MARS HYDRO 400W LED Light Review (Series II)
The Mars Hydro company is an established Chinese company that has been in the LED grow light business for several years and just released one of their best product to date : the MARS HYDRO 400W LED (series II).
They have a number of lights on the market available through multiple retailers and channels. The company has recently launched three new light series, including the “series II”.
The Series II in details
Mars Hydro’s new series ll lights are built with several features that make them a significant improvement over the older generation of Mars Hydro lights. The MARS HYDRO II 400 Watt LED LIGHT is one of their most promising offerings, here’s why:
- First and foremost they are all built with the new 5 watt LED chips, which provides a brighter light that delivers significantly deeper lighting penetration.
- These lights deliver full spectrum lighting from 365nm to 750nm and infrared. This covers the important red and blue spectrum and will support the germination, flowering and vegetative plant phases.
- The LED chips are connected in parallel so that that if a single chip should fail the other chips continue to operate and deliver light. Several of the lights we have reviewed have LED chips wired in series, which means if one chip fails the entire panel can fail.
- While the LED lighting format produces dramatically reduced heat signature over other lighting formats. These 5 watt chips do produce heat that can reduce the chip life and impact on your heat signature. Mars Series II utilizes over-sized, pure aluminum heat sinks, combined with two double ball bearing fans to remove the excess heat. A great solution.
While the entry cost for LED lighting is higher that some other formats, we believe LED lighting is the clear winner as the best lighting in the indoor growing business and see the 5 watt chip as the direction of all LED lighting.
The canopy penetration and spectrum offered also make this format the best available, and the lower heat signature and the lowest operating cost seal the deal.
MARS HYDRO 400W LED Light (Series II) – Technical Specifications
LED Output Power: 80 each 5 watt diodes
Dimension:340 x 340 x 90mm (13.4*13.4*3.5 in)
Weight: 13 lbs or 5.36 Kg
Draw Power:170W~200W
Amps:110V/1.8A, 220V/0.88A
Voltage:AC85~265V
View Angle of leds:90°/120°
Lifespan:50, 000-100, 000 hours
Coverage:3’x3′ Standard @24inch
Spectrum:430~440nm, 450~475nm 620~630nm, 650~660nm, IR, and white
Height: Germination: 24~30inch; Vegetative:18~24inch; Flowering :12~18inch.
Light Spectrum
When comparing grow lighting options there is a lot of information provided that simply does not cover the important characteristics of the equipment. For example, light “watts”: the watts of a light is a measurement of the power consumed. So it does not tell you anything about the quality of the light delivered. However, Watts can be important for determining your future electric bill, your thermal signature and for comparing the relative size of the light. But not for the quality of the lighting delivered. Hence, the two key measurements that matter in comparing the quality of the light delivered are the spectrum that the light includes (ie, the colors the light creates).
MarsHydro II SPECTRUM: 430~440nm, 450~475nm, 620~630nm, 650~660nm, IR, white and the LUMENS (ie intensity of the light hitting the plant). The MarsHydro II 400 is high on the Lumens chart due to the 5 watt Epistar LED Chips used in the unit. The 5 Watt chip will provide higher Lumen output and insure deeper canopy penetration.
SUMMARY
All in all, the new MARS HYDRO II 400W is a major improvement over their first generation light. This improvement is primarily a result of switching to the newer 5 watt LED chips. The new lights hence deliver great spectrum and intensity. However, the real differentiator is the great price of around $189 for a 400W light using 5W LED chips…
Bottom line is a strong Buy recommendation! Best Light for the money.
