Hi all,
I'm building out a new space and decided its finally time to lay the old 1k gavitas to rest after many years of faithful service. I've lurked here for while and have already learned a lot but still have some unanswered questions so I figured I'd ask. There seems to be a ton of super knowledgeable people who are often willing to help so I appreciate anyone who takes the time to lend some assistance to a rookie like myself - thank you!
I've got what seems to be a relatively large build planned compared to what seems to be the norm here - a 10'x10' canopy and I'm planning on four 5'x5' builds with strips (initially planned on QBs but changed my mind). I've read the 5x5 DIY strip build guide and that was helpful between that and the PLC Photoboost build on youtube, I feel like I almost understand things so my questions are:
1. Who does everyone always suggest 4' strips (or two 2' strips) for 5x5 builds. The DIY guide suggests it and so does every other build I've seen and I can't figure out why not just use two 2' strips and a 1' strip. Am I missing something?
2. My plan so far is to build an eight bar fixture with 12 2' strips from Alibaba (Kingbrite W55; $17) and 12 1' Bridgelux Vestas ($6)(I'd prefer the Gen 3 EB's but can't find anywhere - are these actually out?) Basically 2 footers on the outside and 1 footer in the middle. These are supposed to pull 48V and 26.3V, with the same wattage at 1000 mA, respectively. Question: would it be better to run all of the Vestas on a single driver (Meanwell 320H) and the W55s separately (MW 600H) than to run mixed strips on the same driver?
3. The above setup results in about 991.6w - just under 40w/sf. Overkill? I wouldn't mind backing things down and saving some power to be honest but buying strips for the above setup would costs $276, before factoring drivers and heatsinks, which seems to be the most cost effective route. I don't really have any price cost constrains but I don't want to spend unnecessary dollars either since I'm building four of these. Ideally, I'd stay under $800 each. I've considered just dropping a bar for a 7-bar set up which could be fine too.
4. Lastly, am I just overthinking this? Should I just do the 5x5 build as posted on the guide and get on with my life? It wouldn't be the first time I've overcomplicated what should be simple.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Any answers would be great but just thoughts about the build or parts would be great too. If someone can suggest a better build that achieves the same thing, I'm all ears, or uhhh... eyes I guess.
$am
Large DIY Strip Build Questions
Thanks for the response TEKNIK.
I'm not planning on running the QB boards any more just strips but thanks for pointing me towards the slim Gen 3s. I think I'll be running those instead of the Vestas. Probably two 1-footers side by side in between the 2-foot W55s.
With that change, I'm down to 853w which seems good to me.
I'm not planning on running the QB boards any more just strips but thanks for pointing me towards the slim Gen 3s. I think I'll be running those instead of the Vestas. Probably two 1-footers side by side in between the 2-foot W55s.
With that change, I'm down to 853w which seems good to me.
Hey there, I think the reasons for recommending 4ft are multiple. It can be cheaper to buy 4ft strips. It is cheaper/easier to mount 4x4ft strips than to mount 16x1ft strips. The 1 foot that you "miss" is really negligible.
I'm not sure about items with different voltage requirements, but on CC driver it should be no problem right? I don't know.
40w/sqft is fine. Going over 30 will help with light penetration.
When it comes to such a large build, I would be hesitant to put my money to china, unless they can offer you some kind of warranty. I'm just thinking about it..if something fails I would rather deal with a company like Digikey
Ive seen and experienced so many failures that 'domestic' purchasing has been worth it for me in the long run when it comes to important items.
I'm not sure about items with different voltage requirements, but on CC driver it should be no problem right? I don't know.
40w/sqft is fine. Going over 30 will help with light penetration.
When it comes to such a large build, I would be hesitant to put my money to china, unless they can offer you some kind of warranty. I'm just thinking about it..if something fails I would rather deal with a company like Digikey
Ive seen and experienced so many failures that 'domestic' purchasing has been worth it for me in the long run when it comes to important items.
Thanks for joining the conversation 0 to 220. Your penetration drawing is pretty helpful to conceptualize things. I'll be growing relatively larger plants (4-5 ft) so the 40w/sf might be a better fit. Thanks for that.
As far as far as the 5-ft vs 4-ft bars go, I'll run some numbers to see the cost difference. I'm not too concerned about pricing or difficulty so I wouldn't mind the extra expense if the difference is worthwhile but also don't have any desire to waste time and money if the goal (relatively uniform coverage around 1,000 umoles) can be achieved for cheaper. I wish there was a convenient way to model a par plot for a fixture.
I'd also been thinking about ditching the alibaba plan too. I contacted them and was pretty disappointed that they couldn't send me a performance curve for the boards when requested... Seems like something you'd have on hand, even if you're making fakes.
