Mars Hydro Or Unit Farm

[PassTheJ]

So I have question... It's nice to know that everyone in here is Bob Villa but what about the Tim "The tool man" Taylor folk like myself?

I have $4k and a 4x8.. Want new lights but don't want the hassle.. I've been looking at the HLG550s and they look super but they're like $1100 and I would only need 2 of them..

Anyone know of anything better?

 

[DGP]

So I have question... It's nice to know that everyone in here is Bob Villa but what about the Tim "The tool man" Taylor folk like myself?

I have $4k and a 4x8.. Want new lights but don't want the hassle.. I've been looking at the HLG550s and they look super but they're like $1100 and I would only need 2 of them..

Anyone know of anything better?

I just built a 6 panel veg light today and it was so easy. I think it took a total of an hour and a half. If someone else builds it, well, then its going to be more expensive by the cost of their labor, overhead and shipping. Getting sustainable margins in business is hard and I was surprised sometimes how much more I had to make in a business venture to cover my fixed costs. So, I am not surprised at their prices. I do think a DIY fixture is likely to be about 60% of the cost if you could pull it off. However, it literally is just cutting some aluminum framing (with a hack saw), drilling some holes (electric hand drill) and some really simple connections using "push-on" connectors. HLG publishes guides for each one of their Quantum boards sets. They are well written and give you a list of compatible drivers etc.

Your question is a good one though, don't have a good answer.

Dee

 

[PassTheJ]

I just built a 6 panel veg light today and it was so easy. I think it took a total of an hour and a half. If someone else builds it, well, then its going to be more expensive by the cost of their labor, overhead and shipping. Getting sustainable margins in business is hard and I was surprised sometimes how much more I had to make in a business venture to cover my fixed costs. So, I am not surprised at their prices. I do think a DIY fixture is likely to be about 60% of the cost if you could pull it off. However, it literally is just cutting some aluminum framing (with a hack saw), drilling some holes (electric hand drill) and some really simple connections using "push-on" connectors. HLG publishes guides for each one of their Quantum boards sets. They are well written and give you a list of compatible drivers etc.

Your question is a good one though, don't have a good answer.

Dee

Build me one. I offer you my wife and 3 livestock of choice.

 

[Snoleperd]

My friend has a mars light, light is very poor, very hard for this Chinese knock off piece of crap to penetrate your canopy, I never heard of the other light. Buy American!!!!!!!! I have a California light works veg master solar storm led chip diode full speck grow light, this is there cheapest model at $300, this is a well made light, very bright, and reasonably priced, spend the extra mony, otherwise you will end up like my friend, angry, pissed, and weedless. SNOLEPERD

 

[Snoleperd]

I looked at unit farms lights, they call them ufo lights but they are not true ufo light's, if I had to choose I would go with unit farms, mars lights suck.SNOLEPERD

 

[Buzzer777]

I own a UF UFO80 (got it for free for a test)..pretty heavy duty lights and they use Cree diodes..Way too expensive for any burple..I have it in a tent with a Nextlight Mini and a few QB132's ..it is a very powerful (too powerful) light and must be at least 18" from the tops during flower, or it will bleach the buds..otherwise, It is a nice addition to my collection..(for over $400..I could buy a bunch of QBs..but for free..WTF..LOL)

 

[Buzzer777]

I built this 2 board fixture using 2x Fantom Sunboards 240..the boards were $50 each..parallel driver $40 and the fixture parts..<$25..optional were the PWM control and display for <$15 each on Fleabay.
The Sunboards also use the Samsung diodes and I wanted to try them..
This shit is so easy, even I can do it..LOL

 

[Snoleperd]

Very nice, i would take one of those 2, i know the ones you mean almost too bright, those go for a couple gs, can you program yours? The one's I saw have a computer on them so you can program your grow. Your Friend Snoleperd

 

[Buzzer777]

Very nice, i would take one of those 2, i know the ones you mean almost too bright, those go for a couple gs, can you program yours? The one's I saw have a computer on them so you can program your grow. Your Friend Snoleperd

hey there @Snoleperd..been a while..No Mine doesn't have a controller, but I am thinking of building a Storm controller setup for my next QB/Fantom board project..Right now I am "playing" around with a "far red initiator", built around growmau5's puck concept..I don't know how it will do, but initially, plants are praying about 2 -3 hrs before they used to..I use it to "wake them" faster and put them to sleep faster..I have no idea, but I used the $$ from the sale of a few Meizhis (Better than Mars) to put some shit together..here it is if it is of any interest..$100 and 45 minutes..

