Driver Selection help

canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
I received 12 EB strips the other day and am now rethinking my drivers.
4 of the EBs are 5700K and the others are 3000K
I am thinking it best to just drive 6 and 6 with two drivers, (one driver will have 4 5700K and 2 3000K) which should still achieve what I want to try with the ext pots

BXEB-L0560Z-30E2000-C-A3

at 1400ma , Vf 23.3 , 32.6w , 134lm/w 4362 lumens 195.6watts per 6 strips
2 x HLG-185H-C1400B (143v/200w) $155

at 1000ma , Vf 22.7 , 22.7w , 146lm/w 3309 lumens 136.2watts per 6 strips
2 x HLC-120H-C1050B (148v/155w) $127

at 700ma , Vf 22.1, 15.5w , 156lm/w 2410 lumens 93watts per 6 strips
2x HLG-120H-C700B (215v/150w) $127

Something interesting that they say about the EB strips in the spec sheet under features,
High efficacy, up to 159 lm/W and wide lumen range with 2x overdrive capability

It is that last part that interests me, what are they saying here, that 700ma is the unspoken recommended current and that 2x that is 1400ma or is there even more head room with these strips?

under benefits:
Reliable use at elevated currents enables greater design flexibility.

Anyway, just want to ask you guys in case I have underestimated any of these configurations. I am inclined to go with the 1400ma and just dim it to a level appropriate for the tent.
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
DrBlaze said:
I never see any Canadians looking at electrosonic for ballasts. They have a great selection and good prices.

$60.45....ELG-200-C1400B...... https://www.e-sonic.com/product-detail/mean-well/elg200c1400b.html?p=49350987
$65.95....HLG-185H-C1400B... https://www.e-sonic.com/product-detail/mean-well/hlg185hc1400b.html?p=45327085
Click to expand...
Thanks, arrow had some good pricing too , but not sure about duty at the border. Electrosonic seems the best pricing. Kingbrite is pretty good too, but again unknown at the border.

Am I cutting it too close with any of those drivers? Specifically the 1050 and 1400?
 
Danielson999

Danielson999

Well-Known Member
It's not the best pricing if you're only buying a couple drivers. Free shipping on $100 order at mouser.ca whereas e-sonic you need to spend $250 for free shipping. Also, e-sonic will automatically charge you $100 for your order (if you order under $100) since it's their minimum, even if you only want to buy 1 driver for $65. Future Electronics is another option that is equally as cheap as Mouser and E-Sonic.

Seems like you already have the drivers figured out. 6 EB's on a HLG-185-1400. Lots of guys have driven them at 1400ma, they are made for it.
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
e-sonic was $159.06 CAD for two HLG-185-1400's, mouser is $174.25
all inclusive, shipping duty etc. I didn't trigger any min order issues but will keep that in mind, thanks.
 
Danielson999

Danielson999

Well-Known Member
And Future Electronics is also $160. I'd check out return policies also but it's definitely better to order from a Canadian company or you'll pay much higher costs returning items.
 
Danielson999

Danielson999

Well-Known Member
It sure is hard to pass up the EB strips, especially for Canadians who pay a premium for electronics. I'm thinking about filling my 6'x4' tent with 21 560's, 7 each on an HLG-240-1400 driver (I have 2 of them already) for a total of about 700 watts and a cost of $500 (strips and drivers) plus assorted building materials.
So for $600-$700cdn a person can build a 700w light. That's so much cheaper than any other competition it's ridiculous. I'm also adding 4 heatsink usa 18" lengths of 4.850 profile sinks with about 50w of mono's (deep red, infrared and whatever else) on each sink which will put my tent around 900w.
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
Danielson999 said:
It sure is hard to pass up the EB strips, especially for Canadians who pay a premium for electronics. I'm thinking about filling my 6'x4' tent with 21 560's, 7 each on an HLG-240-1400 driver (I have 2 of them already) for a total of about 700 watts and a cost of $500 (strips and drivers) plus assorted building materials.
So for $600-$700cdn a person can build a 700w light. That's so much cheaper than any other competition it's ridiculous. I'm also adding 4 heatsink usa 18" lengths of 4.850 profile sinks with about 50w of mono's (deep red, infrared and whatever else) on each sink which will put my tent around 900w.
Click to expand...
I know right, that is totally sick man, seriously, 900 killer watts. What is chaffin my ass right now is the aluminum. Onlinemetals is pretty reasonable pricing but shipping is another $50 ($120 total x 1.3 conversion to CAD = $156. so thats more than the strips cost for cripes sake, that adds a lot to the build price. Harshin my buzz.
 
