Back in June 2018 when I built my light I used what I knew… PC standoffs…
End post shows build in progress shot
I run them on 1A and 700mA drivers. Have been using them over a year…
The other build used bolts and nylon washers and lots of drill press time…
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Probably, but could damage the strips in the process.
Yeah they have mounting holes that line up perfectly with where I need to mount them so that’s nice.
The maximum number of strips an XLG-150 can run is 10 so for those 6 extra inches I’d use the same amount of strips but add extra gap between them. Theres more than enough light in one of these frames to light a 30x24.
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Brilliant! I actually have a bunch of these on hand and the screws for them as well but not 40-60 of them.
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Yeah… I bought a big bag for really low price on closeout…
to source them out from fresh stock is too expensive like 10-15 cents apiece…
Went with 6 per strip - 4 supports on one side (ends and middle) 2 on the other.
I my mind these were designed to snap into some fixture that was never released that would contact the two points on the end for power and lock the rest of the strip into position in a recessed ceiling enclosure or hanging troffer.
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My strips coincidentally came with a curve to them, where if they were facing down the middle of them wants to bow up, rather than down, I think it’s going to work in my favour as I shouldnt have to attach them in the middle at all.
I think I’m going to give the rivets a try, as I do have a full box of 1/8"x1/8" aluminum rivets here that (I think?) are perfect size for this purpose. Gonna have to sleep on it! LOL
I also have been pondering how these would be installed in their intended environment and you’re right the two solder pads on each strip could easily just be slotted into two terminals and into a recessed fixture. Would look really nice too I would think! I wonder if the connectors for such fixtures are also available and cheap?
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That light build hs shown me i need to do one for my 4x4 and maybe use less electricity than a thouey. I’m completely ignorant on leds tho so when i finally decide to do it I’m gonna need a lot of help
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What driver would I need for 10 X 44 inch strips or 20 X of the ones you are using Trev.
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I havent done the math for the 44 inch units and I’m afraid I’ll give you wrong information but I think to do 10x44" strips you would need 300w so 2x150w drivers. (XLG-150-L-AB) since these drivers dont have a 300w variant.
Same goes for 20 of the 22 inch units you still need 2x150w drivers.
For that space you might be able to get away with 17 22" strips on a single XLG-240-L-AB like what @toastyjakes has done.
Tagging @Mr.Sparkle 
but maybe best to move the discussion to Cheap LED Strips : A Viable Alternative
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Okay man cheers. I was hoping they would do a larger power one, that was cheaper than the 2 smaller ones.
Trying to work out whether to do the 6x4 ft veg tent first as that uses 50% more light time and do the flower room after, but I would also like to have better coverage in the flower room, it’s so difficult when you are strapped for cash 
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I totally understand that. Maybe you could think of it like I did and do a piece meal, and build multiple smaller frame lights as you can afford them.
I prefer the idea of having multiple lights that I can raise and lower individually, anyways.
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How much did the drivers for your 2 cost, I wondering if I am going to save much running 2 small drivers opposed to 1 large one. I prefer smaller lights in the veg tent, but in flower, doing these super cropped style plants, they are close to 3 ft across by the time they finished stretching.
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The XLG-150-L-AB are like $51 each, the 10 strips for it would be around $80 so ~$130
And yes in most cases you’re spending more money in the long run by running multiple drivers. It’s still about the same or cheaper per watt with the XLGs than the HLG drivers though.
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Took the light apart, drilled holes and just bolted the damn things on. Should have done that from the start lol
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Better to have the tape peel now than with plants in there
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I am liking those Trev, just got my 2ft extension added to my veg tent, looks empty and dark in there now
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Funny story, after the tape started peeling I put it back in place then went about my day with plans to take the lights down and fix them later.
Well, when I came back they were all dangling from their wires like linked sausage haha.
I went into panic mode so didnt grab a pic but it was funny to see this janky ass grow light with strips hanging everywhere.
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I think I would have been in panic mode as well. At least you didn’t cook any plants.
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So for initial impressions I gotta say, these are pretty amazing grow lights. Even dimmed down to the lowest setting they still output a lot of light over a wide coverage area. I see no reason they can’t grow great weed too, time will tell I suppose.
Need to figure out what to run next, and how many.
I have GTxSBR, DDxSBR, and 4 remaining FAM seeds from @ReikoX
Dark Sparks from @Mr.Sparkle
A single AK47 auto from Canuk Seeds
I think I’ll run the SBRxGT again, at least one plant. Smoking it now and it’s a heavy hitter for sure and some of the densest auto buds I’ve grown yet.
And Dark Sparks are pretty much a staple in my grow at this point, it would be nice to see what they can do under better lighting.
And how many? I originally planned to do 3 in 3gal fabric pots but I’m not sure if I’ll get the big autos I want working with living soil for the first time, or do I want 4 plants in 2gal containers?
Choices…
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If you’re growing with soil, I would get as much soil as possible. The larget the oot, be bigger the “battery”, so to speak.
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I have enough to fill 3x3gal or 4x2gal roughly. I’ll also be top dressing with dry amendments when flower starts. But I don’t want to start 3 autos in soil and have 3 little runty single cola plants that wouldn’t even fill half of the tent, but their pots would be so big I can’t add more plants… see what I mean?
Just don’t want to waste 2-3 months of time and all this light just to get a 50 gram yield or something. I’m really nervous I can’t get large autos in soil and I’m setting myself up for failure. But I let myself get convinced that soil was a better option, and I’ve already spent almost $75 just on 10 gallons of soil alone so I have to see this through. I have all these questions about living soils and have been getting a lot of “Figure it out yourself” answers and I can already tell that I won’t run soil again.
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