2' or 4' Strips for 2x4 Grow Space?

****Edit: The mystery has been solved, but the discussion continues. If you are looking for specific part numbers for your build, go to post #4. Everything is listed there***

Let me preface this by saying that I am still very much a green horn in the LED community. I am learning more everyday, but I still have a long way to go. So if this is something obvious that I am missing, I apologize.

Onto my question. I am looking at building a light that can cover a 2x4 area It seems like most people are using 2 foot strips for this. Why wouldnt you use a 4 footer? They are both $32 each for a 46V strip. I feel like I'm missing something....

Two foot strips - SI-B8V521560WW
Four foot strips- SI-B8V521B20WW
I would post links to make it easier for everyone, but I dont have permissions yet. I was looking at digikey.


Bonus question: I had originally spec'ed out a COB build, but its seems like strips give me more bang for my buck over all the other options. Does that seem accurate? Building something isnt an issue for me so ease of build is a non-factor. Im simply looking at bang more my buck.

Thanks everyone!

2 foot is just an easier light to handle, you can guarantee it'll be more sturdy than 4 foot ones.

Pretty sure the 2 foot have just as many diodes as their 4 foot counterparts.

SlownLow86 said:

Let me preface this by saying that I am still very much a green horn in the LED community. I am learning more everyday, but I still have a long way to go. So if this is something obvious that I am missing, I apologize.

Onto my question. I am looking at building a light that can cover a 2x4 area It seems like most people are using 2 foot strips for this. Why wouldnt you use a 4 footer? They are both $32 each for a 46V strip. I feel like I'm missing something....

Two foot strips - SI-B8V521560WW
Four foot strips- SI-B8V521B20WW
I would post links to make it easier for everyone, but I dont have permissions yet. I was looking at digikey.


Bonus question: I had originally spec'ed out a COB build, but its seems like strips give me more bang for my buck over all the other options. Does that seem accurate? Building something isnt an issue for me so ease of build is a non-factor. Im simply looking at bang more my buck.

Thanks everyone!

Click to expand...

Airwalker16 is correct. Both of these led strips (Digikey test data) operate at 46 volts x 1.12 amp = 51.12 watts of power & make 8670 lumens per strip. This means that you will need better heat sinks for the two foot boards because their power & photon density is double that of the four foot strips.

Led driver cost is higher if you build two independent 2'x2' light systems.

two foot https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/samsung-semiconductor-inc/SI-B8V521560WW/1510-2221-ND/6624005

four foot https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/samsung-semiconductor-inc/SI-B8V521B20WW/1510-2225-ND/6624009

Eight strips is about all you need to get 400 watts in a 8 square foot area to get 50w/sq.ft.(magic number)

From the samsung spec sheet:
LT-F562B is a single row two footer for 8Sx9P https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/samsung-semiconductor-inc/SI-B8V261560WW/1510-2217-ND/6624001
LT-F564B is a double row two footer for 16Sx9P https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/samsung-semiconductor-inc/SI-B8U521560WW/1510-2222-ND/6624006
LT-FB22B is a single row four footer for 16Sx9P https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/samsung-semiconductor-inc/SI-B8R521B20WW/1510-2228-ND/6624012
LT-FB24B is a double row four footer for 16Sx18P https://www.digikey.com/products/en/optoelectronics/led-lighting-cobs-engines-modules/111?k=&pkeyword=&pv46=43387&sf=0&FV=ffece9af&quantity=&ColumnSort=0&page=1&pageSize=25

The problem is that when you search on digi-key, they dont seem to use those numbers... They use the specific part numbers, but those arent listed on the spec sheet.

Added spec sheet: https://cdn.samsung.com/led/file/resource/2017/11/Data_Sheet_F_Series_G3_Rev.1.0.pdf

The spec sheet can be found on the digi-key website. When I have permissions, I will go back and edit these posts with a link to make it easier for future builders. I have a feeling I am comparing the single row 4 footer to a double row 2 footer like @Airwalker16 said... Just need to do some more research probably.

I think I found the LT-FB24B on Digi-Key. Again, its hard to confirm because the part numbers are cross referencing, but its looks like its p/n SI-B8VZ91B20WW. Its a 46V strip that is 4 feet long and is $58. https://www.digikey.com/products/en/optoelectronics/led-lighting-cobs-engines-modules/111?k=&pkeyword=&pv46=43387&sf=0&FV=ffece9af&quantity=&ColumnSort=0&page=1&pageSize=25

Edit to add: That's definitely the double row four foot strip. If you look close the double row units are 39.8mm wide and the single rows are only 18mm wide. Damn, that was more difficult than it should have been to figure out!

So now the question is do I go with (4) of the four footers for $232 or ( 8 )of the two footers for $256? Is there a benefit to spending the extra 24 bucks other than ease of install?

