Ok, @Tappy,
This one is 150 true watts instead of 100 true watts so not quite a match:
Hmmmmm, it seems the prices have been increasing over the last year. Or my memory is not serving me correctly 
This one will only veg a 2x2 area:
However, having said all this, i think you will be fine with that Mars model you were looking at.
Thats interesting to note. I grow in a room but im trying to contain the light better with white poly sheets along side my canopy. I feel like thats been my achilles towards better gpw numbers. Right now the lights are only 14inches from tops and no bleeching.
yeah i did this last round ive been running them in the 33w/sqft range and it looks like im running into potential bleaching issues again, but one thing to consider too though is im running autos on a 18/6 scheduel so if say if plants were equal for there ability to convert photons, an auto at 18/6 with say a 25w/sqft approximation would be the same as a photo at 12/12 being at 33w/sqft if thinking as it from a DLI or total light in a day perspective.
Also nice to confirm that myself and others were onto something 2-3+ years ago when suggesting Led SIL’s my favorite being the philips bulbs with the domes popped of were and still are very viable solution.
Nice job man. You too @Tejas. That’s pro quality work right there! The wiring is nice and neat, they have a very finished look. Great job!! I’m sneaking up on copying the config in the first post for my 2x4. I’ve started the various bits I need to make it.
I got some 1 1/2" wide, 1/16" thick aluminum angle, and I ordered some 18ga hook-up wire on Amazon.
I have 20 BXEB-L0560Z-35E2000-C-B3 strips, and 1 XLG-100-L-AB in a digikey cart, but since this is for a veg tent, now I’m thinking I should go with the 5000k strip.
Hey YoBigdaddy, where did you order those 44" 3500k strips from? I’ve been trying to find some but every place I’ve looked seems to be out. I told a buddy I’d price him out the parts for a light in his 4x4 when I did mine.
@Tejas, nice pictures of the wiring on yours. That’s wired parallel also right? What gauge wire did use for the jumpers between the wagos? Do you have a picture of the power cable connection? That’s the one thing I can’t get a good look at.
I think I understand this but being wrong could be really bad so. As long as I connect the power cable to the driver correctly, plug it into a properly grounded outlet, and cover up those contact points, nobody’s gonna wind up electrocuted right?
future electronics has them, also they are the gen 3 which is denoted by the C3 at the end vs the B3 so they will be more efficient than the gen 2’s by a bit.
as for yourself if going with that xlg-100-L or say the H series there is no sense in loading up strips for it as at nominal the L can handle 7 in series and the H you can run a 2Series3Parallel array for 6 strips and just run them at a bit higher amperage “850ma ish per strip” to get that full 100w if that’s what you want, no sense wasting money on strips you don’t need
But if ordering 20 go to future just to get the gen 3 as they sell in 20 packs if needing that many.
Thanks for kind words, @Guitarzan got them from digikey, that site is a pain in the ass to navigate but cant beat them prices.I went with gen 2 instead of gen3 price. I got everything i needed for right around 400 i had 14 ga wire and ext cords already. Although next time i will spring for smaller wire 14 worked but must be careful i shoved one wire in and broke the little connection had to re solder.
I used this site to build my light after reading @Mr.Sparkle’s excellent led writeup, https://ledgardener.com/diy-led-strip-build-designs-samsung-bridgelux/
Here is the image to wire the lights, it is a constant voltage-parallel configuration.
I had a similar issue when building my lights. Stick something like a finishing nail in the hole and carefully twist the wire out. That’s why it is important to use solid core wire 18g for light to light connections and 14g solid core for wago to wago connections.
Gpaw’s Light Project
Years ago when I was sourcing my tent and light I had to settle for what I could afford. So I ended up with a Kind LED K3 L600, a fine representative of the ‘blurple family’, pulling 293W out of the wall. Like some things in life, it was a compromise. It would be a good light for a 3 x 3 tent but sub-optimal for a 4 x 4.
Fast forward to spring of this year and I trip over this thread… oh boy, did that stimulate the little grey cells!
A worthy and necessary project is born.
Rough Lux requirements from the ‘interwebs’:
5,000 lux = cloning
10,000 lux = seedlings
25,000 lux = lower end of veg.
