First diy setup, need opinions & help. Please.

[sdfoster22]

Also, if you are having heat problems. The eb gen 2's run cooler than the Samsung f series.

[Simply2complex]

You should at least use aluminium angle. The cooler you run the strips, the more effecient they run, and the more usable light (less heat, and more usable photons) you have. I would not use steel.

Arrow has 15 of the 4' EB gen 2's, and 172 of the 2' EB gen 2's both 3000k. Just make sure you get the ones with the B3 on the end. The A3 is gen one.

You can do the qb strip mix, but you'll have to find a driver for each or both qb's, and strips. So 2-4 drivers.

Gotcha, I just went out and got angle aluminum, screws and nuts. Yeah I definitely dont wanna run 4 drivers, I'd definitely like to be at 2 or less. I'm assuming with the eb I'd have to run more strips to achieve the output of the F series? To me more strips equates to more possibilities of failure/malfunction. I appreciate you taking the time to help.

[sdfoster22]

Gotcha, I just went out and got angle aluminum, screws and nuts. Yeah I definitely dont wanna run 4 drivers, I'd definitely like to be at 2 or less. I'm assuming with the eb I'd have to run more strips to achieve the output of the F series? To me more strips equates to more possibilities of failure/malfunction. I appreciate you taking the time to help.

Not a problem, Definately understandable. Just throwing out some options. I am going to try to invest in some of the vesta series. I'll be able to veg with 5000k 90 cri on one driver, and 3500k 80 cri and 2700k 90cri for flower. I'm only working with a 2.6×2.6 area though lol. I already have the 1ft eb gen 2s in 3500k. Just have to find the time to start building.

[Grower]

You should at least use aluminium angle. The cooler you run the strips, the more effecient they run, and the more usable light (less heat, and more usable photons) you have. I would not use steel.

Arrow has 15 of the 4' EB gen 2's, and 172 of the 2' EB gen 2's both 3000k. Just make sure you get the ones with the B3 on the end. The A3 is gen one.

You can do the qb strip mix, but you'll have to find a driver for each or both qb's, and strips. So 2-4 drivers.

Gotcha, I just went out and got angle aluminum, screws and nuts. Yeah I definitely dont wanna run 4 drivers, I'd definitely like to be at 2 or less. I'm assuming with the eb I'd have to run more strips to achieve the output of the F series? To me more strips equates to more possibilities of failure/malfunction. I appreciate you taking the time to help.

The more variables and components are used, the more things could fail. You probably right and I can understand your concern but wiring strips in series or parallel is really easy. If your system is parallel wired and a strip fails the others wouldnt stop working, you just have to take the fixture down and replace the faulty one.
That is why I suggest you not to run a single fixture. Same reason you shouldn't exclude to use more than 1 driver.
2x 2x4ft fixtures at 250/300w each ?

[Hyakutak]

But also, if you have a lot of components & only one fail, it'll be cheaper to replace it! Especially at the end of the warranty!

[Simply2complex]

You should at least use aluminium angle. The cooler you run the strips, the more effecient they run, and the more usable light (less heat, and more usable photons) you have. I would not use steel.

Arrow has 15 of the 4' EB gen 2's, and 172 of the 2' EB gen 2's both 3000k. Just make sure you get the ones with the B3 on the end. The A3 is gen one.

You can do the qb strip mix, but you'll have to find a driver for each or both qb's, and strips. So 2-4 drivers.

Gotcha, I just went out and got angle aluminum, screws and nuts. Yeah I definitely dont wanna run 4 drivers, I'd definitely like to be at 2 or less. I'm assuming with the eb I'd have to run more strips to achieve the output of the F series? To me more strips equates to more possibilities of failure/malfunction. I appreciate you taking the time to help.

The more variables and components are used, the more things could fail. You probably right and I can understand your concern but wiring strips in series or parallel is really easy. If your system is parallel wired and a strip fails the others wouldnt stop working, you just have to take the fixture down and replace the faulty one.
That is why I suggest you not to run a single fixture. Same reason you shouldn't exclude to use more than 1 driver.
2x 2x4ft fixtures at 250/300w each ?

Yes 2x 2x4ft fixtures at 250/300w each. But with the 4ft F series strips out of stock "supposedly" until the 19th I need to look at other options. Whether different strips, qbs, or a mix of both. I'd like to have this project up and running for a few days by the 19th. Ideally under 10amps as well. Willing to accept all opinions.

[Hyakutak]

F series 4 ft one-row strip @ 3000k are available: https://www.digikey.com/products/en?key ... 8V521B20WW

One row strip, if you're not using a profile for each strip is the solution! But you'll have to run them soft (30w per strip).

Buy 20 of them w/ a Mean Well HLG-480H-48A Driver or 2 less powerful driver. And you'll have an insane PPFD (largely enough without co2), light uniformity, light penetration etc.

If you want to modify the spectrum and add more blue during the 3 first weeks of veg, You can interchange some 3000k with some 5000k, but I don't have any recommendation for the ratio (the user LivingLight can probably help you): https://www.digikey.com/products/en?key ... 8RZ91B20WW

Any driver guru can confirm that we can use the same CV driver and mix different light temperature using the same strip base model?

I would mount the light like this to not have any problem with strip rigidity:

[Grower]

This tool is always useful

http://ledgardener.com/parallel-strip-build-tool/

[Simply2complex]

Since the 2ft & 4ft F series double rows are unavailable is it feasible to go with 16 of these https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/6624001 I'll just pay the $55 dollar increase for 16 vs 4 4ft. Rather than take the chance on the 4ft strips not arriving as scheduled.

8 per 2x4ft fixture

Is it possible/SAFE to wire these in a different configuration other than parallel to drop the amperage? Whether a straight series, or series/parallel config without sacrificing efficiency and output?

[Sativant]

I think you're going to want to wire in parallel, otherwise your voltage will be very high !

I made a light that is approximately equivalent to one half of what you're looking for, but I used 6 of the 2' F series double row- same number of diodes as the 4' strips. I'm running it soft- around 300 watts. See here-

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=784

I wouldn't worry too much about reliability and failure- these leds are pretty reliable, and the Meanwell drivers are top notch.