LED strips in 2024, Help needed selecting best parts for first DIY

[The Bodgeineers]

I want to replace my 1000w HPS . So i looked into this a while ago and the best were Samsung F strips.
Now when i google them i see dual diode and single diode? What is best to use strip wise, are there any better alternatives?
Best colour temperature to use or should i mix in a couple or 5050 split 3000/5000 ?

I have no problems building and wiring the light i am just not sure what parts to use. i want to get optimum light in a 1.5m2 roof cube. (5ftx5ft attic tent)

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Rocket Soul]

"1.5 roof cube."
What is this? 1.5 foot misspelled? This was my first idea but then 1000w hos makes little sense.

If money aint an object i would go for growlight australias growstrips, comes with an enhanced hortispectrum.

The 3k/5k splitt we see in so many lights nowadays is the same as 4000k which would be great for veg. They do the splitt in order to be able to customize the white leds to anywhere between 3 to 5k but theres no benefit for diy unless you want to have separate drivers and use different spectrum for veg and flower.

Nowadays diy isnt that much cheaper than just buying a china light, either from Alibubbers or one of the more local mid brands like Mars, spiderfarmer or anyone of the many new sellers that rebrand ali lights.

If it really is a 1.5 foot cube id either rethink or use something like bridgelux vesta strips: with such a small space theres is little point in thinking about efficiency; you can just add another 30w and light the shot out of it.

 

[The Bodgeineers]

"1.5 roof cube."
What is this? 1.5 foot misspelled? This was my first idea but then 1000w hos makes little sense.

If money aint an object i would go for growlight australias growstrips, comes with an enhanced hortispectrum.

The 3k/5k splitt we see in so many lights nowadays is the same as 4000k which would be great for veg. They do the splitt in order to be able to customize the white leds to anywhere between 3 to 5k but theres no benefit for diy unless you want to have separate drivers and use different spectrum for veg and flower.

Nowadays diy isnt that much cheaper than just buying a china light, either from Alibubbers or one of the more local mid brands like Mars, spiderfarmer or anyone of the many new sellers that rebrand ali lights.

If it really is a 1.5 foot cube id either rethink or use something like bridgelux vesta strips: with such a small space theres is little point in thinking about efficiency; you can just add another 30w and light the shot out of it.

Sorry i am from the UK so 1.5m2(5ft) Roof cube, * tent where the top tapers in from 1.6m height to 1.8m height at the very top in order to fit better in an attic space.
Currently using a 1000w Air cooled hood but i want to go LED as its just impossible in the summer. Light is going to be for flower mainly but i want dual spectrum to mimic my 315 CMH that i use for veg and flower ( i use two of these in a 4ft tent) Goal is to drop to one with a LED strip square around it to light past the 3ft foot print this thing is good for.

 

[The Bodgeineers]

Once i have the main overhead light sorted i will be making some side light panels to maximise my yield . i like the idea of strips for this due to the heat and intensity or lack of, as the side lights will end up a couple of inches away from the plants.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Have you grown with leds before? As in arw you aware that it means keeping a very different climate than for hps (26-28C) ; you might end up spending more power just to keep your space from going too cold.

Do you have a budget for this?

Id still rec the gla strips if you can pony up the £££ https://growlightsaustralia.com/product/high-light-420-led-strip-light/
Its a great all in one solution for grow with great spectrum without compromising efficiency. Its also good for both veg and flower.

Getting 3k+ 5k and having them all turned on at the same time on one driver gives you absolutely zero benefits over just straight 4k. If you put them on separate drivers then you would have to buy a few more strips than if you just went for a single full cycle spectrum. If you defo want a veg mode you could also do a flowering light with some extra blues and just have them on during veg together with your flower light. I dont think you would really need another white spectrum for veg, just some extra blue for short node distance.

