wire both sides of the lights just to even out electricity flow if you can.
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Here’s a video of the kit being put together - anyone can put these together -
you can order a complete kit for $485 or get the QB kit and driver separate and save $100.
that’s paying back yourself a couple pack of seeds or getting that AC Infinity fan you’ll need anyways…
do you know what you want - what size of area to cover ?
I have built 4 lights this year using HLG QB266 Quantum boards.
they have Red spectrum [v2 Rspec] LED and I use them from seedling to finish.
This is a good light for under $400 -
This is a 320W DIY Kit I ordered recently :
- [HLG] xQB288-V2-Rspec-Triple-Combo - $ 296.00
- [mouser] HLG-320H-C1750A - $78.00 shipped
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boom! Now to build the frame and fit it all together. should be a fun project this weekend. Big thanks to @Mr.Sparkle for the help
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let there be light!
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@Mr.Sparkle is it actually worth wiring up both sides? I just finished doing 1 side and I reeeeally dont want to do the other side. These connectors are such a pita!
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To make sure everything flows similar yes you can run into a situation where one side is hotter and flows more than the other which could lead to issues down the road just safer to do so.
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ok ok ill wait for my fingers to recover first then i’ll do the other sides 
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Looking good man… I have a box of 50 of these strips I am going to be putting together shortly so I will most likely document it here also… My plan instead of drilling and screwing them to the ally channel, I am going to ‘glue’ them on with high temp silicon filled with 200 mesh aluminium powder and thinned out with naptha to make it more workable. Silicon because it will fix them in place but unlike epoxy they will be removable with a razor blade if required, worth understanding that it’s not the most efficient of thermal compounds but sufficient for the purpose and fucktons easier than drilling and screwing hundreds of screws 
My plan is to run them as pairs in series. so 40v from a 36 v psu via a CC step up converter and 1.5 amp per pair with 12 pairs per light bank.
A bootlace crimp and ferules are the go, it will save you a shitload of stuffing around twisting/soldering wire ends…
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When you say both sides… you litteraly mean + to - on each end of the strip? Or am I missing something
yeah connecting it on both side as in doubling it up, now thats depending on ones driver and how your circuit needs to run off of it but say you had an arbitrary 5 in series but you only connected them on one side going positive to negative the electricity will want to take the path of least resistance through that which will be essentially just running along that one edge sure everything still lights up and will be fine, but there will be a slight increase in resistance for the led’s that are furthest away from the edge you supply the power on as the electricity has to flow along the copper pathway to get to the chips at the far end. Now this is ignoring that chips will have slightly varying resistance themselves and how warm or cold they are too, but the doubling at least for the longer strips ensure you cam make it as even as possible.
Its one of those needed no but better and safer options for strip longevity.
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That makes sense. Never would have thought of that, thanks!
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Dammit now I got to do more wiring lol at least it’s only 32 strips. Contemplating doing another 32 4’ when I upgrade to a 4x8 tent. May go with 76 2’ strips on 4 2x2 frames to adjust them differently if needed but that seems like a mess of hangers
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that’s a good idea for sure. solid core would have been better to have used to begin with but I have a spool of wire already so may as well use it up before buying any more.
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they just run at double the amperage at nominal compared to the regulars, but i would harbor a guess that one would probably want a little bit of heatsinking capabilities with those
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Say a guy was a few screws short for securing the middle point of the strips. Is there any reason he couldn’t use a little dab of 2 part epoxy? There’s no reason these strips will need to come off unless they die
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I can see a possibility of the joint failing over time - depending of the epoxy. But it is an easy repair.
Cheers
G
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thats no big deal to fix. Its Gflex marine grade epoxy so it should hold for awhile lol
I’m having a slight issue sourcing metal and figured I’d ask the experts here to weigh in.
Build is 20x Blux EB3 4’ strips 90cri 2700k split across 2 fixtures. Each fixture is going to be 10x strips in parallel ran by a single hlg-320h-42a because the ab aren’t in stock anywhere. This is gonna be running the strips at slightly above nominal current at 100%, but not ridiculously so. Normal operation will be run around 85% for max efficiency and about 500w from my 120v outlet.
Anyway, the 1x1x1/16th angle 6063 aluminum for the frame (the cheapest I could find with most rigidity) would create two fixtures 46" x 20" each and cost $250 total for all the metal from the cheapest local supplier, Metal Supermarket.
But, if I go with a 44.25 x 20 x 1/8th sheet 5052 aluminum I can make both fixtures smaller and simpler build for $140 from the same supplier (again the cheapest I could find after calling 25+ places). Each fixture is still only around 10.5lbs so not super heavy, but there’s considerably more metal mass for heatsinking purposes.
What do you experts think? Sheet or spend the extra for the angle and have a more complex and larger fixture?
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I would go with the sheet since its cheaper, simpler, and has more heatsinking properties. If that price is the cut price, I would say it’s a no-brainer.
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