Led light Discussion!

[fishinbuddy]

Guess I just blew past the link to them, my bad. Guess my punishment is to go sit in the corner and smoke some for being bad and not paying attention more. The punishment is so harsh. LOL We all know how to find them.

[fishinbuddy]

I agree. I have time, not in a rush.... going to keep researching and see what comes up. If they are having a problem then a $1000 could end up being cheaper in the long run due to the hassle and the possibility of lost crop and so on. I also have seen that some mfr have run into a bod bunch of LED in the automotive market, so I know there's that chance with any product out there. But what it boils down to do they stand behind their product or run like hell when it fails...

Not knowing the rest of the story.... it could really still be a very good product in the long run. I think I'm going to check and see if I can find that post again and see what the final out come was.

[DarkLotus760]

Hi Fishinbuddy,
Your not the first person that I have seen talk about how MARS have not been good on their warranty a few other grow forums have said the same thing as well and I have also seen off youtube that people have been having problems with them burning out after a few months, I concerned with this emailed them and had talked to a guy named Stephan from Mars because I was concerned about this issue and he said that the issues where isolated issues but I don't know about their lights after all because instead of answering my questions completely he was too busy trying to get me to buy their lights which made me wonder wtf if I am going to be a customer wouldn't you want to answer the consumers questions. Which IMO makes me put wanting one of their light's on hold for the moment until I see more review about their product.

[fishinbuddy]

Just doing some additional reading to check things out on other forums and ran across this post. Wondering if this is a isolated situation or more. I have also seen where this person named Sara who works for Mars post comments in a third forum and then also that Mars has a habit of giving away free lights to get their name and product out there.
Here the post:


Mars ii and Warranty Issues

Fellow Growers,
Warning to you about the purchase of lights from Mars Hydro LED - the Best Solutions for Horticulture and Indoor Plants formally called Led Grow Lights for indoor plants-Top Led admin removed the link). Their main product line is the Mars ii LED

I had purchased about 4 lights from their sales person Sara. Had no issues with the purchase, or shipping. Fast response as well.

However, when I had about 5 diodes fail.....communication came to a stand still. This is within the first 3 months and a 3 year warranty. I have tried for over a month to get a response( starting Nov 4). They only responded once, informing me they were on their way. When I asked for the tracking number, I no longer got a response. My 4-5 additional email requests for an update received no response as well. My last email informed them that I would be posting my experience, I gave them 48 hours......but nothing.

So be warned my friends, that they do not honor their warranty policy. I tired many times so that I dont have to go down this road of posting warnings to consumers.

Has this Sara made any posts or contact here or has anyone heard of this situation?

I'm not slamming Mars, just showing some concern is all, I don't want to be dropping $300 a light every 3 to 4 months. Then I also ask what good is a 3 year warranty if you can't collect on it? Not like I can just hop in the car and go pay them a visit.

Just concerned any thoughts?

[fishinbuddy]

Thanks slo-han. I looked around and everything I was finding was 5w and not the recommended 3w. Then I see what you're recommending, check them on EBay and crap they want $487each, check the mfr website and they are $304 each or cheaper if buying 2 or 3. Surprised me they would be cheaper there. So that's the way I will go as soon as I begin putting everything together after the first of the year. Thanks again!!

[slo-han]

MarsHydro seems to be working for a bunch of people - the green ones have a switch for veg and bloom. Also look for reflector quality I hear they are the better ones - nice avatar - go hawks - slo-han

[fishinbuddy]

Newbie here getting my research done before attempting my first grow. I plan to use LED lighting, my experience in the automotive/truck aftermarket has so many positives and as reading here and other place the savings on electrical is considerable not to mention other advantages.

Question is has any one really came up with a fair priced lamp assy to get this done? Not too concerned about it coming from China look how much other crap we get from there. But the price spectrum goes from $100's to $1,000's, there has to be a happy medium there for a descent product.

Anyone have any preferences or input to share?

Will be using them for the complete cycle sprout to harvest so they will be adjustable and contain the different colors need for each step. The plan is to purchase 2 in the start and go from there as I grow it to a more stream line operation.

