Bridgelux EB Series Build

Serva said:

Oh, I hope I can show you differently. My plan is taping the strips at the alu sheet, and drill holes throw it, where the lens mounting holes are, this way I can hide all stripping on the back, and it looks as clean, as series wiring. Atleast I hope so Because I can‘t solder..

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Yes, that looks much better, but remember to deburr the holes before you push the cables through. An additional layer of heat shrink tubing placed where the wires are pushed through the holes would provide some more protection against wear through. Should there be a short circuit, it will be difficult to find the place, so an additional backup layer is not inappropriate. Good luck and I hope you show it to us when you're done.

projectinfo said:

Thanks for the help guys its my first light so I'm happy I works. Building the frame and mounting today.

My sheets of 4x8 sheets of aluminum were stacked together and there's kind of water residue and a bit of something on there.

Should I sand it first?

And is thermal paste a bad idea or just very un nessasary?

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A clean and even surface is neccessary, so yes, sand them first. Thermal grease is simply not neccessary because of the low thermal pressure. The heat is spread over a large surface and the thermal connection is much bigger than with COB's.

Randomblame said:

A clean and even surface is neccessary, so yes, sand them first. Thermal grease is simply not neccessary because of the low thermal pressure. The heat is spread over a large surface and the thermal connection is much bigger than with COB's.

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Gotcha, thanks for looking out.

Probably saved me a few messy hours of pasting

<3

Randomblame said:

Yes, that looks much better, but remember to deburr the holes before you push the cables through. An additional layer of heat shrink tubing placed where the wires are pushed through the holes would provide some more protection against wear through. Should there be a short circuit, it will be difficult to find the place, so an additional backup layer is not inappropriate. Good luck and I hope you show it to us when you're done.

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The thread already started... I am done with the basic case, but I need to wait for the thermal tape to go on with the strips. Anyway, you will know when it‘s finished, because I probably will cry for you, when I try to connect the digital wattmeter

1. I thought strips (both from Zumzung and Bridgelux) come with a tape on the back..isnt it so?
2. What is the alternative to Wagos?

Nutria said:

1. I thought strips (both from Zumzung and Bridgelux) come with a tape on the back..isnt it so?
2. What is the alternative to Wagos?

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1. Nope! Only 12v/24v flex-strips are already fitted with M3 tape. Hard strips not.
2. Any other 2 or more pole connector like wiring terminals. Google is your friend..

Randomblame said:

1. Nope! Only 12v/24v flex-strips are already fitted with M3 tape. Hard strips not.
2. Any other 2 or more pole connector like wiring terminals. Google is your friend..

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1. I only need to screw hard strips to the alu channel so? No thermal paste needed?
2. You're right, just an hard time to translate to my mother tongue

thx as always

Yepp, simply screw them to the metal but be careful, not too tight ... it could break the copper tracks inside the strips and then parts of the strip would not work anymore. Only make sure they get good contact above the whole surface.

Randomblame said:

Yepp, simply screw them to the metal but be careful, not too tight ... it could break the copper tracks inside the strips and then parts of the strip would not work anymore. Only make sure they get good contact above the whole surface.

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Are you guys using a tap for your screws into the aluminum.? I drilled holes the same size as the holes on the strips... Maybe IL need tiny nuts and bolts??

projectinfo said:

Are you guys using a tap for your screws into the aluminum.? I drilled holes the same size as the holes on the strips... Maybe IL need tiny nuts and bolts??

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I attached my strips with RTV. Just filled the mounting holes with it and its held them just fine. Avoid the fast cure RTV as it does not adhere as well.

nfhiggs said:

I attached my strips with RTV. Just filled the mounting holes with it and its held them just fine. Avoid the fast cure RTV as it does not adhere as well.

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How did you hold the strip down until it dried?

projectinfo said:

How did you hold the strip down until it dried?

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The Arctic Silver thermal paste holds it down pretty well during drying, the RTV keeps gravity from pulling it away from the heatsink once its flipped over into normal operating position.

projectinfo said:

Are you guys using a tap for your screws into the aluminum.? I drilled holes the same size as the holes on the strips... Maybe IL need tiny nuts and bolts??

