Does this check out for a 2x4 area?

Roost · Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:50 pm

Hello all,

I'm new to this all so forgive my ignorance. Does this look ok? I was also looking at "F" strips but I figured for the price these look decent. I pay somewhere in the neighborhood of 8cents a kWh, if efficiency is a factor.

8x BXEB-L0560Z-30E2000-C-B3
1x ‎HLG-185H-20A‎

Thanks, R

Thu Jan 30, 2020 10:10 pm

That looks fine, for the price of them you would be better off running 12-14 of them so you don't have to worry about a heatsink.

Roost · Fri Jan 31, 2020 12:58 am

TEKNIK wrote: ↑
Thu Jan 30, 2020 10:10 pm
That looks fine, for the price of them you would be better off running 12-14 of them so you don't have to worry about a heatsink.

More of them at a lower voltage? I was looking on the data sheet and it says the min voltage of 18.5, max of 20.6 if I read that right. At 18.5v you think they wouldn't need a heat sink? I don't mind making a heat sink, would be interesting how much even coverage I could get with all those strips though.

Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:17 am

More would lower the current, it would also lower your voltage but more your current. Nominal current is 700mA on those strips.

Roost · Fri Jan 31, 2020 3:25 am

Interesting. I'm still trying to figure out out this whole diode thing, I don't think it's what im use to in terms of currant draw relative to voltage (maybe im wrong). So If i decided to run 14 of them would that be in series, parallel, or a mix of both?

Appreciate the input

Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:01 am

You run them in parallel, with a parallel set up you can use as many strips as you like. The led driver will automatically adjust the voltage correctly. Every time you add on a strip it splits the total current from the driver and distributes the power between all the strips evenly.
For the price of the bridgelux strips it's worth running more of them as you not only gain efficiency but you also gain spread, running the leds at a lower power also helps them last longer, doing away with heatsinks is also good as it reduces the weight of the total light.

You can run your lights really close to the plants if done correctly. The only downside running your lights close to the plants is if your plants touch them it may cause a fire hazard so do it with caution.

Roost · Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:32 am

Awesome thanks. So if I did this right with the 9.3A driver mentioned, divided by 14 strips that's 664ma per strip, sound about right?

Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:41 am

Perfect. You got it

Roost · Sat Feb 01, 2020 7:09 pm

Getting excited to start working on this.

Made my order with Digikey and picked up some scrap aluminum from the recycler

.

Roost · Sat Feb 01, 2020 10:31 pm

Excuse the terrible welding, it was some practice I suppose. It's a little on the heavy side, though im a strong young lad.

My idea was to use flat plate so I have room to change things up later on.