DIY Design- First Build (input welcome)

NukaKola

Well-Known Member
Well I just realized that they don't make the doubled up F strip in 3500K, only the 3k and 4k.....

I still want a decent mix of 3 and 3.5 so if I go F strip I'll need to do 3x 3000K double strips and 4x 3500k single strips doubled up.

Still 25% more of the same diodes as used in the comprable LEDGardener designs or 66% more than the cypress for the same wattage so fairly cool/spread out.

Also that would be down around $500 + shipping for ~480-500W so getting there on cost vs. output....
They have the EB gen 2 strips in 3500k. Run x18 strips at 700ma. That’s over 4k diodes.

Total including HLG-480H-40A driver, overpriced angle from Home Depot, and necessary wire/connectors would be $350-400.
 

Barristan Whitebeard

Well-Known Member
They have the EB gen 2 strips in 3500k. Run x18 strips at 700ma. That’s over 4k diodes.

Total including HLG-480H-40A driver, overpriced angle from Home Depot, and necessary wire/connectors would be $350-400.
Hey NukaKola, you meant HLG-480H-42A right?

Edit: Double posted the reply I was quoting. Removed one.
 
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SpawnOfVader

Well-Known Member
They have the EB gen 2 strips in 3500k. Run x18 strips at 700ma. That’s over 4k diodes.

Total including HLG-480H-40A driver, overpriced angle from Home Depot, and necessary wire/connectors would be $350-400.
This is why I make a post before buying anything or finalizing my plans lol.

So you'
What do you mean? Are you still planning on using the HLG-480H-48A for your strip build?
Yea, I probably phrased that weird, I was just saying that it's enough LEDs to run cooler than an off the shelf rig BUT not soo many that the driver can't get them all to fire up at once.
 

1212ham

Well-Known Member
And physics wise you're dead on (I'm an engineer by education, IT dude by trade so I OVERENGINEER THE F OUT OF PROJECTS)... but in this case the lower load/more you can disperse the load across additional strips it will reduce the operating temp and increase the efficiency. It does add initial cost but that's negligible in the lifetime of an appliance.
More strips without heat sinks can cost less than fewer strips on expensive heat sinks. Engineers tend to forget the first rule of engineering, KISS. ;-)
I see a lot of strip builds are overly engineered, expensive and heavy.

Some simple, cheap, light weight builds...

My build for a 36" x 22" .
 

SpawnOfVader

Well-Known Member
They have the EB gen 2 strips in 3500k. Run x18 strips at 700ma. That’s over 4k diodes.

Total including HLG-480H-40A driver, overpriced angle from Home Depot, and necessary wire/connectors would be $350-400.
Unfortunately the EB build might be a little more than that.... Digikey is out of stock on the 3000k strips right now..minimum order 100. Arrow has them but they're like 50% more (and that's probably 2/3 of the strips, 1/2 minimum).

Still at or below what I was looking at with the most recent F strip design.
 

SpawnOfVader

Well-Known Member
More strips without heat sinks can cost less than fewer strips on expensive heat sinks. Engineers tend to forget the first rule of engineering, KISS. ;-)
I see a lot of strip builds are overly engineered, expensive and heavy.

Some simple, cheap, light weight builds...

My build for a 36" x 22" .
I like the idea although I wouldn't call your wiring explanation in that thread simple :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

NukaKola

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately the EB build might be a little more than that.... Digikey is out of stock on the 3000k strips right now..minimum order 100. Arrow has them but they're like 50% more (and that's probably 2/3 of the strips, 1/2 minimum).

Still at or below what I was looking at with the most recent F strip design.
Digikey has the 3500K in stock for $8.40/ea - Link

You would end up with ~3x the diodes with x18 EB Gen 2's (4032 diodes) compared to 3x LT-FB24B & 4x LT-FB22B (1440 diodes). You could add supplemental UV with an Agromax T5 to increase resin/terps and it would still come out cheaper than the F strip build.
 

CoronaWeed

Active Member
More strips without heat sinks can cost less than fewer strips on expensive heat sinks. Engineers tend to forget the first rule of engineering, KISS. ;-)
I see a lot of strip builds are overly engineered, expensive and heavy.

Some simple, cheap, light weight builds...

My build for a 36" x 22" .
This is somewhat cheating though. Yes they CAN cost less....when they are 80%-90% off (like in the thread you link and purchased during). But at full price of $12, a $5 heat sink (24" 1"x1" from tnutz is $5.30) is cheaper than buying even 1 more light. If my time machine still worked, that would be great but when was the last time they had good LEDs at a price like this in the past? Will it ever be replicated now that stock seems to be gone?
 

SpawnOfVader

Well-Known Member
They have the EB gen 2 strips in 3500k. Run x18 strips at 700ma. That’s over 4k diodes.

