Always interested in pictures of Solstrip arrays!
I propose a call to action! I wanna see a money shot of everyone’s Solstrip in their natural environment!
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i will have a build soon just waiting on parts 6 3500k solstrips meanwell driver what do you think of these grow lights ?
the meanwell hlg 240 will run 6 strips with out having to dial it down yea im just waiting on mine
Im cross posting here for folks who might miss this in the other thread.
Well, I was wrong about at least some of my thinking on how these drivers work.
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Turns out you can’t turn the strips off by lowering the voltage. The driver automatically keeps the voltage, and the current, at the minimum level needed to light the led’s no matter how far you turn it down. In my case, thats 20.5 volts.
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My minimum power level, with both pots turned down all the way, is 4.7 watts total = 20.5 volts x .23 amps.
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Im maxing out at around 330 watts, but I havent let it stay there very long.
Im running a series of tests now and will report back later. Im about 20 minutes into a 150 watt (25 watts/strip) run and temps are staying around 37 C (98F) with no fan.
Oh - Im also a bone head and made two major mistakes. Luckily, neither broke anything toooo badly.
Be careful when you insert the 18 ga wires into the strips and dont push them in TOO FAR. You will break the locking tabs off the connectors! Fortunately, the connectors still hold the wires in just fine and they are still removable, but its more difficult.
@Baudelaire - you might consider a note on the web page or included with the strips for idiots like me.
I also did another major bonehead move and connected two of the strips with reverse polarity - and I wasnt even stoned at the time!!. They survived, but I dont recommend doing that either!
More notes and some pics later…
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What wattage, and height above the plants, would you guys recommend I run these at in veg?
Right now I have it set 22" above the tallest plant and 175 watts/ 7 sqft = 25 watts/sq ft.
The lights will turn off in a few, and Im finally off to bed…
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I’ve got my strips running at 32w each, for a total of 320w. I’ve got colas 4" away and am not experiencing any light burn. Most of the canopy is about 6-8" away and doing fine. 
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Here are some pics of the frame and strips - including my booboo with the wire connectors. I forgot to take any during assembly - sorry!
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Thanks! I will crank mine up then
Ive done several hours of testing and I think my DIY heatsinks will be fine.
Here are the results from the initial testing with the fixture just sitting, leaned up against my workbench with no fan. Ambient at the time was 72 F/22C. These are the highest readings taken from several places on the face of the strips. The heatsinks measured anywhere from 2C to 10C deg cooler depending on where I measured it.
150W = 37C / 97F
175w = 40C / 104F
200w = 43C / 108F
250w = 48C / 118F
I didn’t actually test it, but it looks like I could run at the max recommended wattage (48wx6=288w total) and probably be right at the max temp even with no fan.
Oh, I should note that I had a silly idea while I was assembling the frame. I have several left over sticks of that small ¾”x3/4” U channel that I used to build the frame. It occurred to me that I could try a redneck heatsink mod by bolting a piece of that on the back side using the solstrip mounting bolts and some more heatsink paste. They don’t really add all that many sq inches of cooling area, and they are probably not that efficient, but what the heck – I had the stuff on hand and it wasn’t much trouble to add. You can sort of see the details in the pics I posted above.
Ok, with the fan and fixture mounted and the fan on low, I am good to go with a large margin of safety as far as temps. It ran this morning for several hours at 42 watts/strip = 250 watts total and the highest temp on any of the strips was 33C / 91F. At 200 watts total, it drops to 27C / 81F. I was pleased that even the ends of the strips that are not directly under the fan were only running about 1 deg warmer.
That’s with an internal temp of 24C / 75F – which is down from my old average of 27C-29C 81F-85Fwith the CFL lights on. I also had to turn off the small in-line fan I have that was blowing outside cool air into the tent. The main exhaust fan is still pulling outside air in, but its no longer being forced in.
One other note – I would recommend that folks use larger wire than I did for the power run between the driver and the fixture. I used 16ga and I have a little over one full volt drop between the driver and the solstrips at 250 watts. I have extra wire in the run now (about 10 ft total) because I may want to relocate the driver later. But that’s still more drop than I Like. At roughly 10 amps total draw, that’s 10 watts being lost as heat in the wiring. That’s a lot. Once I have everything where its going to stay, I plan to go up to 12 ga for the main run.
Over all, Im very pleased with how this is working out.
Oh, here is a shot of the power readings with both pots at minimum.
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How big an area are you using for that 320 watt setup?
First post of my 2x3 cab. 6sqFt
The link above tells everything but that was my build thread. around 53w per square foot, way more than I need.
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I’m not sure what mine are running at, I know it’s not full power.
I have it 12" above the canopy and in an open room they are not even getting that warm and the driver is running even cooler. So far the plants seem to like it.
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hi just wanted to ask a question, with four strips the Mean Well HLG 185w would be the right driver? and the aluminum end pieces pretty easy to find at a hardware store?
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Your local hardware store or Lowes, HomeDepot, many larger lumber yards, farm supply, etc should have a section with aluminum angle, flat stock and C channel of various sizes and lengths. You wont need much if your using the SolStick heatsinks, but there are also metal recycling and scrap yards where you can buy stuff a little cheaper. Thats where I got my aluminum stock.
Yes, the 185 should be perfect for 4 strips running at just under 200 watts total.
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Just an up-date. Ive been running my 6 solstrips on a 20/4 schedule, at the max level @Baudelaire recommends - 48watts ea = 288 watts total - since last Sunday, and they are running nice and cool with the fans on - no more than 35C / 95F. Temperature control in the tent is so much better now. Its still early, but I think the babies like it better too
One interesting note. I had the lights down to within about 12" of the canopy and I thought I was maybe getting a bit of light burn, so I raised the lights up to about 18". Shortly after that, I noticed the temp in the tent was running at least 3 to 4 deg C cooler on average. I was trying to figure that out when I finally noticed my temp probe had moved under a large fan leaf and was no in the direct light from the fixture. After a bit of playing around, I discovered that having the probe (black plastic) directly in the light causes it to read high by at least 2 to 3 deg depending on how far away the fixture is.
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Great, glad to hear everything is running well. I think after your initial burn-in, you’ll find a sweet spot running them in the 36-42w/sf range, at 8-16" above the canopy.
-b420
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Thanks for the tip! I turned it down and lowered it. I’ll let you know how the ladies like it
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After more careful checking, I think I am getting wind burn rather than light burn. My fan was just moving toooo much air. So I reduced the air flow by blocking the intake side of the fan and we will see how that does.
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Could that be nute splash?
I dont think so. I havent been feeding them hardly at all, and this started several days after the last feeding. Im very careful about not getting nutes on the plants when I do feed. I do spray the leaves lightly with a fine mist of the PH’ed water.