strip led run hot or soft what layout

2cent

2cent

Well-Known Member
Byilding a strip bludgelux led for my 5x5 scrogg grow.
Im aiming for 800 to 1000watts and diming to 75% .

Some say get 28 strips n run em soft
Some say get 8 bars n run em hot
Some say get 100 2ft bars instead n run soft.

I want to make a single pannel foldable.
I have acces to 6mm aluminium plate in 1200x1200mm or u channel 2mm strips so thw heat shouldnt be an issue as most say to run soft and no need heatsinks. Am not bothered i jist want the best maximum config possible to push my space to its limits.
Im full co2 and 17yr growing pushing1gpw on my old hps.
I wana push the led to drive yeild to max either soft or hard i just want to know thw best outcome
im in a room with 12ft cielings and 6.5x6.5ft walls so i can even run the led 4ft above canopy if thats best.

I dont know where the balance is dude said he runs his hlg max and higher up other runs it lower and droped down. Ive no idea which ways better...dropping watts or increasing distance. Catch 22 lol.

I know gen 3 slim blux are not the best but is there a gen3 non slim?or is gen 2 stil superior? Cant find better strips rwleased ywt?
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
The more strips/bars , the better it will run. The softer , the longer they will last. When one gets into running them soft , its to save money on heatsinks or to just make um last forever. In a perfect world you would run as many as you can afford to buy @ 800 or 1000w.

800 watts / 28 strips = 29 watts each strip. Whats the data sheet look like on them bridgelux ? I dont know anything about bridgelux but that sounds like a lot for "soft" ......60 strips at half the watts would make them last way longer with no heat sink needed.

I been running HID all my life. Looks like you are in the same boat. The best advice i ever got with these leds is to start off hanging them high and turning them down. Work your way up from there. They blow away the hps so its VERY easy to overdo the light if you are used to hps an MH.

i get about .7 gpw with hps on average. My first led run was 3 or 4 ft from the canopy turned down to about 60% ish and got the same yield with a bunch of stragler plants that should of went into the trash. My second run was 2400 watts of hps on one side and 1200 watts of led on the other. Again , 2.5 to 3 ft above the canopy with the leds and still got the same yield or better on the led side.
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
After a quick glance at the data sheet , it seems your gonna want 3 watts per strip ? The data sheet is ugly to me , i cannot comprehend it. it says nominal current 350mA at 19.1volts =6.7 watts. Im not sure if that is per diode or per strip....

EDIT: that info might have come from a 1ft strip....
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
27 watts each on the 4ft strips is nominal. So 29 watts each would need a heatsink and would run "hot". You would want to double or triple the amount of strips to run um soft. Double the strips would not need a heatsink and triple the strips would never go out or get hot.
 
2cent

2cent

Well-Known Member
getogrow said:
27 watts each on the 4ft strips is nominal. So 29 watts each would need a heatsink and would run "hot". You would want to double or triple the amount of strips to run um soft. Double the strips would not need a heatsink and triple the strips would never go out or get hot.
Click to expand...
Wow thanks foe tue reply man.
Yeah jus like u ha.
Im in a 6.5x6.5ft 2x2m room and inscrogg 4.5x4.5ft and hang into the 5ft area lol.


So yeah i need a 5x5 ft led panne and normaly id run either a 1000w de or 2x 600w . Hitting .7 to1gpw .
I swapped to 1000watt of 3030 chips and its damn good but not killin hps.
My hlg room tho straight falling out the room with less wattage.

My target is my 5x5 hitting 40minimum off 8 plants. Yeah ur right im worries less watt ...the staple of my growing is killing my mind lol.
Trying to match 1000w and hope to dim it

Haha yeah its the 4ft not the 1ft gen2 blux

Haha i thaught 28 was soft lol some runnin 8 like the thinkgrow leds dang 28 seems nuts.
This is wha got me started that do 18 on the 5x5 layouts . Someone said run 28 and run em soft instead of 18

ledgardener.com

DIY LED Strip Build Designs for Samsung H-Series, F-Series, Q-Series, and Bridgelux EB Gen.2 - LED Gardener

DIY LED strip builds have become very popular recently. The mid-power section of our forum is full of threads created by DIYers looking to build their own custom lights, and new builds and ideas are surfacing every day. If you don’t live somewhere where you have easy access to premade lights...
ledgardener.com




