Had the same problem switching, the hps and mh throw alot of radiant heat which the soil loves. The Solstrips throw a shit ton of light not so much heat. 4 solsheets in a 5x5 is the perfect fit.
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amazing garden. and 20
5 posts were split to a new topic: Fixing 1000w motherboard
Hi all.
I thought I had this nailed down after reading for days but need some help, anyone’s insights / suggestions and confirmation welcome and if any chance of input by @Baudelaire. Apologies for long winded outline below but ultimate question relates to if intended Solstrip build plan looks sensible and if plants will survive at constrained operating height.
I have max 15-20cm (6-8”) between plants and lights at full flower in scrog. What Solstrip design works in that space?
Is the below suicide?
Here goes:
I am severely right restricted and have only a W60cmxD60cmxH80cm space to work with.
I need a system I can leave with absolutely minimal attendance.
The intended scrog drip feed system planned will occupy the bottom 40cm of the cabinet: tank height 20cm (8”) and tank to top of screen 20cm (8”).
Assuming colas grow to 20cm (8”) then I’ve got maximum 15-20cm (6-8”) distance from lights to plant tops at full flower.
Intended light build is a 5 (2x 2,700, 2x 5,000, 1x 3,500K) strip Solstrip X1-400 rig running it at 50-60% of operating wattage for 22.5-27.0k Lumen across on 3.9sqf (assume Solstrip 9k Lumen is valid for 12” height). Given height issue I assume the effective lumen at full flower at the above operating rate will be more like 28-34k.
Plan on operating in series. Initial research indicated Solstrips are designed to operate in series as opposed to parallel with apparent safety guards against thermal runway and allowing safer operator build in series vs parallel. Intended driver is Meanwell MW HLG-150-24A.
Don’t foresee heat issue as cabinet will be vented and plan to heat sink the strips. Will be in basement which has a lot of cold air. If anything worries conditions will be too cold.
Merry Xmas all and Thank you!!
My workbench is 30"x30"x30" (75cmx75cmx75cm). I use 5-gallon fabric pots and have roughly 6" tall leaving me with about 24" (60cm) space total. The plants can grow right up to the strips.
My light is six 2700K strips on a MW HLG-240H-24B, and three 5000K strips on a MW HLG-120H-24B. I usually run it at about 200-watts total.
Here is my latest grow, it stretched way more than anticipated, but they are mere inches from the strips.
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@ReikoX, what kind of gpw are you getting?
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I get around 1GPW using my organic methods.
I was getting 1.1 gpw with led bulbs, I hope to break that mark with the strips (1.5 would be nice), although not this run, I’m still dialing them down. I had the lights too close this run and that suppressed the stretch completely and left the plant a micro plant.
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So basically nothing to worry about and get on with it?
No errors in expected driver strip pairing?
Could anyone please post a link to wiring diagrams or tutorials on how to add a watt and amperage meter like the ac80-270v Multimeter into a LED driver circuit.
Emailed advice from Solstrips said their product was designed for series wiring. Anyone have advice to the contrary?
Thank you and happy growing.
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Using my strips i’ve achieved as high as 1.2gpw using my totally neglectful lazy methods, I still haven’t had a “perfect” run in my cab yet, but this current run is looking promising.
10 Solstrip X1’s somewhere around 4000k overall CCT. Running on a HLG-320H-24A pulling 385w from the wall (approx 350w/35w per strip due to driver overhead)
Day 28 of flower in this picture, I have them static mounted at the top of my cab. Gives me approx 30" or so of space to grow into.
Somewhere along the grow in my @LED_Seedz tester run for the Cherry OG x Pure Durban:
Hope this helps 
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You seem to be confusing series and parallel. With the strips and driver combo you have they I’ll be in parallel. Basically you connect all the positive wires together and all the negative wires together.
Series you connect the negative of one strip to the positive if the next. That requires a driver like the MW HLG-240H-C1750B.
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Thank you. I believe my problem lies in placing the plant too close to the lights, which left them too short.
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If you are limited in vertical space, I would recommend you do two things.
- Be sure the driver you get is dimable. That way you can turn down the power if/as the plant grow too close.
- use more strips. The closer the plants are to the strips, the narrower the coverage is. When the plants are really close, the light wont spread out to the sides very well, so you need the strips closer together. If you do this, you for sure will need dimable drivers to control total power and heat. You can run more strips but at the same or lower total power if they are closer together.
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Cheers for the reply @ReikoX Appreciate it mate.
I’ve obviously got the driver selection wrong, obvs why Shroomgod was waiting for the fire service to make an appearance.
In an exchange with the solstrips team I got the following advice:
“You can wire SolStrips in series or parallel. We recommend wiring SolStrip systems in parallel rather than series out of human safety concerns, and because SolStrips are designed to have much greater protections against thermal runaway than COB-based systems. Internet LED DIY forum guidance on series wiring is typically aimed at COB-based lamp designs, and is biased toward protecting COB chips from thermal runaway versus protecting humans against severe electrical shocks from high-voltage power sources. We don’t sell COB systems and prefer human safety over electronic safety.”
So if wiring the 5 strips in series, +ve to -ve as you say, I’ve obviously got the calls wrong.
What with series wiring voltage should be additive and amperage constant. 5 strips with operating so obvs voltage will be 24.2Vfx5 needing 121V - so yeah HLG-240H-C1750B with output voltage of 143V and 1.75A should do - though is the amperage not sailing a bit close to the wind what with the strips at 2,400mA max?
Main point of confusion I have though is why if solstrips sale staff advises wiring in series (as per their own email) then why are all the drivers on the same solstrips website seemingly for parallel wiring? Have I got that wrong @Baudelaire?
Should I just go parallel @ ReikoX?
Thanks @anon32470837 appreciate the suggeation
@Jellypowered - Stella mate! Thanks for giving me the example and confidence to build in this space disputes he constraint.
What operating wattage (total / per strip) are you running at when they get so close? I presume you’ve got it set up as a veg and a flower rig basis the description?
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Actually, you read their email backwards. 
They recommend wiring in parallel - NOT series. Thats why all their drivers are designed for parallel wiring
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@anon32470837 - Ok duh. Blame the eggnog. Apologies for the time wasting.
Photon Solutions always recommends parallel wiring of SolStrip systems, for the additional human safety low voltage parallel circuits provide compared to high-voltage series circuits. Thermal runaway risks associated with traditional COB lighting systems are basically not relevant to LED hard strip systems due to the inherent protections afforded by the strips’ circuit and PCB designs.
I’m not familiar with the “multimeter” you refer to but if it is AC then it would need to be wired into the AC power side of the driver. And frankly speaking, if you do not know that already, and are still confusing series and parallel circuits, I’d suggest moving slowly and doing some more reading here and at the Photonics blog at SolStrip.com before proceeding with your build. That or consider a SolStrip kit or assembled system, where the designs have been developed and tested to work in their application environments.
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@Baudelaire fair advice and taken on board. Thanks for taking the time.
Think I need to reread more carefully what I had.
One key take away seems to be that working within the 12” height on LEDs is absolutely possible.
Appreciate the patience.
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