Samsung strip PCB's: a review after 3 years of rough use...

[HydroLynx]

I have been using Samsung strips with the lm561 diode I think, for 3 years now.

Soldering: very good, dropped fixtures and diodes still attached lol
PCB: is CRAP. Slight bend and half the diodes dont work any more...
Light: very powerful, had to run on 50-60% because plants were struggling
Temps: Very cold (4000K) need supplimental air heating or plants dont grow! 3000k's in my flower room get very warm....

Anyways, looking at what's new: I like the quantum boards as they seem sturdier than crappy 4 ft long flimsy pcbs. What else have the industry coughed up lately?

 

[welight]

refreshing to get actual info after the fact, im guessing these were not aluminium boards

 

[HydroLynx]

No it is FR4 fibreglass, like less than 1mm thin. I used "contact glue" to stick em to aluminum tread plate, and some fell off and bent in the middle under their own weight. Ya. Digikey also shipped mine so badly in 2017 that some bent along the way too.

 

[nogod_]

Obviously too late now....but in the future, Digikey is generally good about sending replacements if your package gets damaged by the shipping goons.

I have only ever ordered 2ft strips for this reason. Easier to ship without damaging, easier to hit the minimum order quantity for the volume price break, generally more available, and for the time penalty of approximately five seconds and one 4" piece of wire you can wire two strips in series and have a 4ft strip if that's what you require for your build.

After half a year of use, all of my strips are still holding strong using blue thermal tape from Ebay. No screws or pop rivets, I'm lazy living dangerously, will let everyone know if they start failing!

Thanks for the update thread always nice to see a real world road-test

No it is FR4 fibreglass, like less than 1mm thin. I used "contact glue" to stick em to aluminum tread plate, and some fell off and bent in the middle under their own weight. Ya. Digikey also shipped mine so badly in 2017 that some bent along the way too.