40,000 lux = lower end of flower
75,000 lux = light saturation (CO2 required for further benefit)
1 lux = 1 lumen/square meter. A 4’ x 4’ tent is close enough to call it 1 square meter, so we can say in this case, 1 lux = 1 lumen
and other useful trivia:
70 lux = 1umole/m2/sec
1 watt = 3.41 BTU
Design Criteria:
A minimum of 30 Watts per square foot of growing area is the accepted ‘rule of thumb’ so that works out to 480 Watts.
Like many others, I used the Bridgelux BXEB-L1120Z=35E-4000-C-B3. The specs. 27.3 watts, 39 Volts, 0.7 Amps, 4,780 lm. Twenty of them configured in parallel will draw a total of 546 watts at 14 Amps.
Now the neat thing about the Bridgelux (besides the price)is that they can be seriously over-driven (theoretically up to 100%). This is assuming some solid thermal management, like heatsinks & air movement etc.
I wanted the dimmable drivers external to the tent as they produce 10% of the driving power as heat – so about 30 watts each.
The mechanical design had to be simple enough to be built with the minimal of tools. I settled on 1” aluminum angle, 1/8” thick. 20 strips 46.25” long and 2 end pieces 34.25” long. (No worries, a full shopping list of parts later). That works out to 22(ish) pounds of aluminum…
Driver selection was… convoluted… I started with the biggest driver Mean Well makes, a single 600W driver but it turned out that a pair of 320Watt drivers were 15 bucks cheaper & more power – Bonus! This also means that at 100% power I have about 10% overdrive capability, and will be hitting 40 watts per square foot!
Running 2 drivers and all of the strips in parallel has some design impacts such as having to use heavy copper conductors between the drivers and the strips and reducing 10 pairs of driver wires to one pair from the driver for starters. I went with 14 gauge wires between the drivers and the junction box on the light (12 gauge would be a bit better for copper losses but that was getting too expensive). Each LED strip is connected to the junction box with a pair of 22 gauge conductors.
All of this activity required a new meter in order to get comparable data. At the low end you can get a light meter app for your smart phone but this can be very inaccurate and problematic in high light situations. A PAR meter would be a great choice if money isn’t an issue. A lux meter has a sine correction lens and is reasonably priced. It is good choice for A vs B comparisons. I went with a Dr. Meter LX1330B lux meter (54.95CDN, Amazon).
Comparisons:
Kind LED: (measured directly under the centre of the light)
50” above sensor = 9,250 lux
36” above sensor = 15,000 lux
24” above sensor = 29,500 lux
14” above sensor = 62,000 lux
DIY Bridgelux:
(measured directly under the centre of the light)
50” above sensor = 28,000 lux
36” above sensor = 47,800 lux
24” above sensor = 64,400 lux
14” above sensor = 87,000 lux (CO2 territory)
Dimming tests at fixed heights
At 67” above sensor:
10% power = 2,800 lux
50% power = 23,800 lux
100% power = 38,800 lux
At 48” above sensor:
10% power = 2,700 lux
50% power = 17,700 lux
100% power = 28,100 lux
The first thing I noticed was how even the light distribution was across the tent floor
with the new light, impressive!
Temperature measurements after 100% power for 1 Hr.
The component side of the LED strips stabilized at +5C above ambient (ambient = 19C).
The driver stabilized at 31C above ambient. (glad they are not going to be in the tent)
Frame construction and wiring
Ta Da!
