With that driver and the 560mm ones you could run 18 if you overdrive them a bit (875ma vs 700ma) or 27 if you under drive them (583ma vs 700ma a strip)
The max voltage for that driver is 183v so /19.5v = 9.38 so rounded down you could run 9 in series.
Id go with 18 if you do and just over drive them a little and run a 9series 2parallel array.
But consider orderign them from Future electronics and get a 20 pack, as that way you can get the gen 3’s instead of the gen 2’s, as they are about 10-15% more efficient, and you’ll have two spare strips.
The 4 at nominal, as you don’t need that much light for a 1x1 but 6 will allow you to upgrade or fill a bit bigger space better and two extra strips are cheap $ so you only need 4 but no harm going 6 and just running them at lower amperage.
Now I have I couple questions -
I need mounting suggestions for the strips, can I use rivets? And if so is there any worry they will pull to hard and crack the light strips? Open for suggestions please. And also when I wire them together am I going negative to positive and just continue joining them that way? And if I join them all on one side can I feed the power from the driver to them on the other side?
Looks great! I might have spaced them even further apart but what do I know. I like the rails vs sheet design. Wonder if an even more substantial heat sink could be used in a rail design. Anyone checkout options like Fluence for design inspiration?
I think I’m just going to use zip ties cause I have a bunch here already.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to do the wiring I’m dying to light this up. As far as I can tell I can go positive to negative all up one side but just unsure where to connect the driver, is anywhere good as long as positive is with positive and negative with negative?
Got it all figured out! Gonna tidy up the wiring and order some hangers. I’m pretty excited! I was gonna do a write up and dumb it down but I’ve now realized it can’t be dumbed down anymore I’m clearing partially retarded maybe fully dunno, but here it is lit up
Looks great you did a good job, I used drywall metal stud tech screws they have a big flat head, and I pre drilled the holes even though they are self tapping. For hangers I just used some gardening wire from one corner of the frame to the other, and put an upside down U shape in it at the center so the hanger clip sits in it centrally.
You don’t need a heatsink with these strips, you could mount them on plywood if you wanted.
Poor mounting is a major problem as it can damage or kill your strips.
You must avoid threads cutting into the sides of the holes (delamination)
Hardware (heads of screws or washers) too close to the surface mount devices (LEDs) (cracking solder joints)
excessive clamping pressure
For point 2 I used to used to specify a min. spacing of 0.20"
Precisely mark the mounting holes, center-punch and drill (I’ll drill pilots and then later drill larger to correct size). This is best done with a drill press.
Personally I’d drill and tap for machine screws and use nylon washers.
It looks like you are planning on three mounting points per strip?
Only 2 mounting points, I actually just used nylon zip ties and just snugged them so the strip is snug against the frame, I was gonna use a nylon nut/bolt but I had a whole bag of these and decided to save money and use them.
Keep an eye on the temperature of the strip (if you have an IR thermometer) until you get used to it. Measure on the back of the strip away from the aluminum supports. IIRC they are something like 7 ~ 10W per foot so shouldn’t be an issue (trust but verify)
I’d guess they would run about 10F above ambient in that configuration (at full power).
Okay, I sat down with a j and boggled my mind looking at digikey for a bit so I figured I’d ask here for opinions. I’m looking to fill my 2x2x2 ft cube with light, I’m looking at the 3500k strips 560mms long (eb2) and I’m wondering how many to pair with what driver. My other light is 17 strips with a 240 driver and I feel that is a slight overkill but I love opinions. I know @Mr.Sparkle (I hope I’m remembering right as this is a strong thing I’m smoking) is using under 100w…? in a similar size space and producing fine bud… Sooooooo hi everyone
Seedlings through to mid life or seed runs hence the 3500k and not 4 or 5k for total veg, I’m not worried about height from the tops as I can run my current light at < 2 inches from the tops without light stress.
you did a good job, I used drywall metal stud tech screws they have a big flat head, and I pre drilled the holes even though they are self tapping. For hangers I just used some gardening wire from one corner of the frame to the other, and put an upside down U shape in it at the center so the hanger clip sits in it centrally.
