Large DIY Strip Build Questions
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 1:01 am
Hi all,
I'm building out a new space and decided its finally time to lay the old 1k gavitas to rest after many years of faithful service. I've lurked here for while and have already learned a lot but still have some unanswered questions so I figured I'd ask. There seems to be a ton of super knowledgeable people who are often willing to help so I appreciate anyone who takes the time to lend some assistance to a rookie like myself - thank you!
I've got what seems to be a relatively large build planned compared to what seems to be the norm here - a 10'x10' canopy and I'm planning on four 5'x5' builds with strips (initially planned on QBs but changed my mind). I've read the 5x5 DIY strip build guide and that was helpful between that and the PLC Photoboost build on youtube, I feel like I almost understand things so my questions are:
1. Who does everyone always suggest 4' strips (or two 2' strips) for 5x5 builds. The DIY guide suggests it and so does every other build I've seen and I can't figure out why not just use two 2' strips and a 1' strip. Am I missing something?
2. My plan so far is to build an eight bar fixture with 12 2' strips from Alibaba (Kingbrite W55; $17) and 12 1' Bridgelux Vestas ($6)(I'd prefer the Gen 3 EB's but can't find anywhere - are these actually out?) Basically 2 footers on the outside and 1 footer in the middle. These are supposed to pull 48V and 26.3V, with the same wattage at 1000 mA, respectively. Question: would it be better to run all of the Vestas on a single driver (Meanwell 320H) and the W55s separately (MW 600H) than to run mixed strips on the same driver?
3. The above setup results in about 991.6w - just under 40w/sf. Overkill? I wouldn't mind backing things down and saving some power to be honest but buying strips for the above setup would costs $276, before factoring drivers and heatsinks, which seems to be the most cost effective route. I don't really have any price cost constrains but I don't want to spend unnecessary dollars either since I'm building four of these. Ideally, I'd stay under $800 each. I've considered just dropping a bar for a 7-bar set up which could be fine too.
4. Lastly, am I just overthinking this? Should I just do the 5x5 build as posted on the guide and get on with my life? It wouldn't be the first time I've overcomplicated what should be simple.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Any answers would be great but just thoughts about the build or parts would be great too. If someone can suggest a better build that achieves the same thing, I'm all ears, or uhhh... eyes I guess.
$am
I'm building out a new space and decided its finally time to lay the old 1k gavitas to rest after many years of faithful service. I've lurked here for while and have already learned a lot but still have some unanswered questions so I figured I'd ask. There seems to be a ton of super knowledgeable people who are often willing to help so I appreciate anyone who takes the time to lend some assistance to a rookie like myself - thank you!
I've got what seems to be a relatively large build planned compared to what seems to be the norm here - a 10'x10' canopy and I'm planning on four 5'x5' builds with strips (initially planned on QBs but changed my mind). I've read the 5x5 DIY strip build guide and that was helpful between that and the PLC Photoboost build on youtube, I feel like I almost understand things so my questions are:
1. Who does everyone always suggest 4' strips (or two 2' strips) for 5x5 builds. The DIY guide suggests it and so does every other build I've seen and I can't figure out why not just use two 2' strips and a 1' strip. Am I missing something?
2. My plan so far is to build an eight bar fixture with 12 2' strips from Alibaba (Kingbrite W55; $17) and 12 1' Bridgelux Vestas ($6)(I'd prefer the Gen 3 EB's but can't find anywhere - are these actually out?) Basically 2 footers on the outside and 1 footer in the middle. These are supposed to pull 48V and 26.3V, with the same wattage at 1000 mA, respectively. Question: would it be better to run all of the Vestas on a single driver (Meanwell 320H) and the W55s separately (MW 600H) than to run mixed strips on the same driver?
3. The above setup results in about 991.6w - just under 40w/sf. Overkill? I wouldn't mind backing things down and saving some power to be honest but buying strips for the above setup would costs $276, before factoring drivers and heatsinks, which seems to be the most cost effective route. I don't really have any price cost constrains but I don't want to spend unnecessary dollars either since I'm building four of these. Ideally, I'd stay under $800 each. I've considered just dropping a bar for a 7-bar set up which could be fine too.
4. Lastly, am I just overthinking this? Should I just do the 5x5 build as posted on the guide and get on with my life? It wouldn't be the first time I've overcomplicated what should be simple.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Any answers would be great but just thoughts about the build or parts would be great too. If someone can suggest a better build that achieves the same thing, I'm all ears, or uhhh... eyes I guess.
$am