Which LED strips would you buy?

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Thanks bud,

They have 82 in stock @ $12.40 cdn each...price drops to 8.27 @ 100....i was actually surprised that they were so cheap.

What are we looking at for spacing between the slim strips? 2"?

ill probably build the fixtures either 2x2 or 2x4(tables will be 2x4) , being powered by 185w or 320w drivers.
Try finding a local distributor. My local for blux is cheaper than
yep , i priced them last evening, only 82 in stock @ $12.41 per......as you said, 100 strips and the price drops real nice @ $8.80 per
This for the 2 foot strips, right?
 

diggs99

Well-Known Member
Try finding a local distributor. My local for blux is cheaper than

This for the 2 foot strips, right?
lol i live in a place that feels like another planet when searching for anything outside the basic shit lol...no chance at local


Yes thats the price for 2` ers. in cdn $$

Id like to hear what @diyled has to say about the efficiacy of the EBs, 1212 mentioned he had made some comments on them.
i forgot to message Teknik too, ask him what hes got going on.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
lol i live in a place that feels like another planet when searching for anything outside the basic shit lol...no chance at local


Yes thats the price for 2` ers. in cdn $$

Id like to hear what @diyled has to say about the efficiacy of the EBs, 1212 mentioned he had made some comments on them.
i forgot to message Teknik too, ask him what hes got going on.
At those price points the ebs get unattractive. I hear that bridgelux works with local distributors to help them compete with digi and arrow. Problem is that they dont list anything under where to buy other than the classic online distribution giants for US.
 

Warpedpassage

Well-Known Member
lol i live in a place that feels like another planet when searching for anything outside the basic shit lol...no chance at local


Yes thats the price for 2` ers. in cdn $$

Id like to hear what @diyled has to say about the efficiacy of the EBs, 1212 mentioned he had made some comments on them.
i forgot to message Teknik too, ask him what hes got going on.
the $8.80 3k , 90cri, quoted was for the 4 ft. Eb gen 3. He contacted them for a quote since they dont stock 90 cri. I didnt realize you were looking at the two ft strips.
 

diggs99

Well-Known Member
the $8.80 3k , 90cri, quoted was for the 4 ft. Eb gen 3. He contacted them for a quote since they dont stock 90 cri. I didnt realize you were looking at the two ft strips.
Ya thats cdn prices for the 2`ers

the 4`ers are $ 20.36 for 10 or more.....price drops all the way down to $13.57 if you buy 100 or more.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
lol i live in a place that feels like another planet when searching for anything outside the basic shit lol...no chance at local


Yes thats the price for 2` ers. in cdn $$

Id like to hear what @diyled has to say about the efficiacy of the EBs, 1212 mentioned he had made some comments on them.
i forgot to message Teknik too, ask him what hes got going on.
Diggs, if youre in canada try future electroncis from the bbridgelux web: where to buy. They might give you a better deal than digi. Not sure of exchange rate but 8 for 2 foot seems high, especially in comparison with what warped passage quoted a while back. But youre probably looking at around 100moq. Still might be cheaper than other alternatives. Maybe a 100x 2 footers, doubling up on strips every heatsink and running them soft as f-ck. It would work out something like 12 heatsink (or evenn run them bare like cobshops build) with 24 strips for every 2 foot section (assuminng iits another 4x8). You could run that at sub nominal wattage, 10w per strip for better efficiency. It works out like something like 2800 diodes every 2 foot (remember hlg 260 is 576 diodes for the same space). Not sure of pricing with future electroncis but id rec checking it out.

Id still like to hear from @diyled re how faithfull these new ebs are to datasheet. It seems a bit nutty that all the 90cri have the same lum/w

The vestas which are eb gen1 was arounnd 2.5 ppf/w at 10w per 2footer iirc, id assume you could atleast reach something like 2.7-2.8 using 2 gens superior chips. But assumption is the mother of all f ups...
 

diggs99

Well-Known Member
According to Teknik, the bxeb Gen 3s are performing at their best at 12w per strip if i understood him correctly.

He says the Nichias are king and will give upwards of 2.75m/joule, whereas my current cutters are around the 2.5m/joule mark.

Hes gonna get back to me on something else he has access too, ill report back when he does, that dude is insanely smart and knows the led world as good as anyone. Greatful to have access to that dude.

As it stands now, my J series are holding their own as far as price/quality compared to others similarly priced. Obv once we head in the Nichia direction we start entering a new price range and it seems quality range as well.
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
ok, i'm kind of new to the strip thing. i've built a few QBs, so i'm not afraid of assembling anything, but i'm not sure what would be the best parts to go with. at the moment looking at these
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/bridgelux/BXEB-L0560Z-35E2000-C-B3/976-1734-ND/7907663

but not sure how many i would need to cover a 4 x 8 foot area, or what drivers to pair with them. i'd like to have a little over kill, so i can under drive them, but i don't want to go way overboard, either...
any help would be appreciated
 

diggs99

Well-Known Member
ok, i'm kind of new to the strip thing. i've built a few QBs, so i'm not afraid of assembling anything, but i'm not sure what would be the best parts to go with. at the moment looking at these
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/bridgelux/BXEB-L0560Z-35E2000-C-B3/976-1734-ND/7907663

but not sure how many i would need to cover a 4 x 8 foot area, or what drivers to pair with them. i'd like to have a little over kill, so i can under drive them, but i don't want to go way overboard, either...
any help would be appreciated

Hey roger,

General rule of thumb for proper leds is 30+ watts per ft2.....so for your 4x8 your gonna want 2 x 480w drivers for 960w across the space at a minimum, you can go with 2x 600s and dimming capabilities if you want, obv up to you. I will use 480w drivers for the math.

