Bridgelux EB Series Build

[DarthPlagueis]

I'm planning on still using my 5 COB citizen setup(250w) so that should cover most the tent.[/QUOTE


Yes I do believe.
Ive got 8x 22"ers, running at 1050, that blankets a 2'x2' area nicely.

Do you think that it would be worth the cost of running the F-series LED strips by Samsung? Or do the EB strips produce a decent amount of light? It would be 7.75$ for EB stips versus 12$ for the F strips.

so 72$
Versus about 50$ with shipping included, I get free shipping with the F strips. I would get about twice the lumens too

 

[Chip Green]

Each of my 8 560mm(3500k) EB strips, are running at 1050ma, and consuming 27w for me, with a Mean Well HLG 185H-C1050B(measured with a Kill-a-Watt meter), using the data sheet number of 146 Lm/w at that amperage, each strip is producing 3942 lumens.
The F series Samsung 560mm data sheet has a test current of 1120ma, consuming 27w, producing min:3960- max :4840 luminous flux. Never actually tested one in person....
I'm not finding how you'd get double the lumens, for an extra $5 per strip, only slightly better efficiency. The 1120 mm F series would be double, but would require double the voltage, and double price....
So far every way I've calculated any build, I cant justify the extra up front expense for the Samsungs, the extra Lm/w isn't worth the cost.... For ME, in my opinion....
Also,the EB series results are beyond adequate for my needs.
Indeed eventually, the Samsungs would recoup that upfront cost difference in power usage, but I'm not splitting hairs over small percentages in my smallish builds....

EDIT: I see it now, there is a 560mm version with a voltage of 46, has two rows of diodes, double the lumens of the single row.....but it needs 46v

 

[Chip Green]

Heres a few factoids on my latest trial:

6x 560mm 3000k EB series- Mean Well HLG-185-C1400B - Zero heatsinking, 60ish F degrees in the basement workbench area....
Kill-A-Watt readings at room temp : 218w 1.77a -total voltage 139.1
Ran for 30 Mins: 221w - total voltage 136.9
same numbers after 45 mins, and 1 hour.
1.6% voltage droop without any heat removal after 1 hour at MAX current.
That's a $100 in gear, to generate 29,000 lumens, on 220 watts.

 

[nfhiggs]

With heatsinking EB's or any strip at low current like we use, adding more surface area is completely unnecessary. Start with a 1/8th" or 3/16th" and you're done. Going through the effort of gluing 2 pieces of channel together seems like alot of work for little reward. There's no need to even use channel other than it's more rigid and easier to make a frame out of. 1/8th" flatbar works just fine for strips @1050ma and under.

Well, just showing @pepechang a simple way to make a more effective heatsink, if they so desire. May or may not be necessary depending on what is purchased and how hard it's run. I have Samsung Acuity strips running at about 24V/500 mA on 3/4 inch channel, 18 strips total for around 180-200W, ~20W per 4ft channel, and they would definitely need beefier cooling if they were running at 1050 mA.

And again increasing thickness REALLY does not do much for you. Its the surface area that dissipates the heat. All increasing the thickness does is increase the time it takes to reach temperature equilibrium. That's just basic thermal dynamics.

 

[nfhiggs]

Heres a few factoids on my latest trial:

6x 560mm 3000k EB series- Mean Well HLG-185-C1400B - Zero heatsinking, 60ish F degrees in the basement workbench area....
Kill-A-Watt readings at room temp : 218w 1.77a -total voltage 139.1
Ran for 30 Mins: 221w - total voltage 136.9
same numbers after 45 mins, and 1 hour.
1.6% voltage droop without any heat removal after 1 hour at MAX current.
That's a $100 in gear, to generate 29,000 lumens, on 220 watts.

Sounds like a nice setup - similar to mine. About the same cost as well.

 

[rayuki]

my par meter arrived today, what is the best way to go about doing a par map i've never done one before? do i tape up some squares and just take measurements at like different heights? what heights you want me to test at guys? will test with single board (6 x strips at 300w total) under both boards, (600w total) and then will test under 4 boards at 1200w on the weekend.

