Can 700 watts of LED strips grow trees???

Growcob5

Active Member
I know exactly where you are coming from. My only DIY lighting experience prior to theses strips was building a conversation setup with all 4 cobs in series. Then I read nfhiggs DIY light setup and he told me the same thing I just told you.

With a constant voltage power supply like I linked, you just connect all of the positives of your strips to the + terminal on your power supply, and all the negative wires of your strips to the - terminal on the power supply. The power supply will typically have an adjustment to vary the voltage output.

For example, my strips are ~24v each. When I adjust the voltage of my power supply down to say 22 volts, it only puts out around 2 amps which is evenly split amongst my 15 strips. If I cranked my voltage up to 27 volts, it cranks out 18 amps.

I have installed these on each of my power supplies so I can monitor output voltage, current, and watts. Pretty slick!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B017FSED9I/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This way I can dial in whatever wattage I want going to each light setup. Super easy to adjust.

So with the power supply I linked, you can adjust it down to provide less than the 10 amps it's listed at, or crank it up as needed.

One possible negative is that the constant voltage drivers are not quite as efficient as meanwell constant current drivers (86% Vs 93%). Even meanwell constant voltage drivers are in the mid 80% efficiency.

Now, if you lose a strip when in series, you lose all light. If they are wired in parallel, you would only lose light out of the one strip while all the others would still be lit.

If you have any more questions, just ask.

Edit addon: also, I feel the cv drivers are safer since you only have at most ~48 volts anywhere on your light, no 960 volts!
Pleezz lm see ur strips. Wow that did not sowd right lol. But i like to no


I think of geting a borad made for my self. I can get a borad. 300 chips. 130lum pr watt. Epled. Chips. 29.99 a bord. 5$for ship. 34volt bord. 1400mah sweet spot
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
>>>>Light calculation? As in par watts or something? I don't have a par meter, but all of my listed wattages are OUT of my power supplies, not before. I ASSume these lights should be operating in the 150+ lumens per watt.

Full disclosure: I have no idea how well these will work but with the way my mind works, I must constantly be learning something new and building or there goes my sanity. I am not a seasoned grower, just an obsessive hobbyist. Last hobby was building horn loaded subwoofers and line array speakers, next stop Ethereum mining rig!
Funny you mention Etherium. I was holding Etherium on a trading site (just a few bucks worth to start with) that went from $8 per coin to $300 over just a few weeks, then the Feds shut the trading site down! Arrg![/QUOTE]
Hmmmm... Ponzi scheme, anyone? What's the underlying value of such a currency?
 

Big Green Thumb

Well-Known Member
>>>>Light calculation? As in par watts or something? I don't have a par meter, but all of my listed wattages are OUT of my power supplies, not before. I ASSume these lights should be operating in the 150+ lumens per watt.

Full disclosure: I have no idea how well these will work but with the way my mind works, I must constantly be learning something new and building or there goes my sanity. I am not a seasoned grower, just an obsessive hobbyist. Last hobby was building horn loaded subwoofers and line array speakers, next stop Ethereum mining rig!
Funny you mention Etherium. I was holding Etherium on a trading site (just a few bucks worth to start with) that went from $8 per coin to $300 over just a few weeks, then the Feds shut the trading site down! Arrg![/QUOTE]

I just made my first purchase of any kind of cryptocurrency this morning (ether) and will begin ordering components for the mining rig today. Graphics cards are stupid expensive now because of miners.
 

Big Green Thumb

Well-Known Member
[QUOTE="ttystikk, post: 13767183, member: 324297"
Hmmmm... Ponzi scheme, anyone? What's the underlying value of such a currency?[/QUOTE]

One could ask the same about US dollars! Hopefully it is not a scheme. Bitcoin's market cap is now up to $77 billion and Ethereum is $30B. That would upset a LOT of people if it went bust.
 

InTheValley

Well-Known Member
Yep you have the potential for 30 amps (30,000 mA) if you have the power supply cranked up. Actually it is probably capable of 400 watts, but I wouldn't push that high long term.