SlownLow86 said:

I think I found the LT-FB24B on Digi-Key. Again, its hard to confirm because the part numbers are cross referencing, but its looks like its p/n SI-B8VZ91B20WW. Its a 46V strip that is 4 feet long and is $58. https://www.digikey.com/products/en/optoelectronics/led-lighting-cobs-engines-modules/111?k=&pkeyword=&pv46=43387&sf=0&FV=ffece9af&quantity=&ColumnSort=0&page=1&pageSize=25

Edit to add: That's definitely the double row four foot strip. If you look close the double row units are 39.8mm wide and the single rows are only 18mm wide. Damn, that was more difficult than it should have been to figure out!

So now the question is do I go with (4) of the four footers for $232 or ( 8 )of the two footers for $256? Is there a benefit to spending the extra 24 bucks other than ease of install?

Click to expand...

I'm liking all your posts so you can post links as soon as possible.

Airwalker16 said:

I'm liking all your posts so you can post links as soon as possible.

Click to expand...

Went back and added all the links. Thanks for the likes!

SlownLow86 said:

I think I found the LT-FB24B on Digi-Key. Again, its hard to confirm because the part numbers are cross referencing, but its looks like its p/n SI-B8VZ91B20WW. Its a 46V strip that is 4 feet long and is $58. https://www.digikey.com/products/en/optoelectronics/led-lighting-cobs-engines-modules/111?k=&pkeyword=&pv46=43387&sf=0&FV=ffece9af&quantity=&ColumnSort=0&page=1&pageSize=25

Edit to add: That's definitely the double row four foot strip. If you look close the double row units are 39.8mm wide and the single rows are only 18mm wide. Damn, that was more difficult than it should have been to figure out!

So now the question is do I go with (4) of the four footers for $232 or ( 8 )of the two footers for $256? Is there a benefit to spending the extra 24 bucks other than ease of install?

Click to expand...

I run 4 of the 44" double row Sammy's as oiutriggers on my Vero arrays. Mounted them on 2"x.125" aluminum strips-they barely get warm @ 80w. I will agree that the 22" double rows are much less cumbersome to work with, just depends on what you want to do.

All right, guys. After crunching numbers literally all day I have finally determined what I believe to be the best setup for a 2x4 space assuming the goal is 50 watts per sqft.
Driver- HLG-185-C1050B = $50 from rapidled.com
Strips- LT-F564= $32 from Digi-key These are the dual row two footers

The driver has a max output of 143V that means it can power (3) of these 46V strips. (3) strips at 1400ma gives me 193.2 watts. This is good enough for a 2x2 area.
Double everything and I've got a 2x4 area worth of coverage that's just under my goal of 400 watts total or 50 watts per sqft.
The drivers and the strips together come out to be $292 before shipping.

I tried several different configurations from more powerful drivers, COBs (I even figured in Citi Cobs- both 36v and 50v versions) longer strips etc etc. The goal the whole time was 400 watts worth of coverage. Most of the other configurations were coming in around $350+ range. Im stoked to find this combination. Not only is it cheaper than COBs, it gives for a more even light distribution! Seems like win/win. I'd love to hear what y'all think.

Thanks!

SlownLow86 said:

All right, guys. After crunching numbers literally all day I have finally determined what I believe to be the best setup for a 2x4 space assuming the goal is 50 watts per sqft.
Driver- HLG-185-C1050B = $50 from rapidled.com
Strips- LT-F564= $32 from Digi-key These are the dual row two footers

The driver has a max output of 143V that means it can power (3) of these 46V strips. (3) strips at 1400ma gives me 193.2 watts. This is good enough for a 2x2 area.
Double everything and I've got a 2x4 area worth of coverage that's just under my goal of 400 watts total or 50 watts per sqft.
The drivers and the strips together come out to be $292 before shipping.

I tried several different configurations from more powerful drivers, COBs (I even figured in Citi Cobs- both 36v and 50v versions) longer strips etc etc. The goal the whole time was 400 watts worth of coverage. Most of the other configurations were coming in around $350+ range. Im stoked to find this combination. Not only is it cheaper than COBs, it gives for a more even light distribution! Seems like win/win. I'd love to hear what y'all think.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

The hlg 185-1050 only runs 200 watts. You're going to use 2 of them then? You really should use 2 hlg-185h-48A and wire in parallel.
And I don't know where you're getting 1400ma from. The 1050 is 1050MA....

Airwalker16 said:

The hlg 185-1050 only runs 200 watts. You're going to use 2 of them then? You really should use 2 hlg-185h-48A and wire in parallel.
And I don't know where you're getting 1400ma from. The 1050 is 1050MA....

Click to expand...

Sorry, I meant 185-1400's. I mixed them up looking at all my chicken scratch notes. LOL.

SlownLow86 said:

All right, guys. After crunching numbers literally all day I have finally determined what I believe to be the best setup for a 2x4 space assuming the goal is 50 watts per sqft.
Driver- HLG-185-C1050B = $50 from rapidled.com
Strips- LT-F564= $32 from Digi-key These are the dual row two footers

The driver has a max output of 143V that means it can power (3) of these 46V strips. (3) strips at 1400ma gives me 193.2 watts. This is good enough for a 2x2 area.
Double everything and I've got a 2x4 area worth of coverage that's just under my goal of 400 watts total or 50 watts per sqft.
The drivers and the strips together come out to be $292 before shipping.