 

[DarthPlagueis]

Heres a few factoids on my latest trial:

6x 560mm 3000k EB series- Mean Well HLG-185-C1400B - Zero heatsinking, 60ish F degrees in the basement workbench area....
Kill-A-Watt readings at room temp : 218w 1.77a -total voltage 139.1
Ran for 30 Mins: 221w - total voltage 136.9
same numbers after 45 mins, and 1 hour.
1.6% voltage droop without any heat removal after 1 hour at MAX current.
That's a $100 in gear, to generate 29,000 lumens, on 220 watts.

Yeah, my mistake, I read "tested current" as "Max current". Yeah not even worth the extra 6$ a piece then in that case, EB series for the win. Now I'm deciding on running 6 on either a Hlg-120h-1050 or just go your route and do the hlg-185. Not sure if I need the extra 50 watts since I'd have about 275 in there already of cobs. Then again I could always dim to about 100 watts. Same price of the driver.

How did you set yours up, like build wise? Aluminum sheet metal or L-angle

 

[Chip Green]

Mine are actually a bit of both, L angle framework, with an aluminum rollstock backing sheet to attach the strips to.....You can run 8 560mm Ebs on the 185-1050ma, mine draws 217 watts from the wall, barely gets warm. Ive measured the voltage droop on those before at peak temps, it was less that 2%, if one we're so inclined to add active cooling, I imagine that may even go away....
Those are 2'x2' squares, with evenly spaced strips. I keep them around 15" above the canopy for around 40,000 lux dead center, 30,000 at the edges, with my $25 LUX meter.... In the future, if I space them better, the light would become more balanced. Its working good enough for right now so I haven't bothered respacing.

I consider my gear bargain high tech equipment, cheapish, but not so cheap its not effective.

 

[rayuki]

Mine are actually a bit of both, L angle framework, with an aluminum rollstock backing sheet to attach the strips to.....You can run 8 560mm Ebs on the 185-1050ma, mine draws 217 watts from the wall, barely gets warm. Ive measured the voltage droop on those before at peak temps, it was less that 2%, if one we're so inclined to add active cooling, I imagine that may even go away....
Those are 2'x2' squares, with evenly spaced strips. I keep them around 15" above the canopy for around 40,000 lux dead center, 30,000 at the edges, with my $25 LUX meter.... In the future, if I space them better, the light would become more balanced. Its working good enough for right now so I haven't bothered respacing.

I consider my gear bargain high tech equipment, cheapish, but not so cheap its not effective.

i've had to move my lights back up on my autos that close they were getting a bit of light stress lol. i was getting similar lux readings, still at 25k and im at 23" right now

 

[pepechang]

thanks @nfhgiss and @danielson99 for the heatsink examples, also the words of @Chip Green made me decide to buy the EB strips, the first option is :
15 pcs of BXEB-L0560Z-30E2000-C-A3 , running on the hlg 240h-c700a , using 331 vf from the 357 available and 230 w of the 249w
The other 2 options is the 1120mm strips, but idk if 7 or 8 pcs, with 7 the vf used is 309 and the w are 217w and with 8 the vf and w are close to the limit, using 353.6 vf of 357 and 248w of 249w.
dunno if this MW drivers can be driven on the limit, so depending on that the decision will be made.

 

[Chip Green]

The EB strips WILL get the job done. It becomes a balancing act of drive current vs spacing vs distance from canopy, in order to hit certain LUX levels.... Yes there are more efficient products available, but I'm plenty satisfied with the real world results of all of my EB projects. I just received 6 more 560mm pieces two days ago for a 1400ma version of my 2x2 panel design. Even at 134 Lm/w per the spec sheet, I just have to know how it will perform at that amperage. In the winter months that slight increase in watts to heat may be beneficial in some spaces... Indeed the 700ma setups will eventually absorb the upfront equipment cost, into power savings.
Next project will be to see exactly how much I can spread these things out, while maintaining a desired amount of LUX at a distance of 15" from canopy.....

