Bridgelux EB Series Build

StreetPreacher said:

Does the artwork help increase the yield?!?!

Sort of like classical music or talking to your plants can make them happier?

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Nope that's left over it was a quick reno lol hoping to be in a new building next yr

Serva said:

10a / 7 strips = 1430ma (and the A version may have even more than 10a!)

maximum drive current of the strips= 1400ma

So you need to dim the current output of the driver! This way maximum output would be around 460w (2x 7x 1400ma*33v). Driver current limit needs to be 7x1400=9800ma to be safe.

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Well the strips are 2 ft it sais 700ma on digi key.. Or is that just the avg and 1400 is the max?

OK I got my multi meter. Where do I put the positve and negative to be able to read how much I'm adjusting the current? Just + and - on one of the mini cobs on the strip?

700ma is the nominal test current, 1400ma is the max.

HiloReign said:

Saw graying.geeks measurements/thread and it made sense to me. The center of his fixture had too much overlap(for lack of a better word), so he adjusted spacing and achieved better spread. I'd be interested in seeing evidence of Danielsons refute.

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My first panels were evenly spaced, and the LUX readings are higher in the middle, Its not huge, but its there.... So Geek balanced the saturation out by spreading out the center(ish) strips, moving the overlap of the emitters toward the ends of the "lamp." I did this on the next panel, it does effect the LUX meter reading.... I don't remember the exact numbers, but I wanna say on the 2'x2 @1050ma, it was somethin like 10-15% higher LUX in the middle before balancing....The 700ma versions were tighter bunched, I imagine its more significant on those, I don't recall....
That being said, in a 2x2 area, I dunno how much noticeable difference the spacing will actually make.....for me.

Since I don't net anything down, and I'm regularly shifting panels around, I'm indifferent toward the consistency of my photon blankets....

Due to the "logarithmic" spread you lower the hotspot in the middle and increase the intensity at the edges. The result is a more homogeneous illumination and in the best case you can hang the lamp lower, so that the light can be used better and the intensity can be increased overall.
Instead of 1000 μmol in the middle and 400 at the edges at 16" you could get 1000 μmol in the middle and 800 at the edge at 12".
What do you think would yield better?
Of course, if you keep them hanging at the same height, you will not notice much difference. But if you take a lux meter and hang both lamps so that they measure for example 1000μmol in the middle, you will notice that the logarithmically distributed strips will hang lower and the sides will get much more light, as with the other higher hanging lamp.
If you have the two lights, try it. It works this way.

BuddyColas said:

Not to piss in your Cheerios mate, but some of us have the "B" driver and just dim the lamps down rather than raise them up. Just saying...more than one way to do it.

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I just had some cheerios Anyway, where I live you use your lights as a heat source in winter. I can either keep them up high and just turn it up really high or keep them close to the canopy and use less energy. Sorry if you're not familiar with that type of growing but you learn something new every day eh?

Randomblame said:

Due to the "logarithmic" spread you lower the hotspot in the middle and increase the intensity at the edges. The result is a more homogeneous illumination and in the best case you can hang the lamp lower, so that the light can be used better and the intensity can be increased overall.
Instead of 1000 μmol in the middle and 400 at the edges at 16" you could get 1000 μmol in the middle and 800 at the edge at 12".
What do you think would yield better?
Of course, if you keep them hanging at the same height, you will not notice much difference. But if you take a lux meter and hang both lamps so that they measure for example 1000μmol in the middle, you will notice that the logarithmically distributed strips will hang lower and the sides will get much more light, as with the other higher hanging lamp.
If you have the two lights, try it. It works this way.

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Right, and this has no effect on the way I grow. In principle it does have an effect but for many people it's absolutely irrelevant. All the power to ya if spreading your strips in the center increases your yield! I'm sure it would be interesting to see the difference in results, or lack thereof.

projectinfo said:

Hlg240w 24a

But I have two of these drivers. And I can buy more strips and double this light if need be View attachment 4053258

PS I left the light on lowest dims. And left it high because it's all new. and I'm being safe...

