Mars Hydro FC6500 Samsung LM301H EVO LED Grow Light Review | NEW 2024 version!

Today, we're diving into the 2024 Mars Hydro FC6500 EVO LED grow light, featuring Samsung LM301H EVO diodes. I am going to also hook up the Mars Hydro Supplemental UV, Far Red, and IR bars to this fixture, show you what that looks like, and also look at some spectrum and PAR measurements with and without the supplemental bars.

Overview

The FC6500 EVO is a part of the FC EVO series, which includes the lights all the way from 150W that will cover a 2'x2' space, to 1200W covering a 4'x6' area. All of these lights utilize the latest Samsung LM301H EVO diodes. If you're looking for a budget option, the new FC-E series with Bridgelux diodes might be worth your consideration. But for the top-tier performance, the LM301H EVO series is the way to go.

Build

The FC6500 EVO features 6 passively-cooled bars connected to a sturdy aluminum frame. The Mars Hydro branded driver and dimmer box attach to the center of the bars or can be remote-mounted using the included DC extension cable, reducing heat in your grow space. The dimming box allows for smooth dimming down to about 10% and supports daisy-chaining up to 30 lights. It comes with a NEMA 5-15P 120V style plug, so you will need a plug adapter if running this light on a 240V circuit. The fixture folds in half for easy transport and setup and measures by 44.5" x 44.1" when hung up.

Diodes

This fixture is equipped with Samsung LM301H EVO 3000K warm white and 5000K cool white diodes, complemented by OSRAM 660nm deep red diodes. There are no UV or far red diodes included.

If you want to enhance this spectrum with UV, Far Red, and IR, you may consider purchasing the Mars Hydro Adlite series bars. These bars will round out the spectrum during the flowering stage and give you about 140W of more power to turbo charge your grow. Each of the three spectrums, UV, Far Red, and IR, can be added independently or you can purchase all of them together.

These bars come in a longer version and a shorter version depending on which Mars Hydro light you are using them with. I am using the longer and more powerful version. The Adlite series can also be used alongside any other grow light on the market to enhance the spectrum and provide an additional boost.

Specs

The FC6500 EVO draws 730W at the wall. My measurements at 112V showed a wattage draw of 727W and 6.51A. Expect half of the amperage at 240V. The light is suitable for applications up to 277V. The fixture's heat output is 2,489 BTUs. All FC series lights come with a 5-year manufacturer’s warranty and are ETL and DLC listed.

The total light output on the FC6500 EVO is 2117 PPF, which is a 3.5% increase over the previous version of this fixture. The PAR efficacy was bumped up a couple percent to 2.9 PPE.

Mars Hydro recommends using this light in a 4'x4' to 5'x5' space. It will deliver strong flowering performance in a 4'x4' area or slightly less intense coverage in a 5'x5' space. For flowering, hang the light as close as 8” if using CO2. Otherwise, we recommend hanging the fixture between 12-24”. During vegetative growth, dim the light to 50% at these same heights. 

PAR

Mars Hydro has published PAR maps for the FC6500 EVO, tested in a 4'x4' grow area. You can see that the readings are well over 1000 PPFD at 8” and 12” in a  4x4 tent. 

Let's take a look at some of my PPFD readings in a 4x4 AC Infinity Grow Tent without the supplemental bars and with the supplemental bars at a 12 and and 24”. I only took 9 readings per test just to give you a general ideal of the PPFD at these heights. 

At 24” with only the main fixture on, the average PPFD of my readings was 1032 PPFD. At 24” with the main fixture and the supplemental lights on, the average PPFD was 1123. So, about 8% higher with the supplemental lights. Since all of the UV light was not picked up by the PAR meter, the PAR readings are a bit higher in actuality.

Summary

Overall, this is an excellent light and adding the supplemental bars makes it even better! While it is not necessary to add the supplemental bars, each additional wavelength adds a bit more to the spectrum and will help bring your grow to the next level.

The light offers high PAR efficacy, excellent light output, and remote controllability. I didn’t really dive into the iConnect functionality in this review, but just keep in mind that if you chose to control this light with the Mars Hydro app, you will need to purchase the iConnect USB controller that plugs right into the control box for a small fee.

You can learn more or purchase the light here.

Enjoy!