Iām in the market for a new light these days myself. No electrical skills to speak of, so Iāll be going the ebay/OfferUp route.
If anybody hears of a deal on an led around 600 watts, Iād appreciate you letting me know! Gotta set up the new space before I can pop the Black Snow!
@DougDawson, any tips on how you got tester status?
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I honestly have no idea. I did not even have a grow journal when that started. They saw me on the board and said I was always being helpful to other growers. It went from there. Guess the best thing to do is be seen. I would think a grow journal and such would be very helpful. You also need to be doing it in a place they are looking.
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Iāve been curious about that since you posted about your original Mars FC series bar! I mean, their marketing worked because after reading what you said about it, I added it to my list of potentials, and it was def not on the list before that ā¦I had been under the impression that MH was cheap quality.
Thanks for the reply
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No problem. They have definitely stepped up their game quality wise with these new bar lights.
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Depending on the fixture you are looking at, it could look like that. The FC series is definitely a few levels above mine (I have a TSW 2000) and the TS / TSW series is cheaper and built cheaper, but still decent quality if you ask me. I havenāt taken readings with all the gadgets you guys have, but my plants tell me they like the lights and thats good for me for now 
My Viparspectra lights seem more ārefinedā but both have adjustable drivers, and I DO like the fact that the Mars Hydro TSW gives you LOTS of wire and the ability to mount your driver outside the tent with the TSW if you choose toā¦ The viparās would take a lot more effort to do thatā¦
Mars knows what they are doing with advertising though. Produce a decent product, get it in capable hands and let word of mouth do its magic. Word of mouth is worth 1000 adsā¦
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I just āupgradedā a 2x4 from two box-fan leds to 2x used TS-1000 (old style ballast) for a steal of a deal and the plants LOVE IT.
They donāt care that itās a few years old tech, they just appreciate the light itās giving.
Now the HLG 100 v2 4000K I got used at the same time is a different beast as wellā¦ but I still bough the used TS series because my 4x4 has 2x TSL-2000ās and they have made me some damn fine medication so I know thereās nothing broke. 
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I would agree. There are definitely some budget fixtures Mars offers but the FC series seems like their top tier offering. I think much of the trouble Mars had was from a customer service perspective. I really canāt say how that has changed as I have not dealt with them. What I can say is the FC 6500 did an amazing job in a 4x4 and the FC 8000 seems like a great light for a 5x5. The plants will determine how well the 8000 works in time.
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A lot of the mars drama came from some douche on here who bought one used from a third party seller and they refused to honour the warranty.
I consider them budget lights but they do a hell of a job. I have a blurple I recently stopped using thatās got to be 8 years old now. Still works 
And a tsl2000 that rocks.
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I have 4 240 w blurple lights I purchased 10 years ago to try from homegrown hydroponics. Cost me almost 3000$ back then, did one run, hated them, back in the box, in a closet, fast forward 9 years and when I was moving I realized I had them. The things only ran one bloom cycle. I gave them to a buddy about 3 months back, and went over and set up a pretty decent budget grow for him using coco. He harvested a couple weeks back and it went into jars last week. Some absolutely killer ogkb and a monster black fire. I realized I (knowing nothing about led and they had not been on the market long) did not compensate for temp, radiant heat, height restrictions etc. and now gifting him the setup and the knowledge Iāve accumulated about LEDS over the years. Those lights were worth every penny and I should have just kept going/learning. Needless to say, you can really make anything work for some good bud, now getting to designer/boutique whatever is when you have all of your grow down and have dialed in extras as well, going above and beyond. Co2, plant steering, UV, and special additives. Most people have never truly seen TOP SHELF craft/designer AAAA+ or some say AAAAA. And really the only difference from quad to quad + is it has to hit every desirable checkmark, taste, smell, bag appeal, high, cure etc. and quads can be missing one of the above then AAA can be missing two etc. Iāve met so many people who think AAAA is mids, no joke mids because itās all they have ever known or seen, and when exposed to the real deal they are usually absolutely dumbfounded (and REALLY HIGH) lol. My point is you can produce good bud with the majority of lights with a little knowledge. And some of these high end lights would make no difference, in fact may hinder another grow that doesnāt have everything else dialed in.
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IMO a proper cure will give a leg up to taste smell and high. Maybe not bag appeal but my 1 year long cured stuff is my best stuff. Wonāt find that in a dispensary.
Edit - blurple can produce great weed I just hate looking at it. Itās ugly.
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Really good bud rolls the alphabet over - I only smoke ZZZZZZZZZ+e420 myself.
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Yeah so did I till I got their new models. I think what has changed is they upped their game and added higher end better constructed lights. I would not call the FC series budget lights nor are they priced as budget lights. They do still have a couple lines of budget lights and wanted me to show them in my current grow but I was being difficult and refused to go backwards so ended up with what I have now.
To the point below though, you can grow good weed with many lights and I certainly donāt have any real brand loyalty. I love my HLG, my ViparSpectra worked great and these new bar lights are killing it for me. Even the Mars complete grow kit with the older model light is still used and did a fine job.
Here is what I feel is a good example, these are 2 white widowās I grew under blurple lights. Honestly I still have some in the back of my stash and was really pleased with them in the end.
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I agree, any decent light will do the job. Doesnāt have to be fancy.
Shane from migro made a list of best ppfd per buck and the tsl was second on the list. Mine has been in continuous operation for 2 years.
It gets a little hot so I point a fan at it.
That being said I love my HLG
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I use 2 TS 1000W in my veg tent 4 X 4.
In my flower tent, I have the new FC 4800. That is a beast of a light in a 4 X 4.
6 bars with the adjustable driver.
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I hit the like wall but I agree @Foreigner and @BigMike55. What works works.
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Actually I used the two TS 100w as my flower lights for a couple grows. They were fine once got them dialed in for strength, distance and heat control.
Funny. I bought mine USED and they still send me replacement drivers when I emailed the Ontario 
reps about mine blowing! 
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If Iām remembering correctly (and I might not be) it was a discontinued item. The guy was a real jerk who I think was banned.
Or so the guy said, assuming he can be trusted which is probably not. He was fishing for free shit.
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It never hurts to askā¦ ā¦unless you are expectingā¦ then please do expect the rage of 1000 burning suns in leu of what you actually wanted.
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He threw a racist tantrum. And the same old sob story Iām a disabled veteran etcā¦
I donāt recall all the details but it was a clusterfuck
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