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Selftapping screws are the easiest save way IMO, but you could also use double sided thermal tape(e3ay/am4zon). It works also very well, e.g. something like this, but you can find it even cheaper:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20mm-x20M-Double-Side-Adhesive-Thermal-Conductive-Silicone-Tape-For-Chip-LED-GPU/111736387082?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=2&asc=41375&meid=b59f0b99e53144a9a1a25e34930186c6&pid=100005&rk=6&rkt=6&sd=112184736782&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Randomblame said:

Selftapping screws are the easiest save way IMO, but you could also use double sided thermal tape(e3ay/am4zon). It works also very well, e.g. something like this, but you can find it even cheaper:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20mm-x20M-Double-Side-Adhesive-Thermal-Conductive-Silicone-Tape-For-Chip-LED-GPU/111736387082?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=2&asc=41375&meid=b59f0b99e53144a9a1a25e34930186c6&pid=100005&rk=6&rkt=6&sd=112184736782&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

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This is even cheaper:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Double-Sided-Thermal-Adhesive-Tape-for-LED-CPU-GPU-Heatsink-3mm-30mm-x-25m/182546991267?hash=item2a80a608a3:m:mTVAamipjVYovArUKBIA_Sw

Just make sure to order in advance! I am waiting on this tape for a month now

Btw which tape is better for our purpose? 0,15mm or 0,2mm? I guess ,15 will be better for temperature, and ,2 will be better for mounting?

Well it looks like my calculations were correct.

I tested the output of my driver, and it read 84 volts, which seemed to indicate that I could run 3.5 x 2' strips @ 24volts each. Well 3 worked fine, and when I tried adding a 4th they started blinking.

So maybe I should have waited for the Gen2, which run at 20v? And then I could have easily ran 4x2'@20v using my 84v LED Drivers?

Instead of running 3 Gen1 strips at 24v = 72v, meaning I'm leaving 12 volts on the table

I was actually thinking I might be able to just add a 1' strip to each series circuit, assuming that the 1' would run at 12v instead of 24v, but it doesn't look like the 1' strips actually use less voltage...

I guess I should have studied engineering instead of english lol

I'm also intrigued by the Gen 2 EB series, and one day will own some, but the current setups with the originals continue to impress.....

Chip Green said:

I'm also intrigued by the Gen 2 EB series, and one day will own some, but the current setups with the originals continue to impress.....

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Hey I'm about to do my spacing for the strips.. I have a 2x4 table so I got 2ft strips

I have 14 strips think that is enough running at 50% for flower?

I seen something about spacing t where buddy had a wider gap in the center and smaller gaps working outwards..

How do you calculate this algorithm?
What was it called?

And can these strips be run at their max for 12-16 hrs a day? Or stick with 50%

projectinfo said:

Hey I'm about to do my spacing for the strips.. I have a 2x4 table so I got 2ft strips

I have 14 strips think that is enough running at 50% for flower?

I seen something about spacing t where buddy had a wider gap in the center and smaller gaps working outwards..

How do you calculate this algorithm?
What was it called?

And can these strips be run at their max for 12-16 hrs a day? Or stick with 50%

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I built for equal distance between strips all the way across. The max I run is 1.05 amps or about 75% of max. I keep my strips about 4 inches from tops and adjust the current down early on.

Actually I tried different spacing...

1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32(middle) (for 12 strips)

But after long nights of drawing an calculating, I decided to go
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, ..., 16 (middle) (for 18 strips)


Edit: how to calculate? 2ft - (14*24mm) / 15 = even spacing including the sides

Even spacing + 30-50% = middle spacing, from this point I go down 1mm, but you can also do 2, than the spacing in the middle needs to be bigger.

If you have a white wall, it reflects 80-90% of the light. So the light on the sides is 10-20% weeker. So with walls you need less different spacing, than without walls, to compensate the loss (point of my noob view). But if you don‘t belive me, just draw 14 strips and theire light spread, include your room, calculate the loss, and voila, you know exact spacing I wanted to do the math, but drawing was easier, and more funny!

And I think the word you might look for could be, logarithmic, exponential, linear, or cubic function?

projectinfo said:

Hey I'm about to do my spacing for the strips.. I have a 2x4 table so I got 2ft strips

I have 14 strips think that is enough running at 50% for flower?

I seen something about spacing t where buddy had a wider gap in the center and smaller gaps working outwards..

How do you calculate this algorithm?
What was it called?

And can these strips be run at their max for 12-16 hrs a day? Or stick with 50%

Click to expand...

And here are the measurements, that spacing evenly is bad in a tent!
https://www.rollitup.org/t/bridgelux-eb-series-on-a-2-x-4-scrog.943414/page-4#post-13623954

projectinfo said:

Hey I'm about to do my spacing for the strips.. I have a 2x4 table so I got 2ft strips

I have 14 strips think that is enough running at 50% for flower?

I seen something about spacing t where buddy had a wider gap in the center and smaller gaps working outwards..

How do you calculate this algorithm?
What was it called?

And can these strips be run at their max for 12-16 hrs a day? Or stick with 50%

Click to expand...

Don't worry about the spacing, it's not going to change the way you grow or your results. You can run these strips permanently at their max if they have sufficient cooling.