216 lumens per watt is amazing if true. I'm not saying it is not true, but I don't really hear of any 200 lumens per watt light setups. Maybe there are some. My strips are being run at less than 500 mA each so should be quite efficient, but I doubt mine are pushing 200. Even if your number is 20% exaggerated they will still be damn efficient.
Good news is, i wont need them all, lol.. When i make the panel, im going to make it a reflective hood also, 24x36 in panel, then get it broke to 8 inches each side
 

InTheValley

Well-Known Member
[QUOTE="ttystikk, post: 13767183, member: 324297"
Hmmmm... Ponzi scheme, anyone? What's the underlying value of such a currency?
One could ask the same about US dollars! Hopefully it is not a scheme. Bitcoin's market cap is now up to $77 billion and Ethereum is $30B. That would upset a LOT of people if it went bust.[/QUOTE]

Never invest what you cant part with, Those are in and out markets.
 

InTheValley

Well-Known Member
Hey BGT, I think i might have to think of a way to incorporate my current hacked mars300 into this build, this light is rockin. Might have to get a 2x4 tent.

Probably will have a run with just the strips, then make another set-up using my light with the Strips.

my strips should be here next tuesday, Ill check out the brightness and numbers before ordering more.

Wish i could find more stats on these strips,
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
[QUOTE="ttystikk, post: 13767183, member: 324297"
Hmmmm... Ponzi scheme, anyone? What's the underlying value of such a currency?
One could ask the same about US dollars! Hopefully it is not a scheme. Bitcoin's market cap is now up to $77 billion and Ethereum is $30B. That would upset a LOT of people if it went bust.[/QUOTE]
The USD is backed by the full faith and credit of the government of the largest economic entity in history. That is very substantial.

There were a lot of people invested in tulips, too...
 

nfhiggs

Well-Known Member
One could ask the same about US dollars! Hopefully it is not a scheme. Bitcoin's market cap is now up to $77 billion and Ethereum is $30B. That would upset a LOT of people if it went bust.
Never invest what you cant part with, Those are in and out markets.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't call it "investment". Its speculation.
 

nfhiggs

Well-Known Member
That's a scam unless you're just hedging against currency swings.

I got an up close, firsthand look at the scam from the inside when I lived in South Florida.

Lottery tickets are better.
LOL - I knew a guy that tried to get me into Binary Trading. No thanks. Might as well go to Vegas and start betting red/black, odd/even. I once went bust at a casino in the Philippines, (back when I was young and stupid) when a string of eleven red numbers came up.
 

InTheValley

Well-Known Member
It is like gambling, 2 outcomes, take a pick. But skilled risk. Forex isnt a scam, lol..

It is if you go thru a market maker, because they take the other side, and manipulate enough to drain little guys, thru slippage and wide spread spikes.

If you understand the power of compounding, and cherry picking the range, get in, get out, you could make alot of money with $20.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
LOL - I knew a guy that tried to get me into Binary Trading. No thanks. Might as well go to Vegas and start betting red/black, odd/even. I once went bust at a casino in the Philippines, (back when I was young and stupid) when a string of eleven red numbers came up.
You know that table was rigged, right?
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
It is like gambling, 2 outcomes, take a pick. But skilled risk. Forex isnt a scam, lol..

It is if you go thru a market maker, because they take the other side, and manipulate enough to drain little guys, thru slippage and wide spread spikes.

If you understand the power of compounding, and cherry picking the range, get in, get out, you could make alot of money with $20.
That's exactly the hook the firm I worked for (until I found out it was a scam outfit) got customers, ie suckers, in the door.

I worked there a month, realized what they were doing, left- and less than a month later the Feds raided them and frog marched the principals into squad cars... Which is what they richly deserved.
 

InTheValley

Well-Known Member
Looks great BGT, is it what you expect?

Hard to tell in the pic, is the light bright? See alot of darkness underneither.
 
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