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Danielson999

Danielson999

Well-Known Member
Ya know, I'm really tempted to go with the Samsung strips.
The 1120mm EB's are about $21 each regardless of how many you buy.
The 1120mm F Series Gen 3 from Samsung are $33 each if I buy 10.

So I spend $210 or $330 BUT,
The 1120mm EB puts out 8700lms and uses 65w.
The 1120mm F Series puts out 8700lms using 50w.

When you use 10 of each strip you'll put out 87000lms using
650w for the EB's and
500w for the F Series.

Less driver needed, less heat produced, saves money over time in several ways.
The F Series uses (if I'm not mistaken) the same diode (lm561C) as the Quantum Boards.

If I had someone to go in on F Series with me I'd get 25 of them for $28 each which makes it an even better bargain. A larger group buy of 100 would be $25 each :)
 
Danielson999

Danielson999

Well-Known Member
5 of the F series fit on an HLG-240H-C1050B and would draw about 250w and create 43,500lms. If I used 3 of those drivers and 15 strips in my 6'x4' tent it would draw 750w/130,000lms.
$285 for 3 HLG drivers.
$432 for 15 strips. (I'll just buy 25 and keep or sell the other 10)

So about $700 plus another $100 or so for materials.

The same build using EB's would be
$285 for 3 HLG drivers.
$315 for 15 strips.

So $600 plus another $100 for materials. I'd save $100 but it would also put out 100,000lms (30,000 less than the F Series) but draw the same amount of wattage from the wall.
 
DrBlaze

DrBlaze

Well-Known Member
Danielson999 said:
5 of the F series fit on an HLG-240H-C1050B and would draw about 250w and create 43,500lms. If I used 3 of those drivers and 15 strips in my 6'x4' tent it would draw 750w/130,000lms.
$285 for 3 HLG drivers.
$432 for 15 strips. (I'll just buy 25 and keep or sell the other 10)

So about $700 plus another $100 or so for materials.

The same build using EB's would be
$285 for 3 HLG drivers.
$315 for 15 strips.

So $600 plus another $100 for materials. I'd save $100 but it would also put out 100,000lms (30,000 less than the F Series) but draw the same amount of wattage from the wall.
Click to expand...

Those Sammy's do look pretty nice. I'd prob use the $64 ELG-240-C1050B though. I was looking at these strips a while back but the price of the Sammy seemed a bit steep. Like you say though, they pay for themselves in lower driver cost and energy savings.
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
Danielson999 said:
Not sure why I made them all uneven but this looks better.
View attachment 3981063
Click to expand...
grayinggeek came up with creating large spacing between the ones at the center as he was getting a hot spots in the center of his EB build and weak edges, in your case that light is so big it is hard to tell what would happen, but GG was also using the 1120's.

Do you have a link to the F series?
 
Danielson999

Danielson999

Well-Known Member
The F Series are HERE

I think grayinggeek had hot spots because he had them set too low and they hadn't had a chance to harden off. If he would have hardened them off for a few days he would have had no issues. Running these strips at 1050ma will be no problem keeping the lights at 6"-8" above the canopy but we need to start them at 18" or so and work our way down.

I think we really just want to cover the entire area with as much light as possible and adjust the height of the light accordingly.

tent2.jpg
 
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Danielson999

Danielson999

Well-Known Member
He had his plants growing under some weaker lights, then he had his light wired wrong and they were barely getting any light. Then he fixed the wiring and hit them full force with his 400w light in a 2'x4'. He shocked them.

If you start your plants at 18" for a few days then move them down to 12" and then 8" after a week or so.....you won't have to worry about any hot spots or burn, the plants will love it.
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
Danielson999 said:
He had his plants growing under some weaker lights, then he had his light wired wrong and they were barely getting any light. Then he fixed the wiring and hit them full force with his 400w light in a 2'x4'. He shocked them.

If you start your plants at 18" for a few days then move them down to 12" and then 8" after a week or so.....you won't have to worry about any hot spots or burn, the plants will love it.
Click to expand...
yep i got all that, but he also took measurements in quadrants of light intensity with his phones lux app (I think), makeshift par map; and noted the differences and then adjusted the spacing to compensate.
 
Danielson999

Danielson999

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I guess it's good to try and balance it out but if he hadn't shocked his plants he might not have even measured his ppfd. If you're doing a scrog, just fill your entire tent with light, every square inch. Hot spots are irrelevant once you get everything dialed in. If I had the money, I'd fill my 6'x4' tent with 1120mm strips every 3 inches or 24 of them. At max power they would put out 1200w which would be perfect for guys running co2. It's still just 50w per sq ft.
 
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