New EB Gen 2 Build - Input on Choices

[Jolly Green Giant]

So my build has been slowly coming together and I am getting ready to start wiring it all together but I had another startup question. I ended up going with a B-series driver instead of an A to remotely mount the potentiometer and wondered if there was any other considerations for "first start" with regard to turning it down all the way, etc. Also, should I measure current and voltage for each strip after they have had time to heat up to make sure?

Sorry for all the questions, but just want to make sure it is set before getting it installed. Thanks!

both couldn't/wouldn't hurt... I had my B type dimmed all the way down the first time I fired it in the garage... then turned it up after about 30secs and blinded myself . yeah checking that stuff will only help you figure out more about your light.. how they compare strip by strip.. adding the ma to figure out what % the driver is running at etc.. just extra info that never hurts to have.

[intermediate_noob]

then turned it up after about 30secs and blinded myself

If only I would have read this before I fired it up for the first time! I saw little lights for at least 5 minutes.

Well it fired up and all seems to be OK. I am running through my checks regarding wiring and things now and letting the temperatures stabilize. All appears to be well thus far with approximately 550 mA current going to the strips. Thought it would be closer to 600 but we will see what happens as it gets warmer.

A question regarding the datasheet, on page 2 it labels something called "Case Temperature Measurement Points". Is this to be used with a thermocouple or something similar to get temperature readings? I have been using a laser thermometer on the heatsinks and this point but was just curious if anyone knew. Thanks again for all the help and pictures will be coming soon.

[Jolly Green Giant]

lol yea I was seeing bright white dots for 5-10 minutes at lease.

that's something I wondered about also.. I'm not sure if it's a special tool/adatper for a multimeter or if anything that can read temp will work... that's more a LG question . I do the same thing.. point at different spots on the heat sink to get a rough estimate.

[LEDG]

Yup those points are where you’d put your thermocouple.

I’m trying to find the ideal emissivity setting for IR thermometers - I had seen something about .77 for anodized aluminum somewhere.

[kmb]

I had seen the 0.77 as well, on page 3 of https://www.design1st.com/Design-Resour ... Values.pdf there are values for anodized aluminum in different colors as below...

4. ANODIZED ALUMINUM Material Emissivity
Black 0.82
Black (2nd sample) 0.86
Blue 0.87
Blue (2nd sample) 0.82
Brown 0.86
Chromic 0.56
Clear 0.76
Clear (2nd sample) 0.84
Green 0.88
Gold 0.82
Plain 0.04
Red 0.88
Sulphuric 0.87
Yellow 0.87
Blue Anodized Titanium Foil 0.13

[LEDG]

I had seen the 0.77 as well, on page 3 of https://www.design1st.com/Design-Resour ... Values.pdf there are values for anodized aluminum in different colors as below...

4. ANODIZED ALUMINUM Material Emissivity
Black 0.82
Black (2nd sample) 0.86
Blue 0.87
Blue (2nd sample) 0.82
Brown 0.86
Chromic 0.56
Clear 0.76
Clear (2nd sample) 0.84
Green 0.88
Gold 0.82
Plain 0.04
Red 0.88
Sulphuric 0.87
Yellow 0.87
Blue Anodized Titanium Foil 0.13

You’re the man!

[intermediate_noob]

A bit off topic for this thread, but Heatsink USA is offering a 10% off promotion this month (March of 2018) with code GIVEME10.

Hopefully I will have some photos of my build up very soon as well (all is going really well with the growing so far). A quick question though on driver temps. What all are you all seeing with regard to the case temp of your driver? What is acceptable?

Thanks everyone!

[intermediate_noob]

So it is finally time for an update to my build! I have been running my new light for the last month or so and am really enjoying the growth I am seeing as well as the lower overall wattage draw from the wall. Now I am at a point where I think there may need to be tweaks to get the best efficiency but I am a little stuck as to how to proceed (how you all can help).

The images below show my old CFL setup that I had for reference.



Starting with the build as you can see from the photos below it is the standard ladder orientation so I can have these on multiple shelves.

So much wire...

The maximum wattage from the wall is shown below, but right now I am running closer to 70 Watts (more on this in a second).