 

[Snoleperd]

Very very nice, you saved a lot of mony, you definitely know lights, me i did some research and the best bang for my bucks was what i bought California light works makes some realy nice lights, but next time when i upgrade we will have to talk. Your Friend. SNOLEPERD

 

[Buzzer777]

Very very nice, you saved a lot of mony, you definitely know lights, me i did some research and the best bang for my bucks was what i bought California light works makes some realy nice lights, but next time when i upgrade we will have to talk. Your Friend. SNOLEPERD

Took me a bit to get this stuff thru my skull, but now it is easy..I may part with more of my pre-made lights to build up more QBs..besides saving $$, getting better more efficient lights, and having fun..This is the way to go imo..was thinking of building up a COB just for kicks to ADD IN..
Anytime I can help..just yell..mean time @sixstring (on this forum) and Tboneshuffle on GC, are the defacto experts..Not to mention @Toaster79 and many others here..I am a piker in comparison, but I learn fast..LOL

BTW: nothing wrong with CLW..If not for the QBs..they would be in my tent now.

 

[PassTheJ]

Talk shit about burples and Chinese brands all you want.. I have 200 watts per sq ft of burple and I'm growing dank bud no worse then the funk I used to buy living in NYC.

You can always substitute quality photons for quantity and get epic results too.

I think everyone forgets ways too fast how the industry has changed and how fast. I still remember when burples were the LED standard and YouTube was filled with growers showing off epic bud.. Hell I still remember when we used to gloat about our closet grows and all the different 120 watt color bulbs we had.

You can talk smack about burples compared to other lights all day.. I get it. But no one should be saying that Burples don't get you good quality bud or great yeilds.

Alot of it is technique anyways. I've seen dudes with great lights grow nasty crap. Sad considering how easy they have it..

 

[DGP]

I built this 2 board fixture using 2x Fantom Sunboards 240..the boards were $50 each..parallel driver $40 and the fixture parts..<$25..optional were the PWM control and display for <$15 each on Fleabay.
The Sunboards also use the Samsung diodes and I wanted to try them..
This shit is so easy, even I can do it..LOL
View attachment 790207

What are the specs on these boards? CRI? Lumens per watt? Efficiency of the power supply? Just curious....


Dee

 

[Buzzer777]

What are the specs on these boards? CRI? Lumens per watt? Efficiency of the power supply? Just curious....


Dee

Meanwell LRS-350-36..efficiency is about 89% if I remember..$40 shipped from Arrow Electronics.
I have the alternating model..240 diodes..no heatsink up to 2100Ma.

 

[Aolelon]

You do not heed to have very much knowledge to assemble DIY kits like the QB boards. They send you everything and you just wire them and screw them to the heatsink. The cobs you can buy the fixtures from cobkits.com or other sites and just hang them if you can't make a frame. Honestly its worth it to spend some time on them and get a quality product because down the road you will just be switching anyway with a shit light.

 

[Buzzer777]

You do not heed to have very much knowledge to assemble DIY kits like the QB boards. They send you everything and you just wire them and screw them to the heatsink. The cobs you can buy the fixtures from cobkits.com or other sites and just hang them if you can't make a frame. Honestly its worth it to spend some time on them and get a quality product because down the road you will just be switching anyway with a shit light.

And to add.... RapidLed has come out with a single self contained COB light for about $150..just hang it.
..things are really happening in the LED world..best part is that the vendors mentioned in this thread are super with customer service (COBKITS, RAPIDLED etc)

 

[PassTheJ]

Or you save yourself the headache and get a Fluence or 550s..

Wont have to change shit anytime soon if you're and LED fan.

