Bridgelux EB-series on a 2' x 4' SCROG

Danielson999 said:

I vote to not leave it like that. It will be visually upsetting to many people.

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Man all those people I show my grow room to are gonna be so annoyed! Lol. But yeah im not too fused right now about it I havn't got time to go get more supplies and running lux app over it it doesn't seem to make a difference if it's like this or flat, I'm getting nice even lux across the whole area with these 2 in there pretty happy. But those drivers get fucking hot, need a fan or some exhaust option up above them somehow I think since it's in a closet its getting hot even with aircon.

rayuki said:

Man all those people I show my grow room to are gonna be so annoyed! Lol. But yeah im not too fused right now about it I havn't got time to go get more supplies and running lux app over it it doesn't seem to make a difference if it's like this or flat, I'm getting nice even lux across the whole area with these 2 in there pretty happy. But those drivers get fucking hot, need a fan or some exhaust option up above them somehow I think since it's in a closet its getting hot even with aircon.

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Yeah that thin sheet metal with the driver mounted directly on it is a bad combo. Even a fan is only going to cool it so much because the driver is acting like a heatsink for the strips. If you put a couple pieces of aluminum tubing on the back of the aluminum sheet you could mount the driver on top of them and create a gap between the driver and sink. Then a fan blowing across the surface would work great.

rayuki said:

Man all those people I show my grow room to are gonna be so annoyed! Lol. But yeah im not too fused right now about it I havn't got time to go get more supplies and running lux app over it it doesn't seem to make a difference if it's like this or flat, I'm getting nice even lux across the whole area with these 2 in there pretty happy. But those drivers get fucking hot, need a fan or some exhaust option up above them somehow I think since it's in a closet its getting hot even with aircon.

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I have noticed this too. My Meanwell drivers run way hotter than the ZPE drivers I got from Cutter. Wont be getting any more Meanwells.

rayuki said:

I finished up my 2nd light, much happier with this one, pop rivets made it so much easier and it's much sturdier. Will fix the other one up when I can get some more ALU. How's yours going @confined?

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that looks a bit better mate im still bloody waiting on my delivery... Fedex shipping says yesterday, now it says today, but its still in sydney.. im up qld way, so i reckon tomorrow now

Danielson999 said:

Yeah that thin sheet metal with the driver mounted directly on it is a bad combo. Even a fan is only going to cool it so much because the driver is acting like a heatsink for the strips. If you put a couple pieces of aluminum tubing on the back of the aluminum sheet you could mount the driver on top of them and create a gap between the driver and sink. Then a fan blowing across the surface would work great.

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Yeah thats definitely something I'm thinking of doing as like you said it's acting like a heatsink and getting really hot, that combined with a small space it's putting out some heat that's for sure.

klx said:

I have noticed this too. My Meanwell drivers run way hotter than the ZPE drivers I got from Cutter. Wont be getting any more Meanwells.

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Yeah I noticed my meanwell 250w gets plenty hot, But I mean that is alot of energy, so it's gotta go somewhere man. Curious as to why the ZPE drivers have less heat output, perhaps less efficiency? I know meanwells 250 watt driver pushes out an extra 10 watts or so

Both of my MW185 1050s pull 217 with 8 EB 560s.... I guess the data sheets miss on the low end of estimation. Ive got mine hanging on the wall, so Ive never really been concerned with the heat they produce. I was pleased with the Kill-a-watt reading, that extra output wasn't in the original calcs.

DarthPlagueis said:

Yeah I noticed my meanwell 250w gets plenty hot, But I mean that is alot of energy, so it's gotta go somewhere man. Curious as to why the ZPE drivers have less heat output, perhaps less efficiency? I know meanwells 250 watt driver pushes out an extra 10 watts or so

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When it comes to power supplies, less heat equals MORE efficiency, not less - as a general rule.

nfhiggs said:

When it comes to power supplies, less heat equals MORE efficiency, not less - as a general rule.

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I'm saying that MW drivers are under-rated, meaning you get more bang for the buck than ZPE. My 240 puts out 265watts, I wonder what the ZPE puts out at the same current, output voltage.

I know the drivers get plenty hot, I can't hold my fingers on mine, outside of the tent running at 100%. But from what I know, no other led driver company offers a 7 year warranty and ZPE is almost twice the cost of meanwell.

DarthPlagueis said:

I'm saying that MW drivers are under-rated, meaning you get more bang for the buck than ZPE. My 240 puts out 265watts, I wonder what the ZPE puts out at the same current, output voltage.

I know the drivers get plenty hot, I can't hold my fingers on mine, outside of the tent running at 100%. But from what I know, no other led driver company offers a 7 year warranty and ZPE is almost twice the cost of meanwell.

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A difference of about 10% - not likely to be that much hotter based on that. However, 93% vs 96% efficiency (just for example) is nearly twice the amount of waste heat in the driver for the same power output.

Well I got an infrared thermometer and checked the temps all around the place, the hottest part of the driver is actually only getting up to 42c, the aluminium all along where I've mounted strips is sitting at between 30-33c and the strips themselves are 29 - 30c. Pretty happy with that i think. That's in the tight closet with just a pedastal fan blowing in

Bloody took a week to get the strips, but they are here, all set up When I get the cash I will buy a meanwell driver and run them at 1050ma, but for now, its just the 2 x 60w 700ma Mars Hydro drivers being utilised

Ive attached a picture to show how i've raised the drivers off the main aluminium strips that the EB's are mounted directly onto, just so they arnt acting like heatsinks...

