Maybe not phoey, but remember, this is ALL opinion and YMMV as they say.
No one has done any real scientific studies of what is really the optimum light level for pot growing. If you Google “how many watts for growing pot” or something similar, you will see results from 35 watts/sq ft to 80 watts/sq ft for flowering. A large number of those recommendations fall more in the 40-45 watt/sq ft range. I consider that more or less a “normal” max number.
Just as an example - I can crank my LED lights up to 320 watts, based on my driver max rating. If I go to max power, I have to keep the lights at least 18" to 24" away from the plants or they burn. My tent is 7.38 sq ft, so thats 43 watts/ sq ft. No way could I ever go up to even 60 watts/ sq ft. I would never be able to keep the tent temps under control and all my plants would die of radiation burns. At 80 watts/sq ft my tent would likely melt and or catch on fire
If you have a large enough grow space, and great temperature control, more watts might be practical - or maybe not.
I was wantin to build a lil seedling n clone box outta a Costco 27gal tub. 3 of the little 2ft Bridgelux EB Gen 2 strips in 3000k or 3500k will work I figure. I dont buy into the blue spectrum for veg with LED coz they already keep plants stocky.
So I figured ask all yall smart folks here. What drivers best for them 3 strips & has built in dimming pot? I dont wanna hafta wire a dim pot. Hope for 90%+ efficiency & good warranty but dont wanna spend much.
Will be hard just for that low of wattage , but the IDLC-45-700 or ODLC-45-700 still gonna have to wire up a dimmer though, literally two wires to a 100k linear potentiometer, easy peasy
or pickup 4 strips run them in a dual parallel series config and run off a xlg-50-ab at 500ma a side which puts it at the same wattage as running 3 at 700ma, but you can over drive it and probably get it at 1.4a or 700ma a strip.
Better efficiency, more light if desired, more coverage and for only about $10-15 more extra strip counted, and what id probably do
Thank ya fellers. Not too lazy, want a clean install with least # of wires. Would somethin like a MW LCM-60 work? Its moren I need, but will work for 3 of em EB2 2 footers, right?
yeah the LCM-60 would work and you can run 4 of the 560mm strips off that, still would have to wire up a potentiometer for dimming though for finer control, otherwise you just have a 500, 600ma, 700ma settings with dip switches if only running 3 strips and them being in series.
But saying that if you did go up to four strips and had two chains in parallel of 2 strips in series, then you could use the dip switches from 1400ma down to 500ma to adjust and wouldn’t really need a potentiometer. Giving you effectively 100%, 73%, 64%, 50%, and 42% with just the dip switches.
So id say doable and enough variability there forsure, driver is a good 20% more expensive than a xlg50 though, unless you can find one cheap
Thank ya fellers! Sold! I got 4 of them 3500k EB2 strips. Not sure how Ima mount em to the lid of the tub but mebbe thermal tape. Dip switches are good fer me since this is fer seedlings/clones & I want it to be simple & easily hidden.
There not wet location approved but I’ve mounted all my other drivers outside of the tent anyway. The price is half of other hlg models. This would significantly reduce cost of builds!
looks like you could with a 39.6v max adjustability range, but you won’t be able to set current with them as it will just push whatever is needed depending on temp of whatever voltage you set it at. Also the smaller strips “280 and 560mm” you would have to do 2 strips in series and then those in parallel with other groups to get what you need.
So a safety precaution should be brought up from some discussion that was had with @TrevorLahey over in discord chat , its something i wasn’t concerned about myself but its a good measure to be safe about it.
These bridgelux EB2 series strips on one side of the strips have bare solder points for your positive and negative sides of the circuit if one wasn’t using the attached wire connectors, saying that if handling these strips while turned on which you shouldn’t anyways these would have a potential to short out through these points and potentially electrocute you.
So just to be safe applying some Liquid Electrical tape, silicone, rtv, or non conductive paint to these spots will help eliminate any potential issue.
Dab of silicone on mine. I can totally see (probably moreso than @Mr.Sparkle) someone getting seriously hurt from this. So many times in my old grows was I reaching in over my canopy and raised my arm up into my lights. I actually got zapped from my SILs one time while doing this.
Now 700ma is nothing to laugh at, would only need a fraction of that moving over your heart for a game over screen. That’s on the low end of LED drivers too, some of the HLG drivers are 2+ amps. Sure youd probably just get a bad zap if you touched it with one hand, but if you somehow completed the circuit with both hands, definitely bad news.
Always have respect for electricity, as it has absolutely zero respect for you. If you’re not sure ask someone who is or can at least point you in the right direction. Stay safe out there growers!
I had several shocks from reaching under my sils, until Argo wised me up to liquid tape.
Not bragging, and I definitely wouldn’t like to re experience it, but the worst belt I have got was 8KW @ 30 amps of 240 volts I was fixing a power shower heater. It melted 2 inches off the end of my screwdriver and through me 6ft across the room backwards. I was sore for a couple of days and had a nasty burn on the bit of my finger that was touching the screwdriver shaft.
I had isolated the switch on a power for the bathroom, which was in a cupboard in the bathroom, went out to get a different screwdriver, and my brother came into the bathroom for a piss, and turned it on again, and then switched off the light when he finished. I didn’t see any of this and carried on as I had just been doing and boooommmmm.
Always isolate your power and double check, I was extremely lucky there was no water on the floor or I would have been roasted.
Excellent @Jellypowered! Are those 1 or 2 foot strips? What driver are you using? Excited to see what you do with them and more info on the cab and stuff!
Nice job 
If possible, could you add this info to the first post in this thread too.
I was fixing a power shower heater. It melted 2 inches off the end of my screwdriver and through me 6ft across the room backwards. I was sore for a couple of days and had a nasty burn on the bit of my finger that was touching the screwdriver shaft.