The strips you linked are 2`ers, ran at nominal are good for 13.6w per strip, so if my math is correct

480/13.6 = 35.29....so anywhere from 36-40 2`strips per 480w driver will have you running at nominal or a touch below if im not mistaken.

Im gonna stop there and let the smarter dudes help with driver pairing and all that jazz, im still trying to learn all of that stuff myself lol.

@Chip Green
@Rocket Soul
@1212ham
@Moflow

Ill tag a few of the guys i know are much smarter than i in this area, hopefully they can come along and clarify shit for you that i cant lol
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
Hey roger,

General rule of thumb for proper leds is 30+ watts per ft2.....so for your 4x8 your gonna want 2 x 480w drivers for 960w across the space at a minimum, you can go with 2x 600s and dimming capabilities if you want, obv up to you. I will use 480w drivers for the math.

The strips you linked are 2`ers, ran at nominal are good for 13.6w per strip, so if my math is correct

480/13.6 = 35.29....so anywhere from 36-40 2`strips per 480w driver will have you running at nominal or a touch below if im not mistaken.

Im gonna stop there and let the smarter dudes help with driver pairing and all that jazz, im still trying to learn all of that stuff myself lol.

@Chip Green
@Rocket Soul
@1212ham
@Moflow

Ill tag a few of the guys i know are much smarter than i in this area, hopefully they can come along and clarify shit for you that i cant lol
very cool, thnx for the help
i'm not married to those particular strips, if someone knows better/cheaper i'm open to suggestions
 

wietefras

Well-Known Member
According to Teknik, the bxeb Gen 3s are performing at their best at 12w per strip if i understood him correctly.
What is "best" depends on your own requirements though. ie electricity price, climate etc.
 
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wietefras

Well-Known Member
i'd like to have a little over kill, so i can under drive them, but i don't want to go way overboard, either...
I like to aim for 800umol/s/m2 average (or 75umol/s/ft2). So for a 4x8 sized grow that would be 2400umol/s. Divide by the efficacy of the leds and you get the number of watts you'd need. ie 870W per m2 for 2.75umol/J or 960W for 2.5umol/J or say 1400W for DE HPS :)


i'm not married to those particular strips, if someone knows better/cheaper i'm open to suggestions
I personally don't like single row leds. I rather go for double row led strips (Samsung F or inFlux) and use half the amount of strips. Even at nominal power levels you will use more than enough double row strips to provide a very uniform light distribution at 5" hanging height. Doubling up from there just means more work for no additional benefits. Plus better air circulation, less mounting work, less weight, lower cost etc.
 

diggs99

Well-Known Member
I like to aim for 800umol/s/m2 average (or 75umol/s/ft2). So for a 4x8 sized grow that would be 2400umol/s. Divide by the efficacy of the leds and you get the number of watts you'd need. ie 870W per m2 for 2.75umol/J or 960W for 2.5umol/J or say 1400W for DE HPS :)


I personally don't like single row leds. I rather go for double row led strips (Samsung F or inFlux) and use half the amount of strips. Even at nominal power levels you will use more than enough double row strips to provide a very uniform light distribution at 5" hanging height. Doubling up from there just means more work for no additional benefits. Plus better air circulation, less mounting work, less weight, lower cost etc.
Yep i agree with this for sure. More strips just makes the build and wiring that much tougher, whereas using double row 4` you half the work twice.

Im still looking at the f series for this reason, ive always loved those 4 foot double row sammies
 

Axion42

Well-Known Member
It's true about the double rows....... Makes life easier.
How many would you use in a 2x2 cabinet? Would you fill the entire top? I'm building out a stealth cabinet, it has (2)2x2 areas side by side, I'm liking what I see from the Fseries double row, just not sure how many I need for each 2x2 area.
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
As already stated by @wietefras f series or Hinflux strips. Double row strips. I think he uses the 4 footers.
Personally I like the 2 footers because @diyled has the 'perfect heatsinks' for them
The f series 2 ftrs prices have dropped a tad. I paid £27 A strip, they're now £19
Hinflux 2 ftrs are now £24.50 they were £27 when I got them
The vesta strips seem a bargain at only £8 with a good spectrum and 90 cri although matching a driver for them is not as simple as the Sammie strips.
 

diggs99

Well-Known Member
How many would you use in a 2x2 cabinet? Would you fill the entire top? I'm building out a stealth cabinet, it has (2)2x2 areas side by side, I'm liking what I see from the Fseries double row, just not sure how many I need for each 2x2 area.
4sq ft, so 120-185w driver

You could probably get away with using 4 f series doubles
 
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