That is precisely what I used, 18g solid. Thanks for the heads up though! I’ve been triple checking builds here for the last couple months lol.
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I like to use a bit of 14 or 12 to get from the last Wago to the driver when making hlg-320 lights
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You can get it in but its bending internal connections. That connection is sound (its been tested and certified) but good luck removing it. That’s why it’s specd to 18.
Cheers
G
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If I was to make a panel for a veg tent for a perpetual grow, am I high or would it be nice to use all the spectrums to give one end a nice area to pre bloom the plant I transplant a week before flower?
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Most in this thread say straight 3500K with the Bridgelux as it covers the spectrum pretty well all on its own.
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My girlfriend and I want to try growing some veggie sprouts (like bean sprouts etc). We’ve got a shelving rack and I thought LED strips would be perfect for lighting. After looking at digikey I’m confused as hell and thinking these high powered strips might be overkill.
How many watts/sq ft do you think sprouting seedlings would need roughly? Would something like this be sufficient?
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Bean sprouts should not be exposed to light as far as I know. Microgreens on the other hand might need some light but not too much.
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Nice work on the light fixture @ChronicMcBudz!
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Thank you! Never would have been able to do it without OG! Scared the crap out of myself when I first plugged it in. Had the dimmer turned all the way down and it doesn’t light up until about 25% of the way. The first 5 or 10 seconds my heart about stopped til I turned the dial then wham! Bout blinded the wide lol
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I asked a similar question a while ago @Mr.Sparkle suggested I build a light for veggie starts at 15 watts a square foot but run at around 10 watts per square. Ended up building a stronger light but have only been running it at 10 watts per square foot a few inches away from the tops and the veggies have loved it.
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honestly if just starting veggies another option is to find an older T8 4foot floro fixture or 3 and pick up some “mainfit” Led Retro fit bulbs, just have to rewire the light to direct mains for those bulbs and allows you to remove the old ballast too, or the instafit ones if the ballasts are good, though less effecient
Bulbs are like $8 a piece
Can upgrade the house at the same time 
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True I didn’t think of that. I did consider regular floro shoplights, but I’m sick of those lol
@Chronickyle thanks I’ll shoot for 10-20 watts/Sqft and hopefully get something dimmable to dial it in.
Looks like I have some reading to do, thanks!
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@beacher i ended up building mine at 30 watts a square so that after veggie season I can use it for flowering. It dimms right down to 10 watts a square no problem.
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Did you use bridgelux type strips? I started pricing it out and it looked like I would be in for a couple hundred to run a 4 shelf unit. It would be nice, but I’d rather do it on the super cheap.
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I used the bridgelux gen 2 strips built a 2*4 that could be used for flower cost a bit less than a buck a watt.
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For just going veggies though I could have used half the strips and a smaller driver or the same driver over twice the space.
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If you’re just growing the sprouts, you can be fine with about 10w of the Bridgelux EB2 3500k 2ft strips per 2x1 foot area. This is both pretty easy and cheap and you only need a max of about 1/2" height, but no more than 12", above the sprouts. If you want to do a transplant and still veg them up, you’ll need about 15w for that same 2sqft area. Dimmable of course.
This is one rare case where I would say you don’t need heatsinks and can mount the strips directly to the undersides of the shelves via zip ties so they shine on the sprouts below. Just make sure to waterproof the trays so no water hits them. Run the wires up the outside of the shelves or, if they’re plastic shelves with hollow supports, just run them inside the supports and have the drivers + dimmers up top.
Wire in parallel so you don’t have much voltage or amperage and you will be ultra safe even if there are spills. You can lookup DIY LEDs for microgreens on youtube for ideas, but nobody’s really doing this on YT.
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Thank you. That’s sort of what i imagined with a single strip tied to each shelf. It’s good to know the numbers and height I need to work with!
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I just started reading this thread again, looking to build a couple lights for 2x2 tents. If there’s a wiring tutorial for this that also helps explain if there are any special parts needed, can someone point me to the specific post, please?
I’ve built solstrips racks so I’ve done this once before and so im not starting totally from scratch in the experience department.
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Figured I’d make a post of my success from the help of @Mr.Sparkle this is one of two lights I’m building. Each ran off of their own MeanWell XLG-200-H-AB driver and 10x 560mm 3500k Bridgelux eb gen 2 strips.
Ran with two strips in series and five of those in parallel.
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