First time build. Help selecting the right strips for the job.

[Nuggie]

Good to see another Albertan on the site!

[ATPinMotion]

Good suggestion, with strips you can spread things out more to give a better coverage, if you asre going to mix different strips try to keep an even blend. Adding a few extra strips allows you to drop the light closer to the canopy and that has a huge effect on the light hitting the plants. Hitting 3 micromouls per joule is a great achievement but if you don't have the spread you still need to keep the light higher and that makes a really big difference. By dropping a light 100mm a 2.5m/joule system will have more light hitting the canopy than a 3m/joule system that has to sit 100mm higher at canopy level.

It's a bit more work to constantly adjust the height but worth it if you have the time.

That is some good information to know.

Yes, it really is! ...and wise of you to catch that.

We are lucky to have TEKNIK on board!

He's from Aus, lots of Canadians here too myself included (born in AB).

There are a couple of other factors to consider also.

Canopy - monoculture? what style of grow are you comfortable with?

With a scrog, one big fixture is great, easy to raise and lower, and maintain a consistent flux at the leaf. A modular system with more fixtures is handy if you want to grow multiple strains in the same tent, or do more of a vertical LITFA approach. Possibly employ some side lighting, or just accomodate an uneven canopy because your indica is tiny, but that hybrid is taking over half of the tent!

Heat - thanks to the good members on this site, I've learned about leaf temp and VPD. LED's throw a lot less heat than HID's. With HID lighting it is common for leaf temp to be greater than ambient temp. With LED's leaf temp is usually BELOW ambient temp which means, if you had 25C ambient and 28C leaf temp with HID you'll need 30C ambient to get the same 28C leaf temp. I don't mean to imply everyone is coming from an HID background, but I have found that some extra heat is really good for production if one is going for high yield with LED's.

You are right on with your pricing, high quality components will run $1.50/w in Canada, especially if you have to buy copper (wire). Aluminum is CRAZY expensive right now, so it takes wholesale pricing or some ingenuity, or both to build a fixture for <.50/w.

Metal supermarkets is your best bet if you don't have access to a metal trader (salvage).

[Masyea]

Super excited, received my lights 12 eb gen 2 4’, along with a HLG-480H-48B driver today. All delivered within 24 hours of ordering online. Digi-Key.ca made it easy for me.

One thing I have just realized is that I got the HLG-480H-48 instead of the HLG-480H-42. Is this a problem and need to exchange or will it work?

Again first large light built here not looking to literally burn up money.

Could anyone help me with this pls?

[TEKNIK]

What's the forward voltage of the strips?
They have a few models I don't remember them all

[TEKNIK]

I looked it all up, it will be ok, you will only loose a few % in efficiency, nothing to worry about.
But it will only run at 420W without the correct driver at the board level. If you change the driver to the 42V one it will be a lot closer to 480w

[HomerPepsi]

Super excited, received my lights 12 eb gen 2 4’, along with a HLG-480H-48B driver today. All delivered within 24 hours of ordering online. Digi-Key.ca made it easy for me.

One thing I have just realized is that I got the HLG-480H-48 instead of the HLG-480H-42. Is this a problem and need to exchange or will it work?

Again first large light built here not looking to literally burn up money.

Could anyone help me with this pls?

Congrats! One little thing I overlooked the first time was getting 18 gauge solid core wire. Makes connecting with the push connectors a breeze.

[LEDG]

With that driver, make sure all your lights are hooked up and running at the same time. You can expect to see 800mA-900mA per strip. It's important you run all your strips together because they're working together to pull the voltage of that driver down. If you hook just one or even a handful up, they're gonna blow up.

[Masyea]

i have returned the 48 and got the 42. Question on the wiring, in the build section that i am fallow for the build they have them in groups of 3 (strips) that the are grouped and fed with one of the two positive leds from the driver. but the driver only has one positive led. Can someone help with the wiring configuration so i don't blow up my strips.

Thx.

[TEKNIK]

i have returned the 48 and got the 42. Question on the wiring, in the build section that i am fallow for the build they have them in groups of 3 (strips) that the are grouped and fed with one of the two positive leds from the driver. but the driver only has one positive led. Can someone help with the wiring configuration so i don't blow up my strips.

Thx.

Can you show a picture of the driver label just to make sure you have the right one for a parallel connection

[Masyea]

Hlg-480H-42B