DIY Help with LEDGROWLIGHT upgrade/resturation please

[lightworker30]

Hi there everyone
I need some help by someone good at diy led and able to explain me some things regarding change of components and so on.
I know quite a bit over the avarage joe when it comes to marijuana and led growlights.
I have studied a year electronics and done a whole lot of car audio setups but have yet to build or resturate a led growlight..

So situatuin is i have a mars hydro "900w" 180 x 5w epistar chips ran at i think 2,2w -2,5w pr 5w led depending on chip colour.
I came to that this was the best led light for that amount of money but im very disappointed with it.
I have 4 other much less powerfull led lights that uses 3w epiled chips that seems brighter and i would like to repair two of them and modify the mars ll 900 with only growthspectrum high powered chips from cree xmt like the advanced led diamond veg grow light and or philips luxeon rebel led's as i have heard this is the best led emitters for growlights.

So i wonder can i replace the 180 pcs of 5w epistars thats in my mars so called 11band spec(it looks like a 6-7band spec actually) with just 5 w cree bright white somewhere near 6400kelvin and warm white somewhere around 3500-4000kelvin in nm specs.
In addition to using luxeon rebel royal blue or something.
I was thinking of using only 5w leds as it is already but better and maybe fewer so it will run at about 3,5-4w each.
Can this be done without too much hazzle?
I guess a cree and a luxeon rebel can stand to be ran at higher % from max than those lousy epistar chups that is in the mars.
I dont want to use led for flower before it gets better than in 2014.
The mars ll 900 (180 x 5w )did allright in growth but even with a higher % of red nm than other nm it was crap for flowering and all the blue whites did that it didnt start flowering properly early enough and flowering took much longer in addition too that the strains kept making new pistils on top of the allmost finished and kind of concentrated more on new growth rather then bulking up trichomes.
Out of the following strains Thc Bomb regular,pineapple kush reg,critical reg and Trainwreck fem arcata cut from greenhouse only the trainwreck grew and flowered properly and maybe better than with mh/hps but less yield. The thc bomb did ok and nothing more,the critical was crap but yielded ok and the pineapple kush was total garbage.
All seeds where vegged for 4 weeks and flowered for between 8-17weeks. Lol
The 7-9 week pineapple kush flowered for 17weeks and still was only 15-20percent done.lmao
Bad genetics,a indica dominant kush indoor taking more than 11weeks is whack. I didnt have timenti care for it more and it never got more trichomes on.
This was in a homebox 1m2 with one mars ll 900 (actual draw 400-420w. One sensimilla led 80 x 3w eoiled 7band with uv and ir.
One flower power led 72 x 3w epiled that broke after some weeks total crap with glue floating inside.and it never had above 34 degrees celsius at most.
And when i saw the mars 420w didnt cut it with the sensimililla panel about 165w actual draw side by side i added a 600w hps with small euro reflector and used from day 35 of flower. Many plants didntnseem to understand that they should start flower before days after adding the hps. Except the trainwreck fems that had more trichomes at day 24 of bloom than many strains have after 56 days.
Im very impressed with trainwreck genetics.

So i got a little off track sorry.
Point was i want to modify my mars 900 with cree and luxeon rebel chips only for growth too make use of all driver power for veg and changing too hps in flower until i can afford a led that actually can replace a 600w hps in flower.
Some of the only led brands i trust nowadays is crazy leds and more holographic series 1 by dutchnpassion and grownorthern and Advanced led usa with cree for veg that is.
Not sure if the new holographic can flower better watt for watt than others nowadays. Should think so as it is of what i know to be the highest tech components with optic lenses and digital drivers and synjet fan

 

[wwwillie]

Hey!
Love to help but am a bit lost after reading all of that! If I did get it right, it is your belief that the LEDs in the Mars unit are not to your liking and you would like to replace them all or maybe partially with a brand you like. Sounds like a lot of work! I would suggest that the best thing to do would be look up the data sheets for the lights that are currently in the light. Voltage, current, forward voltage, etc. Then match them with your preferred devices. As long as the critical specs match so you wont overdrive the LED or the drivers you should be good to go!
Good luck mate! If you were to embark on this journey it would make a great DIY article and I would love to see it!!

 

[pop22]

Hi there everyone
I need some help by someone good at diy led and able to explain me some things regarding change of components and so on.
I know quite a bit over the avarage joe when it comes to marijuana and led growlights.
I have studied a year electronics and done a whole lot of car audio setups but have yet to build or resturate a led growlight..

So situatuin is i have a mars hydro "900w" 180 x 5w epistar chips ran at i think 2,2w -2,5w pr 5w led depending on chip colour.
I came to that this was the best led light for that amount of money but im very disappointed with it.
I have 4 other much less powerfull led lights that uses 3w epiled chips that seems brighter and i would like to repair two of them and modify the mars ll 900 with only growthspectrum high powered chips from cree xmt like the advanced led diamond veg grow light and or philips luxeon rebel led's as i have heard this is the best led emitters for growlights.