Bonus Cable Porn
Cheers
G
Shopping List (priced in CDN$$)
(sourced from Digikey)
20 x BXEB-L1120Z-35E-4000-C-B3, Bridgelux Gen 2 LED strips 12.12 ea
2 x HLG-320H-42B Mean Well drivers 130.03 ea
(sourced from Metal Supermarket)
Aluminum angle, 6061T6 (alloy), 1” x 1” x 0.125” thick, SKU AA6061/118
2 x 34.25” long 12.24 ea
20 x 46.25” long 7.06 ea
(sourced from Princess Auto)
Rivets, 1/8” x 1/2” long, 50Pc. 5.99
Backup washers, 1/8”, 50Pc. 6.99
(sourced from Lowes)
4 x eyebolts, 2 1/2” long, 1/4”, Item # 1802518 0.89 ea
4 x 1/4”-20 hex nuts Item # 63301 0.19 ea
1 x 15 meter extension cord, 14 AWG 41.99
(sourced from A1 Electronics)
40 feet of 2 conductor wire, 22AWG 0.30/foot
3 x 4 pin terminal block, 11mm pitch 2.00 ea
1 x Hammond box P/N 1591XXSFLBK 7.39
1 x 4-40, 1/4” screws 100 Pcs. 4.20
2 x 100K linear pots 2.90 ea
2 x knobs 1.95 ea
1 x Insulated spade terminals, 10 ~ 12 AWG, 10 Pc. 1.30/ Pkg
2 x Insulated spade terminals, 14 ~ 16 AWG, 10 Pc. 1.70/ Pkg
1 x Insulated spade terminals, 16 ~ 22 AWG, 10 Pc. 1.50/ Pkg
So something like 770.00 CDN or about 560.00 US (except it’s all cheaper south of the border)
If anyone wants detailed design notes, I’ve got them.
Cheers
G
Very nice write up Gpaw, the comparisons impressed me, and it’s good to see actual figures of what these lights can produce in light 
Well thanks for that, I was concerned it might not be readable as I was doing edits at 1AM - that’s never good… 
This ‘spread out’ light system is very even (eg 31,800 lux in the corner and 38,600 lux in the center). I expect that it will have excellent canopy penetration because the light is coming through on multiple angles.
I expect that meter is going to ‘save my butt’ multiple times before I get used to it as well.
Now I can get on with that ‘secret squirrel shit’ 
Thanx & cheers
G
I just went down and moved my light to 16 inches above cannopy when you can see numbers, it makes things a lot easier if you are experiencing light bleaching problems, roughly a 50% drop in light every 10-12 inches gives something to work with rather than just guessing.
Great job @Gpaw, as for the lux measurements before anyone bitches about par or ppf vs lux ill just say to them to stuff it, still a measurement regardless than can be used for your own purposes.
Saying that i was doing calculation again for myself yesterday cause it looks like im running into light saturation issues again because i turned up my lights, but the popular knowledge out there and when doing conversions for our strips it approximates out that say a 700-750μmol/s/m2 range of light under say 12/12 which is a DLI of 30 ish, equated out to a 43-45k Lux value, and looking around above 850μmol/s/m2 of light extra co2 is typically recommended and thats even considering a house base grow where co2 levels are higher on average, so @Gpaw that second or third hand knowledge of 75k + lux needing co2 may be way over estimated, when 50k may be more realistic and from my own issues math wise when considering DLI seems to be more in line.
Just something to consider that your hang height from light to canopy at full may actually be in the 30" range to be at those lux values, obviously the plant will tell you otherwise but yeah…
Awesome write up and design. Looks very professional. I will have to break down what mine would have cost if i had to buy everything. Because definitely price difference here in states. Great Job
Bear with me folks, it’s ‘fun with tables’ time. 
48" height, full power (640watts) Lux measurements (x100)
| 6" | 18" | 30" | 42" |
|---|---|---|---|
| 318 | 355 | 359 | 314 |
| 329 | 383 | 386 | 350 |
| 335 | 362 | 352 | 344 |
| 272 | 300 | 305 | 304 |
The bottom row is slightly lower because I had the tent open (so no reflective surface).
I was expecting a fairly even distribution on the tent floor but I was surprised just how even it is.
I’m really excited to see how this works out on the next grow! 
Cheers
G
Great job on the build. Thanks for laying it out like that! Here that build costs less, but now that aluminum is so expensive, it’s not that much less.
How’d you get that aluminum so cheap from from Metal Supermarket (yours is $161 CDN total)? Care to relay your methods for that super cheap pricing?
The Metal Supermarket here near Denver and the one I called in Chicago quoted me $250 USD after tax for almost the exact same lengths of aluminum.
20x 46"
and
4x 20" 6061 1x1x1/8.
That’s why I had to go with plate instead since it was $130 USD after tax for 2 pieces of 44.25 x 20 x 1/8th.
Is it really just the nonsensical and uncompetitive American aluminum tarriffs making it twice the price?
Also, as it relates to hanging height, you lose 15% of your light output on wall reflections so keep in mind that you’re always better off hanging closer and dimming the light down rather than hanging high and losing photons and wasting watts blasting the walls with light.
