Also,
I just want to take this time to thank @Baudelaire for the products he brings to the common folk like us at a reasonable price. He is quick to answer questions, offer suggestions, and from what i’ve read take care of any problems (I haven’t had any problems just to be clear)
Very anxious to grow out the COD seeds I got from him. (Cali Orange Durban IIRC)
Will use the plants I have started now to dial in my setup then germ a couple of the COD
do you need thermal compound? is there no screw holes?
There are screw holes. If building and overclocking computers has taught me anything, heatsink compound is priceless for thermal transfer. Not having compound can be the difference in being able to run the lights just that little bit harder due to surface imperfections in the heatsinks. Air gaps hinder heat transfer, and these heatsinks aren’t dead flat. One of them is actually warped just a little. I like the cheap insurance compound brings to the table. I want this light to last a long time. Say I run it hard and a diode pops due to there being an air gap below it, that would lead to thermal run away and end up popping more or causing the remaining groups to be run even hotter. Again, I’m probably just paranoid but i’d feel better knowing I did everything I could to prolong the life of my strips.
Hopefully this made sense.
I’ve already sanded the strip side of the heat sinks and wiped them down with alcohol in prep for when I get compound. I’m just a little OCD with electronics.
Edit: Plus, the cooler the thermal junction (diode temp) the more efficient they are.
oh ok. i know quantum boards don’t require thermal compound and they are basically just larger solstrips w/ same diodes. could be heatsink dependent too. i guess @Baudelaire would know more about it than i and i’m running mine about 50% harder than HLGs prebuilt fixtures. i figure for the cost i paid and the rapidly advancing technology if i get 2 or 3 years i got my moneys worth.
edit: i checked HLGs website to see if they provide any explanation but all it says is “No Thermal Interface Material is required between the LED board and the heatsink.”
Like i said… OCD and probably a bit too paranoid. 
@Baudelaire did tell me heatsink compound was NOT required, I had already asked him.
I’m just doing it so I can get that little bit more out of them without hardcore active cooling.
nothing wrong with overbuilding for sure sounds good !
I’m terrible. I’m already planning my next upgrade for after I get a couple of grows…
Ebb and flow Cab 
I love designing and building cabs 
I’m about ready to sell my cabs and just build out a room though. I would love to have the full 7’ ceiling to work with.
That’s going to be bright AF!
That’s what i’m hoping for
I hope that i’m able to static mount my light at the top of my cab and just use the dimming function to control intensity.
Looking good @Jellypowered. I agree that a little thermal grease will help with any gaps, but unless you are planning to run these strips at 100% it shouldn’t be a concern. These Samsungs are tough, I’ve put them through the paces at 100% rated current for 40 hours at 60C (over their thermal max rating) and nary a flickering diode. But you’ll get the best efficiency out of them if you can keep them around 40-60% of max current, and below 50C.
Eager to see it fired up…
Soon my friend. Good to know they can take a beating. A couple of my SolSinks were a little warped, so i’ll just feel a lot better with the compound at minimum on those warped ones. Nice thing is your strips are somewhat flexible (DON’T BEND THEM ON PURPOSE) so they will be able to follow the slight warp of the sinks.
I’m here 
I’ll look around some time but wanted to find ya at least
Hell yes! Everyone welcome my friend from the north!
So i’ll tell ya’ll a little bit about @Manfromthenorth since he’s been VERY busy with his property, horses, life in general.
These will all be snippets from him from another site. He won’t mind, we’re pretty tight.
I’ll let him fill in any blanks but that lets ya’ll know what he’s workin with. I’d really like him and @lotus710 to get acquainted as he would totally be into #knf and #notill
