building a 750w LED fixture from high bay lights

cobshopgrow said:
" It would be awesome to be able to get a whole bunch, underdrive them, and be able to run them with just a few supports across the middle instead of having to cut a piece of bar stock for each one, that would be tedious with so many strips. "
yes absolute the way to go i think, just benefits for a little money more, sometimes even not this if you calculate the price of heatsinks.

the max wire gauge is stated in the datasheets, for the slim it was just AWG 22 or 24 i think (?) i took 0.75mm solid core, which is a tight fit in the slims but does the trick well and very easily caries the 2.1A max (4 in parallel, so 0.525A each string).
if youre in the USA simply get the max stated AWG allowed.
just while removing the cable... hold the connector while pulling otherwise its gone, the relase mechanism on the slims is halfway useless, maybe similar on the regulars.
solid core wires push and pull much better and single strands can be anoying, so solid core for this, for a remote connection of the fixture of course flexible wire, 1.5-2.5mm, over a junction.
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sounds like ill want to buy some solid core wire then, because I dont think I have any that small, I have 1000ft spools of normal house size wiring like 12-2 14-2 etc but nothing that small. I think the local hardware store has some though, I have seen they have spools of a bunch of different smaller sized wire available by the foot. I will make sure to be really carefull with the connectors, they look like the connectors on printed circuit boards ive worked with before, can be really fragile for SURE.
 
solid build, quite similar to mine but he have more in parallel and is using longer strips.
would go after price and avaiability, slim vs. regular tbh.
when i bought 2019 the regular where not released and i figured i could only fit the wanted amount physically when taking the slims, so decission done as the voltage and lengh was also a nicer fit to the driver.

future electronics had/have? good prices on the regulars, once i checked they where even cheaper.
the diodes are the same on all of them anyway, theyre all good.
 
watsongreenthumb said:
sounds like ill want to buy some solid core wire then, because I dont think I have any that small, I have 1000ft spools of normal house size wiring like 12-2 14-2 etc but nothing that small. I think the local hardware store has some though, I have seen they have spools of a bunch of different smaller sized wire available by the foot. I will make sure to be really carefull with the connectors, they look like the connectors on printed circuit boards ive worked with before, can be really fragile for SURE.
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get a spare strip or be prepared to solder a wire directly to the strip, just in case some brakes, you may be lucky.
i maxed out the wire gauge also, with awg 20 (22 should be harmless too i think, 20 is really thin) the quick release mechanism should work even better.
for 0.7A and short distances you need to go real thick there, but yea, better more then less.
the guy above sugest doorbell wire, sounds good to me.
i killed 2 connectors myself while mounting the slims, but could had avoided beeing more carefull...
 
yeah the slim seems like the way to go for trying to fit several next to each other on my frame, and like you said. the diodes are the same. Will see how flexible/ sturdy the slims are and then I can decide if I want to go with those or the regulars for going across the middle. I have done a bit of soldering on circuit boards before, is certainly nerve-wracking but I think I can get the job done if I accidently break one off. Going to be extra super careful though. Im comparing the prices on the different strips now, deciding which way to go. I really like the spectrum on the 2700k since I am pairing them with the 4 or 5k ufo's, but the 3k has a little better efficiency and therefore puts out more light. ugg decisions decisions.
Hey one really random question I had was about heat vs efficiency, when I started this journey I was reading about the samsung lm301b vs the lm561c and people were saying that the 301b ran hotter because it puts out more light/more efficient, but wouldn't it be the opposite? Like if two different diodes were being run at the same voltage, current, etc- then the diode that put out more light would have to be putting out less heat? because if they are using the same amount of electricity, and all of that electricity is converted into either heat or light, wouldn't the diode making more light have to be making less heat?
 
would agree, more efficient led more power in to light less in to heat.

2700k 90cri can only be had as regulars i think.
all these bridgelux strips are glasfibre based, they flex, especially the long ones, but after screwing them down to the frame its all fine.
i find them very reliable, not a single dim led or else, using them for longer now.
just the really a bit flimsy connector had to mentioned.
 