What led u got rockin
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
2cent said:
ledgardener.com

DIY LED Strip Build Designs for Samsung H-Series, F-Series, Q-Series, and Bridgelux EB Gen.2 - LED Gardener

DIY LED strip builds have become very popular recently. The mid-power section of our forum is full of threads created by DIYers looking to build their own custom lights, and new builds and ideas are surfacing every day. If you don’t live somewhere where you have easy access to premade lights...
ledgardener.com




What led u got rockin
Click to expand...
I use the mejui bar style leds. labeled as 650w each. i have two for flower.

I have built at least 6 other lights.... all my veg lights and a friends veg light and some houseplant lights. I have strips superglued to pvc pipes doing great still. I LOVE strips!
 
M

MedicinalMyA$$

Well-Known Member
THIS GUY ran 12 4ft EB2 strips over a 4x4 @ 500W without heatsinks or even supporting them in the middle of their span lol. The loose consensus over the forum at LEDGardener and here at RIU was that the EB2 strips were OK without heatsinks when driven at 75% ish of nominal rating.
Bridgelux literature states their strips lifetime predictions are based around their nominal rated current, but their true maximum drive current is twice nominal. I think they called it Twice Overdrive Capability or something like that. So their rated current is approximately half their maximum, and if you drive them at 75% nominal its actually 37.5% of Max.

I have run EB2's with square aluminum channel as heatsinks @ 75% of nominal and found that I could leave them in a closed unvented closet while running, check them after12 hours on, and while the heatsinks were 'hot', you could hold onto them without discomfort. If I ran ventilation they were upper-end warm, and if I had a fan over them they were barely warm. No experience with EB3's.

I have a budget 4x4 setup using 64 cheap Samsung 2ft M-series strips without heatsinks and if I couldn't see the light coming from them I wouldn't know they were on just by touching the back of them. They run a bit too cool really, due to ambient temps I had to put the drivers in the tent and turn the 6" AC Infinity down to 2 to try and keep some warmth in there.
 
2cent

2cent

Well-Known Member
MedicinalMyA$$ said:
THIS GUY ran 12 4ft EB2 strips over a 4x4 @ 500W without heatsinks or even supporting them in the middle of their span lol. The loose consensus over the forum at LEDGardener and here at RIU was that the EB2 strips were OK without heatsinks when driven at 75% ish of nominal rating.
Bridgelux literature states their strips lifetime predictions are based around their nominal rated current, but their true maximum drive current is twice nominal. I think they called it Twice Overdrive Capability or something like that. So their rated current is approximately half their maximum, and if you drive them at 75% nominal its actually 37.5% of Max.

I have run EB2's with square aluminum channel as heatsinks @ 75% of nominal and found that I could leave them in a closed unvented closet while running, check them after12 hours on, and while the heatsinks were 'hot', you could hold onto them without discomfort. If I ran ventilation they were upper-end warm, and if I had a fan over them they were barely warm. No experience with EB3's.

I have a budget 4x4 setup using 64 cheap Samsung 2ft M-series strips without heatsinks and if I couldn't see the light coming from them I wouldn't know they were on just by touching the back of them. They run a bit too cool really, due to ambient temps I had to put the drivers in the tent and turn the 6" AC Infinity down to 2 to try and keep some warmth in there.
Click to expand...
Amazing. So u saying 28 4ft strips at 100w WIll be classes as cool and i wont need a heatsink? based on how the gen 2 are made ?
Reguardless ill have them on aluminium u channels or 6mm aluminium bar to hold it up.
Even looked at a 6mm plate i can get 1200x1200 would all fit on that like a samsung board then too. And hinge the middle to store n move

Im gona go blux gen 2 4ft strips for sure .
Just my layout and howmany strips.
8-36 and what driver .
Do i do the build on the guide with 18 and double it that would go 1200wat and i dont need that much so think 1000 max hes running 37watts so 28 would be 1036watts . On a dimmer at 75% is 777watts and 50% 515watts
25% 250watts tho id think 50% and raise it be better
so id assume for my 5x5 that would give me full coverage and be good for my babys in veg and flower
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
2cent said:
Hahaha thats mental love it hahaha.


