Looking for LED strips for a DIY build

subudai

Active Member
Hi guys.

What are the go to led strips these days? Are the Samsung F3's still the best or i have seen a few EB Gen 3 builds on here lately.
Or is there anything newer?

Wanting to flower a 4x4 (1.2m x 1.2m) tent
I have 4 x HLG-150H-54B (voltage output 27-54V, current output max 2.8A) drivers.
I would prefer to use these even if i have to do 4 x parallel builds
 

Ben123456733

Well-Known Member

loco41

Well-Known Member
First off let me start by saying I'm no expert or even a real source of knowledge on the subject, just imagining if I had those drivers/space to play with.

I think if you plan on using those drivers you'll have to play around with the numbers and what you're looking to get out of the light. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any 54volt strips from any common sources. Take the bridgelux for example, the 4 foot gen 3 strips run at like +/- 40 volts when driven at their nominal current of 700ma each which leaves quite a bit of unused power from the driver. The Samsung f series gen3 are something like 46 volts at nominal current I believe, so a "better" fit to maximize the driver, but the price on is a bit steeper. Not saying that either of these aren't valid options, just throwing it out there.

Maybe give hlg a look, specifically the qb96 and qb120s imo. You could grab a couple 4 packs of the qb120s for around $200 before the discount (riu10 I think) and probably get really nice coverage similar to some strips. Would also seem to be a pretty simple build and you could even do 4 individual units, two boards in series per driver, if you wanted some flexibility in the tent. Again, they wouldn't quite max out the driver, but for the price and simplicity might be an option. Could look at some supplemental colors after that with some of the savings maybe.

Again no expert and sorry for the long winded response, just caught me right after I noticed they had some 120s back in stock. Hopefully some others can chime in and give you some better/more experienced input. Good luck whichever way you go though.
 

subudai

Active Member
Thanks for the answers

So either the Samsungs or the QB96 seem to be the way to go then.

I am in the UK so not sure if HLG deliver to here and they are a bit out of my budget tbh

I already have a Veg light using Samsung F3 strips with a HLG-150H-54B

The ledgardener builds are over 3 years old now, was curious if any newer strips were released to the market by now
 

Ben123456733

Well-Known Member
I honestly couldn't tell you if there are newer strips. If there are newer strips the differences are going to be extremely minimal for a much higher price tag.
Unless you have a need for the highest quality lights and price is no factor, 3 year old technology is still quite new and will do more than fine
 

loco41

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the answers

So either the Samsungs or the QB96 seem to be the way to go then.

I am in the UK so not sure if HLG deliver to here and they are a bit out of my budget tbh

I already have a Veg light using Samsung F3 strips with a HLG-150H-54B

The ledgardener builds are over 3 years old now, was curious if any newer strips were released to the market by now
I'm not really familiar with the samsung prices on strips, but they are definitely more pricey than the bridgelux gen 3 strips. I think strip wise, the bridgelux will be your best bet to keep things at a minimum price without sacrificing much efficiency, you just wont be able to pull the full 150 watts from the drivers using those ones. Also they have higher cri options which might be useful in flower (more/wider red spectrum).
 
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