Looking for Opinions on Bridgelux EB3 90cri Strip Options

[ganjah]

Update on the EB3 90cri strips from FutureElectronics:

They received the incorrect parts from Bridgelux and, thankfully, their shipping department caught this before shipping them out to us.

3 of us ordered QTY: 20 of these strips. FE has now placed a new order with Bridgelux for QTY: 100 of the correct 2700k 90cri EB3 4ft strips. Bridgelux has accepted this order but has not yet sent a commitment date, but FE will manually send me an order update (this process is not automated for some reason) once they get a commitment date from Blux.

The FE chat rep advised that I should typically expect 6-8wks from acceptance to delivery of these strips. I can live with this. Probably.

Also, this means there are 40 more strips to be ordered (minimum order QTY:20) at the price on their website. And anything beyond that will be placed on a second order to Bridgelux.

So, it looks like this site is a legitimate option for people wanting to build with this product, but you will likely have to wait 6-8weeks after your order before the product is delivered.

Hope that helps some folks.

[Li_Mu_Bai]

Sorry to hear that Ganjah, that really sucks. I don't know if it would have made a difference for you, but a little bit after the 2700k were sold FE listed the 3000k, but 560mm (2 ft basically). I just looked and those are gone now too. I would have mentioned it but I thought you had your 2700s at that point.

[ganjah]

No big deal @Li_Mu_Bai I'll just ride it out until then. Thanks for checking in, and I hope your build goes well!

[ganjah]

Quick update:

Future Electronics received confirmation from Bridgelux that they'll be receiving these strips in early June. I'll update when they firm up the ETA. I still can't believe the price of $11.29 per strip for that efficiency and spectrum.

I guess if you want EB3 90cri strips for a great price from an authorized distributor, order 'em from this place & get em a month later. Seems no worse than "pre-ordering" a product from the more boutique LED lighting vendors.

[NLDhunt]

Thanks ganjah, please do keep us updated.

[ganjah]

Thanks! I'll keep plugging away.

In that vein, I asked Future Electronics for the firm date committed to by Bridgelux. Right now, they're saying delivery of parts to FE by June 3. Expect a week to inspect and accept them into stock and ship out to us customers waiting on them. If things aren't delayed, should be in our hands by June 10ish.

So it sounds like Blux is able to get these parts to authorized distributors (or at least FE) in 3-4 weeks after order. In case anyone wanted to order the strips now for a build in June.

[Sneakynorweegian]

I’m a complete noob here, been lurking and reading every thread I can find on the subject in a couple of forums. For my situation it seems the 560mm strips would be the best option for me. I was thinking about doing 2 fixtures with 10 strips each. The 90cri aren’t in stock anywhere and I don’t know how much time it’s going to take to get them so was debating going 80 cri for the first light and maybe wait another month or so and try to get the 90 for the second. Is there going to be a huge difference between the 80 and 90? Is it an issue to mix?

[ganjah]

Small update:

As of Friday, May 22, my 90cri 2700k eb3 strips have shipped from the Future Electronics Mississippi warehouse. I don't know how that happened so quickly, but they've been received by FedEx and should be here next week. That's much much faster than I was expecting! Sounds like Blux has domestic stock of these parts and is just waiting for orders. I'll report back on how they look when I get them in hand.

@Sneakynorweegian Welcome to the site! Glad to see lots of new faces.

I don't think there's any problem with using 80cri and 90cri on separate drivers/fixtures. I think there may be some issues when running a mix of different cri strips on the same driver, but you'd probably have to ask the experts here on that one.

For me, I think the 80cri strips are great for veg lighting because of their high efficiency, and my preference would be to use 3500k or 4000k max for veg. 90cri in 2700k or 3000k max would be best for flower lights because of their extra red and far red, at the expense of slightly lower efficiency.

As for stock and availability of the 90cri strips and builds using them, I think @Li_Mu_Bai and maybe @Wookie threads cover some of that in detail. If I recall correctly, something like 12-15 of the 2ft EB3 strips per HLG-240H-20ab works out great?

I guess which cri to choose depends on a lot of criteria you'd want to consider - where you are and if you have local (domestic) stock, your budget, your timeline, the light's purpose (flower or veg or both), all that stuff. Look around at those threads from other people using EB3 2ft strips and I think you'll find answers or hints to all of your questions.

Best of luck!

[ganjah]

I'm happy to say that I received the strips today. Exactly 3 weeks from the date of order and 2 days ahead of the FedEx tracking estimate!

They were packaged adequately and have all the expected markings.

I won't be able to complete the build until my area allows businesses to re-open (June 28 estimated) and I can buy the frame metal. I might try to wire them up and do a smoke test before that happens, tho.

Looks like Future Electronics have another 80 of these on order at the same price of $11.29 each with $8.00 shipping. The backorder should be hitting their warehouse by the end of next week, if my experience is indicative of the turnaround time.

[LEDG]

Woohoo!

Thanks for keeping us posted.