Isnt mehu the china boards ?

Hows ya canna room look ya not wantes to diy a big strip like me in there yet ?
Click to expand...
Yes , mejui is chjna strips/boards. They are the same as my samsung builds.

I bought the pre-built lights before i had any clue on how to build them. I have not been able to find 3k or 3500k strips for cheap enough to build my own flower lights yet. ALL prebuilt lights run too hard for my likings.

So , yes , if it were up to me then i would build all my flower lights also...... :idea: hmmm

Yea, i think its abnout that time...wheres everybody getting strips these days ?
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
2cent said:
Amazing. So u saying 28 4ft strips at 100w WIll be classes as cool and i wont need a heatsink? based on how the gen 2 are made ?
Reguardless ill have them on aluminium u channels or 6mm aluminium bar to hold it up.
Even looked at a 6mm plate i can get 1200x1200 would all fit on that like a samsung board then too. And hinge the middle to store n move

Im gona go blux gen 2 4ft strips for sure .
Just my layout and howmany strips.
8-36 and what driver .
Do i do the build on the guide with 18 and double it that would go 1200wat and i dont need that much so think 1000 max hes running 37watts so 28 would be 1036watts . On a dimmer at 75% is 777watts and 50% 515watts
25% 250watts tho id think 50% and raise it be better
so id assume for my 5x5 that would give me full coverage and be good for my babys in veg and flower
Click to expand...
If you are gonna put them on aluminum anyways , then go ahead an put some thermal tape on there to make it a heatsink. The cooler you run them , the longer they will last. Also the spectrum will hold up over years if running them soft.

If you could liquid cool these strips then you could probably get 100 watts out of each strip without hurting it*
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
Alter Jean said:
Is this where we can pay someone to build us a custom light?

LMAO hot thread bro I learnt like 5 things just now
Click to expand...
Id love to build someone a custom light. Parts are just so high ever since the arrow spike. I got that urge again so im gonna be building myself a couple 1k hps replacements. Gonna start hunting for parts now.
 
M

MedicinalMyA$$

Well-Known Member
2cent said:
Amazing. So u saying 28 4ft strips at 100w WIll be classes as cool and i wont need a heatsink? based on how the gen 2 are made ?
Reguardless ill have them on aluminium u channels or 6mm aluminium bar to hold it up.
Even looked at a 6mm plate i can get 1200x1200 would all fit on that like a samsung board then too. And hinge the middle to store n move

Im gona go blux gen 2 4ft strips for sure .
Just my layout and howmany strips.
8-36 and what driver .
Do i do the build on the guide with 18 and double it that would go 1200wat and i dont need that much so think 1000 max hes running 37watts so 28 would be 1036watts . On a dimmer at 75% is 777watts and 50% 515watts
25% 250watts tho id think 50% and raise it be better
so id assume for my 5x5 that would give me full coverage and be good for my babys in veg and flower
Click to expand...
Easiest (and cheapest) route would be to follow the EB2 LEDGardener plans and adjust the amount of strips depending on how hard or soft you want to drive them. If you want 1000W worth you could just make 2 of the 4x4 designs and arrange the strips however you need to.
 
M

MedicinalMyA$$

Well-Known Member
getogrow said:
Id love to build someone a custom light. Parts are just so high ever since the arrow spike. I got that urge again so im gonna be building myself a couple 1k hps replacements. Gonna start hunting for parts now.
Click to expand...
I have the urge too. Love this hobby. Have you seen the ULTRA SLIM (6mm) or HIGH OUTPUT EB3's? What about the QUANTUM BOARD square-style EB's? I was thinking about getting some of the square type with the bare patch in the middle and sticking some reds (GLA Buddies) and/or UV/IR in there...
 
J232

J232

Well-Known Member
getogrow said:
Id love to build someone a custom light. Parts are just so high ever since the arrow spike. I got that urge again so im gonna be building myself a couple 1k hps replacements. Gonna start hunting for parts now.
Click to expand...
It just about killed me but here’s my new creation to replace my HID. 9 bars, 54 strips, 9 drivers, 1500 and sum watts. Each bar has a driver.

D91DD01A-E898-49DC-9F55-72EDA634D382.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top