Has anyone built their light from Sol-strips without using the heat sinks? I know with other strip builds without them. $10 difference between the strips and stix. Adds up fast.
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no, the sol-strips require a heat sink when run at nominal currents. That being said, i do use x2 SolStrips with the heatsinks.
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@ReikoX. Thanks. I have a DBL-RAX from them and love the light. Plan on building the next one and noticed they sell them with or without the heat sinks. Thanks for the input!
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You could always copy what @Baudelaire does and fix strips to a large baking tray with a hole cut for a PC fan. Probably be the cheapest way to build a decent light with them.
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This was exactly what i was gonna say. I have a @Baudelaire 's company built light and it’s got JUST the “baking sheet” no heat sinks. However, it is with the Solstrips, NOT the Solstix, and so they may operate differently. I wouldn’t argue with ReikoX as he seems to KNOW what he is doing. That being said, I think I would hafta wager a guess that the 'Strips and the 'Stix operate at different temps, (maybe?), and so where the baking sheet suffices for the 'Strips, the other needs a heatsink…? Again, ONLY a guess…good luck! I actually am VERY pleased with my Solsheet X. It has preformed consistently and without failure! I have been thinking of taking advantage of the newer products and more choices of DIY builds that the company has to offer now! Well, that being said, there are LOTSA different options for rack builds nowadays!
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The sheets are active, they have a fan. To run the passive (without a fan) you need the heatsiks IME. I was not happy with the baking sheet when I tried it at first, so i ordered the heatsinks.
These have been in use for about two years now, stock may be different by now.
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lol if you check back through my previous on here you’ll see i’ve built loads of lights from solstrips/solsticks. I ended up buying up the remaining UK stock of the things when the sole importer packed it in. The bare strips are called solstrips btw it’s when you fit Brets own choice of heatsink bars they become solsticks.
I’ve built loads of different passive and active cooled rigs from both X2 and X3 strips, the only type i haven’t built is the baking tray version 
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I agree, its hard to beat the price for a pre-cut, drilled, and tapped heatsink eh?
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Yeh when i got those X3 strips from cola i wished we’d just waited and got the proper heatsinks for them. However their new owner is delighted with his rigs. A pair of 3 foot long heatsink bars at £50 each plus the four 5" cooling fans…lets just say it wasn’t a cheap build but his rigs have been running for well over a year now and have produced pounds of very nice weed in that time.
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I have a feeling I.KNOW the UK vendor you speak of, if he is ALSO a member
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Exactly. With SolSheets, the sheet pan housing IS the heatsink. The fan helps, but isn’t essential for in-spec operation. With SolStix Rax, the heatsinks are surrounded by open air and do not need a fan.
Any LED strip can be operated without heatsinks if you keep the current low enough. This is the technique used by the DIY folks with Bridgelux strips. The question I’ve always had is why? Why run an LED strip a 50% of its potential output just to avoid heatsinking?
Heatsinks are cheap. LED strips are, relatively, expensive. Why buy twice as many LEDs as you need? The retort is usually some argument about efficiency, but the efficiency gain is less than 15% in most cases, so you are spending 100% more for a 15% gain? Just get the heatsinks, folks.
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@anon58740919 is the guy
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Yup, thats what I had thought!
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We just got our new X3 SolStix sink profile in. It’s a beauty. A full 50% heavier than our previous profile, with plenty of thermal capacity to spare.
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Nice build!
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Cheers bud 
I posted a build of an X2 version somewhere on here a while back. At least i think it was on here It had the same heatsink bar and fans but with six X2 strips instead of four X3 strips.
It worked just the same but if i’m honest a rack is far better, even distribution, less risk of frying your plants & no fans to potentially fail and damage the strips.
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I’m trying some qb96 lights from HLG now, and I’m a little worried about the same things. But it’s still a lot better than COBs. Those were pretty easy to burn plants with. I’ve just been using qb288’s and added some of these X3s maybe a year ago and have really liked them.
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I really like the rack systems. Currently have the X2’s and trying to decide on staying with them or jumping to the X3’s for the next light.
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That was my issue with QB’s too, a high concentration of light and having a lack of headroom don’t mix well eh. I suppose you could get a load of the clone boards from alibabba/shengzen/meizing…whatever, fill the space with them and run them soft.
Think i’ll stick with my X2 racks though 
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