What are the differences between the 4x4' builds?!

Strip light questions and discussions go here (Samsung, Bridgelux, Photo Boost, Growcraft, etc.)
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xfc129
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Hi Everyone,

so part of me wants to skip the hard work and buy the HLG- 550, but part of me wwants to do the hard work, and learn things by assembling my own strip based build... im torn... can someone explain what the differences are between the builds that ledgardener wrote at this link?
http://ledgardener.com/diy-led-strip-bu ... bridgelux/

I realize that my 4x4 tent wont let me use 4' long strips so im restricted to the 2' strip builds, thats fine, but i see there are different strips and different builds... what am i missing? For the record, this will be for a cannabis grow (legal!) The build prices dont look to differ TOO much, so im not concerned about that.... just want to do whats best, and hopefully doit once!

thanks!
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LEDG
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The easiest to build out would use the Samsung F-Series LT-F564B strips because there are less of them since each strip has so many diodes. My second choice would be the Bridgelux EB Gen. 2 2’ build.

Each of the 5 builds listed in the article runs at different voltages and currents with different quantities of strips and drivers.

Another option would be to assemble your own HLG 550 using separate components. I did a video on this on the blog’s YouTube channel. You stand to save a few hundred dollars by assembling it yourself.
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MoosingAround
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xfc129 wrote:
Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:29 am

I realize that my 4x4 tent wont let me use 4' long strips so im restricted to the 2' strip builds,
thanks!
the 4' long strips are actually 4 inches shy of 4 feet (44.1 inches)
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LEDG
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MoosingAround wrote:
Mon Mar 12, 2018 1:03 pm
xfc129 wrote:
Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:29 am

I realize that my 4x4 tent wont let me use 4' long strips so im restricted to the 2' strip builds,
thanks!
the 4' long strips are actually 4 inches shy of 4 feet (44.1 inches)
Yup. By the time you factor the frame though, you’re getting pretty close to the limits. Even if it only takes an inch on either end. That’s assuming your tent is 48”+ too.
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Sativant
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Out of curiosity I figured out the minimum size of a fixture using the 48" (44.1" actual) strips. You could build one that's 46 ¼". I don't know if that will fit in your tent, but it's worth not ruling out. Think of the coverage !
Here's a sketch, using heatsinks to mount the strips and C channel to hold the strips together.
4' light.jpg
4' light.jpg (205.67 KiB) Viewed 742 times
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