On that note, I think I'm leaning towards the a full set of EB Gen 3s. I was thinking I'd alternate between the 80cri and 90 cri strips but can't 90 cri strips anywhere. Has anyone seen these around? Link?
As far as far as the 5-ft vs 4-ft bars go, I'll run some numbers to see the cost difference. I'm not too concerned about pricing or difficulty so I wouldn't mind the extra expense if the difference is worthwhile but also don't have any desire to waste time and money if the goal (relatively uniform coverage around 1,000 umoles) can be achieved for cheaper. I wish there was a convenient way to model a par plot for a fixture.
I'd also been thinking about ditching the alibaba plan too. I contacted them and was pretty disappointed that they couldn't send me a performance curve for the boards when requested... Seems like something you'd have on hand, even if you're making fakes.
On that note, I think I'm leaning towards the a full set of EB Gen 3s. I was thinking I'd alternate between the 80cri and 90 cri strips but can't 90 cri strips anywhere. Has anyone seen these around? Link?
They don't have cri90 available at the moment, I need to get my arse into gear and do some tests on the bridgelux strips so I can share IES files for PAR map simulation.
It's better to get strips closer to the outer edges if possible there are a few ways you can do this but one of the easier ways is to leave a gap in the center of the light.
I will have my suppliment lighting sorted out soon and one of the suppliments will be PC red.
It will cost about $100 to add them to your room but it will give you that extra red you want for cri90.
It's better to get strips closer to the outer edges if possible there are a few ways you can do this but one of the easier ways is to leave a gap in the center of the light.
I will have my suppliment lighting sorted out soon and one of the suppliments will be PC red.
It will cost about $100 to add them to your room but it will give you that extra red you want for cri90.
Find me on Instagram led_teknik
Well that's unfortunate. I wish Bridgelux wouldn't announce products and only release some models rather than all at once but such is life I guess. A par simulation would be fantastic though. Please start a thread whenever you get around to it.
By "closer to the outer edges" do you mean of the canopy? And if so, is that to suggest that the 5-foot bars would be a better bet? Or are you suggesting something closer to a 4'x5' footprint might be desirable?
With the EB Gen 3s and considering 0 to 220s feedback on penetration, I'll probably end up doing an 8 strip build for about 900w @ 1,400 mA (which I may dim to 1,200 mA or lower until full flower), so I'll have more strips to spread out.
I'd also be interested in the PC red supp. If you've got info on that in the near term, I'd appreciate a link. I'm about ready to start building here soon but want to do things right the first time around.
By "closer to the outer edges" do you mean of the canopy? And if so, is that to suggest that the 5-foot bars would be a better bet? Or are you suggesting something closer to a 4'x5' footprint might be desirable?
With the EB Gen 3s and considering 0 to 220s feedback on penetration, I'll probably end up doing an 8 strip build for about 900w @ 1,400 mA (which I may dim to 1,200 mA or lower until full flower), so I'll have more strips to spread out.
I'd also be interested in the PC red supp. If you've got info on that in the near term, I'd appreciate a link. I'm about ready to start building here soon but want to do things right the first time around.
Yeah man. They are good at mass producing but none of them actually know anything about the lights they sell. On one hand we have pollen chuckers- these guys, we might call some of them diode slappers cause all they do is slap diodes on a pcb and lie about them. Even the sellers who are better than average are still lacking in the information/transparency department. Warranty wise you're almost always fucked. At least, you better read the fine print. I also got pretty frustrated plenty of times trying to get information from them. It's not just the shenzhen light sellers. Whatever you're trying to source, most of the time it's like you're talking to some kind of robot who comes up with crazy responses that don't answer your questions at all. I'll avoid anything from Ali that I have to ask questions about.
Don't count on the 90 cri becoming available. As teknik said Consider 80 and reds IMO... Then you can also add some 730 diodes and take advantage of the faster dark cycle (5-15 mins of 730nm after lights off). I haven't used that myself but after everything I've heard and read, I'm pretty sold on it. It should be much more powerful than simply 90 CRI. It sounds like it would be up your alley because you are running a gig that is not so cheap to run, and it allows more control which you might be interested in.
Do you happen to have any resources on 730nm diodes? I really haven't red anything on a faster dark cycle so I'd love to learn something. I had just about convinced myself that the EB Gen 3 spectrum as good enough, particularly the 4k, since it happens to be one of their most efficient boards.0 to 220 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 13, 2019 9:04 pmAs teknik said Consider 80 and reds IMO... Then you can also add some 730 diodes and take advantage of the faster dark cycle (5-15 mins of 730nm after lights off). I haven't used that myself but after everything I've heard and read, I'm pretty sold on it. It should be much more powerful than simply 90 CRI.