 

[DGP]

Meanwell LRS-350-36..efficiency is about 89% if I remember..$40 shipped from Arrow Electronics.
I have the alternating model..240 diodes..no heatsink up to 2100Ma.
View attachment 790270
View attachment 790271

Looks interesting, do they say whos diodes they are using? Looks like a competitor to the QB120 but at a higher power. nice...

Dee

Or you save yourself the headache and get a Fluence or 550s..

Wont have to change shit anytime soon if you're and LED fan.

That would be cool if I could afford their stuff. A lot of folks growing their own do not have the budget for that cost entry point. Yes, Fluence is a good company and is really leading the industry but I think the Quantum systems and COB's are just as capable.

Here in my state if the government didn't make it so expensive and hard to sell surplus I would have an income stream to pay for a $1500 light. As it is I built a very versatile fixture for exactly half that cost (about $1 per watt). I would have bought a Spyder system a long time ago if it was more affordable. I think a good way to look at the cost of LED is in $/watt ( a watt being the true draw from the wall).

The other cool thing about Quantums and COBs is they can be built in a modular fashion. I built my fixture then added 3 or 4 COBs at a time as budget allowed and within a month or so I had a light and I didn't have to drop $750 in one day to get it started. These systems as people have mentioned are just so easy to assemble it is ridiculous.....its barely even DIY.

Dee

 

[DGP]

You do not heed to have very much knowledge to assemble DIY kits like the QB boards. They send you everything and you just wire them and screw them to the heatsink. The cobs you can buy the fixtures from cobkits.com or other sites and just hang them if you can't make a frame. Honestly its worth it to spend some time on them and get a quality product because down the road you will just be switching anyway with a shit light.

HLG's website has a build guide for every board they sell that gives you a wiring diagram for both parallel as well as series wiring with recommendations on every type of driver that would work etc. LED Gardener has a build page for typical COB style fixture builds. Easy, easy, easy! Not to mention some of the folks here who are able to advise folks on how to build any given fixture.

I built a 6 panel QB system yesterday and it took 1.5 hours from opening the shipping boxes to power up. All it required was some 1/2" X 1/2" aluminum angle stock, some screws and nuts, a power plug, some push-in connectors a hack saw, screwdriver and electric drill. No soldering just drilling, a little sawing and assembly.

$250 to do the 320 watt veg light for a 2X4 space. In this case less than $1 per watt!
HLG QB120's
320 watt dimmable driver 2100ma

The other thing I like is this style of light is about 3 lbs and is only a couple inches thick so for tents with limited height it could save a lot of trouble for people trying to keep their plants from hitting the light before they finish.

for example:
HLGs QB288 guide:
https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/pages/qb288-board-guide

DIY LED Gardeners build guide for COBs:
http://ledgardener.com/build-led-grow-light/

Dee

 

[Buzzer777]

Looks interesting, do they say whos diodes they are using? Looks like a competitor to the QB120 but at a higher power. nice...

Dee


That would be cool if I could afford their stuff. A lot of folks growing their own do not have the budget for that cost entry point. Yes, Fluence is a good company and is really leading the industry but I think the Quantum systems and COB's are just as capable.

Here in my state if the government didn't make it so expensive and hard to sell surplus I would have an income stream to pay for a $1500 light. As it is I built a very versatile fixture for exactly half that cost (about $1 per watt). I would have bought a Spyder system a long time ago if it was more affordable. I think a good way to look at the cost of LED is in $/watt ( a watt being the true draw from the wall).

The other cool thing about Quantums and COBs is they can be built in a modular fashion. I built my fixture then added 3 or 4 COBs at a time as budget allowed and within a month or so I had a light and I didn't have to drop $750 in one day to get it started. These systems as people have mentioned are just so easy to assemble it is ridiculous.....its barely even DIY.

Dee

The board uses the same Samsung diodes, and it really lies between the 132's and the 288 imo..It has 240 diodes (no heatsink up to 2100Ma) vs 132 or 288 diodes on the QBs..pretty good marketing but I think they are a 1 man show..very slow to restock and no email answers to a question I asked concerning stock..The Wavy Board also has my interest (same vendor)