Are Bridgelux EB series gen 2 strips still the best bang for your buck if you're in Canada?

Been a couple years since I started growing and the best setup I could find to build in Canada for a 5x5 seemed to be doing a 12x4ft LED strip build, mainly because of the fact large heat sinks for cobs were hard to get here.
I've since built 2 set ups. one with the original bridgelux strips and the second one with the gen 2s.
Gonna build another one soon and was wondering if I should just build another gen 2 light or if there is something better I should be looking to build.
Couple people have said added red from 90 CRI diodes would be great, but don't see anything of the sort available from digikey
Thanks in advance for any input

Not sure about Canada, but the gen 2 are cheaper than ever, since the gen 3 started becoming available.

1212ham said:

Not sure about Canada, but the gen 2 are cheaper than ever, since the gen 3 started becoming available.

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Are the gen 3s the slim gen 3s I see on digikey?

Someone else was telling me that the gen 3s also have a 90 cri option which apparently would make a big difference. Can't see any source for them in canada though.

CBDseeker said:

Are the gen 3s the slim gen 3s I see on digikey?

Someone else was telling me that the gen 3s also have a 90 cri option which apparently would make a big difference. Can't see any source for them in canada though.

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You need to buy like at least 100 and wit for them to arrive for 5-8 weeks. Once your buying in such big numbers prices fall a fair bit on gen3s but you need to contact distributor directly, theyre not on sale from stock anywhere.
if you want a veg and flower light the blux vesta strips are available for around 8-10$: 2 x 96 diodes, gen1 5000k/2700k in 90 cri on 2 channels. Specs arent great but they grow fine, enough to get my growbro i build for hooked, in couple of weeks we have a bunch of gen3 strips in 90cri.

Rocket Soul said:

You need to buy like at least 100 and wit for them to arrive for 5-8 weeks. Once your buying in such big numbers prices fall a fair bit on gen3s but you need to contact distributor directly, theyre not on sale from stock anywhere.
if you want a veg and flower light the blux vesta strips are available for around 8-10$: 2 x 96 diodes, gen1 5000k/2700k in 90 cri on 2 channels. Specs arent great but they grow fine, enough to get my growbro i build for hooked, in couple of weeks we have a bunch of gen3 strips in 90cri.

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Do you care to sell some of those Gen3 strips?

Gen 2 is currently the cheapest lumen per dollar-wise, but you need a fuckload of them, so your frame might eath the dif.

4ftRoots said:

Do you care to sell some of those Gen3 strips?

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I have been asked by a few... It depends on there being any left over after we build some lights. But most probably those would go to someone local around here. If i was building lights for people it seems best to try to open market locally first. And we probably have 6 m2s to cover for ourselves first. I would also like to figure out what to add, 660/uv.
I do know that led-tech.de have some of this spectrum.in lm301b unless they sold out already.

I think the J series from Cutter are comparable in price and quality once you factor in the amount of strips needed with the Bxebs. They also ship to Canada. Shipping costs are what sucks about ordering from Aus. Think it cost me $90 to have 54 strips shipped.

Hit Mark up @welight from Cutter, real good dude


Otherwise, ya, Bxeb gen 2s from digikey or arrow are def the best bang for that almighty dolla

Rocket Soul said:

I have been asked by a few... It depends on there being any left over after we build some lights. But most probably those would go to someone local around here. If i was building lights for people it seems best to try to open market locally first. And we probably have 6 m2s to cover for ourselves first. I would also like to figure out what to add, 660/uv.
I do know that led-tech.de have some of this spectrum.in lm301b unless they sold out already.

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Sounds great sir! Thanks for response. I built gen 2s right before the gen 3s came out. I really kicked myself for that. I would love 90cri 3500ks

How many strips are you planning per 1m2?

4ftRoots said:

Sounds great sir! Thanks for response. I built gen 2s right before the gen 3s came out. I really kicked myself for that. I would love 90cri 3500ks

How many strips are you planning per 1m2?

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Not sure but planning on running them below nominal, we reaaaaally need to save power and ive seen some great stuff from cobshopgrows.

Maybe around 20-25 2 foot per m2. Ill do a show and tell when im done...

Rocket Soul said:

You need to buy like at least 100 and wit for them to arrive for 5-8 weeks. Once your buying in such big numbers prices fall a fair bit on gen3s but you need to contact distributor directly, theyre not on sale from stock anywhere.
if you want a veg and flower light the blux vesta strips are available for around 8-10$: 2 x 96 diodes, gen1 5000k/2700k in 90 cri on 2 channels. Specs arent great but they grow fine, enough to get my growbro i build for hooked, in couple of weeks we have a bunch of gen3 strips in 90cri.

