Lighting DIY mars conversion. Questions and answers here.

[BigSm0]

No fins on these, just a simple plate with the LEDs attached. Unfortunately I don't have a meter, but I believe these lights are 130ish actual draw watts.
I am excited to upgrade these. I bought them at $40 a piece, so I'm not in the hole to deep yet. $120ish for a light much more powerful and efficient is not a bad deal.

I can't leave a positive reply to the cooling of them but I can say if it cooled the leds that pulled around the same wattage the cobsshouldnt be a problem being more efficient. I have a 120w bar on 1/8"x3" aluminum without fans or fins which draw 20w each and it's enough.

 

[BigSm0]

So youre not sure if its safe to run cobs through them?
I know the plates are removable i was just unsure whether the cobs would be sunk into the case a bit.. If thats even an issue.

I don't think safety is a concern it's more about that plate blocking the light. If you can open it up a little to see how it's put together they may help.

 

[Jupiter]

Very typical reply lol. I don't know much about the reflector series besides seeing a few pictures. It's possible but probably not to easy without taking that crazy chrome plate off the front of it. @Jupiter hacked apart a few 1695$ kind lights to install cobs. Any things possible and any time you can swap an epistar led for a cob is a great upgrade.

Definitely gotta get creative sometimes. i've gone as far as Flippin that plate over and knocking all the LEDs off. Then mounting some citizen 1212 on the clean side. Like @BigSm0 said if you're replacing it with the same wattage you should be fine. That's exactly what I did with a small UFO and a viper led. I can get a little tricky if you're trying to reuse the existing drivers though. I used a Meanwell on one of them and just mounted it on the top . Drilled a couple holes and basically levitated it about a half inch above the casing whith a couple nuts. It definitely take some creativity. The kind Believe it or not was a little easier because I used all the existing components except the LEDs. I have pictures on my Instagram if you need a reference or some ideas. Good luck

 

[BigSm0]

That's what I did exactly with my mars. Was a lot of work but I had a perfect fit plate for the cobs to sit on. Knocked off the leds and sanded it down, flipped it over and mounted the cobs to the old back side. Crazy no one talkes about how they do it.

 

[Jupiter]

That's what I did exactly with my mars. Was a lot of work but I had a perfect fit plate for the cobs to sit on. Knocked off the leds and sanded it down, flipped it over and mounted the cobs to the old back side. Crazy no one talkes about how they do it.

I be smashing those little diodes with a vengeance

 

[BigSm0]

I be smashing those little diodes with a vengeance

lol I used a pair of pliers. Tore up my sander though. All that residual solder.

 

[Rosco1012]

Has anyone ever reused the panels? I will have several perfectly good panels full of leds that simply need a driver... i was thinking of constructing one giant super panel to use for veg or something, im sure I can think of a use for it! And since they were going to end up in the garbage anyways, im wondering if I mounted fans directly on the panels and ran them a little harder they could put out more. They probably wouldnt last as long, but like i said... they are otherwise on a one way trip to the trash

 

[BigSm0]

Has anyone ever reused the panels? I will have several perfectly good panels full of leds that simply need a driver... i was thinking of constructing one giant super panel to use for veg or something, im sure I can think of a use for it! And since they were going to end up in the garbage anyways, im wondering if I mounted fans directly on the panels and ran them a little harder they could put out more. They probably wouldnt last as long, but like i said... they are otherwise on a one way trip to the trash

I think the leds themselves are useless to be honest. The piece of aluminum may have more value that's why I stripped mine down and reused it. Running them bare with just fans will probably blow them up.

 

[BigSm0]

Thanks for the link xxxauto



My reply is in the mars section and probably worth reading for anyone considering an upgrade or have done one. I use the work upgrade and not conversion because that's exactly what it is.

Please do not use kapton tape or mount the cob near the edges. Make sure you use some sort of thermal interface material and always wear some sort of face protection when your grinding off those epistar leds. Not necessarily your favorite animal mask but safety glasses at a minimum.

 

[Loud Pipes]

God forbid! you CORRECTED someone on riu?????? Don't you watch Game of Thrones? Those guys flay people for correcting their ignorance.........

I only go there once a week or so, and I've come to the conclusion I'll search for useful knowledge, but have lost interest in participating in a forum that is controlled by a few arrogant assholes who think they are godlike in their knowledge.........

But if you want to drive the LED guys nuts, tell them you just bought 10 Mars Hydro lights...............

I rarely go there. Not worth it