So i wonder can i replace the 180 pcs of 5w epistars thats in my mars so called 11band spec(it looks like a 6-7band spec actually) with just 5 w cree bright white somewhere near 6400kelvin and warm white somewhere around 3500-4000kelvin in nm specs.
In addition to using luxeon rebel royal blue or something.
I was thinking of using only 5w leds as it is already but better and maybe fewer so it will run at about 3,5-4w each.
Can this be done without too much hazzle?
I guess a cree and a luxeon rebel can stand to be ran at higher % from max than those lousy epistar chups that is in the mars.
I dont want to use led for flower before it gets better than in 2014.
The mars ll 900 (180 x 5w )did allright in growth but even with a higher % of red nm than other nm it was crap for flowering and all the blue whites did that it didnt start flowering properly early enough and flowering took much longer in addition too that the strains kept making new pistils on top of the allmost finished and kind of concentrated more on new growth rather then bulking up trichomes.
Out of the following strains Thc Bomb regular,pineapple kush reg,critical reg and Trainwreck fem arcata cut from greenhouse only the trainwreck grew and flowered properly and maybe better than with mh/hps but less yield. The thc bomb did ok and nothing more,the critical was crap but yielded ok and the pineapple kush was total garbage.
All seeds where vegged for 4 weeks and flowered for between 8-17weeks. Lol
The 7-9 week pineapple kush flowered for 17weeks and still was only 15-20percent done.lmao
Bad genetics,a indica dominant kush indoor taking more than 11weeks is whack. I didnt have timenti care for it more and it never got more trichomes on.
This was in a homebox 1m2 with one mars ll 900 (actual draw 400-420w. One sensimilla led 80 x 3w eoiled 7band with uv and ir.
One flower power led 72 x 3w epiled that broke after some weeks total crap with glue floating inside.and it never had above 34 degrees celsius at most.
And when i saw the mars 420w didnt cut it with the sensimililla panel about 165w actual draw side by side i added a 600w hps with small euro reflector and used from day 35 of flower. Many plants didntnseem to understand that they should start flower before days after adding the hps. Except the trainwreck fems that had more trichomes at day 24 of bloom than many strains have after 56 days.
Im very impressed with trainwreck genetics.

So i got a little off track sorry.
Point was i want to modify my mars 900 with cree and luxeon rebel chips only for growth too make use of all driver power for veg and changing too hps in flower until i can afford a led that actually can replace a 600w hps in flower.
Some of the only led brands i trust nowadays is crazy leds and more holographic series 1 by dutchnpassion and grownorthern and Advanced led usa with cree for veg that is.
Not sure if the new holographic can flower better watt for watt than others nowadays. Should think so as it is of what i know to be the highest tech components with optic lenses and digital drivers and synjet fan

I think what you need to do is get a light meter and measure your light intensity are various points in the light foot print. I'm having a hard time believing that your 900 watt light "isn't bright enough" unless it is malfunctioning, in which case you need to get in touch with MarsHydro. You can't just switch out the LEDs, without also getting matching dirvers, etc. More work and expense than its worth. I've got a generic 900 watt LED and right now, its growing me some damn fine buds. Give me a good, price, I'll take that Mars off your hands..........

 

[mauricem00]

Hi there everyone
I need some help by someone good at diy led and able to explain me some things regarding change of components and so on.
I know quite a bit over the avarage joe when it comes to marijuana and led growlights.
I have studied a year electronics and done a whole lot of car audio setups but have yet to build or resturate a led growlight..

So situatuin is i have a mars hydro "900w" 180 x 5w epistar chips ran at i think 2,2w -2,5w pr 5w led depending on chip colour.
I came to that this was the best led light for that amount of money but im very disappointed with it.
I have 4 other much less powerfull led lights that uses 3w epiled chips that seems brighter and i would like to repair two of them and modify the mars ll 900 with only growthspectrum high powered chips from cree xmt like the advanced led diamond veg grow light and or philips luxeon rebel led's as i have heard this is the best led emitters for growlights.

