Thanks a lot for taking a look, and sorry for not posting in Metric as well, should've known better with the user base here.TEKNIK wrote: ↑Tue Jul 09, 2019 8:38 amCheapest option will probably the cree strips from Cutter, 8pcs 4k cri90 on one driver for veg and 3kcri90 on another driver for flower. This will give you 3500K when both turned on at the same power.
16 strips total, you can up the current with the AB driver to make use of the full driver potential.
Can repeat this for the other sections also.
If you did not want to use heatsinks you could add in another 4 strips of each color and it would run at about 2.6 micromouls per joule with very even coverage at the board level.
If you buy from cutter get them to supply you with dim pots also so you can adjust things to maintain stretch. It will be a close proximity grow and you will run out of height so being able to tune can be very important especially during stretch. 4K cri90 has enough red in it to do full cycle but it depends on the strain also as to how much it will stretch.
Do you think I will need to run 8 strips per driver to get close enough to use these in my cabinets as they are? Is it a serious loss of output to run them harder (~1A/strip, 145mA/Diode) even though it's within their guidelines? Datasheet says these chips max @240mA, although I'm not trying to go anywhere near there. At that level it may be cheaper for me to build a bigger room than to double my strip budget, I have plenty of construction materials laying about. That being said, I had intended to get 10 more strips eventually, bringing me to around 667mA/strip (95mA/Diode), and although it eats the safety margin out of my budget I could swing it now if it's a better idea. Heatsinks still predicted necessary at that level? At $3.50 each its still cheaper initially to do heatsinks and high output but it would be a savings if I need to do it anyway.
As for the bridgelux strips, I had initially disregarded them as I'd need 12 per driver to get to 700mA/strip but that about equals out with 6x cri90 strips per driver, would they be a better option? Just thought they didn't match up to my driver as well but I'd gladly reconsider pretty much anything at this point if it comes from someone with the voice of reason and experience...
Any other suggestions? Am I doing it right or should I just wait until I have a better space? I don't make money from this (and not much in general) but I want to produce the best product I can for myself and sick friends. Almost bought a 315w cmh or 2 and built a room accordingly, but I'm trying to stick with this as it just seems like a better and less wasteful system...