One of the issues I ran into using solid core wire is its limited flexibility when moving the strips around and I ended up breaking off some of the connectors. For anyone just starting out, be VERY careful because these are fragile.

So here are some of the latest photos of what the plants look like today. The upper shelf (where the red Folgers containers and the Solo cups are) right now is causing some tip burn on my lettuce plants so that is why I had turned down the lighting. I do not have any reliable method of measuring light other than the LX meter phone app which shows approximately 8000 Lx now (after turning down the light to approximately 40% on the potentiometer).



Here is the lower area where my tomatoes and peppers are.

Here is a photo of the lower light unit where I have mounted the driver and the dimmer.

Like I said I am really happy with the results and its using less than a third of the power that the previous setup was using but now I am faced with these questions.

1. Should I reduce the number of LED strips per light in order to increase the voltage of the driver and therefore increase its efficiency? The goal here would be to reduce tip burn on the greens while also reducing overall power consumption.

2. What should I be measuring to make sure I am getting the most out of my strips and driver? Should I be measuring current at each, voltage at each, etc. in order to make this determination or do I need to look at getting a better light meter to do some of this?

3. Does anyone have any feedback with regard to the overall setup for what I should change or modify? The top shelf will always be used for greens (Collards, Tatsoi, Spinach varieties, Lettuce varieties) and the bottom self will be used for larger plants. Eventually all of the plants you see will be taken outside and other peppers, kale or chard may be put in their place. I have also been looking at whether I need to add in some reflective material to keep the light focused more but still on the fence there.

I would really appreciate anyone's help so let the feedback begin.

Last but not least, thanks to the entire forum for your help to get me here!

[MoosingAround]

Nice clean build, with a professional looking dial.
1" square tube for the frame, and heatsinkusa for the led strip bars?
bridgelux understates these strips' max amperage, and with those heatsinks you could go past the 700mA ma max on the 1 footers. Your 70W / 12 1' strips = 5.8W / strip -> Looks like you're running them softly, ~ 19v @ 300mA. Others have found the strips more cost effective around 500mA (1000mA for the longer lengths), but you dont have the vertical space for that, and I think their study was more to do with capital cost + electrical cost over time. For your purpose, more strips run softly is best, allowing you to get the lights and leaves closer to each other.

Im putting together a similar build for hydro kale/spinach, and came to the same 6x 1' strips per shelf, getting ~20w/sqft at 350ma.

1. Should I reduce the number of LED strips per light in order to increase the voltage of the driver and therefore increase its efficiency? The goal here would be to reduce tip burn on the greens while also reducing overall power consumption.

70W / 120H max = running at 58% max load of the HLG-120H. Anything over 30% load is @ 90% efficiency, and on 115Vac most you'll see is 93%. You're around 92.5% efficiency on that driver.

3. Does anyone have any feedback with regard to the overall setup for what I should change or modify?.... I have also been looking at whether I need to add in some reflective material to keep the light focused more but still on the fence there

Reflective Material for that left wall, and across the back, would improve your efficiency more than a voltage adjustment could. 60 degrees to the side of your strips are still getting 50% of the light intensity as the spot directly beneath the strip. Your off-white and non-smooth wall aren't the best reflectors. Black & white panda film is popular for this, but your setup looks really nice the way it is, and wouldn't blame you for keeping it open as is.

[intermediate_noob]

First and foremost thanks for all the compliments. I really tried to make this blend in as much as I good (since this is in our kitchen) and the family actually really likes the way it looks so I agree that adding the reflector may not be the best choice, but I think experimenting with something across the back and left may not be a bad thing.

Here is what the full setup looks like:


Here is the seed growing area, although I did have to build a new CFL light for this one:

70W / 120H max = running at 58% max load of the HLG-120H. Anything over 30% load is @ 90% efficiency, and on 115Vac most you'll see is 93%. You're around 92.5% efficiency on that driver.

So I actually changed my mind and went with the HLG-150H-20B instead. I had some musings of adding more strips later to get to the other shelf I have on the right side. Given the graphs for it, do you think that changes anything? (From me looking at it, I think it looks about the same as the 120H but I am not an expert).

Thanks again for the help!