Custom veg only light

Hello, I have a narrow portion of a closet that i want to use for only veg. space is 48x20", may bring it down to 36x20" as I there is more open space around the main growing area ( i want to be able to sneak past the plants).

I have a separate 4x4 tent in the works for flower only, I was looking at the bloom plus 4000 from amazon, though i wouldn't mind going custom there too.

looking at veg only options it seems like there's some houseplant led's from amazon, fluorescents, and custom.

I am a mechanical engineering technologist and have experience with robotics, so wiring up some lights and building a structure is not a problem. I am however overwhelmed by all the options of led's, I am not familiar with suppliers, and some suppliers cant ship to Canada, making things more difficult.

What led strip board would be best for me, do they have heatsinks available? is there an appropriate non custom veg solution that I am missing?

Thanks, this is my first post go easy on me

digikey delivers to your door for free.
Bridgelux EB 2 or EB 3.
canada is cheap in electric, EB2, 4000K or 5000K.
@bigmikey86 youre aorund here and can help your fellow?

andreav- said:

Hello, I have a narrow portion of a closet that i want to use for only veg. space is 48x20", may bring it down to 36x20" as I there is more open space around the main growing area ( i want to be able to sneak past the plants).

I have a separate 4x4 tent in the works for flower only, I was looking at the bloom plus 4000 from amazon, though i wouldn't mind going custom there too.

looking at veg only options it seems like there's some houseplant led's from amazon, fluorescents, and custom.

I am a mechanical engineering technologist and have experience with robotics, so wiring up some lights and building a structure is not a problem. I am however overwhelmed by all the options of led's, I am not familiar with suppliers, and some suppliers cant ship to Canada, making things more difficult.

What led strip board would be best for me, do they have heatsinks available? is there an appropriate non custom veg solution that I am missing?

Thanks, this is my first post go easy on me

Click to expand...

Check out rapid led, timber California light works, there is 3 to check. Bridgelux too! Discreet led etc

cobshopgrow said:

digikey delivers to your door for free.
Bridgelux EB 2 or EB 3.
canada is cheap in electric, EB2, 4000K or 5000K.
@bigmikey86 youre aorund here and can help your fellow?

Click to expand...

I like using digikey, only problem is they have a huge catalog. they have samsung leds for sale there too.


I am thinking of getting 12 of these one foot strips, spaced 3.75" apart.

Is there a source for the heatsink extrusion? If no heatsink is needed i can print some led module holders with my 3d printer

I have two laptop power supplies that i already own, they are both 90w 19v 4.7a. I figure I can put 6 lights on one and 6 on the other. I can install a dimmer, and also if i only have 1-2 plants, or seedlings, i can shut off half.

One of my concern is with getting older (though cheap!) led tech, these boards are a few years old, and i missing out on any new tech, are newer boards more efficient? is there any need to add red/blue lights? since this is just for veg i thought red and blue light was beneficial? i undertand that there is blue light in the 5000k spektrum, any benefit of aternating 5000k and 4000k?

andreav- said:

I like using digikey, only problem is they have a huge catalog. they have samsung leds for sale there too.


I am thinking of getting 12 of these one foot strips, spaced 3.75" apart.

BXEB-L0280Z-50E1000-C-B3 Bridgelux | Optoelectronics | DigiKey

Order today, ships today. BXEB-L0280Z-50E1000-C-B3 – LED Lighting COBs Engines Modules LED Module series White, Cool Linear Light Strip from Bridgelux. Pricing and Availability on millions of electronic components from Digi-Key Electronics.

www.digikey.ca

Is there a source for the heatsink extrusion? If no heatsink is needed i can print some led module holders with my 3d printer

I have two laptop power supplies that i already own, they are both 90w 19v 4.7a. I figure I can put 6 lights on one and 6 on the other. I can install a dimmer, and also if i only have 1-2 plants, or seedlings, i can shut off half.

One of my concern is with getting older (though cheap!) led tech, these boards are a few years old, and i missing out on any new tech, are newer boards more efficient? is there any need to add red/blue lights? since this is just for veg i thought red and blue light was beneficial? i undertand that there is blue light in the 5000k spektrum, any benefit of aternating 5000k and 4000k?

Click to expand...

Pacific light concepts has strips with 660 reds i believe

Southernontariogrower said:

Pacific light concepts has strips with 660 reds i believe

Click to expand...

Southernontariogrower said:

Pacific light concepts has strips with 660 reds i believe

Click to expand...

they don't ship internationally and I cannot find heatsinks on their site, and their strips are 28v so it wouldn't work with my heat sinks. Their build video made me want to do DIY.

Heres what the space looks like with the current blurple lights. Definatly needs an upgrade soon. Gotta sort out the power bar.

As you can see its an odd closet, the other half is has extra space behind and uses the space under the stairs.

