Cheap LED Strips : A Viable Alternative

My pleasure, any time!

Cheers
G

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If I were to go with the 2 footers. Do I just need 18 of them? Those would give me the best coverage for 30” x 5’.

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Using the BXEB-L0560Z-35E2000-C-B3…
The strings would be 6 strips in series & 3 strings in parallel. (same current but half the forward voltage)

Cheers
G

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Any recommendations for self contained cheap LED strips, not requiring any wiring or “building”, for us non-diy peeps.

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it seems overwhelming, but it really is quite simple once you understand. It may take some time but if you read this entire thread you will most like have the confidence to take on the task,

basic wiring
basic wood frame

and were always here to help

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ive started in on this thread like 3-4 times so far and i feel like i get in over my head every time and bail out. one day i will finish and build my own rig though. haha.

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Take a look at this site, it boils down this thread considerably, DIY LED Strip Build Designs for Samsung H-Series, F-Series, Q-Series, and Bridgelux EB Gen.2 - LED Gardener

I followed their 2’x4’ build that I am currently using. It gives a visual context to this thread. The one thing I did different was to omit the “L” channel aluminum that is acting as the heat sink.

Here is a picture.

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You don’t need to understand it ie series parallel , my brain doesn’t , but I follow instuctions and built this : )


Both drivers on same dim

Only one driver on full power

Both drivers on dim with one dimmer than other

The plan

Thankyou @Mr.Sparkle : )

Oh and she’s 200w … ish total

( 2x ) 100w meanwell driver XLG 100 L-AB and ( 2x ) 14 X gen 2 , 28cm 3500 strips

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Nicely done :+1:

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How many Bridgelux EB series Gen 2 light bars would you guys recommend for a 2x2 seed to flower? Looking for something to upgrade from my Mars Hydro TS 600 that pulls 100w from the wall.

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10 of the BXEB-L0560Z-35E2000-C-B3 will give you 34 watt/sqr. foot

Cheers
G

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man
that wiring looks so much better than mine. I’m using wago connectors and it looks like spider webs. they work but aren’t nearly as pretty.

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Thanks, I knew how to lace cable harnesses from when I was a kid but really, I just hid the ‘kludgy stuff’ in the black box. :laughing:

Cheers
G

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Just saw that but just for clarification, currently the Gen 3 HO’s are actually less when you consider they put out twice the light of a reg gen 2 strip and cost a bit under what 2 strips of the gens 2’s do, and thats not counting there 6+ish% efficiency bonus.

They do need a bit more heatsinking, vs say none of the regular style strips.

Just a thought for newer builds as it reduces components and makes builds easier.

Also running strips above nominal wattages helps with that too.

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I must have missed something when I was looking at the specs. :grin:
I was comparing DS131 Gen 2 spec against the DS171 Gen 3 spec.

{edit} DS171 is the slim so DS134 for the Gen 3 spec?

Are those the same as you were referencing?

Cheers
G

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yeah the slims arent worth the cost.

I was referring to the DS134’s as an option

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I was comparing the typical efficacy (194 lm/W for the gen 3 vs 175 lm/W for the Gen 2).
and then looking at the difference as a percentage.
Is that incorrect? or are you multiplying that by the respective wattage?

Cheers
G

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So I have a question, right now my light setup has 12-gen.2 22” bridgelux leds. https://www.bridgelux.com/sites/default/files/resource_media/DS131%20Bridgelux%20EB%20Series%20Gen2%20Data%20Sheet%2020171020%20Rev%20A.pdf
I want to increase the number of leds using a spare mean well hlg-240h-24b, https://www.meanwell-web.com/content/files/pdfs/productPdfs/MW/HLG-240H/HLG-240H-spec.pdf
The max current rating for this power supply is 10A. The leds max forward current is 1.4A. Dividing the two I get 7.14 or 7 strips. Is my math and thinking correct?

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There is tremendous overdrive potential for these strips but thermal management becomes really important!
I recommend sticking to the nominal drive current of 700mA (that’s 100%).
Therefor you could handle 14 strips!

Cheers
G

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That’s great, I have space for 10.

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