Transforming shitty Mars to ass-kicking LED

I am ready to embark on a journey into the dark corner of rollitup where anger has been more aroused than people talking about donald trump. I know this is going to be a long journey with many problems along the way, and appreciate anyone's feedback that is going to help contribute to this project.

So here we go:
I have the old style of MARS 100x3 led panels that i picked up for $60. When i bought it, i saw they rated it to be comparable to a 250w hps or covering a 2.5x2.5 area. I bought this one because they made it seem like it would be a little overkill for a 2'x2'x6' area, which turned out to be bullshit. So now i have this stupid thing hanging in my tent with $60 less in my pocket.

I'm ready to start building it into a Cree or Vero COB using the old parts (if possible) so that I can learn the basics of light building. Although I'm not required or requiring others to help me figure this out with the old parts, I don't see why i should waste the drivers, etc. if they are going to be effecting in doing my build.

I'm a newbie to building LED's so please be gentle and take into consideration that i am not very informed on all the terminology. However, I am quite handy and have access to a wide variety of tools.

I plan to make this build as transparent as possible to help anyone who would need to start out and wanted to see a simple way to do things. I have spent hours of time on rollitup and other forums learning (studied for 3 years before starting to grow) and just want to pass along the good information to people who love to learn.

Here's what I have:

I am wanting to focus more on the flowering aspect as most of the future grows under this light are going to be basically 12/12 after 2-3 weeks of veg, I'm assuming 3000k or 3500k would be best temp. If i have to, I could always use old CFL's to veg.

Something like this:
http://www.digikey.com/product-deta...0N0HAB30G/CXB3070-0000-000N0HAB30G-ND/5124979

or this:
http://www.digikey.com/product-deta...0N00Z230F/CXA3070-0000-000N00Z230F-ND/4386666

Pssst.. Growmau5 made u a video..

blowincherrypie said:

Pssst.. Growmau5 made u a video..

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lol, I checked it out and loved(liked?) what he did, actually. Mine is a different model with different parameters.

Basically this is going to be my first build to help others who have no experience and are tired of getting it up the ass from all these led companies.

lol, if this catches on people will be buying Mars hydro new for conversion. $60 bucks or whatever get's you a case with heatsinks, driver and fans. They should drop the price a couple bucks and leave the LEDs out.

According to your pics the drivers are running at .55 amps, a bit less than the .7 amps Growmau5 is using. Maybe 72V cobs 1 on each?

I see the .55-.6 amps, but i also see the huge range for V from 50-100 on my shitty mars lamp. Their test on the cxb3590 to reach 72v on the website i reference below says at 1.2 amps. This would bring the cob down a few on the voltage, but what if the drivers are only running at 50? Will they even power up?

So if I went with 4 of these: http://www.digikey.com/product-deta...0R0HCB30G/CXB3590-0000-000R0HCB30G-ND/5124980 <---72v cxb3590 @3000K

One for each driver....would I be safe? Would this just be a waste of time only running it at 30% efficiency?

saw that mars hack vid ,I'm doing the same

Yes, I don't think you'll be anywhere close to 50 volts. One on each driver should work fine.

SamsonsRiddle said:

I see the .55-.6 amps, but i also see the huge range for V from 50-100 on my shitty mars lamp. Their test on the cxb3590 to reach 72v on the website i reference below says at 1.2 amps. This would bring the cob down a few on the voltage, but what if the drivers are only running at 50? Will they even power up?

So if I went with 4 of these: http://www.digikey.com/product-deta...0R0HCB30G/CXB3590-0000-000R0HCB30G-ND/5124980 <---72v cxb3590 @3000K

One for each driver....would I be safe? Would this just be a waste of time only running it at 30% efficiency?

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It would work, same wattage as the 36 volt at 1.1 amps so actually about 46% of nominal current. Would be about 60% efficient, 39 watts per cob and total of 30,000 lumens. In your 2x2 area it will provide almost 1200 PPFD! Hang it high in veg.

Rahz said:

Yes, I don't think you'll be anywhere close to 50 volts. One on each driver should work fine.


It would work, same wattage as the 36 volt at 1.1 amps so actually about 46% of nominal current. Would be about 60% efficient, 39 watts per cob and total of 30,000 lumens. In your 2x2 area it will provide almost 1200 PPFD! Hang it high in veg.

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I'm trying to find a cxa version because the 64.60 price point is turning me off to even trying this. Where would i be able to find a 72v cxa version that would run on these drivers? otherwise, i would be better of just running 4 cxb 36v's with a single meanwell driver at a cheaper pricepoint...

I haven't purchased 72 CXBs but several people here have been using them. Someone here should be able to help you out.