Once again, thanks for the inspiration @graying.geek

rayuki said:

Well I got an infrared thermometer and checked the temps all around the place, the hottest part of the driver is actually only getting up to 42c, the aluminium all along where I've mounted strips is sitting at between 30-33c and the strips themselves are 29 - 30c. Pretty happy with that i think. That's in the tight closet with just a pedastal fan blowing in

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Did you measure directly on the aluminum surface? You should cover the measuring points with a small black piece of tape and wait a few seconds to get real temps. The reflecting metal surface falsified the result!

confined said:

Bloody took a week to get the strips, but they are here, all set up When I get the cash I will buy a meanwell driver and run them at 1050ma, but for now, its just the 2 x 60w 700ma Mars Hydro drivers being utilised

Ive attached a picture to show how i've raised the drivers off the main aluminium strips that the EB's are mounted directly onto, just so they arnt acting like heatsinks...

Once again, thanks for the inspiration @graying.geek

View attachment 4008046 View attachment 4008047 View attachment 4008048

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mine took about that long also , you ordered from arrow?

nice looking setup really clean

Randomblame said:

Did you measure directly on the aluminum surface? You should cover the measuring points with a small black piece of tape and wait a few seconds to get real temps. The reflecting metal surface falsified the result!

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cheers will do that and report back!

confined said:

Bloody took a week to get the strips, but they are here, all set up When I get the cash I will buy a meanwell driver and run them at 1050ma, but for now, its just the 2 x 60w 700ma Mars Hydro drivers being utilised

Ive attached a picture to show how i've raised the drivers off the main aluminium strips that the EB's are mounted directly onto, just so they arnt acting like heatsinks...

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The drivers seemed to be contributing quite a bit to overheating so I ended up putting them outside the grow room with my exhaust fan blowing over them. Maybe move them back inside for my fall grow.

That is a sweet looking grow space, Dude. Nice work!

confined: said:

Once again, thanks for the inspiration @graying.geek

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You are most welcome. It wouldn't have happened without the help and encouragement of the RIU community.

@graying.geek how goes it? How are your lights doing? Are you satisfied with their performance? I'm in a bit of a quandry re strips so thought I'd ask here if that's ok? Seems silly to start yet another thread....
I'm really wanting to build a fixture with the Samsung F Series - the 4ft strips are just shy of 20,000 lm compared to the Bridgelux being just shy of 5000 lm. It's for a 4x2 flowering space. The F's are £35 whereas the Bridgelux are £10 but I'm concerned that with the Bridgelux I'll be way under the decent PPF that is needed to do a great job of flowering. Would I still get a decent PPF with 4 x 4ft Bridgelux strips in my space?
Thoughts guys please?

Yes you do, but not with 4 strips, just get way more for the price! Personally I would prefer, H-series, or EB series, (over F-series) because you get a more uniform light (more light sources; H = $$$; EB = $)! Just read his thread here, and you will see that he burnt his plants, because of too much light! EB series is not weak at all! I am running mine at standard amp and at 50%, both need no heatsink, reducing the costs alot!!!

Used to have 2x75W flourescent tubes in veg cab, now I achieve same results with ~50W EB strips (12x 1' @175ma). Now EVERYWHERE is light, instead of just under the tubes, I guess this is the most important factor, that I am able to save 2/3 energy costs!

Make sure to read his post about the spacing of the strips, to avoid too much light in the middle of your tent

going by the lm/w, you'd need 4 EB to match the output of one F series .... so which is cheaper?? So either 4 F or 16 EB The EB however would give you a more even coverage by having more strips.

StonerCol said:

@graying.geek how goes it? How are your lights doing? Are you satisfied with their performance? I'm in a bit of a quandry re strips so thought I'd ask here if that's ok? Seems silly to start yet another thread....
I'm really wanting to build a fixture with the Samsung F Series - the 4ft strips are just shy of 20,000 lm compared to the Bridgelux being just shy of 5000 lm. It's for a 4x2 flowering space. The F's are £35 whereas the Bridgelux are £10 but I'm concerned that with the Bridgelux I'll be way under the decent PPF that is needed to do a great job of flowering. Would I still get a decent PPF with 4 x 4ft Bridgelux strips in my space?
Thoughts guys please?

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StonerCol said:

@graying.geek how goes it? How are your lights doing? Are you satisfied with their performance? I'm in a bit of a quandry re strips so thought I'd ask here if that's ok? Seems silly to start yet another thread....
I'm really wanting to build a fixture with the Samsung F Series - the 4ft strips are just shy of 20,000 lm compared to the Bridgelux being just shy of 5000 lm. It's for a 4x2 flowering space. The F's are £35 whereas the Bridgelux are £10 but I'm concerned that with the Bridgelux I'll be way under the decent PPF that is needed to do a great job of flowering. Would I still get a decent PPF with 4 x 4ft Bridgelux strips in my space?
Thoughts guys please?

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Hey, SC. Things are as well as expected. Yeah, I'm happy with my EB build, but still haven't been able to use them for a full flowering cycle; just popped a couple of beans this week, but won't put them under the big lights for a few weeks.

4 x 1120mm EB-series on a 2' x 4' would make a good veg light, but would only be adequate for flowering. At 4" above your canopy you're going to get ~375 umol/sqft, but from what I've read, the optimal number is around 1000, +/-. Why not go with 8 of the EBs? I expect your cost will be lower for equivalent umol output.