MARS leds can pull big GPW!!

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PurpleBuz

Well-Known Member
Growmau5 said:
I have received quite a few messages from people with various MARS fixtures asking if a conversion could be done on their model. I contacted MARS myself to find out first hand about their drivers.

After confirming if my "unit" is a one hander or a 2 hander..........
View attachment 3576135

she confirmed that all of the non "pro" (lol) series fixtures use the exact same driver.

universal input voltage (110-220v)
output voltage range (40-80v)
output current 700ma

which is really nice for the configs we use. that means 2 vero29, cxa3xxx, cxb, basically 2 of whatever will run on each driver.

I wish I would have included 'adding a thermal switch in the video' to keep everyone safe on these sketchy heatsinks.
http://shop.stevesleds.com/Thermal-Switch-Overheating-Protection-8794102497.htm

oh well, hope this helps anyone who reads it. and owns a mars. or any other cheap chinese led .
Click to expand...
great video, should be helpful for almost all the cheap Chinese leds.

I have been reusing a bunch of generic Chinese drivers with slightly different specs (520ma, 550ma) and they seem to be reasonably reliable. not one has failed, while the led lights that the drivers came from have failed. I am careful to run them well below max voltage.

for a cheap setup a few vero18s on a generic chinese 520 ma driver 70-85V makes a great veg light. T5 killer!
 
Fastslappy

Fastslappy

Well-Known Member
PurpleBuz said:
great video, should be helpful for almost all the cheap Chinese leds.

I have been reusing a bunch of generic Chinese drivers with slightly different specs (520ma, 550ma) and they seem to be reasonably reliable. not one has failed, while the led lights that the drivers came from have failed. I am careful to run them well below max voltage.

for a cheap setup a few vero18s on a generic chinese 520 ma driver 70-85V makes a great veg light. T5 killer!
Click to expand...
yes needed by me a cheap diy T5 killer
 
Fastslappy

Fastslappy

Well-Known Member
bassman999 said:
Does that price include driver? I seee 90 watts is mentioned,but not sure if that means it has the driver
Click to expand...
description states complete light assy
I wuz shearchin CXB3070 & some holders on amazon & this popped up .
SO I'd guess yes complete light
 
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SamsonsRiddle

SamsonsRiddle

Well-Known Member
give me a couple days and i'll take it apart again and let you know the specs on the 100x3 drivers - then it won't be hearsay ;)


like anyone cares, lol
 
bassman999

bassman999

Well-Known Member
PurpleBuz said:
great video, should be helpful for almost all the cheap Chinese leds.

I have been reusing a bunch of generic Chinese drivers with slightly different specs (520ma, 550ma) and they seem to be reasonably reliable. not one has failed, while the led lights that the drivers came from have failed. I am careful to run them well below max voltage.

for a cheap setup a few vero18s on a generic chinese 520 ma driver 70-85V makes a great veg light. T5 killer!
Click to expand...
I have a Chinese LED that has the worst drivers ever, just a row of resistors in series and a pico fuse that pops constantly wrapped in plastic casing that looks like a rectangular netpot
Sunnine 600W LED.png
 
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bassman999

bassman999

Well-Known Member
Fastslappy said:
description states complete light assy
I wuz shearchin CXB3070 & some holders on amazon & this popped up .
SO I'd guess yes complete light
Click to expand...
If it has a driver and really is a CXB3070, then not a bad deal, but 90 watts driven into that chip is a little inefficient, but maybe its dimmable
 
bassman999

bassman999

Well-Known Member
PurpleBuz said:
I guess there are some Chinese lights even worse than the ones I had :) .... but have any of the drivers actually failed before the leds ?
Click to expand...
All the leds work, and all the drivers have failed.
The drivers are just a pcb with 7 same value resistors in series I believe, a poly switch or something, and a tiny as fuse. I soldered the fuse solid and it works still, but wont be safe to tun. I just wanted to see if the leds or drivers were bad.
Ill take some pics of it if there is interest
 
P

PurpleBuz

Well-Known Member
bassman999 said:
All the leds work, and all the drivers have failed.
The drivers are just a pcb with 7 same value resistors in series I believe, a poly switch or something, and a tiny as fuse. I soldered the fuse solid and it works still, but wont be safe to tun. I just wanted to see if the leds or drivers were bad.
Ill take some pics of it if there is interest
Click to expand...
never mind, now I know just how cheap some mfg can be.
 
Growmau5

Growmau5

Well-Known Member
SamsonsRiddle said:
Here you go - what could you hook up to these?
Old Mars 100x3
Click to expand...
wow , what an odd setup. heres what i see
( 4 ) x 100v // 600ma drivers: too small for 3x cxb or vero. consider 2 x cxa/b 3070 or 3590, vero29 fill remainder of Fv with any monos (630,660nm)
( 1 ) x 12v // 1000ma driver : too high for 'most' monos, consider cree xml2 or xpl high kelvin as blue supplement, will run 3. (possibly 4 in practice. )
 
SamsonsRiddle

SamsonsRiddle

Well-Known Member
Growmau5 said:
wow , what an odd setup. heres what i see
( 4 ) x 100v // 600ma drivers: too small for 3x cxb or vero. consider 2 x cxa/b 3070 or 3590, vero29 fill remainder of Fv with any monos (630,660nm)
( 1 ) x 12v // 1000ma driver : too high for 'most' monos, consider cree xml2 or xpl high kelvin as blue supplement, will run 3. (possibly 4 in practice. )
Click to expand...
I was hoping to just run 2 x cree or veros since the space it has to occupy is only 2x2x6. It's for veg and flower so not much room to work with. I might just use the case and start a diy as soon as i can figure out what all i need to do this.

sorry to take up space on this awesome thread. i'll go ahead and start my own. carry on, fellers
 
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Fastslappy

Fastslappy

Well-Known Member
u should be able to reuse the case & fans , u need a al plate size of the led old panel
test yer driver
then cob holders & cree's are needed
parts list will be short as most will come from the old fixture
 
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