 

[pepechang]

just bought from arrow 17pcs of BXEB-L0560Z-30E2000-C-A3 and a MW driver hlg 320h-c1050a for the vero 29 gen 7 C , the idea is to mix the strips with the cobs , 15 strips @700ma , pulling 230w from the wall and the cobs driven at 1050 ma , pulling 300w from the wall, the tent size is not set yet, but for sure will be 1m x 1m or more.

 

[ganglyguy420]

Hey guys. I just picked up 8 of the 2 ft strips and was wondering what the ideal thickness of the aluminum strip used for heatsink would be.
Thanks

 

[Danielson999]

Hey guys. I just picked up 8 of the 2 ft strips and was wondering what the ideal thickness of the aluminum strip used for heatsink would be.
Thanks

Depends what current you want to drive them at but 1/8th" thickness pretty much covers it, use flatbar, angle, channel or tubing...whatever suits you best.

 

[ganglyguy420]

Depends what current you want to drive them at but 1/8th" thickness pretty much covers it, use flatbar, angle, channel or tubing...whatever suits you best.

Thanks. I have some 1/8th sheet cut offs that should work. I won't be running the strips above 1000ma, probably 700ma

 

[nfhiggs]

Hey guys. I just picked up 8 of the 2 ft strips and was wondering what the ideal thickness of the aluminum strip used for heatsink would be.
Thanks

Thickness is not really relevant - its surface area that dissipates the heat. But these generally do not really need a lot of heatsink unless you push them hard. Most people get by with 3/4' channel or angle aluminum, or just 1' wide flat bar.

 

[Chip Green]

I'm getting far better LUX readings at 12" with-1050ma on 2x2 with 8x 560mm 3500Ks, than with todays experimental 6x 560mm 3000k at 1400ma. I know the K temp difference will cause some drop in the LUX, nevertheless I'm starting to feel like the initial up front cost of the extra strips needed for the 700ma versions is the way to go forward for me, to get that magic LUX number around 12-15" from canopy.

 

[DarthPlagueis]

I'm getting far better LUX readings at 12" with-1050ma on 2x2 with 8x 560mm 3500Ks, than with todays experimental 6x 560mm 3000k at 1400ma. I know the K temp difference will cause some drop in the LUX, nevertheless I'm starting to feel like the initial up front cost of the extra strips needed for the 700ma versions is the way to go forward for me, to get that magic LUX number around 12-15" from canopy.

So would 8 strips be better on a Hlg-135-700 or would 8 on a Hlg-185-1050 be better? Space is now 36"x 16"

 

[Chip Green]

Well, with an HLG-185-700 you have 286 V, that would get 12x 560mm EBs.
The HLG- 185-1050 has 190 V, that would be 8x560mm EBs.
That's what I use most right now. The 8 strips on a 2x2 square panel. So the concentrated collection of those strips, in that shape, is getting 50,000 LUX at around 12", and near the edges it drops to 30,000. They could be spaced better to balance that, any new builds will be.
I do have 1- 12 strip 700ma panel, the numbers are similar. Either of those two blankets up 4 square feet very well, right under em anyway....

Since your area is rectangular, now I'm super curious as to how much that shape of a panel would effect that 12"(ish) area LUX reading.... If it would at all....(scratching chin)
Shouldn't change that much....

 

[DarthPlagueis]

Well, with an HLG-185-700 you have 286 V, that would get 12x 560mm EBs.
The HLG- 185-1050 has 190 V, that would be 8x560mm EBs.
That's what I use most right now. The 8 strips on a 2x2 square panel. So the concentrated collection of those strips, in that shape, is getting 50,000 LUX at around 12", and near the edges it drops to 30,000. They could be spaced better to balance that, any new builds will be.
I do have 1- 12 strip 700ma panel, the numbers are similar. Either of those two blankets up 4 square feet very well, right under em anyway....

Since your area is rectangular, now I'm super curious as to how much that shape of a panel would effect that 12"(ish) area LUX reading.... If it would at all....(scratching chin)
Shouldn't change that much....

I was asking between the 135HLG-700(150 watts) versus the 1050(200watts), both setups would use 8 panels. I don't have enough space for 12 strips really