So i wonder can i replace the 180 pcs of 5w epistars thats in my mars so called 11band spec(it looks like a 6-7band spec actually) with just 5 w cree bright white somewhere near 6400kelvin and warm white somewhere around 3500-4000kelvin in nm specs.
In addition to using luxeon rebel royal blue or something.
I was thinking of using only 5w leds as it is already but better and maybe fewer so it will run at about 3,5-4w each.
Can this be done without too much hazzle?
I guess a cree and a luxeon rebel can stand to be ran at higher % from max than those lousy epistar chups that is in the mars.
I dont want to use led for flower before it gets better than in 2014.
The mars ll 900 (180 x 5w )did allright in growth but even with a higher % of red nm than other nm it was crap for flowering and all the blue whites did that it didnt start flowering properly early enough and flowering took much longer in addition too that the strains kept making new pistils on top of the allmost finished and kind of concentrated more on new growth rather then bulking up trichomes.
Out of the following strains Thc Bomb regular,pineapple kush reg,critical reg and Trainwreck fem arcata cut from greenhouse only the trainwreck grew and flowered properly and maybe better than with mh/hps but less yield. The thc bomb did ok and nothing more,the critical was crap but yielded ok and the pineapple kush was total garbage.
All seeds where vegged for 4 weeks and flowered for between 8-17weeks. Lol
The 7-9 week pineapple kush flowered for 17weeks and still was only 15-20percent done.lmao
Bad genetics,a indica dominant kush indoor taking more than 11weeks is whack. I didnt have timenti care for it more and it never got more trichomes on.
This was in a homebox 1m2 with one mars ll 900 (actual draw 400-420w. One sensimilla led 80 x 3w eoiled 7band with uv and ir.
One flower power led 72 x 3w epiled that broke after some weeks total crap with glue floating inside.and it never had above 34 degrees celsius at most.
And when i saw the mars 420w didnt cut it with the sensimililla panel about 165w actual draw side by side i added a 600w hps with small euro reflector and used from day 35 of flower. Many plants didntnseem to understand that they should start flower before days after adding the hps. Except the trainwreck fems that had more trichomes at day 24 of bloom than many strains have after 56 days.
Im very impressed with trainwreck genetics.

So i got a little off track sorry.
Point was i want to modify my mars 900 with cree and luxeon rebel chips only for growth too make use of all driver power for veg and changing too hps in flower until i can afford a led that actually can replace a 600w hps in flower.
Some of the only led brands i trust nowadays is crazy leds and more holographic series 1 by dutchnpassion and grownorthern and Advanced led usa with cree for veg that is.
Not sure if the new holographic can flower better watt for watt than others nowadays. Should think so as it is of what i know to be the highest tech components with optic lenses and digital drivers and synjet fan

you may have a problem with the cooling system. those red leds have a forward voltage drop that is 2/3 that of blue or white leds and produce 2/3 the heat. the cree and phillips diodes are more efficient and produce a little less heat but not enough to offset the difference in voltage drop. the drivers maynot be able to handle the higher voltage required by an all blue and white grow string one seller on ebay claims that this extra heat is the reason the mars hydro has so many red diodes and a spectrum that favors the red region. my training is in the area of electrical engineering and I have designed power structures and cooling systems for solid state devices in motor controllers and switch mode and linear power supplies.in chosing a new grow light remember that lenses will reduce diode output reflectors will not

 

[The Elvis]

Hi your wanting to "rebuild" and up grade your LEDs to better ones to use maximum driver voltage .. i totally get it man and I have thought about the same idea. BUT its going to cost more money/time in the long run to build this then it would just to buy a nicer lamp.. Do you have access to a "reflow" machine? you will need to solder all points at once using a oven .. basically. My best advice to you is sell off your 900 and buy a higher wall watt LED or use HID.. I Do like your Idea that would make a killer light!!


I don't think the mars drivers what ever they are would handle high end LED diodes..

 

[mauricem00]

Hi your wanting to "rebuild" and up grade your LEDs to better ones to use maximum driver voltage .. i totally get it man and I have thought about the same idea. BUT its going to cost more money/time in the long run to build this then it would just to buy a nicer lamp.. Do you have access to a "reflow" machine? you will need to solder all points at once using a oven .. basically. My best advice to you is sell off your 900 and buy a higher wall watt LED or use HID.. I Do like your Idea that would make a killer light!!


I don't think the mars drivers what ever they are would handle high end LED diodes..

I have replaced diodes in a mars hydro 300 watt light using just a soldering iron and electrical solder. it takes time but is easy to do. re flow machines are not needed you just need to limit solder time to 3 seconds and allow the unit to cool a few seconds after each connection I rebalanced the spectrum on this unit giving it more white and blue light but the drivers provided enough voltage to handle this. it increased power use from 180 to 200 watts but the cooling system was able to handle it. cree and phillips diodes are very expensive and it would only cost a little more to buy a good light than to buy all those diodes. top bin unit are very pricey

 

[The Elvis]

It would be a nice to build using top bin parts. time consuming but a killer lamp..

 

[mauricem00]

It would be a nice to build using top bin parts. time consuming but a killer lamp..

it would be very efficient and cool running but very expensive. I don't think even the high priced led grow lights use top bin diodes but 5 watt cree white diodes can achieve 200 lumens per watt when driven at 20% power.it would be a killer light but it would kill my wallet as well LMAO.

 

[lightworker30]

Thanx everyone for all the feedback. I love it.
Now i need to think ALOT

 

[lightworker30]

Thanx everyone for all the feedback. I love it.
Now i need to think ALOT