Total including HLG-480H-40A driver, overpriced angle from Home Depot, and necessary wire/connectors would be $350-400.
K so with the price hike on the 3000k strips (that I'm gonna have to get via Arrow) and the 3500k strips (that I can get at digikey for a lot less) I'm figuring 461.95 plus tax/shipping.

Just do a 50/50 split on the two temps....

That's including thermal tape, wago connectors, all misc. crap.

Might be a touch lower- pretty sure I'm signed up for tax free + 10% off at home depot (disabled vet)... if not I'm sure I still get the 10% (I can't remember which I get between that store and Lowes).

Not bad for as you said- over 4k diodes. Could probably shave another 15 off that price for the thermal tape since those are screw mounted strips and I have a near infinite supply of Arctic Silver thermal compound.
 

NukaKola

Well-Known Member
K so with the price hike on the 3000k strips (that I'm gonna have to get via Arrow) and the 3500k strips (that I can get at digikey for a lot less) I'm figuring 461.95 plus tax/shipping.

Just do a 50/50 split on the two temps....

That's including thermal tape, wago connectors, all misc. crap.

Might be a touch lower- pretty sure I'm signed up for tax free + 10% off at home depot (disabled vet)... if not I'm sure I still get the 10% (I can't remember which I get between that store and Lowes).

Not bad for as you said- over 4k diodes. Could probably shave another 15 off that price for the thermal tape since those are screw mounted strips and I have a near infinite supply of Arctic Silver thermal compound.
3500K is perfectly fine to flower by itself. Adding some 3000K could be beneficial but it may not be worth it cost-wise.

Considering you could get 20x 3500k strips and a 600h driver for around the same price, that would put you at 40w sq ft. I would think 40w sq ft of 3500k would be more beneficial than 30w sq ft of 3000k/3500k. If you move up to a 5x5 like you mentioned before that extra wattage would also come in handy.
 

SpawnOfVader

Well-Known Member
3500K is perfectly fine to flower by itself. Adding some 3000K could be beneficial but it may not be worth it cost-wise.

Considering you could get 20x 3500k strips and a 600h driver for around the same price, that would put you at 40w sq ft. I would think 40w sq ft of 3500k would be more beneficial than 30w sq ft of 3000k/3500k. If you move up to a 5x5 like you mentioned before that extra wattage would also come in handy.
It winds up adding about 40+ tax/shipping is all to the total price... I should be able to swap out the driver if I need to power a bigger space right? So that's an option down the road. I tend to only veg for the last two weeks or so in this tent max so it will really be a bloom-specific lighting setup.

Thanks for all the advice on this one!
 

SpawnOfVader

Well-Known Member
Okay so tax/shipping included the final toll looks like this (and I mean EVERYTHING, need more wire/Wagos/thermal tape since it can't hurt)

548.63 (8x 3000k from arrow, 8x 3500k from digikey)

If I did it using just the 3500 strips from digikey the build would come out at 496.56.

That's making the entire frame out of angle aluminum from Home Depot. Have to wait til the local aluminum framing specialty shop opens to see if I can get it cheaper (or make the cross pieces out of U channel instead of angle aluminum).
 

NukaKola

Well-Known Member
Okay so tax/shipping included the final toll looks like this (and I mean EVERYTHING, need more wire/Wagos/thermal tape since it can't hurt)

548.63 (8x 3000k from arrow, 8x 3500k from digikey)

If I did it using just the 3500 strips from digikey the build would come out at 496.56.

That's making the entire frame out of angle aluminum from Home Depot. Have to wait til the local aluminum framing specialty shop opens to see if I can get it cheaper (or make the cross pieces out of U channel instead of angle aluminum).
Looks pretty good. I'm getting ~$435 with tax/shipping/tariff if you source most of the stuff from Amazon and don't mind using single color wire.

Still close to $1/w which is good.

It winds up adding about 40+ tax/shipping is all to the total price... I should be able to swap out the driver if I need to power a bigger space right? So that's an option down the road. I tend to only veg for the last two weeks or so in this tent max so it will really be a bloom-specific lighting setup.

Thanks for all the advice on this one!
If you swap to a bigger driver then you would need to add more strips so they don't run too hot without heatsinks. If you do move to a bigger space you are better off starting out with more strips and a larger driver than you need and dimming it for the meantime or just adding more strips on a separate smaller driver when you finally do upsize to a larger space.
 

NukaKola

Well-Known Member
Nominal current reflect the number at which we don’t need heat sink ?
You can usually run a bit above nominal and still be within acceptable temps depending on room temps, airflow, etc. Nominal is just a good guideline at which you can run without heat sinks with no issues. Especially with cheaper strips having a better spread of light and higher efficiency due to running a higher diode count softer is another benefit.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Nominal current reflect the number at which we don’t need heat sink ?
Yes, in this case but not in every case, different brands assign the nominal current at their own leasure. In the datasheet it specifies that 700mA can run with no sinking but you cant tranlate this to all brands. Its better to think in watts per foot of strip, in this case around 7.
 
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