Theres a few relevant threads re buying strips:

Need help finding Lm301 H or B led strips

My cobs are getting old and would like to replace them with led strips preferably ones with the highest lumens per watt “lm301”. I’ve tried looking for them on mouser and arrow but get lost in the 100s of pages. Would like to keep the strips at 3500k 2 foot long. Already have an idea for drivers...

www.rollitup.org

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

Bunch of 200w/24V Led Power Supplies from MEANWELL for $21.91 USD each! Grab em While they're HOTTTT!!!! https://www.arrow.com/en/products/xlg-200-24-a/mean-well-enterprises

www.rollitup.org

Cheapo deals usually, i think theres another thread aswell for deal but cant find it.

 

[The Bodgeineers]

Have you grown with leds before? As in arw you aware that it means keeping a very different climate than for hps (26-28C) ; you might end up spending more power just to keep your space from going too cold.

Do you have a budget for this?

Id still rec the gla strips if you can pony up the £££ https://growlightsaustralia.com/product/high-light-420-led-strip-light/
Its a great all in one solution for grow with great spectrum without compromising efficiency. Its also good for both veg and flower.

Getting 3k+ 5k and having them all turned on at the same time on one driver gives you absolutely zero benefits over just straight 4k. If you put them on separate drivers then you would have to buy a few more strips than if you just went for a single full cycle spectrum. If you defo want a veg mode you could also do a flowering light with some extra blues and just have them on during veg together with your flower light. I dont think you would really need another white spectrum for veg, just some extra blue for short node distance.

Theres a few relevant threads re buying strips:

Need help finding Lm301 H or B led strips

My cobs are getting old and would like to replace them with led strips preferably ones with the highest lumens per watt “lm301”. I’ve tried looking for them on mouser and arrow but get lost in the 100s of pages. Would like to keep the strips at 3500k 2 foot long. Already have an idea for drivers...

www.rollitup.org

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

Bunch of 200w/24V Led Power Supplies from MEANWELL for $21.91 USD each! Grab em While they're HOTTTT!!!! https://www.arrow.com/en/products/xlg-200-24-a/mean-well-enterprises

www.rollitup.org

Cheapo deals usually, i think theres another thread aswell for deal but cant find it.

Thanks for the info. I Have used some crappy Chinese blurple cobs , recently got given a quantum board which i used to supplement my HID lights.

The heat isnt going to be an issue its far harder for me too cool a space than it is to heat it. Noise is a problem.
Also depending on summer temps i may just keep the use of 1 315CMH in each tent and build an LED strip frame around it to make up for the poor PPFD on the outer 2ft of the canopy.
https://growlightsaustralia.com/product/high-light-420-led-strip-light/ they ship from Australia to the UK? to be fair if i keep the CMH for its UV output going with a 3000k near sunlight white strip set up is all i would need.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Thanks for the info. I Have used some crappy Chinese blurple cobs , recently got given a quantum board which i used to supplement my HID lights.

The heat isnt going to be an issue its far harder for me too cool a space than it is to heat it. Noise is a problem.
Also depending on summer temps i may just keep the use of 1 315CMH in each tent and build an LED strip frame around it to make up for the poor PPFD on the outer 2ft of the canopy.
https://growlightsaustralia.com/product/high-light-420-led-strip-light/ they ship from Australia to the UK? to be fair if i keep the CMH for its UV output going with a 3000k near sunlight white strip set up is all i would need.

Theyll ship worldwide. They used to be on the forum a lot but left as a sponsor, email them thru their web. I know they got forum discounts and another discount if you buy more than just a few.
Im trying them out now but havent completed the first grow but looking good so far.

 

[The Bodgeineers]

to be honest . The price is very steep compared to Samsung F strips Gen3s

 

[Rocket Soul]

to be honest . The price is very steep compared to Samsung F strips Gen3s

Sure is. But if i can take in another 10% yield and add 10% in our sale price due to nicer quality it may well be worth it. Also theres a fair bit of quality difference; alu pcb vrs plastic/fr4, properly sealed diodes (you can even hose them down) which means you dont have to worry about your lights deteriorating if you burn sulfur or due to humdity, 12 topline monos including nichias worldleading uv. Im trying them out personally, like you im not able to replace all my place without a good reason and need to try them first.
We do a lot of adding onto our lights and with monos and soldering the whole thing does get both more expensive and a bit ardous to install; wires everywhere gets inconvenient and easily breakdown. I wanna see if a full finished packages is more doable for us.

