Putting together 2 x 10 led EB gen 3 lights. Total shipped for the led strips is $200. 1" heatsinks cost $252 at heatsink usa. Damn, that is a hard pill for me to swallow.
Does anyone know of cheaper options? The EB datasheet intro said heatsink may not be required at lower driver currents. Now, I'm not going to be running it at low drive currents, but at 70% max, but wondering if I could get away with an aluminum c-channel or something?
heatsink way more expensive than LED strips - other options?
2ft strips can handle 15 watts, better to buy more strips. Its really not worth using heatsinks considering the price of bridgelux strips.
All the FR4 boards can handle 15 watts per 2ft. Aluminium pcbs like Cutters can handle 25W without heatsinks over 2ft.
The other bonus to using more strips is higher efficiency
All the FR4 boards can handle 15 watts per 2ft. Aluminium pcbs like Cutters can handle 25W without heatsinks over 2ft.
The other bonus to using more strips is higher efficiency
Find me on Instagram led_teknik
I just use 1" x 1" aluminum angle because the eb2 and eb3 strips don't need much heatsinking and it's cheap + makes rigid frames.
Mount each 4' strip or two 2' strips to a length of aluminum angle with double-sided thermal tape. Then use a couple screws with nylon washers to keep them from losing grip. That's all the heatsinking these require if run under 1400ma, I've read.
Mount each piece of angle to a long side piece of angle to construct the frame. Because the lengths get close to 48", I prefer to make 2 frames per 4x4 space, instead of one huge unwieldy frame that might exceed the size of your tent.
Hope that helps!
Mount each 4' strip or two 2' strips to a length of aluminum angle with double-sided thermal tape. Then use a couple screws with nylon washers to keep them from losing grip. That's all the heatsinking these require if run under 1400ma, I've read.
Mount each piece of angle to a long side piece of angle to construct the frame. Because the lengths get close to 48", I prefer to make 2 frames per 4x4 space, instead of one huge unwieldy frame that might exceed the size of your tent.
Hope that helps!
Not sure I'm following you. Are you saying 2 x 2ft are better than 1 x 4ft for some reason?TEKNIK wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 6:57 am2ft strips can handle 15 watts, better to buy more strips. Its really not worth using heatsinks considering the price of bridgelux strips.
All the FR4 boards can handle 15 watts per 2ft. Aluminium pcbs like Cutters can handle 25W without heatsinks over 2ft.
The other bonus to using more strips is higher efficiency
No, just giving an example, you can double the wattage on a board double the length.Li_Mu_Bai wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 8:12 pmNot sure I'm following you. Are you saying 2 x 2ft are better than 1 x 4ft for some reason?TEKNIK wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 6:57 am2ft strips can handle 15 watts, better to buy more strips. Its really not worth using heatsinks considering the price of bridgelux strips.
All the FR4 boards can handle 15 watts per 2ft. Aluminium pcbs like Cutters can handle 25W without heatsinks over 2ft.
The other bonus to using more strips is higher efficiency
Find me on Instagram led_teknik
Oh, I see. Yeah, my calculations are that I'll be running these at about 300w for 10 4ft strips so I think i'm in a good range.
Bridgelux's datasheet is detailed but it only mentions efficiency in one place, whereas for the Samsung LM301b strips it shows that the luminous efficiency goes up at max power. This of course is at a stable temperature, etc. I guess that would be true for Bridgelux also?
https://static6.arrow.com/aropdfconvers ... ev.1.3.pdf
Sorry for all the questions, I know I have a lot. But what do you mean by that? If I use more strips per driver then I'll be running all strips at a lower power, but that would not mean they were running at a higher efficiency does it?
Bridgelux's datasheet is detailed but it only mentions efficiency in one place, whereas for the Samsung LM301b strips it shows that the luminous efficiency goes up at max power. This of course is at a stable temperature, etc. I guess that would be true for Bridgelux also?
https://static6.arrow.com/aropdfconvers ... ev.1.3.pdf
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I have a metal recycling place near me - I go there and score sheets of alu and extruded channel and other bar stock and use that to make the light. Super easy and fast - I run 10 gen 3 on a 320 and the alu gets pretty warm but the strips are pretty cool to the touch. It usually costs me about 5-7$ per light for the metal - I score left over wire from installations there too .... brand new and also pennies on the dollar. Last time I got a sheet about 1/8in thick and 36 x 38 in for 11$ ....at a store it would be hundreds of dollars.... LOL Worth checking if you have such a place near you.
I called around and found a metal place not too far from me, not as good as your place, but they have pretty good prices, They have aluminum c-channel for about the quarter of the cost of heatsink usa, and angle is cheaper than that. I'll probably go with the C just to try and keep things a bit cooler.