Samsung H series strips, Arrow seems to be blowing them out! what a deal!

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
Wow the price on these is sooo hard to resist. Loool. Wish some double row F Series Gen 3 would hurry up and go on sale.

Using the LG drivers and 16 of these strips you could build a 600W lights (4 drivers). For around $100 + aluminum cost. But the fixture effiicacy will be pretty low. Like maybe 2.0umol/J. The way I look at it cheap than a CMH bulb same efficacy and more watts. No cool down/warm up, and dimmable.
I'm trying to decide what to light a new 4x4 with. 480ish watts, might push it to 600. I have clones rooted.

Was thinking of grabbing those Q strips but they jumped back up in price. Most of the other Samsung options diode count is too low to make it worth it. I have a bunch of the influx I could use but would be 1/2 diodes count of even just using EB2s which are like $5.

Ideally want to have this setup 2 weeks from now and time to build has me leaning to just using some qb120s.

Have it narrowed down to:

- 2 qb120 4packs @ $200 - simplest build.

- eb3 80cri (want the 90s but out of stock) either 12 4ft or 24 2ft @ $130

also considering just using Vestas so I can veg the plants in the same tent to fill it out til I am ready to flip. Doubles the price of the build and the amount of wiring but still haven't ruled this out. would also be double the diodes so almost makes it worth it.

- 24 vesta gen1 2ft 90cri @ $240

- 24 vesta gen 3 2ft 80cri @ $300

most of the other bridgelux options are out of stock.

have plenty of drivers to power any of these, and sinks for strips on hand. so really just whether I want to take the time to wire up a bunch if strips or a couple boards. also only other factor is the qb120 are 301h.
 

MidnightSun72

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to decide what to light a new 4x4 with. 480ish watts, might push it to 600. I have clones rooted.

Was thinking of grabbing those Q strips but they jumped back up in price. Most of the other Samsung options diode count is too low to make it worth it. I have a bunch of the influx I could use but would be 1/2 diodes count of even just using EB2s which are like $5.

Ideally want to have this setup 2 weeks from now and time to build has me leaning to just using some qb120s.

Have it narrowed down to:

- 2 qb120 4packs @ $200 - simplest build.

- eb3 80cri (want the 90s but out of stock) either 12 4ft or 24 2ft @ $130

also considering just using Vestas so I can veg the plants in the same tent to fill it out til I am ready to flip. Doubles the price of the build and the amount of wiring but still haven't ruled this out. would also be double the diodes so almost makes it worth it.

- 24 vesta gen1 2ft 90cri @ $240

- 24 vesta gen 3 2ft 80cri @ $300

most of the other bridgelux options are out of stock.

have plenty of drivers to power any of these, and sinks for strips on hand. so really just whether I want to take the time to wire up a bunch if strips or a couple boards. also only other factor is the qb120 are 301h.
If you push to 600W I think you'll need more QBs than 8 x120 as there only rated for up to 70W at least that's what the website says. Good efficacy though at 2.66 run to max.

I'd personally do the QBs or eb3 (cheaper) over the Vesta strips. They will veg the shit out of anything. So the Vesta spectrum thing won't matter that much. Still lots of blue in the Samsung 3000K and 3500K spectrums.

EB Gen 3 2 footers look attractive from price perspective, I found the 4ft long and floppy to deal with. Think I'd rather 2ft from now on. Also the GEN 3 slims put off fuck all heat which is nice.

I think either fixture will be similar efficacy, depends on growing style I think at this point. Like a bit of space to the canopy? I'd go QBs. Like to run the plants right into the lights? Then Strips.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to decide what to light a new 4x4 with. 480ish watts, might push it to 600. I have clones rooted.

Was thinking of grabbing those Q strips but they jumped back up in price. Most of the other Samsung options diode count is too low to make it worth it. I have a bunch of the influx I could use but would be 1/2 diodes count of even just using EB2s which are like $5.

Ideally want to have this setup 2 weeks from now and time to build has me leaning to just using some qb120s.

Have it narrowed down to:

- 2 qb120 4packs @ $200 - simplest build.

- eb3 80cri (want the 90s but out of stock) either 12 4ft or 24 2ft @ $130

also considering just using Vestas so I can veg the plants in the same tent to fill it out til I am ready to flip. Doubles the price of the build and the amount of wiring but still haven't ruled this out. would also be double the diodes so almost makes it worth it.

