well you can use bigger drivers for multiple space you just run them as one time schedule, no need to complicate it.
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Yeah I understand that, and yeah I guess you can def call it over complicating it for sure…
I’m just seeing if I can some how get a lil more control/flexibility for possibly a lil cheaper I guess is a way to sum up the goal… (I’m willing to sacrifice easier and learn a lil)
Would any of these controllers fit the bill:
^^^ those are decoders for rgb lighting control which cost what $50-75, buy a second driver if you want control thats independent of each other
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Yeah prob not worth vs two drivers, but maybe three or four?
Anyone ever try or look into the Bridgelux Thrive series? Lower light efficacy @138lm/w I believe but 98 cri (higher plant efficacy?).
They do look very good but I think you would be better off waiting for the price to come down or go for the Gen 2s. From memory they are close to double the price.
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Yeah, even slightly more than the regular Gen 3
As I understand it with regards to modern white LEDs, you’re better off trading efficacy for CRI when the higher CRI comes with a lot of extra far red. I haven’t seen 3rd party testing to verify if Thrive does it or not, but they are like 18% lower efficacy than regular Gen 3 90cri.
I must say though, high CRI light is nice to work under. Perfect, vibrant colors. If Thrive ends up being double the far red of gen 3 90cri, I’d say go for it. But don’t take their curves as gospel on that point.
At this point, if you’re DIYing your own light, just get the most photons for the money and go from there. Bridgelux Gen 2 from Digikey fit the bill for $8.40 per 4ft strip, or Gen 3 90cri 4ft if you can find them lower than 4000k for close to the $11.29/ea I bought them at.
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Yeah I’m on the fence for sure, it’s just for a 2x2 32” high, so that’s why I’m leaning towards the 4k to help squat the plants a lil?
Basically looking at 10 gen2 ($40ish) or it would be 10 thrive at around $90 although I might only use 8 of them in the box @160w approx…
I know you preach the more lights, more even distribution so that’s def a pro of the gen2 vs the thrive although I guess I could put all 10 thrive in there and just dim it down, never give it full power?
One thing I’m not sure about is dimming down and what their minimums would be, I think I saw something like 18v something, what would happen lower than that, flickering? Powers off? Would that be bad for either the lights or driver?
I’m also thinking about taking one for the team so to speak and getting the thrive, but as we know there are so many other factors with growing, we prob wouldn’t even know how well they perform anyway unless I some how come out with something unusually spectacular.
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For a 2x2 with limited height, save your money for the extras when you have more room. Don’t overthink it. You literally will not notice any supplementation or extra far red from 98cri strips or anything like that, including fancy food/nutes or pots or fans or anything else, because your plants will have to be so small and young to fit in that space. Focus on growing them right and training them very thoroughly instead of overengineering the space.
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Ok boys and girls!!
Digikey has finally reloaded on:
BXEB-L1120Z-35E4000-C-B3 strips Stk = 403 Pcs.
Have at it! 
Cheers
G
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Here is my light using the led gardener design.
Plenty of room to add 10 more strips. Probably position the drivers on each end for balance and less heat in one area.
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Or you could maybe run the drivers externally?
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@Tejas Thank you 
and your light looks like what I am shooting for
I am looking for a wall mount electrical enclosure to remote my drives
I would like to add a couple of meters and the two dimmers
light power switch etc
being an engineer as far as building stuff like this my OCD is on
steroids
I may need to wait or buy somethings local as shipping is killing me 
I want to put a cord set on my LED array how far can I be from the drivers
and what gauge wire to use?
do any of you fuse the wall or the LED side? circuit breaker in enclosure?
thanks and all the best
Dequilo
A good person to answer these questions is @ReikoX. He has his drivers wall mounted when he redesigned his grow room.
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First, you will need a vented enclosure for the drivers. They get quite hot. When I looked into it, they were quite expensive, like a couple hundred $$. I ended up making a wood frame and mounted the drivers to that with the wiring tucked nicely behind it.
16-guage wire should get you about 10’ before the voltage drop becomes an issue.
The meqnwell HLG drivers have a lot of safety features like over temp, over power, etc. That being said, my lights are on a separate circuit breaker in the subpanel, and the plug is a GFCI plug for added safety.
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so they have some kind of internal beaker?
I will fuse something like that as a circuit break protects the circuit (line in the wall)
the fuse protects the device (driver) so I will put in a fuse
I have an 16 inch by by 16 by 6 deep and a 18 by 18 by 8 deep
both have back boards with stand off in them
also they both have intakes with a filter and exhaust with a fan
I work in industry we have wall mounted enclose you could live in
and the ones they just gave me would have been discarded
yes yours is outstanding 
being a Network person wire manger is a big thing
perfect I will have to look at specs but 10 ’ should work
all the best and thank you
Dequilo
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thanks for information in that thread guys. Very helpful for me.
it’s my first striptech build.
osram duris s5 diodes
700mA 33 V (0,7Ax33V=23w)
3000k
160 lm/w
it’ll work without radiator, Less then half of typical amperage with PC power supply and boost converter on 150w.
prices:
-strips 40$+10$ shipping.
-converter 97% effeciety 3$.
-power supply free for me (used cost 3 bucks).
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So says the Chinese sellers typically though 75-90% is actually what the efficiencies are so take a 80% efficient pc power supply with a 90% efficient buck converter = a 72% efficient power source, mind you efficiencies on some pc power supplies are greater at lower loads so would be interesting to know and easy to take measurements before and after and would be a helpful bit of info for others.
Also guess i should add how are you controlling output current, i presume your not and just running straight voltage control with the boost converter which would allow heat creep to happen.
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