-boring 'ol 230w 154lm/w led strip build

REALSTYLES

Well-Known Member
This thread is about TCI strips and SonsOfAvery asked a question about those. More particular, he asked about people using those 3000K TCI strips for veg. Not about random people using 3000K+5000K combinations or Samsung SMDs.
lol, I just read through the thread I swear they look like Samsung chips lol my bad.
 

nc208

Well-Known Member

Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
Not sure. I've been keeping an eye on it. I need to spray them down with probiotics today. Thanks for the reminder I probably would have put it off a few more days.

It's possible it is a genetic issue, the plant is a regXauto and Im just growing it to see if it autos. I imagine the auto is horribly inbred. Adding epsom salt to my next watering as well.

I think the consensus is tmv is not contagious to cannabis. Its likely a hungry plant.
That's leaf variegation, which is pretty common in Blueberry genetics. It usually shows up early and grows out as the plant matures, but some BB strains are known to throw variegated leaves throughout the grow. It doesn't really harm the plant, but they do tend to grow a bit slower than other strains. Blueberry strains are not known for being high yielders or heavy eaters. Pretty much all modern strains trace their lineage back to the early hybrids, so there's a bit of blueberry in many strains these days.

Nice grow and I really like the DIY LED set-up. I've learned a bit already from this thread.
 

nc208

Well-Known Member
This thread is specifically about the ebay auction of 3000K and 4000K TCI strips at €9 a piece per 23W (154lm/W) strip including driver.
My bad, see I saw the Original post by iHearAll who created this thread to show off the strips they found and building a diy light out of it. Which were the 3000k, and 4000k made by TCI sold by a random seller on ebay. I merely pointed out the manufacturer also makes a 5000k version which some were claiming there's only a 3000k and 4000k made by TCI.
 

wietefras

Well-Known Member
My bad, see I saw the Original post by iHearAll who created this thread to show off the strips they found and building a diy light out of it. Which were the 3000k, and 4000k made by TCI sold by a random seller on ebay. I merely pointed out the manufacturer also makes a 5000k version which some were claiming there's only a 3000k and 4000k made by TCI.
True, but I'll bet those are going to be pretty expensive. From what I understood, this is a batch of strips that were specifically produced for some deal and it didn't go through. These strips are not available in their normal product catalog.

It's especially a nice set for smaller fixtures. You can build a complete 115W 154lm/W fixture for €60 including everything. Even €50 if you keep it really simple.

:edit: Forgot to explain why that's relevant. I see a lot of people saying that they can get a Mars hydro cheap and a proper fixture will be way too expensive. Then I can show them that for the same price they can build something that works a lot better.

If you go big it will probably be cheaper to get something with separate drivers.
 
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SonsOfAvery

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies people..just for the record, I've built my new veg cabinet now and only used 2 of the TCI strips (the eBay 96diode ones).
The cabinet is only 1x2.5x2ft, I know it's still low wattage with only 46w, but because I'm limited on height in there I'm hoping they'll grow a little slower, until my flowering plants are done in the flower tent.

I found a data sheet for the leds used, as far as I can see there are 2700k, 3000k, 3500k & 4000k lm561b's. I'm using all 3000k

I'll try and get some pics up tomorrow of the fixture's I made (super noob DIY, but they work!).
 

SonsOfAvery

Well-Known Member
So here's my miniature veg cab, approx 1x2.5x2ft. The fan at the top is actually an intake and also blows fresh air over the tops of the plants. Because I'm not worried about the smell with these I'm not using an exhaust fan, just intake.

The two LED strips are mounted on aluminium strips, the kind of stuff used to keep carpets down in doorways haha. Works a treat!

I (crudely) added some Mylar to the cab walls too, to try and raise the temps a bit, currently sitting at 23c.
20170922_115230.jpg 20170922_115341.jpg 20170922_115351.jpg
 

suncity13

Active Member
Is it possible to connect all the drivers to one power plug? I received 5x3000k strips and it would be good to have one plug from all these strips if possible.
 

psychedelicdaddi

Well-Known Member
Is it possible to connect all the drivers to one power plug? I received 5x3000k strips and it would be good to have one plug from all these strips if possible.
Yea man, im using these strips too. Wire all of the brown wires together and all of the blue wires together. Brown is your hot and blue is neutral. You may need some extra wire and solder to get enough space to do this. The strips have two switches located on the drivers. Their combinations determine the driving strength. You'll need an extra small flat head screwdriver to push or pull these slide switches. I recommended a voltmeter to measure the voltage of each output so you know what you have it set to.
 
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