LEDgardener

Hey all first post on the forum but I've been lurking for many months now.

I'm ready to upgrade my lighting and plunge into the diy led world! I've put together a hlg qb132 kit and a very simple qb288 240w kit.

Right now I have 1 5x5 tent with a 240w hlg 288 kit along the back wall vegging 9 plants. I should have already started flowering but I do not have enough wattage to make the magic happen !!

I've been reading lots of information on this site and also a few others. I've narrowed it down to 3 options... though there are a few others I've thought about...

Option 1. 6 Kingbrite qb288 boards for 1000w

Option 2. 24 Bridgelux eb gen 2 4ft strips with 4 ELG-240-42a drivers for 1000w

Option 3. 3 qb132 v2 on 3 lrs-350-36 drivers for about 900 watts


I do not have a ton of money... I would like to keep the price down as much as I can without justifying a ton of efficiency... I've looked into vesta 90 cri strips but they cost more than the eb strips.

The qb132's seem to be the most expensive...
The kingbrite quantum boards are chinese but I've read a ton of good stuff about them...

What would you do if you had limited funds but really wanted to get a 5x5 going ?
Thank you all very much.

The bridgelux option would give you much better spread than the boards, it's a little more work in terms of DIY but worth it I think

I sent you a pm but I really appreciate all the help.

If running 1000w or 40w ft² what distance from canopy do you guys run at ?

Also would it make sense to make 4 2ft strip builds or 1 4ft strip build... thank you

2ft strips give you more flexibility, let your plants tell you if they are getting too much light. The closer to the canopy the better with a strip build but it can be too much. Never let the plants touch the light so it is still important to keep some distance

240W XLG drivers are a poor choice for EB gen 2 strips, EB's shouldn't be wired in series over 60V leaving you only with the 56V XLG option, of which your strips would only use ~39V. If it was me, and I was on a budget, I would run about 72 2' gen 2 EB strips, on 2 42V HLG-480's. Use 3 1"x1"x96" pieces of aluminum angle and a 12"x10' roll of aluminum flashing to make the equivalent of a 4'x4' aluminum plate.

With wire, connectors, screws/rivets and thermal tape the whole fixture should run you less $750 for a 890W fixture giving you 35W/sqft. It should also run cool enough to touch which will improve the fixture's life span and efficiency.

Honestly it's easiest to use 4' boards. Plus they're cheaper and so much less wiring and way lower build time. No heatsinks required.

You can attach them directly to angle aluminum with kapton tape, but I would recommend also using a few fasteners per strip + plastic washers because the tape is inconsistent in our warm + humid applications.

Run 12x of the 4' 3500k EB2 strips per HLG-480H-42A (over 500w at full blast), using 6 strips per fixture to give yourself more positioning flexibility. Thus, you'd have 4 fixtures of 6 strips each. Super easy to wire and deploy.

Those drivers have multiple advantages:

1) You end up wiring fewer plugs, which are always at a premium in my tents.

2) Each driver has 2 separate leads out so you don't have to split it per fixture.

3) They have built in dimmer that goes down to 50%.

I would start at around 50% dimmed and 18" above mature plants or 24" above seedlings & rooted clones. Decrease distance and adjust dimmer towards 100% over the course of a week or two and see how your plants react.

Keep temps 80-85F at canopy and 50-65% humidity during lights on. Put your drivers in the tent if you need the extra heat.

I suggest 6x QB
1x MW 240h
1x MW 480h

You can spread the light evenly in 5x5 (150x150cm) space

I have some EB gen3 slim strips that I was sent to test. Results are pretty good for the low price.
I will post an official report sometime next week.

Your on a budget then go with 30 watts/sq ft, thats lots. With high efficiency strips that your proposing it's lots and this will save you 25% that you don't need.