I tried several different configurations from more powerful drivers, COBs (I even figured in Citi Cobs- both 36v and 50v versions) longer strips etc etc. The goal the whole time was 400 watts worth of coverage. Most of the other configurations were coming in around $350+ range. Im stoked to find this combination. Not only is it cheaper than COBs, it gives for a more even light distribution! Seems like win/win. I'd love to hear what y'all think.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Bonus heads up, HLG tend to run rich, aka my old HLG 120-1050A was recently dusted off for a strip build and puts out 165 watts in current config at max, and yes this will be true for B models as well, I have found....

Thanks for the link on the dual rows, might be time to try these out

Every MW HLG driver I own, run s 8-10% "richer" than the datasheet spec.....Via Kill-A-Watt readings....

Know your part #s, and use the almighty Octopart for ease in part sourcing.....

SlownLow86 said:

2x4 area worth of coverage that's just under my goal of 400 watts total or 50 watts per sqft.

Click to expand...

I just finished an 11wk run, with 440w of Bridgelux EB Series on a 2x4 frame, that covered a plant that filled aboot a 3x4 area, pulled 22 zippers...
Monster plant in 25gal of soil.

Constant voltage drivers will supply their rated current @ constant voltage. That means that the driver will try to supply (185w/48v or 3.86A). If you only connect a single strip, 3.86A is the amount of current the driver will push through-it's a bit much. As long as the driver has sufficient forward voltage, its output current is equally divided between the total number of strips attached.

You dont need dual row in a 2x4. I run 10 of the single row f562b either on a hlg320-24 puts out 323 watts maxed out. Or run them on a hlg480-24 for 488 watts. I flower the fuck outta plants at 300. "excuse the language" I usually keep her down to 275-280watts. I pulled just over 5zips from a cookies cross in 2gal. Plus dual row strips generate more heat. So they need to cooled. You can even supplement some 660nm reds inbetween the sammys.

Chip Green said:

Every MW HLG driver I own, run s 8-10% "richer" than the datasheet spec.....Via Kill-A-Watt readings....

Know your part #s, and use the almighty Octopart for ease in part sourcing.....

Click to expand...

Meanwell is definitely underrated. They remind of the old skool stereo Ams for car stereos. From a company called PPi precision power inc. They put out some monster amps back in the day. I had a California series 775ppi solid polished chrome about 2 foot long. Pushed jus under 1k watta to three jl audio w6v2s in a sealed box build through the trunk. Removed the back seat of dodge neon. They pushed my windshield outta the seal and laid over on the hood. Lol

So continuing to crunch numbers and it seems like you can achieve the same result for cheaper using the Bridgelux strips. https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=BXEB-L0560Z-35E2000-C-B3
You have to use more of them, but because they are only $7.83 a piece, you end up saving money in the long run. One HLG-185H-C1400B driver will run (7) of the Bridgelux strips. The strips are 19.5v strips. So at 1.4A (their max) from the C1400B, you are getting 27.3W per strip. Multiply that by (7) strips per driver and you get 192 watts. So for (2) drivers and (14) strips, you're looking at $209 and getting just under 400w. You also end up with more lumens going with the Bridgelux strips (33k vs 26k out of the F564B Sammys).

Thoughts?

SlownLow86 said:

So continuing to crunch numbers and it seems like you can achieve the same result for cheaper using the Bridgelux strips. https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=BXEB-L0560Z-35E2000-C-B3
You have to use more of them, but because they are only $7.83 a piece, you end up saving money in the long run. One HLG-185H-C1400B driver will run (7) of the Bridgelux strips. The strips are 19.5v strips. So at 1.4A (their max) from the C1400B, you are getting 27.3W per strip. Multiply that by (7) strips per driver and you get 192 watts. So for (2) drivers and (14) strips, you're looking at $209 and getting just under 400w. You also end up with more lumens going with the Bridgelux strips (33k vs 26k out of the F564B Sammys).

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Not sure where you got the info on the Sammy's. But the f564b strips are 181/LW typ and 199/LW max. At typ 181/lw @50w is 9050 per stick times 7 sticks is 63,350 not 26k

And that's running the strips soft at 1120ma

I mean the Sammy's cost more. But they are more efficient and just better strips anyway you look at it. Other than price per.

whytewidow said:

Not sure where you got the info on the Sammy's. But the f564b strips are 181/LW typ and 199/LW max. At typ 181/lw @50w is 9050 per stick times 7 sticks is 63,350 not 26k

And that's running the strips soft at 1120ma

I mean the Sammy's cost more. But they are more efficient and just better strips anyway you look at it. Other than price per.

Click to expand...

I was looking at this:
Flux @ Current/Temperature - Test 8670 lm (Typ)

From this link:
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/samsung-semiconductor-inc/SI-B8V521560WW/1510-2221-ND/6624005


Is that not what I should be looking at? Im still learning....