Questions about led on stars

Im hoping some of the esteemed members hanging out in the led section can help. I have a few questions about mono leds mounted on stars. I plan on making my own strip of reds(630,660,730) using monos on stars mounted on aluminum u channel. About 15 leds per strip, four foot strip, 2 watts per mono.

1) would you folks recommend thermal grease with screws to attach to aluminum channel, or the sticky pads that cost 50 cents a piece, also with screws? Whats better in terms of longevity?

2) i want to get some 660 cree he mounted on stars from rapid led. Online they have listed the stock as XPeePR-L1-0000-00C01, which is the most efficient, putting out 425mw at 350mah. How can i determine that this in fact what they deliver and not the least efficient mono that puts out 350mw at 350mah?

3) is there any reason not to put 60 stars (2.1-2.3v each) on a single hlg 120h c1050. Dimmed down to 2 watts per mono. The driver can accomodate 74-148v.


Edit: I forgot to ask weather it’s necessary to use nylon washers when screwing down the led stars to aluminum channel.

You can't tell what bin they will send to you, sometimes you just need to trust them, thermal grease is cheaper to use than sticky pads. I do not like high voltage drivers and I would suggest that you split things up to lower the voltage.

TEKNIK said:

You can't tell what bin they will send to you, sometimes you just need to trust them, thermal grease is cheaper to use than sticky pads. I do not like high voltage drivers and I would suggest that you split things up to lower the voltage.

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Thanks for dropping in. I can always just split the 60 stars on two drivers. I can go with 2 elg 75 c 1050 drivers. Can i ask about your dislike for high voltage setup? Is that out of consideration for longevity of the leds with such high total voltage on a string? Or general safety, concern about electrocution, etc.?

Im wondering about the thermal grease. Does it need to be reapplied after a period of time?

Warpedpassage said:

Thanks for dropping in. I can always just split the 60 stars on two drivers. I can go with 2 elg 75 c 1050 drivers. Can i ask about your dislike for high voltage setup? Is that out of consideration for longevity of the leds with such high total voltage on a string? Or general safety, concern about electrocution, etc.?

Im wondering about the thermal grease. Does it need to be reapplied after a period of time?

Click to expand...

You only need to use thermal paste once.
LED's are pretty closely voltage binned now days, just make sure you have the same amounts of the same colours in each string.
I don't like high voltage because it's alot more dangerous and also much easier to make a mistake and blow out your LED's.

Yes, better to blow 30 leds than 60! I will go with the paste.