I was confused at that as well, mars hydro I though you were saying Metal Halide 3000
I was actually looking at the mars 3000 and tge aglix m240 or something like that
Greetings @Hemp
The MaxiSun MF 2000 really is an interesting new offering. The high quality components and build look great. I hope you’ll weigh in after using one for a grow or two.
Is there a way to dim the light manually? I’m tired of having an appliance become worthless when the remote dies. The intensity map below is concerning too, the light level really falls off in the corners doesn’t it? That’s surprising considering the reflector. Is 2’x4’ realistic given that the outside edges are getting 68% less light. I could be completely wrong tho, it’s not clear whether they are measuring PPFD or PAR in that map. “Average PAR” is a pretty worthless stat.
Let us know because on the face this looks like a great deal.
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I just bought the sf4000 haven’t had time to form an opinion yet but it has to be better than what I had which was a 400w/hps I bought it 8 years ago and was trying to go cheap I guess but it never did cut the mustard that’s for sure. I have some high expectations for this new light for sure and bought new bulb for the 400hps maybe through it in for shits and giggles
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I’d love to hear about your thoughts after using it a bit, im going to have about 1.5 months before I NEED a new light, I rearranged a bunch of stuff and am going to get by with my vegging plants woth one less tent… for now
,so I’m looking at getting a similar veg light the t5 to use in my 2x4 veg area they seem to be in the 100 to 150 range did it work for you I have a smaller t5 that works great I flower in 2x4s as well one has a sf 2000 the other a hps 400 they are pretty much comparable but the hps puts out a ton of heat I need another spider farmer
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I know the brand I’m gonna mention is pricey but I’m mentioning them for down the road and to others looking at potential LED lights.
I would stay away from California Lightworks- if you should have to call on them for whatever reason, chances are good you’ll get someone sarcastic or “know it all”. This company has some of the worst customer service period. I’m stuck with their product unfortunately…
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I absolutely love my 4’ 8 bulb t5 fixture! It out performed my 600w mh/hps and my Aglex led. I’m having an electrician friend over next weekend to see if she can fix it up for me, ive been running it for 8 years now and have only replaced the bulbs once. The growth, internodal spacing, size of the leaves are just amazing on my plants under that light
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These are under the t5 with only 4 of the 8 bulbs working, they still seem like they are getting enty enough light woth only half the light working.
They were getting root bound in the 1 gal pots and I did a mass defoliation just prior to these pics, ill update my log tonight with some fresh pics
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I’ll have a look, eventually, down the road I’ll be upgrading, all my lights, but not now… 3 week work curtailment in Nov, I just spent a TON in Oct… so gotta be tight woth the coin for the rest if the year, lol
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I was gifted an HLG100 R-spec for a show and grow on another forum. The spec’s state vegging a 3x3 and flowering a 2x2. I decided to use it in my 3x3 but wanted to ensure i had enough for flowering, so i added a second HLG100 R-spec. I seem to be doing well, still need to get a light meter and check things but i’m happy thus far.
Lights retail for $150 each. I’d like to get another HLG product for my 4x4 next.
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Are you in Canada?I can sell you a 315 cmh they work well for veg or flower at a reasonable price not sure about shipping charges!
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That’s a cheap set up for led and those tops look like they are pretty damn hefty 
I’ve got a 3 week layoff coming up so I won’t be spending any money for a little while, but if you still have it when I get back working I’ll give ya a shout about it
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I use a HLG 550 R-spec (480 watts) in a 4x4 and it does well, the spread is a little hot in the center and I think if I were spending the money again I’d do a DIY with 4x QB96 engines spaced out equally, or maybe 4x QB288s like my current one but set up on a larger heatsink. I built a B-spec single Q288 light at 135w and that thing kicks in the 3x3 veg tent. There are cheaper options for true DIY but I find the kits from HLG super easy
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I was just considering HLG’s 550 R-spec the other day, got an email with discounted refurbed units. I dont need LED for the 4x4 till next spring, i’ll wait and see whats available at that time.
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I got one of the refurbished units! It’s been trouble free for me so far, I’m finishing my third cycle with it now. When I was getting started last year and looking into what was good and easy for a beginner trying to get into some quantum boards, and the 550 R-spec had just been recalled, which made me look into the brand some, and I saw the substantive response that the owners posted to this review:
That made me feel ok with getting the light, especially after I realized that their replacement model was just the same QB288 boards and heatsink but driven harder to be listed as a 600w. I would rather have the 550 (485w at the wall) running cooler and more efficiently and hopefully with a longer lifespan as a result. I don’t know about the current refurbs but mine came with an Inventronics driver instead of Meanwell, can’t tell the difference.
Another option is to build two of these 260w XL kits that spread the boards out better to reduce the center hot spot from cross lighting. I think if I were buying lights again today that’s what I’d do:
That way I’d have better distribution and could run a fluoro fixture in the middle for my UV tubes instead of two fixtures, one on either side with a single UV tube and a bathroom warm one. Cut down the clutter and ceiling weight.
TLDR I like the 550 R-spec and the refurbished price is very nice, after owning one I realize there might be better and more modular options.
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The qb96 build was what I was shooting for too. Great minds.
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I’m really interested in the QB96, I got two emitter/pin heatsink sets, a ballast, and a linked pair of AC Infinity fans to mount on top of the pins for active cooling, going to build them up to have a backup for if anything happens to my flower light, and to maybe fire up the veg tent for a last round in flower at the end of the year. Or maybe I’ll lend them to my friend who wants to grow but keeps balking at buying lights, even though he can afford it and he pays half what I do for power (he’s on a municipal power grid at 12 cents/KWH no delivery fee like the rest of us who pay 24 cents). I should just get him to run a flower room for the both of us there and save some money! Wouldn’t get to see the plants as much as I like, though.
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Kick ass. I also thought about those little ac infinity fans for cooling! I have 6 of those 96’s and a handful of drivers that I picked up when arrow was blowing them out. Basically I’ve been dragging my feet on putting them together because I wasn’t sure what frame I was going to use and didn’t care for the price of metal presently. Was doing some house cleaning and taking stuff to good will/ dump when it hit me. The framed poster that used to hang up in the house I had with the ex wife has a really nice rigid aluminum frame. Saved that from the dump as that will be the qb96 fixture. I’ll post that on my grow log when I get to it. For now I rock two of the hlg 135 watt rspecs. Do want to add a flourescent uv fixture though or even a cmh at some point for a good lighting mix.
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