I veg most of my starts with these. Cheap and safe. Add cord and hand. 40 Watt 3528 LED ceiling panels. Cone in a variety of sizes and K ranges. I love mine.

andreav- said:

I like using digikey, only problem is they have a huge catalog. they have samsung leds for sale there too.


I am thinking of getting 12 of these one foot strips, spaced 3.75" apart.

BXEB-L0280Z-50E1000-C-B3 Bridgelux | Optoelectronics | DigiKey

Order today, ships today. BXEB-L0280Z-50E1000-C-B3 – LED Lighting COBs Engines Modules LED Module series White, Cool Linear Light Strip from Bridgelux. Pricing and Availability on millions of electronic components from Digi-Key Electronics.

www.digikey.ca

Is there a source for the heatsink extrusion? If no heatsink is needed i can print some led module holders with my 3d printer

I have two laptop power supplies that i already own, they are both 90w 19v 4.7a. I figure I can put 6 lights on one and 6 on the other. I can install a dimmer, and also if i only have 1-2 plants, or seedlings, i can shut off half.

One of my concern is with getting older (though cheap!) led tech, these boards are a few years old, and i missing out on any new tech, are newer boards more efficient? is there any need to add red/blue lights? since this is just for veg i thought red and blue light was beneficial? i undertand that there is blue light in the 5000k spektrum, any benefit of aternating 5000k and 4000k?

Click to expand...

I think with these strips you would want to go the no heatsink route to make them worth your while for the price. For that, you would want to keep them more so around their nominal current which is 350ma. Not sure about how those laptop drivers work exactly, but it seems like you might need a few more strips to try and max out those drivers. Only giving 19v on the dot to these strips will only allow them pull around 200ma based on the datasheet, so it seems maybe these strips aren't quite the best fit for those drivers.

Please don't take anything I say for fact until you dive into it further as I am still new to this all as well and could be grossly overlooking something or misspeaking. That said, maybe look into the eb gen 3 strips. They have a slightly lower forward voltage (19.1 vs 19.5) so they would fit these drivers a little easier and are a newer gen with better efficiency. Also have 90cri option available for roughly the same price, just a little less efficient for an arguably better spectrum. They are available on future electronics, you just have to buy them in bundles of 20, but for $105-$115 depending on what cri you picked, you could fill out both those drivers without needing heatsinks and still have a handful of strips leftover. Only saw the 2 foot strips on a quick search, so maybe that size isn't what you were looking for, but just something to look into. Again I am no expert on anything, but wish you the best whatever you do.

90 cri 4k--https://www.futureelectronics.com/p/semiconductors--lighting-solutions--light-engine-led-assemblies--light-engines/bxeb-l0560z-40g2000-c-c3-bridgelux-6115970

80 cri 3500k--https://www.futureelectronics.com/p/semiconductors--lighting-solutions--light-engine-led-assemblies--light-engines/bxeb-l0560z-35e2000-c-c3-bridgelux-9115969

loco41 said:

Only giving 19v on the dot to these strips will only allow them pull around 200ma based on the datasheet, so it seems maybe these strips aren't quite the best fit for those drivers.

Please don't take anything I say for fact until you dive into it further as I am still new to this all as well and could be grossly overlooking something or misspeaking. That said, maybe look into the eb gen 3 strips. They have a slightly lower forward voltage (19.1 vs 19.5) so they would fit these drivers a little easier and are a newer gen with better efficiency. Also have 90cri option available for roughly the same price, just a little less efficient for an arguably better spectrum. They are available on future electronics, you just have to buy them in bundles of 20, but for $105-$115 depending on what cri you picked, you could fill out both those drivers without needing heatsinks and still have a handful of strips leftover. Only saw the 2 foot strips on a quick search, so maybe that size isn't what you were looking for, but just something to look into. Again I am no expert on anything, but wish you the best whatever you do.

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Thanks for pointing out that wonderful graph. you are right i would need significantly more strips at that voltage.
those 4000k cri90 lights are a great price, i just wish i could justify buying twice as many as i need. my in laws wanted a new grow light for their veggies, but i think this is too much for even that.


The following led is in stock at digikey, one power supply can run 5 of these. its not Cri 90 but i can but 10 of them for $77 cad

andreav- said:

I like using digikey, only problem is they have a huge catalog. they have samsung leds for sale there too.


I am thinking of getting 12 of these one foot strips, spaced 3.75" apart.