I was thinking I was going to go with 80cri just because the data sheets always seem to show 80 cri putting out more lumens, but I have noticed a lot of people going with 90cri on their builds, what is the advantage that 90 cri gives? I get the better color rendering for the human eye but something tells me that's probably not the reason?
 
also as far as the flex, I am fine with them moving around a little or being flexible in general/ out of the package ect, but is there anything I should worry about like the flexing breaking connections between individual diodes or anything like that? I do have oscillating fans and all that jazz
 
watsongreenthumb said:
also what distance between supports for the strips did you use for your build? It looks like somewhere around 10"or so? (25cm)?
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thats a bit given by the halfholes on the strips, the distances are given in the datasheet.

i really havent had any problem with the flex, no broken led, trace, connector or anything.
really happy with the quality, had worse experiences with stiffer boards before.

my 320mm strips have two fix points, for 4 feet you need more of course, but guess you have that all figured, a 4 feet strip need properly a bit more care while handling then my 320mm does, but thats prob selfexplaining once in your hands,
a 4 feet slim will be quite bendy.
 
Frank Nitty said:
I'd make SOMETHING work with all of those!!!
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Oh I am incorporating those, I am going to use 4 per fixture, in the corners using the part of the heatsink that is outside of the center board to attach my aluminum angle to, and using the eye bolts on the top as the hanging points for the fixture. I am also using their drivers to power both the ufo boards and some strips in stage 1. (1 driver powering 2 ufo boards in parallel, and one driver powering strips) I think a mix of the 4-5k light from the ufo's and they 2700-3k light from the strips will provide a good overall spectrum.

cobshopgrow said:
thats a bit given by the halfholes on the strips, the distances are given in the datasheet.

i really havent had any problem with the flex, no broken led, trace, connector or anything.
really happy with the quality, had worse experiences with stiffer boards before.

my 320mm strips have two fix points, for 4 feet you need more of course, but guess you have that all figured, a 4 feet strip need properly a bit more care while handling then my 320mm does, but thats prob selfexplaining once in your hands,
a 4 feet slim will be quite bendy.
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Okay that makes perfect sense, I see the specs on the data sheet and once I have them in my hands I am sure I will get a feel for how much support they require.

I saw a video last night that bridgelux put out that gives an overview of their eb series stuff, saw they also have eb squares now, basically a quantum board- looked pretty cool but I havent looked into voltages or prices or anything but cool none the less
 
Finally picked up the ufo's tonight, got 6, they are really solid commercial type pieces!! Super excited to actually get this project underway!! Going to rig some up and do some par testing with the phone app tomorrow to get a feel for these bad boys. he has like 30-35 more or something too so If I really like what I see who knows maybe my room will become the Roswell of grows, UFO sightings for dayyyys lol
 
hey guys
1212ham said:
Not great efficiency, but it's hard to beat that price! Running more of them dimmed will also give a much better spread of light. I'd avoid 5 in an x pattern as it will concentrate light in the center. Dimensions of your space?

This dimmer can control the bunch, but buy a spare as dimmers can act up with age.
rapidled.com

Cased Potentiometer with Knob

.
rapidled.com rapidled.com

Also, led doesn't raise leaf temps above air temp with IR like HID so you'll want higher air temp, around 26-29C.
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So finally getting around to starting to really mess with these ufo's, been super busy with work and getting enviro all dialed in after switching to a sealed setup, have done some testing with them in veg and things are responding positively, going to use a couple to supplement hps spectrum in flower and was going to order some dimmers. I saw you linked a dimmer on rapidled but I was thinking I would order some dimmers off amazon as I have a gift card. what are your thoughts on something like THIS? They look similar on the outside but I thought pwm dimming was different than using a potentiometer? or am I totally out of my mind? also I checked out your F series sidelighting build, looks great and I think some sidelighting might be my next move so planning to use that as a blueprint. I saw the strips you used are no longer available and most of the other samsung strips I saw were pricier than the bridgelux so I think I will use the eb series strips for this. How did your side lighting end up working out as far as distance from plants etc? I saw THIS intercanopy light and thought building something similar to that might potentially be a better way to achieve that horizontal/ angled light to penetrate deeper into the canopy as my girls are pretty tight to the walls? any thoughts on that? I have read several of your past threads and builds and have learned alot, and I really appreciate that you took the time to help me with this whole led journey.
 
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