I did the numbers with all discounts i can think of (sales tax removed, forum10 discount code, 10% quantity discount for +4 strips) and it brings it down to around 25 pound but youll have shipping ontop of that and at least something at customs. Still not horrible though, most people forget; Oz dollars arent as much as us dollars.

 

[The Bodgeineers]

You know what 10 strips may do me and yea £300 if i can find the forum discount, any ideas what the code is for that?
Edit the code is literally FORUM xD thanks man.

What drivers are you using with these strips? i cant see that they sell them separately on the site

 

[Lou66]

Tbh just buy a light with the right foot print. With todays prices you don't save much with DIY but have to spent hours wiring and in the end it just doesn't look as nice (which has real world effects with loose wires, mounting options etc). GLA makes really good boards.

You don't need excessive temps for LEDs. The leafs are cooler, with all the 'wasted' IR light that is missing compared to HPS. If you manage the lower transpiration by eg increasing nutrient strength you get the same results at equal or lower ambient temps.

 

[Jonesfamily7715]

Id diy over any fixture on the market. Those companies have to make a profit outta their fixtures, the end quality of our bud means nothing to these people all they care about is ppfd and a nice looking 2 dimensional footprint

 

[1212ham]

You know what 10 strips may do me and yea £300 if i can find the forum discount, any ideas what the code is for that?
Edit the code is literally FORUM xD thanks man.

What drivers are you using with these strips? i cant see that they sell them separately on the site

There is also 10% tax removed for overseas orders.

Testing Growlight Australia Gen 3 strips (and maybe side by side?)

So these just arrived today! @Grow Lights Australia and @Prawn Connery graciously offered these for some testing and i decided to pick up another bunch of them just in case. First impressions: - GLA was really easy and nice to deal with. Always a pleasure to deal with companies born out of...

www.rollitup.org

Drivers are heavy and expensive to ship, often better to buy more locally. Meanwell and Inventronics are good. For Meanwell, I'd suggest something like an HLG-600H-54AB. That one is 600 watts, 54 volts. People here can help with selection and GLA will be glad to help you. BTW, I suggest buying their dimmer as well.

You could also make two or more lights for more flexibility. I'm in the US and an HLG-320 watt is $91, the 600 watt is $231.

 

[The Bodgeineers]

There is also 10% tax removed for overseas orders.

Testing Growlight Australia Gen 3 strips (and maybe side by side?)

So these just arrived today! @Grow Lights Australia and @Prawn Connery graciously offered these for some testing and i decided to pick up another bunch of them just in case. First impressions: - GLA was really easy and nice to deal with. Always a pleasure to deal with companies born out of...

www.rollitup.org

Drivers are heavy and expensive to ship, often better to buy more locally. Meanwell and Inventronics are good. For Meanwell, I'd suggest something like an HLG-600H-54AB. That one is 600 watts, 54 volts. People here can help with selection and GLA will be glad to help you. BTW, I suggest buying their dimmer as well.

You could also make two or more lights for more flexibility. I'm in the US and an HLG-320 watt is $91, the 600 watt is $231.

well i would make once fixture but with dual drivers, wired and dimmed together * one lead from power plug to drivers , two leads from dimmer to each string of strips.

 

[Rocket Soul]

There is also 10% tax removed for overseas orders.

Testing Growlight Australia Gen 3 strips (and maybe side by side?)

So these just arrived today! @Grow Lights Australia and @Prawn Connery graciously offered these for some testing and i decided to pick up another bunch of them just in case. First impressions: - GLA was really easy and nice to deal with. Always a pleasure to deal with companies born out of...

www.rollitup.org

Drivers are heavy and expensive to ship, often better to buy more locally. Meanwell and Inventronics are good. For Meanwell, I'd suggest something like an HLG-600H-54AB. That one is 600 watts, 54 volts. People here can help with selection and GLA will be glad to help you. BTW, I suggest buying their dimmer as well.