BXEB-L0280Z-50E1000-C-B3 Bridgelux | Optoelectronics | DigiKey

Order today, ships today. BXEB-L0280Z-50E1000-C-B3 – LED Lighting COBs Engines Modules LED Module series White, Cool Linear Light Strip from Bridgelux. Pricing and Availability on millions of electronic components from Digi-Key Electronics.

www.digikey.ca

Is there a source for the heatsink extrusion? If no heatsink is needed i can print some led module holders with my 3d printer

I have two laptop power supplies that i already own, they are both 90w 19v 4.7a. I figure I can put 6 lights on one and 6 on the other. I can install a dimmer, and also if i only have 1-2 plants, or seedlings, i can shut off half.

One of my concern is with getting older (though cheap!) led tech, these boards are a few years old, and i missing out on any new tech, are newer boards more efficient? is there any need to add red/blue lights? since this is just for veg i thought red and blue light was beneficial? i undertand that there is blue light in the 5000k spektrum, any benefit of aternating 5000k and 4000k?

Click to expand...

that sounds like a good plan using the laptop power supplies with the linked strips.
think you can hardly take a cheaper route then this with exisiting hardware.
maybe mount them alternating, distributed on 2 powersupplies, so you have a kind of 50/100 "dimmer".
in worst case put some diffusion in between if you can not hang them higher, this will eat some more light.
4000k, 5000k, how much cri, difficult question.
you hardly can go wrong with any in this region i think.
plain old 4000k 80cri will veg you nice plants for sure.
maybe some UVA to play with, but would put this on a extra channel.

@1212ham , case for you, i guess thats pretty what you did with EB2s ?
think these laptop supplies give a bit more voltage so its may spot on.

the EB3 are a great option too, i just heard a canadian going for EB2, cheap power and the eb2 where quite a bit cheaper, compare yourself, changes daily.
i would buy EB3s myself.
your power supply shoud be about 5A then.
may go with 10 strips each driver, so youre at 500mA.
they run very very cool at this current.

I know i sound like a broken record but blux vesta strips will rock seedlings, veg and flower and is about 200 diodes for a tenner. Their dual spectrum lets you dial in stretch perfectly

Like @Rocket Soul i too will sound like a broken record and suggest looking into Budget LED for a possible lighting choice. They offer their infinity boards which gives you a blue and or deep/far red switch option for whatever stage you’re in. Use code 420mag at checkout and save 10% off your purchase. Michigan based and run by formers vets, with super fast shipping. When I bought mine they were just announced and hadn’t made some for stock. When they did have them built I had them in my hands in 2 days to Southern Ontario. had to pay a duty fee but well worth the extra $62

problem is his drivers are 19,xV and the vestas are 24V.
also he may never use the 2700K diodes as its for veg only.

for sure theyre basically very nice and the price at below 10 dollar for a 2 feet strip is nice.
the option to play is very cool.
while the EB3 cri 90 got quite a good bump in efficacy and at future electronics theyre not more money then the older gen vestas diode count wise.
2 foot EB3 strip is about 5$ for 100 diodes.
not sure about shipping cost and tax for future electronics to canada.
digikey rocks in this regard, if one need just a few eb3 on the quick the slims from digikey are always a option too.

cobshopgrow said:

@1212ham , case for you, i guess thats pretty what you did with EB2s ?
think these laptop supplies give a bit more voltage so its may spot on.

the EB3 are a great option too, i just heard a canadian going for EB2, cheap power and the eb2 where quite a bit cheaper, compare yourself, changes daily.
i would buy EB3s myself.
your power supply shoud be about 5A then.
may go with 10 strips each driver, so youre at 500mA.
they run very very cool at this current.

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@andreav- The EB3s you linked are the slim version and may need some form of heat sink, std. width are available from Future Electronics. I suggest a 20V or higher power supply. The Dell 19.5v supplies I checked were 19.1-19.4v, not enough. I have this driving 6 EB2s atm, cost me $1.50 at a thrift store. I always watch for power supplies and save my old ones!

so maybe EB3 then as they run a lil lower voltage.
the EB3 slim dont need a heatsink at 500mA, prob. not even at 700mA+.
i use slims and have checked those with a thermal cam.

i just use this.
the XR type is quite good to get a idea of the die temp.

cobshopgrow said:

I would buy EB3s myself.
your power supply shoud be about 5A then.
may go with 10 strips each driver, so youre at 500mA.
they run very very cool at this current.

Click to expand...

looks like there is free shipping and duty is covered, just under $160 cad for 20.

I tested my power supply with a multimeter, it puts out 19.5v 4.7a meaning each light is 670mah each, less if the voltage drops under load like ham says, would be this be too hot?.
i think i will buy the 10 strips, use17 and put 6 towards my in laws for their non cannabis seedlings.

670mA sounds fine to me, tested myself just up to 525mA.
while they not very warm at 525mA, so there is headroom.

A qb288 bspec would be perfect I've used it in a 2x3 and a 2x4, and it worked incredible. $94 bucks with the heatsink from HLG, 10% with the RIU discount 120 watt driver and your ready to rock and roll.