINK below:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mars-1200W-LED-Grow-Light-Hydroponic-Veg-Growth-Flower-Spectrum-5W-Panel-Lamp-/261297127754?pt=UK_Baby_Baby_Feeding_Bottle_Warmers_Coolers_LE&hash=item3cd685c14a

I'm interested in opinions of the actual model AND of the company.

The Ebay pages make a big deal of showing how much better they are than some of the other LED sellers
but they're Chinese - and sometimes the what the Chinese advertise, and what they sell,
are very different things.

OPINIONS PLEASE.
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
on earth the 1200w MARS 2 panel has only half the watt



take two:-P
LED's usually operate quite a bit below the wattage total
I'm unsure how much is too much.

That's why i'm only really wanting opinions from LED users who understand the technology.

I don't know what's usual...???
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
LED's usually operate quite a bit below the wattage total
I'm unsure how much is too much.

That's why i'm only really wanting opinions from LED users who understand the technology.

I don't know what's usual...???
most 3 watt leds are driven to 1.6 -2 watts. Or 5 watt leds are driven to 3-4 watts. Usually 500mA. Smaller panels like Hans are able to be driven 700mA with out issues like the apollos.

guod or supra or scotch or bumping spheda can ring and explain more technical aspects better than I can.
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
595w is 49.6% of 1200w
I don't know much about LED's but that sounds weak.

Most sellers claim that a smaller wattage LED is needed to replace a HID
Eg=600w LED could replace a 1000w HPS.
But I was advised by an LED user (whom appears very informed)
that a straight swap of LED for HID is best,
Eg=600w LED to replace 600w HPS.

Now I'm even more confused....

Would the swap be the LED's TOTAL Wattage (1200w)
or
the LED's ACTUAL Wattage (595w) ???
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
600 actual watts of quality led to a 1000w hps. chinese leds (epistar, bridgelux, epiled, etc..) would be about 800 watts to 1000w hps
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
most 3 watt leds are driven to 1.6 -2 watts. Or 5 watt leds are driven to 3-4 watts. Usually 500mA. Smaller panels like Hans are able to be driven 700mA with out issues like the apollos.

guod or supra or scotch can ring and explain more technical aspects better than I can.
I don't understand much of your post.
"3 watt LED's are driven to 1.6 - 2 watts"
Approx 53% to 67% ???

Your mention of mA's (milli-amps?) really throws me off course!
but I am extremely eager to learn and would welcome suggestions on what to start reading, and where it can be found,
in order to begin an education in LED's and/or understanding electrical measurements.


What is the relevance of mA ???
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
how many mA the drivers are ran and depending on how many led's there are determine how many watts the led's are driven. Running 500mA instead of maxing out at 700mA will drive led's softer . Therefore last much longer. Driving them to their full watts would fry them..
 

Bad Karma

Well-Known Member
The Mars II LED panels are a complete risk, a knock off of BlackDog LED.
I have yet to see one full grow using them that was positive (sorry, BID's popcorn buds don't count).
They use inferior parts (a huge no-no when it comes to LED's) and it's been documented that some of their panels contained metal shavings inside.
Those metal shavings could cause a short circuit, or worse yet, a fire.
Remember, when it looks too good to be true, that's because it is.
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
The Mars II LED panels are a complete risk, a knock off of BlackDog LED.
I have yet to see one full grow using them that was positive (sorry, BID's popcorn buds don't count).
They use inferior parts (a huge no-no when it comes to LED's) and it's been documented that some of their panels contained metal shavings inside.
Those metal shavings could cause a short circuit, or worse yet, a fire.
Remember, when it looks too good to be true, that's because it is.
The MARS ii is made by the same people (ledgrowlightmanufacturer-uk) who make a big song and dance about their factory, on every Ebay offering.
They also include close up photo's of the 'good LED's' (the ones they use) and the 'absolute cheat' LED's (used by 'lesser LED makers).

It seems that this company are much better at advertising their products that they are at actually making them.

May be it's wise to avoid this company, in toto ???
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
WHAT'S A GOOD ALTERNATIVE?
FERO....HANS PANELS....???

And what's a suitable REPLACEMENT FOR A 1000w HID
in a 4 x 4ft Tent??
(It doesn't necessarily have to be ONE PANEL.
If multiple panels would be better, I'm eager to hear them recommended).
 

gu420

Well-Known Member
From looking around, not experience, I'd say 4 Area 51 XGS-190 lights. The only thing is they are all warm white lights which is a concern for me
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
From looking around, not experience, I'd say 4 Area 51 XGS-190 lights. The only thing is they are all warm white lights which is a concern for me
Why?
What concerns you about the WARM WHITE thing?
What would you prefer?
And Why?

