PC Grow Box Lighting Help

[updown420]

Hi,

Firstly, I'm completely new to this. I'm trying to find a low heat light solution for my PC grow. The internal space of the case is about 17" X 6.5" X 17". What would you recommend? I'm guessing I don't need more than 50 watts in this space.

Thanks

[0 to 220]

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/7907665

You can use something like that (1ft strips) to make a strip build.

6 of them in parallel can go on this driver:
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/6574712

they will run at 303mA, lower (thus cooler) than the recommended 350mA per strip. You can add more strips to decrease the intensity of each strip while increasing spread. (Then it needs to be closer to the plants) If you add more strips in parallel to a driver like this, they will receive lower current (amperage).

there are many other driver options and light source options. In fact, the possibilities are endless. I assume you are not going to grow cannabis in such a space, so this is one of the cheapest things you could buy that is easy to DIY with wagos and solid core wires. However, if you don't understand about leds and strips, or you have no fucking clue what kind of products I just linked or what I talked about, you should watch the ledgardener series on youtube until you understand it a bit. Then you will have a better idea of what oyu want and whether you even want to DIY something

Personally, I would go to the supermarket and buy 2 or 3 14W led bulbs. Then you are done.

edit: Oh lol, I didn't see your username. Maybe I'm stupid and it can be done. I just think it will be a tight fit in such a confined space, for that particular plant. I thought you might be growing basil or something

[updown420]

Hey, thanks for the reply. It's a special kind of basil lol. Many people have grown cannabis in PC cases. I know it's tight but with some training techniques you can actually get decent results.

Sorry for my stupidity but how many watts and lumens would I be getting by running 6 of the strips you mentioned at 303mA?

[Labgrown]

6*19.4*.303= ~35W

[unkle_psycho]

35 x ?165?lm= 5775lm

This power level worked great growing herbs in a 1.5ft x 2.5ft box. The driver will work with most common 0-10v dimmers, can probably find them pretty easily.

[updown420]

So if I want to run 6 of the EB strips at 350mA, what driver would I need?

[unkle_psycho]

So if I want to run 6 of the EB strips at 350mA, what driver would I need?

Running 5 as advised above would be 380mA. There are about 5 TRP drivers that are priced really low, might be a mistake or something. Normally the drivers are 20-30$ each, this one is 6$. A year back there were about 20 driver models priced like this, now there are a few left. Using another driver will double the cost of your entire build. Not that it would still be expensive. There is one other driver, a 25v 3A model that gives 60w with these strips and costs around 11$.

The 2 foot strips have double the current, but I usually run them between 900-1450mA. About equal to 450-700mA on yours. If you don't want to use heatsinks then put min 5 if you have good air circulation, or six if air around them is stagnant. You don't really need to worry about the 2$ raise in cost going for six strips

[updown420]

Thanks for the info. The driver mentioned above shows as non-stock on digikey.

I'm not too concerned about cost. I just want to go with the best setup possible for a $100. Is this the route you guys would go?

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Thanks for the info. The driver mentioned above shows as non-stock on digikey.

That only means they won't just blindly re-stock them. They have over 2200 available. Leave some for the rest of us

I'm not too concerned about cost. I just want to go with the best setup possible for a $100. Is this the route you guys would go?

https://www.digikey.com/products/en?key ... 66-2522-ND

This meanwell is 4% more efficient (at ~500% the cost, lol), has dimming screws in the driver. 5 strips would run at 334mA, 6 at 278mA

Mean well drivers are known for their high efficiency. These are usually higher power models - for example, HLG-320H is ~95% efficient. This 40w model has "only" 90% efficiency but that makes it one of the best, if not the best, choice for 40w. Maybe there are other good drivers for single strips.

Yeah I would do it. These things can be very close to the canopy and you can place them however you like. As far as "the best possible", meh, these will get you 85-90% there? There is a lot of hubbub about UV and far red lighting, red:blue ratio, etc., the rabbit hole is endless. That's for you to explore. Everyone has a different view, and different experiences. I dont try to manipulate the plants much with lights although it is a subject I'm interested in out of boredom. I select plants that work for me with my style and limitations. All I need is good light because the plants I use are already doing what I want them to. This approach significantly simplifies buying lights.

There are also strips available with higher luminous efficacy.
You can learn to use the digikey search mode and explore them. I have only used bridgelux. Samsung or Seoul Semiconductor have some slightly better models. Sort the results by lm/w to find out which is the most efficacious. Most 1ft strips can "probably" run at ~6.5w without heatsink requirement... YMMV

A lot of people use samsung and bridgelux. That means you can find some tests/measurements and info about them.

There are also horticulture strips from cutter and other sources... like i said the rabbit hole goes too deep

[unkle_psycho]

All these 80cri whites are pretty similar. For a moment some companies were differentiating by adding red, and now its becoming pretty standard. For a space like yours you could add red, cutter has some cheap starboards, but in such a small space you probably want to avoid stretch anyway.