You could also make two or more lights for more flexibility. I'm in the US and an HLG-320 watt is $91, the 600 watt is $231.

Nope, the strips are 48V at least up to 50w. But yeah, defo buy the drivers somewhere close, somewhere youd have an actionable warranty if you ever sent them back.

I agree on 2 drivers, if you ever run things at half power the driver runs more efficient running one 320 driver near its max than a 600w driver dimmed to half.


OP: GLA are old buddies here from the forum even though they dont really hang here anymore. I can guarantee you theyll give you great help if you contact them. For on forum contact try on icmag or email them thru their web.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Tbh just buy a light with the right foot print. With todays prices you don't save much with DIY but have to spent hours wiring and in the end it just doesn't look as nice (which has real world effects with loose wires, mounting options etc). GLA makes really good boards.

You don't need excessive temps for LEDs. The leafs are cooler, with all the 'wasted' IR light that is missing compared to HPS. If you manage the lower transpiration by eg increasing nutrient strength you get the same results at equal or lower ambient temps.

I agree that diy can be somewhat ardous but having built with the gla strips, they are a breeze to work with, especially since you can use them efficiently at higher watts per strips= less connections. Notmally i try no more than 20w from a 2ftish strip, i run these at 40w which is still soft for these so cut my connections in half. The fact they come with presoldered connections means that you again cut connecting into half.

Just dont make the misstake that i made: i used the recommended t-slot sinks but put them on the wrong way. Doesnt really matter in my vase since at 40w a piece they arent more than warm. Will be changing them over when we turn the space in a few weeks.

The main work saving thing though is that you dont have to wire up separate uv / far red circuits.

Though lou is right that if you can afford their boards its also a good option. Another cool option is that you can run boards and strips together on the same driver.

Id just contact them cause they have a lot of tools to help you; their strips and boards have been digitized with ppfd footprints so youd be able to simulate your setup on your computer.

 

[The Bodgeineers]

thanks for the info, i see you got double pre wired strips but wired in parallel

 

[nxsov180db]

Just get 3000k f series strips and be done with it. $15 for 144 diode strips and a $100 driver from hlg and you’re all set. All these mixes of 3000k and 5000k are just a scam. Nothings gonna flower better than 3000k except 2700K. I use 16x f series 144 diode strips at 500w per 4x4 and get 900 ppfd

 

[The Bodgeineers]

I agree that diy can be somewhat ardous but having built with the gla strips, they are a breeze to work with, especially since you can use them efficiently at higher watts per strips= less connections. Notmally i try no more than 20w from a 2ftish strip, i run these at 40w which is still soft for these so cut my connections in half. The fact they come with presoldered connections means that you again cut connecting into half.

Just dont make the misstake that i made: i used the recommended t-slot sinks but put them on the wrong way. Doesnt really matter in my vase since at 40w a piece they arent more than warm. Will be changing them over when we turn the space in a few weeks.

The main work saving thing though is that you dont have to wire up separate uv / far red circuits.

Though lou is right that if you can afford their boards its also a good option. Another cool option is that you can run boards and strips together on the same driver.

Id just contact them cause they have a lot of tools to help you; their strips and boards have been digitized with ppfd footprints so youd be able to simulate your setup on your computer.

where did you get that profile from with one flat side? or do you know its name

 

[Rocket Soul]

where did you get that profile from with one flat side? or do you know its name

Its called t-slot, available in a few different places, more info in this thread:

3.19 umol/j

LED Teknik has just done a new round of efficiency and spectrum testing for us and we were surprised to see the 1A test report come back as 3.19 umol/j. Without blowing our own trumpet (OK, we are!) that's a pretty good efficiency figure for a "true" PAR+ full spectrum light. Especially...

www.rollitup.org

Again not very cheap but this can also be sourced in china for cheaper. Though you can make due with alu profiles, generally for sinking i advice on trying to source locally from where ever local construction workers source their gear. Shipping of heavy sinks is expensive