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Hey, sorry for late reply! i didn't get any kind of notification..
current plan is to make this next light exclusively for flower. plan as of this moment is to grab 12x ft gen 3 bridgelux 3000k 80cri as that seems like my best bang for my buck and they're easily available. What are you thoughts? are there better strips you'd recommend available in canada without doubling or tripling the price?

ANC said:

Gen 2 is currently the cheapest lumen per dollar-wise, but you need a fuckload of them, so your frame might eath the dif.

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how do they compare do the gen 3 slim strips performance wise? they're almost the same price. as for frame price that's not an issue for me. pretty much looking for the best 12 strips I can run on one driver for flower exclusively. plan as of now is 12 gen 3 80cri 3000k strips.

diggs99 said:

I think the J series from Cutter are comparable in price and quality once you factor in the amount of strips needed with the Bxebs. They also ship to Canada. Shipping costs are what sucks about ordering from Aus. Think it cost me $90 to have 54 strips shipped.

Hit Mark up @welight from Cutter, real good dude


Otherwise, ya, Bxeb gen 2s from digikey or arrow are def the best bang for that almighty dolla

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could you shoot me over a link to the j series you mentioned? are they a 4ft strip?

CBDseeker said:

could you shoot me over a link to the j series you mentioned? are they a 4ft strip?

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Heres the link for the 3000k 90cri that i used when i built my flowering lights. Unfortunately, no 4`

CBDseeker said:

Hey, sorry for late reply! i didn't get any kind of notification..
current plan is to make this next light exclusively for flower. plan as of this moment is to grab 12x ft gen 3 bridgelux 3000k 80cri as that seems like my best bang for my buck and they're easily available. What are you thoughts? are there better strips you'd recommend available in canada without doubling or tripling the price?

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For flower im a fan of 2700k 90cri, cutter will have those aswell. They are quite inexpensive but there would obviously be a fair bit on shipping.


Its really hard to beat blux strips right now. You do need more of them but can double up on strips per heatsink.

Rocket Soul said:

For flower im a fan of 2700k 90cri, cutter will have those aswell. They are quite inexpensive but there would obviously be a fair bit on shipping.

SSK-1560ZGE-2790CR Midpower Led Strip | Cutter Electronics

The SSK-1560ZGE-2790CR Board has 112 leds spaced on 0.5mm pitch for beautiful blending and maximum utilisation of the PCB. Solderless terminations

www.cutter.com.au

Its really hard to beat blux strips right now. You do need more of them but can double up on strips per heatsink.

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Ya my new builds , im using all 2700k 90cri + some added blue goodies from our buddy Teknik, were aiming for Prawns spectrum in strip form.

Should be fun.

diggs99 said:

Ya my new builds , im using all 2700k 90cri + some added blue goodies from our buddy Teknik, were aiming for Prawns spectrum in strip form.

Should be fun.

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I think you will love that shit. At least for our amnesia it was quite obvious from like a couple of weeks in, faster and nicer bud. A little more on yield. But it also felt like we could spread the watts out a little more. Pretty much did a 2.5x4 with a 240 driver. And that was with vestas/gen1s

Rocket Soul said:

For flower im a fan of 2700k 90cri, cutter will have those aswell. They are quite inexpensive but there would obviously be a fair bit on shipping.

SSK-1560ZGE-2790CR Midpower Led Strip | Cutter Electronics

The SSK-1560ZGE-2790CR Board has 112 leds spaced on 0.5mm pitch for beautiful blending and maximum utilisation of the PCB. Solderless terminations

www.cutter.com.au

Its really hard to beat blux strips right now. You do need more of them but can double up on strips per heatsink.

Click to expand...

So if I wanted to go with the 2700k 90cris from cutter, would I need to then use 24 of those strips? also, would they run on the same big ol HG driver?

Rocket Soul said:

I think you will love that shit. At least for our amnesia it was quite obvious from like a couple of weeks in, faster and nicer bud. A little more on yield. But it also felt like we could spread the watts out a little more. Pretty much did a 2.5x4 with a 240 driver. And that was with vestas/gen1s

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Ya im quite excited to get them built and above some plants. I think its gonna be a winner. Teknik thinks so too, hes running tests on everything before Mark sends them to me, so we will get some proper numbers on the spectrum.

CBDseeker said:

So if I wanted to go with the 2700k 90cris from cutter, would I need to then use 24 of those strips? also, would they run on the same big ol HG driver?

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Depends on what space your doing. Id rec 20-25w per 2 foot strip. Standard 30-35w per square foot although i wouldnt be surprised if 25-30 work just fine aswell.