COB high bay LED fixture

Hey fellas, I am a new grower. I have two harvests under my belt. I used the Mars blurples for both harvests. Unfortunately, I didn't find this site until I had already purchased 4 Mars 300 units. I was actually really happy with the results. I used 4 Mars 300s in a 5 x 3 tent and pulled 9Oz from 4 plants. (monster cookie)

Believe it or not I was at the scrap yard and found this high bay cob fixture in the contaminated alum pile. I bought the fixture for $40. I knew at least the drivers would be usable if nothing else.

After a little repair work in the wiring the unit fired right up. It looks like a pretty high end industrial bay light. It's bright as allhell. It's a much whiter light than these Mars blurples. I found a link to an Adobe file which is an information sheet on the units. The sheet says that the color of the lights is "cool white" I'm not sure if it's 3500 or 4500 or maybe 6500. I have know idea how to tell.

I was thinking of taking the unit apart and rearranging the boards to fit evenly in my 5x3 flowering footprint.
IMG_20180307_184535.jpg IMG_20180307_184606.jpg IMG_20180307_184922.jpg IMG_20180307_184656.jpg IMG_20180307_184957.jpg IMG_20180307_185117.jpg
What do you guys think? Is it a better option for flowering than the Mars? With the "cool white" description for color im guessing it's a 3500-4500 k color. Do you guys think this will work better than my blurples for flowering?

Thanks for any input.
 

Humple

Well-Known Member
Hey fellas, I am a new grower. I have two harvests under my belt. I used the Mars blurples for both harvests. Unfortunately, I didn't find this site until I had already purchased 4 Mars 300 units. I was actually really happy with the results. I used 4 Mars 300s in a 5 x 3 tent and pulled 9Oz from 4 plants. (monster cookie)

Believe it or not I was at the scrap yard and found this high bay cob fixture in the contaminated alum pile. I bought the fixture for $40. I knew at least the drivers would be usable if nothing else.

After a little repair work in the wiring the unit fired right up. It looks like a pretty high end industrial bay light. It's bright as allhell. It's a much whiter light than these Mars blurples. I found a link to an Adobe file which is an information sheet on the units. The sheet says that the color of the lights is "cool white" I'm not sure if it's 3500 or 4500 or maybe 6500. I have know idea how to tell.

I was thinking of taking the unit apart and rearranging the boards to fit evenly in my 5x3 flowering footprint.
View attachment 4102137 View attachment 4102138 View attachment 4102140 View attachment 4102144 View attachment 4102145 View attachment 4102148
What do you guys think? Is it a better option for flowering than the Mars? With the "cool white" description for color im guessing it's a 3500-4500 k color. Do you guys think this will work better than my blurples for flowering?

Thanks for any input.
If you can get the make/model, maybe someone here can give you an idea of whether or not it's worth using. Certainly appears to be a quality unit, though.
 
I can't post links yet but if you Google that it pops right up. It definitely looks high end. I just wonder if it's better for flowering than the Mars units. Thanks
 
With the 6 boards on the unit it says it produces 50,000 lumens. The Mars info says 4300 lumens per unit which would be like 17,000 total for 4. Do you guys think these will flower better than the Mars units. I'm ready to flip the switch any day, I'm just wondering if it's worth retro fitting this unit in place of the Mars units. I was pretty happy with the results from the Mars. I hate to make a switch and find out it's worse somehow.
 
I'm such a lighting newb, I really have no idea if the usable lumen output is different depending on the spectrum or diode quality.
 

Viceman666

Well-Known Member
With the 6 boards on the unit it says it produces 50,000 lumens. The Mars info says 4300 lumens per unit which would be like 17,000 total for 4. Do you guys think these will flower better than the Mars units. I'm ready to flip the switch any day, I'm just wondering if it's worth retro fitting this unit in place of the Mars units. I was pretty happy with the results from the Mars. I hate to make a switch and find out it's worse somehow.
It cant be worst well it doesnt look like it. But you would have to know what type of spectrum those LED are I dont seem to find it on the attached pictures in the previous post.. assuming they are in the 3000-4000k range id certainly add them to your fixture. Maybe with 2 mars or all 4 of them.. more lights = more yield. If you find out those IHB are 6000k+ for example than youd be better use those only in veg..
 

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
Yes, better than the cheap/ inefficient blurple units imo. It's not top tier stuff, but if you get a couple of runs out of it and save some $ for upgrades; well worth the forty bucks spent.

Good find and good luck.
 
Thanks guys. I think I will give it a try. The spec shows color as "cool white" which obviously is a pretty big range. It's definitely a ton more white than these Mars units which literally starts screwing with your eyes.

Would it start looking more blue if it was above 5500-6k or no? These are pretty white. Also, 3 of the 6 have a glass cover on the boards that apparently broke when they threw it off the truck. In the pic of the unit running you can tell which ones have glass but in person you can barely look at the thing it's so bright. Can I just remove the glass and run them without or what are the thoughts on having a glass shield? Is it necessary or even desirable? Thanks guys.IMG_20180307_185643.jpg
 

Humple

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys. I think I will give it a try. The spec shows color as "cool white" which obviously is a pretty big range. It's definitely a ton more white than these Mars units which literally starts screwing with your eyes.

Would it start looking more blue if it was above 5500-6k or no? These are pretty white. Also, 3 of the 6 have a glass cover on the boards that apparently broke when they threw it off the truck. In the pic of the unit running you can tell which ones have glass but in person you can barely look at the thing it's so bright. Can I just remove the glass and run them without or what are the thoughts on having a glass shield? Is it necessary or even desirable? Thanks guys.View attachment 4102409
Remove the glass. No need. And while 117 lm/w isn't the best, adding this to your grow can only benefit you, so I agree with everyone else - do it up!
 

Viceman666

Well-Known Member
Just looked it up on google and
Soft white = 2700-3000k
Bright white/cool white = 3500-4100k
Daylight = 5000-6500k

So yes it does look like you can use them for flower! Do you know how many watt they draw from the wall? That would be key to know how much you would need. Your 4 mars hydro are about 540.. if you can get about 500w of that fixture or a little more I think youll be in great shape for a much better harvest 9oz to 16-20+oz if you dial in the other factors correctly

But thats just my two cent for what its worth.. it would come out to about a 1000w hps worth of power with a better spread.. maybe you put that new one in the middle and the 4 mars hydro in the corners could be a nice setup not super efficient but for the price you paid thats good..

For the cover.. not too sure.. since they are commercial/industrial light its probably the case for IP rating. Without the casing it may work but if youre in high humidity it may cause issue (maybe not too) im by no mean a pro electricity guy but thats my guess lol
 

Viceman666

Well-Known Member
Looking good im sure youll love your new setup and keep us posted on your next grow! Im sure it will look much better too less blurple and more real color lol
 

Chip Green

Well-Known Member
117 Lm/w is pretty low efficiency, but for only 400ish W its still going to push out loads of good light, for little cost....
Look at the "Screw in grow" thread by NoTillPhil for inspiration....
 
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