Any thoughts...

[kbag]

Darklotus i am going to answer your questions to the best of my ability in my grow diary. So if you would like take a look at look at that post i hope it will be helpful to you.

[DarkLotus760]

Hey kbag,
I have been looking into the same light and am a little curious about it I was wondering what is the heat temp at with this light running? And how's your plants responding to the light? Is it better than the HIDS? Also I was reading that using L.E.D.S that you use more cal/mag have you had this issue?

[slo-han]

Thanks Dark for the interesting read and for taking the time. They are still trying to get it right and that's a good thing. The two I have are 3w and I will be playing with them again. Just like anything else, there is a learning curve and all input is appreciated - slo

[DarkLotus760]

Hey Slo since we are talking about LED Lights thought I would throw this info I found on LED lights I too have been looking into them. ~~LED grow lights have come a long way in a very short amount of time. Manufacturers first started using 1/16th Watt diodes and then used larger and larger diodes as the technology advanced. Now you can find diodes even up to 50 Watts and larger, but is bigger always better when it comes to LED grow lights? The answer is No. The ideal diode size for LED grow lights is the 3 Watt diode.
Although 1/16th Watt diodes are too weak to grow much of anything and 1 Watt diodes by themselves do not penetrate enough, diodes that are too large are also counterproductive for indoor growing. Save the 10 Watt diodes for street lamps. They have no business going into grow lights as they are much more expensive on a $/Watt basis, give off more heat and completely defeat the whole purpose of growing efficiently with LEDs.
~~The 3 watt diode provides the ideal balance of canopy penetration without having excess heat problems that come with larger diodes. With 3 watt diodes, a grow light is able to penetrate up to 5 feet past the plant’s canopy which is what is needed for commercial indoor growers.
What are the drawbacks of using 5Watt, 10Watt or larger diodes in a grow light? The first issue is heat dissipation. As the diode size increases, so does the amount of heat that needs to be dissipated by the diode chip. Larger wattage diodes need larger heat sinks to dissipate the heat that they give off. This results in heavier and bulkier lights. The second issue is of chip density. Since the 5Watt and 10Watt diodes give off more heat, they must be spaced further apart to avoid thermal failure. They cannot be packed as densely as the 3 watt chips. The result is a less densely packed grow light that is heavier and bulkier.
The third major drawback of the 5Watt and 10Watt diodes is that they are too expensive. They cost more and are also more expensive on a $/watt and $/ square foot basis. A quick analysis shows that it is not worth paying a premium to have larger diodes in LED grow lights. They are unnecessary for indoor growers and come at a burdensome cost of increased prices, less densely packed network of diodes, and bulkier grow lights.
Bigger is not always better. When it comes to the question of the ideal diode size for indoor LED grow lights, the 3 watt diode is the smartest choice for any indoor growing project.

[slo-han]

That is exactly what I am trying to do - understand them, 3w, 5w, seems it all comes down to how many of them per how big a grow - we all get that but, what I'm trying to get a finger on is why did my predominantly blue led has leds smaller than the predominantly red led panel. All the lumens and par values are the same. Different manufacturers? A breakthrough on led design? I will probably never know and does it matter - if they work - that matters, and finding out how to work them is what I want to learn. So, we have learned that the leds cause the plants to leach out the calcium and the magnesium and sulfur so more is needed and until the plants get used to them the leds must be slowly manipulated. We also know there is a pretty good savings on the elec. bill. Anybody got anything else? - -slo

[Mega nute]

From people who understand them! Well said Slo. That one line really say's it all when trying to grow under LED's for me! Thanks, Mega

[slo-han]

I might have stated that wrong - they were closer and burned them a bit so had to move them away. I have also learned that one has to learn how to manipulate the chems as they use up cal/mag and sulfur pretty quick. Yes there is a bunch of jargon to read/learn on and it's gonna get worse before it gets better but I think this is the future for growers as I have seen some amazing results from people who understand them

[oleman]

Also, I should have mentioned that I have the green lights with the reflectors and veg-bloom switches.
Have a good1. Mike