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Very warm, almost hot wires

BioSemiosi

Active member
Wow. That is crazy...I literally put down the iPad and checked this. Upon closer inspection, there are some arrows on the connector. A vertical one pointing down, hardly visible on the black part. There is a corresponding vertical arrow on the colored connection, in my case blue, pointing up. On the blue connector are arrows and images showing twist to unlock. The two vertical arrows line up to lock the connection in place. Mine was locked but not pushed in all the way. Roughly out a quarter inch. I didn’t see any melted or browned connections luckily. I didn’t take apart to the level posted above though. I’m hoping pushing mine in totally will do the trick. Keeping monitoring.
I hope for you the trick works !
 

blondie

Well-known member
Some good news. At this point it looks like the wires were warmer than they should have been due to the connector not being connected properly. It’s not easy to tell just by looking. I had to actually mess with it to see it was not in all the way. If you are reading this, next time you are in your tent, no matter what brand light you have, take 2 seconds and give a look/feel make sure your connection is good and not hot. Can’t hurt. I’ve monitored the last several nights temperature is noticeably decreased when touching by hand. I have a forehead infrared thermometer and hit the wires with this thing. Not sure this is the most accurate apparatus for the task at hand, but it wasn’t anywhere near 194. I’m good for now and my ladies are enjoying 80% setting. Stay safe everyone.. thanks for the comments.
 

exploziv

pure dynamite
Administrator
Veteran
@blondie Since the connector was badly connected and probably making electric arcs in there I would use some contact cleaner spray or at least connect it and disconnect it a bunch of times, to ensure the metal surfaces are meeting perfectly, without any soot in between. Do this while it's not plugged in, OFC.
 

Three Berries

Active member
Best to use some electrical corrosion inhibitor grease on those pins as the plating has been burnt off. It will cause problems in the future anyway probably you might as well replace it.
 
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flower~power

~Star~Crash~
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I’m unable to get my mars hydro past about 70% brightness due to wires getting concerningly hot. I had it about 85 and had to turn back down due to safety concerns. This is the 6500 model. Anyone able to crank up their light to max and not have the wires hot? I’m not sure this is expected behavior with these lights or not?
At first glance, your thread title looks like this

Very warm, almost hot wife’s :p

 

Gry

Well-known member
Veteran
Have a couple units, an FCE-3000, and an FC-3000.
The round connector was a problem on one of them.
When I took it apart, what I saw was that three of
the wires had been tinned, one had not.
Mars sent me a new connector, I tinned the one wire
which had not been tinned properly, and have not
had any issues with either of the units since.
The little units deliver real well for me.
 
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BioSemiosi

Active member
Have a couple units, an FCE-3000, and an FC-3000.
The round connector was a problem on one of them.
When I took it apart, what I saw was that three of
the wires had been tinned, one had not.
Mars sent me a new connector, I tinned the one wire
which had not been tinned properly, and have not
had any issues with either of the units since.
The little units deliver real well for me.
Exactly what I also noticed when opening the connectors, each of the 2 had 1 screw unscrewed.
 

Mars Hydro Led

Grow on Earth Grow with Mars
Vendor
Exactly what I also noticed when opening the connectors, each of the 2 had 1 screw unscrewed.
Can i know which light you are using? Could you possibly take a picture that can show this? I will definitely transfer this to the prodution team. Thanks in advance, bud.
 
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BioSemiosi

Active member
Can i know which light you are using? Could you possibly take a picture that can show this? I will definitely transfer this to the prodution team. Thanks in advance, bud.
Hi Mars !
I'm already in contact with assistance who should send me the new connector in the next few days and I'll change it myself, it's a simple thing to fix, I also told them that as soon as it arrives I'll assemble it and test it to be sure everything still works well. The light is a FCE-6500 purchased from the mars hydro site in april. Probably by changing the connector will start again at 100%.

Miss to say that, the assistance already already have the photos and payment invoice.
 
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BioSemiosi

Active member
Can i know which light you are using? Could you possibly take a picture that can show this? I will definitely transfer this to the prodution team. Thanks in advance, bud.
if you go a few pages back you can see in my photos the disassembled connector, one of the 2 wires the black one was not tinned (the black one) and unscrewed or maybe the lack of tin made it detach ..I don't know
I'll put a picture of the detail even if it looks bad.
thanks
 

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Mars Hydro Led

Grow on Earth Grow with Mars
Vendor
Hi Mars !
I'm already in contact with assistance who should send me the new connector in the next few days and I'll change it myself, it's a simple thing to fix, I also told them that as soon as it arrives I'll assemble it and test it to be sure everything still works well. The light is a FCE-6500 purchased from the mars hydro site in april. Probably by changing the connector will start again at 100%.

Miss to say that, the assistance already already have the photos and payment invoice.
glad to hear that, bud. hope to see the look of the light at full power.
 

Mars Hydro Led

Grow on Earth Grow with Mars
Vendor
if you go a few pages back you can see in my photos the disassembled connector, one of the 2 wires the black one was not tinned (the black one) and unscrewed or maybe the lack of tin made it detach ..I don't know
I'll put a picture of the detail even if it looks bad.
thanks
it looks bad. but as you have said, it will be replaced soon. ;)
 

Hammerhead

Disabled Farmer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I run a FCE-6500.. No issues at full power. .

Any wire that carries voltage whether DC or AC and doesn't have good contact will cause excessive heat from arcing. With only a few stands of wire or not good contact delivering power it's too much of a load to handle. Always be mindful of burning smells in the garden. All indoor gardens should have fire suppression installed.

ADD Automatic Portable Fire Ball/Flambuster Extinguishers on all walls at a min. There cheap 25$​

Project1.png
 

Mars Hydro Led

Grow on Earth Grow with Mars
Vendor
I run a FCE-6500.. No issues at full power. .

Any wire that carries voltage whether DC or AC and doesn't have good contact will cause excessive heat from arcing. With only a few stands of wire or not good contact delivering power it's too much of a load to handle. Always be mindful of burning smells in the garden. All indoor gardens should have fire suppression installed.

ADD Automatic Portable Fire Ball/Flambuster Extinguishers on all walls at a min. There cheap 25$​

View attachment 18815895
yes, safety is top priority. that portable ball is very useful. :respect:
 
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BioSemiosi

Active member
I would like to update you all about the repair and replacement of the connector, I tell you right away that it works 100% with the dimmer and the only small anomaly is given by the on/off button of the dimmer, when I exclude the dimmer to off the lamp turns off instead of going to 100%..
I wait what they will tell me from assistance.

I have noticed that the new connector is different (better) than the original one that was fitted, this is like the FC series connectors and is bigger.

I cut about 20 cm of cable because as you can see from the photo the white one had turned brown and the copper inside was cooked. For the moment even at 100% it works fine, I have to figure out if the dimmer is faulty or not.
BTW it works !
 

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exploziv

pure dynamite
Administrator
Veteran
Dimmer problem is probably unrelated to this, as you could have not changed anything from the power connector.
 
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