LEDgardener

Hey guys,recently I decided to grow myself and been looking for lightings for a week.ı bought “12x Bridgelux 280mm 3500k” strips and a “Mean Well HLG-150H-24A” driver.
BXEB-L0280Z-35E1000-C-

Im just stuck with the part where I need to cool them enough so I dont get in to problem.
I just found pretty cheap aluminum frame that is “0.8mm x 600mm x 1000mm”. Do you guys think that that thin piece of aluminium will handle the heat ???

The build Im trying to do is something similar to this: https://youtu.be/yXlOPztPaL4


How much power will I get with this power ? Im planning to grow 2 plants max is it too much ?
Its just my first ever DIY and grow project and feeling very excited... I appreciate any help and thank you for the all information you guys discuss here !!!

welcome to the forum

.8mm= 1/32 of a in.. that's pretty dang thin. normally we recommend 1/8 in ( 3.175mm) as a minimum for heatsink thickness. much thinner than that your adding cost with fans.. also adding cost be needing bracing to help the rigidity of the thin metal.

driver wise your spot on... ( I was planning a similar 12gen 2 strips + 150w hlg) the 6.3 amps into the 12 strips will give each one 525ma. dead on LG'S 75% recommendation.

you'll roughly be between 140-150 watts over all... using 30w per sqft for flower.. that's perfect for a 2.5 by 2.5 (5sqft) but your still over 22watts per sqft in a 6.6 sqft area ( the 600mm by 1000mm dimensions of the metal = 6.6) a 2' by 4' your down to 18.75 w/sqft..

I would think about a thicker sheet or going to u channels.. both 1/8 in. minimum.. Heck people are even using aluminum cookie sheets for running strips

again, welcome

Glad that I’ve choosen the right driver I was wondering if it will blow away when I plug in

Also I forgot to mention my grow rooms size,
77cm x 47cm x 135cm attaching a photo for reference. I’m pretty sure its a little bit much light for the space but I want to get the full potential of growing a big 1 maybe 2 plant(hoping for:P). I was thinking to dim the lights at around %30 at start and raising up till the flower stage. Not sure if I want to scrog since the height of the closet is enough I guess.

Planning to hang the lighting system to do circle alu there, the aluminium frame I want to use is around 50cm x 32cm. And I just found a supplier that has nice price and 10-15mm avaible. I think Ill go for the single frame since it looks better imo, not sure about the U profiles...

cool... the size and pics helped

your just shy of 4sqft.. with your hlg150 your putting 37.5w per sqft!! that's going to flower some plants!!!! .

the framework size sounds great also to fit good in your space.. and yes 10-15mm would be plenty thick but the weight might not be a good thing.. 12"x20" piece of 15mm( 5/8") is going to be kind of heavy.... 3mm to 5mm would be enough. I wouldn't go over 10mm ( 3/8") unless it's pieces just wide enough for the strips.. that would help with weight over a full sheet of 15mm..

a scrog or some sort of low stress training would be very beneficial with only 52" height( 134cm).. say you put your light at the very top and want to keep the plants at lease 12-18inches ( 30-45cm)away.. you only got somewhere around 30-36" ( 75-90cm) whether it's one plant or two would depend on how long you want them to veg out to fill the whole space. either or would be fine.

your pretty much ready to build and see how it works for you definitely let us know!

Can EB2 strips be run without heatsinks below 700ma? Or did I just think I read that somewhere...

Jolly Green Giant wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 13, 2018 2:46 pm

a scrog or some sort of low stress training would be very beneficial with only 52" height( 134cm).. say you put your light at the very top and want to keep the plants at lease 12-18inches ( 30-45cm)away.. you only got somewhere around 30-36" ( 75-90cm) whether it's one plant or two would depend on how long you want them to veg out to fill the whole space. either or would be fine.

your pretty much ready to build and see how it works for you definitely let us know!

Ill probably go around 8-10mm with the alu frame, just found some cheap suppliers..

I just missed the light height and yeah I’ll probably try scrog or lst. My guess is lst first since it seems easier.

Im at the worst part of building something, all items are on their way

I’ll let you guys know the process when I recieve it !!

Kiwi_Jezza wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:16 am

Can EB2 strips be run without heatsinks below 700ma? Or did I just think I read that somewhere...

Yeah man I read that even on the official EB2 data sheets but for the sake of long-livity I will use a cooler... I also seen people saying their aluminium is getting a bit hot... who knows...

Where did you see the blurb about running without sinks on the data sheet?

There’s a thread on rollitup regarding EB gen 2 thermals that’s got lots of good info. I’ll try to find it if you haven’t seen it already.

Well I was mistaken on model but you can see the statement at “page 2 - benefits”

https://www.bridgelux.com/sites/default ... %20A_0.pdf


Havent looked there but going to check now, thanks for the heads up !! What you think about my setup good for a first-timer ??

Also thanks for the all info you try to provide the community its so helpful !!

Pickll wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 14, 2018 11:05 pm

Well I was mistaken on model but you can see the statement at “page 2 - benefits”

https://www.bridgelux.com/sites/default ... %20A_0.pdf


Havent looked there but going to check now, thanks for the heads up !! What you think about my setup good for a first-timer ??

Also thanks for the all info you try to provide the community its so helpful !!

Ah, I see. Yeah I'd imagine they'd want the same for their Gen.2, though it's funny they don't use the same line.

Here's the post from rollitup: http://www.rollitup.org/t/bridgelux-eb- ... ls.957453/

The strips you have are for sure Gen.2, correct? Do you have the full part number? If they are Gen.2, you'll have to be careful with your driver because it could cook some strips if they're not all hooked up at the same time. Those gen.2 strips like 20-21V or so, so a 24V driver can make them draw too much current. If you have enough strips on it, it's not a problem though, because the driver wont be able to push enough current to overload the whole lot of them.

That HLG-150H-24 would be able to do ~8A at most, which would work out to 670mA a piece, which is driving them at about max. I'd recommend turning it down to start with for sure.

BXEB-L0280Z-35E1000-C-B3 this is the full part number, it says its gen 2 on digikey arrow, pretty sure its gen 2.

I got 12 pieces of 280mm strip, what you mean by hooked up at the same time ?
Wish I posted this before I bought the driver, so maybe I had a chance to choose the model correctly..

Yeah I was thinking to use the light dimmed a little all time since my closet is also small.

Im just too confused with all the different info on internet with little knowledge about all the powering calculations..

Do you think that I should bring the build to a electrist after I mount the strip/drivers so he can wire and hook the things up safely ?