- 24 vesta gen1 2ft 90cri @ $240

- 24 vesta gen 3 2ft 80cri @ $300

most of the other bridgelux options are out of stock.

have plenty of drivers to power any of these, and sinks for strips on hand. so really just whether I want to take the time to wire up a bunch if strips or a couple boards. also only other factor is the qb120 are 301h.
If you go for vestas I would seriously rec thinking out a good driver solution. Doing double channels with a 24ish V driver is a bitch with vestas, the wiring is of whole new dimension. I've done vestas in series of 2 on a 48V driver and it was a mess, even with only 12 strips. Latest build with vestas I'd did 4 in series over cc driver of around 100V and I was much happier with the whole wiring. Doing series also means I could slot in some red sup strips on the same circuit.

Personally I'm a bit of a fanboy of the vestas, I love the ability to add some blue when starting. Our first go's with vestas beat out Samsung lm561c so for a good while I was a total 90cri fan as well but later runs have had strains that did equally well under 80cri so not too sure now.
 

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
If you push to 600W I think you'll need more QBs than 8 x120 as there only rated for up to 70W at least that's what the website says. Good efficacy though at 2.66 run to max.

I'd personally do the QBs or eb3 (cheaper) over the Vesta strips. They will veg the shit out of anything. So the Vesta spectrum thing won't matter that much. Still lots of blue in the Samsung 3000K and 3500K spectrums.

EB Gen 3 2 footers look attractive from price perspective, I found the 4ft long and floppy to deal with. Think I'd rather 2ft from now on. Also the GEN 3 slims put off fuck all heat which is nice.

I think either fixture will be similar efficacy, depends on growing style I think at this point. Like a bit of space to the canopy? I'd go QBs. Like to run the plants right into the lights? Then Strips.
Yeah I am leaning to the QB120s because I am trying to be realistic about time that I have available right now. I think efficiency wise 480 will be fine with those chips, so 8 boards would work. I was going to use 4 120W drivers so that I could dim the corners and middle boards independently and even out the footprint as much as possible. My tent is 84" tall so I have plenty of headroom. I usually flower 18" tall plants that wind up about 3.5-4 ft tall.

If you go for vestas I would seriously rec thinking out a good driver solution. Doing double channels with a 24ish V driver is a bitch with vestas, the wiring is of whole new dimension. I've done vestas in series of 2 on a 48V driver and it was a mess, even with only 12 strips. Latest build with vestas I'd did 4 in series over cc driver of around 100V and I was much happier with the whole wiring. Doing series also means I could slot in some red sup strips on the same circuit.

Personally I'm a bit of a fanboy of the vestas, I love the ability to add some blue when starting. Our first go's with vestas beat out Samsung lm561c so for a good while I was a total 90cri fan as well but later runs have had strains that did equally well under 80cri so not too sure now.
I really want to go this route as I feel like it's a better long term solution that is super flexible. It would in theory let me run less veg space bc I can use my flower tents to properly bush out my plants before I flip them. Or if I decide I want to use that tent for a giant mom room while I am pheno hunting, I am just adjusting spectrum.

spending a little more on the Gen 3 Vestas makes them only 19v each at 1A per strip. lots more driver options this way, plus lm/w is a bit closer to the Samsungs. also these are available in 4ft, which would make wiring slightly more manageable.

otherwise if I stick with the previous gen, I do have a bunch of the 185W Delta 24V drivers that are in 'A' version that go up to 27V. Also @J232 linked us to some LG driver 10 packs for $11 per driver. There are 24V versions that go up to 25V. Either of those, I figure I would just wind up doing each channel on it's own driver(s). Its overkill but the drivers are cheap enough. I do already have 8 of the v1 Vestas and an unfinished fixture that I should probably test in a smaller tent first. Wiring these things is definitely a bit of madness, so taking me forever.


Using the Samsung Engine Calculator, 40 x Samsung Single-Row LM561C 3500K H-Series strips @ 600ma (50% of max.) for $65 cost in a 4x4 gives 1450PPF total or 90PPF per square foot for under 600W.
while I love saving $, at the moment I would prefer slightly newer tech over the cheapest possible build. and I definitely don't want to wire 40 strips. i have plenty of the influx and v strips if I wanted to do a cheaper build.
 