Rahz said:

Yes, I don't think you'll be anywhere close to 50 volts. One on each driver should work fine.


It would work, same wattage as the 36 volt at 1.1 amps so actually about 46% of nominal current. Would be about 60% efficient, 39 watts per cob and total of 30,000 lumens. In your 2x2 area it will provide almost 1200 PPFD! Hang it high in veg.

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Would these work? They are only $45.22 a piece
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...nbu83y9VUK3Vb4TG%2bsxy7CMMAdrGntSC%2bqhnxDQ==
CXA3590-0000-000R00BB30F

Or these at 3500K
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?mpart=CXA3590-0000-000R00BB35F&vendor=90


How many lumens and PPFD?


Would be just over my $180 budget either way

SamsonsRiddle said:

Would these work? They are only $45.22 a piece
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/CXA3590-0000-000R00BB30F/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83y9VUK3Vb4TG%2bsxy7CMMAdrGntSC%2bqhnxDQ==
CXA3590-0000-000R00BB30F

Or these at 3500K
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?mpart=CXA3590-0000-000R00BB35F&vendor=90


How many lumens and PPFD?


Would be just over my $180 budget either way

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CXB3590 are about the same price from Kingbrite. Here's his email [email protected] If you email him now he should be getting to work in 5 hours and he will respond. I'll be chatting with him later today anyway.

Yea, CXB3590s are cheaper at Kingbrite, shipping charges on small quantities might not be the best though. The CXAs would be slightly less light than using CXB3590. If you want to spend less, consider buying some CXB3070s from PLC or using Vero 29s. Either would provide similar light to the CXA3590.

Rahz said:

Yea, CXB3590s are cheaper at Kingbrite, shipping charges on small quantities might not be the best though. The CXAs would be slightly less light than using CXB3590. If you want to spend less, consider buying some CXB3070s from PLC or using Vero 29s. Either would provide similar light to the CXA3590.

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I keep forgetting. I buy at least 10 when I buy them lol. I have some Vero 29 v2 4000k that I'm not gonna use brand new that I'm gonna put on ebay with the pico wires. I bought them thinking I was gonna try them and changed my mind lol.

Rahz said:

Yea, CXB3590s are cheaper at Kingbrite, shipping charges on small quantities might not be the best though. The CXAs would be slightly less light than using CXB3590. If you want to spend less, consider buying some CXB3070s from PLC or using Vero 29s. Either would provide similar light to the CXA3590.

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I'm very new to all this... PLC? I've found mouser, digikey, and now kingbrite

Pacific Lighting Concepts. They sell 3070 BB bin at good prices.

Rahz said:

Yea, CXB3590s are cheaper at Kingbrite, shipping charges on small quantities might not be the best though. The CXAs would be slightly less light than using CXB3590. If you want to spend less, consider buying some CXB3070s from PLC or using Vero 29s. Either would provide similar light to the CXA3590.

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You said before to use 72v cobs for this project. May I ask for a small explanation why, if you don't mind. I'm going back to watch mau's video for noobs again, but this is all very foreign to me.

And they are out of stock at the moment

It was a mistake on my part. I was responding to your question and related it to cost, not keeping in mind the desirability of a 72 volt option in your situation. The 77 volt CXAs would also work.

Check with cutter.com Maybe they can provide a small quantity of 3590s while avoiding the extra charges of dealing with Kingbrite.

If you're asking why 72 volt, the drivers in your unit state 55-100V, .55-.6 amp. A 72 volt CXA/B will use .6 x 72 volts = 43 watts. A 36 volt cob would only be using .6 x 36 volts so half the wattage. You could put 2 36 volt cobs on each driver in series but would cost twice as much.

Rahz said:

If you're asking why 72 volt, the drivers in your unit state 55-100V, .55-.6 amp. A 72 volt CXA/B will use .6 x 72 volts = 43 watts. A 36 volt cob would only be using .6 x 36 volts so half the wattage. You could put 2 36 volt cobs on each driver in series but would cost twice as much.

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Hey Rahz, don't think i haven't meditated on this advice for some time now and waited for the day for it to become a reality.

The next major problem i have thought about is heat dissipation. Won't those 4 cobs running on the small heat sink and shitty 90mm fans that come with this heat up too much?

The main problem (other than the weak amount of canopy light) is the heat that comes off of this thing. It easily raises the temperature 13-15 degrees Fahrenheit, especially as it gets towards the end of it's day.

Would i be better off scraping this project and just using the case, fans/fan power supply, heat sink, and other small components and using maybe 2 vero 29's on an hlg-185h-c1400a? I could probably put all that together for $150 with sufficient light, less work, and hopefully a cooler running unit.