SMD 5730 AC 110v 220v 240 LEDs p/m IP67 flexible strip

[robchenski]

I found these high brightness flexible strip / rope. With just 20m that's 4800 LED chips! And NO drivers.

I'm thinking of buying some for flowering use and hope it may be a cheap option for those on a tight budget like me. So I thought I'd run it past a few bright folks here at the very interesting LEDGardener.com and see if it might have any draw backs I haven't thought of. Or deemed too inefficient to start with.

Aliexpress link here

Probably budget diodes running low of their ratings to keep them cool and alive longer. Which would result in lower light output compared to a well designed and DC powered fixture. The Aliexpress ones say Epistar LED. The one's on eBay don't say.

BUT by pure force of quantity and maybe good efficiency because of the under rating, price and lack of other parts needed (depends what overhead the rest of the circuit components cost e.g. I see plenty of little black smd chips - blocking diodes or resistors most likely)

There must be a rectifier in the circuit somewhere.

I'll decide on a suitable size enclosure after more thought about the output power available. But with such a slim form factor, likely cool running (we'll see) no need for much if any heatsinking - you could put these anywhere.

I've only gad a rough stab at working out what the circuit characteristics and current / voltage levels might be - without having it in front of me it's mostly guessing. The LED chips may be in pairs or larger groups to get enough volts. I dunno and don't want to make up numbers and post them here.

Has anyone tried these or have an opinion? I'd love to know more before I have a punt...

[Sativant]

Thanks - that sounds interesting.

[majorana]

Any light source will be good to grow with. Plenty of people work with CFL lightbulbs, and that's perfectly legit (and requires no drivers too.) The thing that sets apart different light sources is their relative efficiency: how much light do they produce per watt consumed, and how much turns into heat. I can't see any data regarding the efficiency of these strips, or even how much they consume. I'd assume their no better, and no worse, than CFLs. I've had fairly reasonable grows (0.7gr/w) with mediocre Roleadro/MarsHydro fixtures (which are now collecting dust.)

[robchenski]

I'm still mega excited by this -

- I'll outline why with some numbers whilst hopefully challenging any claim of parity with CFL at least with some of my own estimates / averages and calculations based on the chips used and power consumed. Some rough guessing sure but hear me out..

If indeed we're looking at Epistar 5730 SMD LED 0.5W 3.0-3.4V 150mA 55-60lm then we can make some assumptions. I've linked some example datasheet images below to see where I got my numbers from.

At 2.8VF (min) draws 40mA still giving 45Lm
At 3.2VF (typical) draws 150mA giving 55Lm
At 3.4VF (max) draws 250mA giving 65Lm

some of the specs for led rope like this give about 12-15w per meter for 180 LEDs/m so I am using 15-20w per meter 240 LEDs/m in my calculations for a total of 300-400w (20m of strip. Total 4800 LEDs)

at minimum volts that's 45Lm x 4800 LED's = 216,000Lm spread over 8 square feet (2x4)
THAT'S
27,000 Lm per sq ft at 37.5w per sq ft (300w total)

at maxmum volts that's 65Lm x 4800 LED's = 312,000Lm spread over 8 square feet (2x4)
THAT'S
39,000 Lm per sq ft at 50w per sq ft (400w total)

Where as a CFL could spec up at 300w 22,000Lm CFL data
22,000 divided by 8 is 2750Lm/ft2

Data sheet example 1
Data sheet example 2

Any one else think that might be useful for £65 delivered?

[majorana]

Enjoy it, by all means.

All the calculations you provide seem to be estimates based on a series of assumptions. Who knows, it might even turn out better than this, but also worse than that.

Back of the envelope math using your numbers gives me 90-97.5 lumens per watt. CFL's will get you about 70. HPS about 140. COBs/mid-power LEDs can go up to 200. (Lumens, of course, are only a yard-stick, the most important metrics are grams pet watt and the electricity bill.)

So yes, these better than CFLs, or at least should be with the numbers provided. I've got nothing against CFLs, my seedlings are enjoying them now as I write (they're enjoying the extra heat...) Enjoy it by all means. Your plants will grow just fine.

I, too, am growing with a pretty tight budget. My experience taught me that investing in good equipment costs more upfront but ends up paying off in the long run. If you find something that's both cheap and great for the price that's fantastic.

[ShowMe]

This may be of interest to Space-Bucketeers. They love their tape lights.

Where is the heat going, though? LEDs are more efficient at low temperatures, so unless you can apply thermal paste directly to the copper on the back of the tape, the performance will probably be quite a bit lower than advertised.

Give it a try! Maybe run the numbers and compare total cost of ownership (purchase price plus yearly run cost) to something like the Bridgelux EB strips or those "5x TCI Linear" Ebay strips.

[robchenski]

EDIT

After looking in to this a bit more: It would seem wise to mention some caution needed with these. High AC and DC voltages are used to power these.

PROs
Unknown as yet - no real data to report. I'm hoping they do exist in a safe, cool, efficient form from a reliable manufacturer.

CONs
Possibly quite dangerous as a result of cheap components and build quality. I watched a video / review where this guy identifies several areas of concern regarding the high AC and DC voltages tested present in the circuit. Because some of these are not built well there could be a chance of someone getting a nasty electric shock! e.g. if the end caps that were secured by thin clear sticky tape fell off and the bare conductor ends touched something. And they all look the same build to me.

Massive variation in brightness down the length. (At least in the video)

Misleading or even false safety / quality markings on the rectifier circuit housing (Same video)