I keep coming back to LED's as a possible alternative to my 2800w of HID
but it's a frustrating process - trying to educate oneself to the technology
and the market.
It seems that a seller or manufacturer can make ANY CLAIMS they wish,
about the abilities and quality of their LED's,
without needing to provide the slightest hint of proof.

It's a brave new world dealing with the Chinese.
They seem to have adapted to the capitalist profit motive much faster they've adopted western standards of quality control (or even basic safety).

There's nothing 'bargain priced' about an object that causes your house to burn to the ground.
Is it revenge for the opium wars?
We gave back Hong Kong....
And our politicians are too cowardly to support a Free Tibet.
Can't we all just get along???
 

gu420

Well-Known Member
The plants need red light for blooming. Warm light leans red but is it red enough. I'd prefer high quality, non-chinese lights. Yes there are decent Chinese lighhts but you really don't know what you're going to get. Too many greedy folks with too much power to worry about consequences. Sure you might get executed if you sale poisoned baby formula. Burn down a few houses in the West probably wouldn't raise any eyebrows, much less kill a few pets.

I doubt selling cheap products to Westerners is payback for history. Although they do have long memories. So buying up a ton of T-bills then crashing our economies makes more sense. Which, I guess they need to make the money to buy it in the first place. So yeah they might be looking for payback by selling crap to finance their global domination plans.
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
The plants need red light for blooming. Warm light leans red but is it red enough. I'd prefer high quality, non-chinese lights. Yes there are decent Chinese lighhts but you really don't know what you're going to get. Too many greedy folks with too much power to worry about consequences. Sure you might get executed if you sale poisoned baby formula. Burn down a few houses in the West probably wouldn't raise any eyebrows, much less kill a few pets.

I doubt selling cheap products to Westerners is payback for history. Although they do have long memories. So buying up a ton of T-bills then crashing our economies makes more sense. Which, I guess they need to make the money to buy it in the first place. So yeah they might be looking for payback by selling crap to finance their global domination plans.
Those AREA 51's seem to have one of the best LED reputations on this forum.
I doubt their light spectrum is particularly deficient.
Obviously, if I was considering spending real cash on one, I would ask around to make certain
but Area 51's do receive a great deal forum praise.

CHINA
The global economy means that China NEEDS us NOT TO CRASH (economically).
You can't rob a man who's lost everything.
 

gu420

Well-Known Member
They do have a stellar reputation. I'm 99% sold on the 190's after comparing them to everything else out there from DIY to Apache. But most of the reviews and their rep are based on the 160. I am just a little surprised the 190 is straight warm white.

CHINA
The global economy means that China NEEDS us NOT TO CRASH (economically).
You can't rob a man who's lost everything.
True enough. I just hope they're playing the same game as us.
 

artthug

Active Member
The Mars II LED panels are a complete risk, a knock off of BlackDog LED.
I have yet to see one full grow using them that was positive (sorry, BID's popcorn buds don't count).
They use inferior parts (a huge no-no when it comes to LED's) and it's been documented that some of their panels contained metal shavings inside.
Those metal shavings could cause a short circuit, or worse yet, a fire.
Remember, when it looks too good to be true, that's because it is.
I have both the black dog and mars 2 panels. I also have an engineering background. I've opened up both of these and looked them over completely. Hardware wise there is only one difference and thats the driver. The driver in the mars 2 to is an open air board where the back dog is a sealed module. All I have to say I get the same results using the mars 2 1200 @ 595 watts in a 4x4 area as I do with blackdog 1500 @ 750 watts in the same space. The both grow identical products with in grams of each other.
 

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
Check out the Onyx Grow, it uses 3000K Cree XML2 and a respectable efficiency bin (T4). Input power 250W, dissipation power about 210W. In order to replace a 1000W HPS I would suggest at least 3 of those ($1350 total) but it may take 4 to overtake the HPS.

If you are electrically inclined you could build your own. It would take about 500W to match the HPS and would cost about $680 for parts.
 

Bad Karma

Well-Known Member
I have both the black dog and mars 2 panels. I also have an engineering background. I've opened up both of these and looked them over completely. Hardware wise there is only one difference and thats the driver. The driver in the mars 2 to is an open air board where the back dog is a sealed module. All I have to say I get the same results using the mars 2 1200 @ 595 watts in a 4x4 area as I do with blackdog 1500 @ 750 watts in the same space. The both grow identical products with in grams of each other.
Any chance that you would have some pics of these grows?
 
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