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Pparker88

Well-Known Member
Another RIU user and I got to meet this weekend and I hooked him with with one of the Deltas. All the rest of the ones I have built so far have gone to friends who needed cheap setups. There is definitely a market in LA at least to prebuild DIY fixtures even on Craigslist. I've got a handful of people I am assisting locally with grows, and it's definitely what I would love to do full time.



i'm working on the business plan now :)
1000% there's a market. you helped me with my lighting and I killed it my last grow. And to think I was going to use a cheap blurple light. lol
 

Pparker88

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to decide what to light a new 4x4 with. 480ish watts, might push it to 600. I have clones rooted.

Was thinking of grabbing those Q strips but they jumped back up in price. Most of the other Samsung options diode count is too low to make it worth it. I have a bunch of the influx I could use but would be 1/2 diodes count of even just using EB2s which are like $5.

Ideally want to have this setup 2 weeks from now and time to build has me leaning to just using some qb120s.

Have it narrowed down to:

- 2 qb120 4packs @ $200 - simplest build.

- eb3 80cri (want the 90s but out of stock) either 12 4ft or 24 2ft @ $130

also considering just using Vestas so I can veg the plants in the same tent to fill it out til I am ready to flip. Doubles the price of the build and the amount of wiring but still haven't ruled this out. would also be double the diodes so almost makes it worth it.

- 24 vesta gen1 2ft 90cri @ $240

- 24 vesta gen 3 2ft 80cri @ $300

most of the other bridgelux options are out of stock.

have plenty of drivers to power any of these, and sinks for strips on hand. so really just whether I want to take the time to wire up a bunch if strips or a couple boards. also only other factor is the qb120 are 301h.
Team simplest build right here lol
 

MedicinalMyA$$

Well-Known Member
while I love saving $, at the moment I would prefer slightly newer tech over the cheapest possible build. and I definitely don't want to wire 40 strips. i have plenty of the influx and v strips if I wanted to do a cheaper build.
I hear that, bought a bunch of the L09's and M-Series when they were stupid cheap, mapped out a 60-strip M-Series build and got to work. I was so keen at first but after a couple weekends it reminded me of the first time trimming. Great at first, torture shortly thereafter lol
 

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
I hear that, bought a bunch of the L09's and M-Series when they were stupid cheap, mapped out a 60-strip M-Series build and got to work. I was so keen at first but after a couple weekends it reminded me of the first time trimming. Great at first, torture shortly thereafter lol
yeah same. i am using those influx for lamps and stuff around the house. probably make a few smaller veg lights at some point but the V strips honestly seem like more effort than they are worth. maybe if im realllly bored some day I will get around to making something with them.
 

MidnightSun72

Well-Known Member
Doing a parallel build this go which I feel like is gonna be more work from a wire management perspective.

First 8 lights I made were CC drivers so wired in series. The wiring was actually not as bad as I first anticipated. Still a full light build takes me around 8-10h. Maybe less now that I got a few things setup to cut aliminum etc etc. Still takes time to cut all the heat sinks wiring, and drilling and running cables into project boxes with waterproof connectors. Shit takes time. To make things easier I do my strip wiring in the evening while watching Netflix and smoking weed. Etc. Time I'd be killin anyway. Can wire a fixture in 2-3 episodes hahha.
 

MedicinalMyA$$

Well-Known Member
yeah same. i am using those influx for lamps and stuff around the house. probably make a few smaller veg lights at some point but the V strips honestly seem like more effort than they are worth. maybe if im realllly bored some day I will get around to making something with them.
Swore I would never do it again although I am about to retire the L09's after this run and replace them with a 40-strip 4ft Q-series build, as an efficiency project, to try out LM301B diodes, and use up a load of heatsink-worthy aluminium channel I was given. No rush tho I have 6 weeks left to make it so should be able to spread the pain out over a few weekends lol
 

J232

Well-Known Member
yeah same. i am using those influx for lamps and stuff around the house. probably make a few smaller veg lights at some point but the V strips honestly seem like more effort than they are worth. maybe if im realllly bored some day I will get around to making something with them.
I bought 80 of those v series by mistake, not sure if any use other then house lighting. I also used the influx for t12 box light conversions on those little $3 50 volt 1 amp Sammy drivers.
 
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