Lights on the table behind are two mars pro series 2 epistar 160s

PS the strips are mix of 3000k and 5000k

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I ran into this a few years ago with cobs. I bought 240w HLG's but really should have thought it out or waited a bit because I would have ordered a 320w. If you feel the 240w fills your area enough then great. If not, you can either add the other driver (which might be way overkill but you can keep it dimmed) or you can save the 240's for another light and order a 320w HLG for your 2'x4' space. I use 400w in a 2'x4' space typically but I like to have more than I need. I'm sure you'll be happy either way.

projectinfo said:

Well the strips are 2 ft it sais 700ma on digi key.. Or is that just the avg and 1400 is the max?

OK I got my multi meter. Where do I put the positve and negative to be able to read how much I'm adjusting the current? Just + and - on one of the mini cobs on the strip?

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I think the current is measured in series, if you want to know the overall current output you just need to put the multi meter right behind the driver (in series!).

Maybe someone else may approve this? @Randomblame ?

Danielson999 said:

Right, and this has no effect on the way I grow. In principle it does have an effect but for many people it's absolutely irrelevant. All the power to ya if spreading your strips in the center increases your yield! I'm sure it would be interesting to see the difference in results, or lack thereof.

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Well, I think you know that you can only raise the brightness in the middle to a certain point, and in addition you get bleaching. It's about avoiding this hotspot and you can do that by optimizing the gaps between the stripes.

Yeah, do it like @Serva says, but remember to choose the correct setting(amps, >10) and positive pole on the meter. (Most of the time the upper input pole is for high amp reading).
Ahh, and have a look at the meters maximum amp rating, my is rated to max. 10amps but it's a cheapo from e3ay.

You could use such an amperemeter and connect it in series right behind the last strip and the driver. But it needs between 4,5 and 30v/20mA to work. You can take it from a 5-12v fan driver if you have one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-0-10A-50A-100A-Panel-Digital-LED-Ammeter-Ampere-Red-Blue-Green-Meter/232535211542?var=531879737549&hash=item36242dbe16:m:mt4GICSbeDmw8PTGHqtPBDA

If you have no 12v driver you could use this one. It takes his voltage from the wall but can show you the average used power in watts.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-80-260V-LCD-Digital-20A-Volt-Watt-Power-Meter-Ammeter-Voltmeter-Useful/253212393390?rt=nc&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=2&asc=41375&meid=176d7268546641499bec97e641ee7a9e&pid=100005&rk=6&rkt=6&sd=322783318727&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

OK as a fast fix IL be putting the second driver on and I have two extra strips on hand IL throw in the mix.

X2 - Hlg240h-24a with 8 two ft strips

That should throw some light haha.

My question is.. Can I use the same power cord and wago two drivers into one power cord ?

Or make a new cord

240W / 110-120V (?) = 2-2,5A * 2 = 4-5A

Common rating for home wire and fuse is something between 10-16A (where I live). So I don‘t see a problem doing it like you described.

projectinfo said:

OK as a fast fix IL be putting the second driver on and I have two extra strips on hand IL throw in the mix.

X2 - Hlg240h-24a with 8 two ft strips

That should throw some light haha.

My question is.. Can I use the same power cord and wago two drivers into one power cord ?

Or make a new cordView attachment 4053429

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You can run both drivers to a junction box where the - and + and ground wire will all meet up in wago's. Don't forget to run a separate piece of wire from the 'ground' wago and screw the other end onto your frame. Run the power cord into the box and connect the wires to the same wagos and you're done. I like to add a switch so I can manually turn my light on or off whenever I want. You do everything exactly the same except you run your - wire from the power cord onto one pole of the switch and then run a short piece of wire from the second pole to your - wago and you're done.

Randomblame said:

Well, I think you know that you can only raise the brightness in the middle to a certain point, and in addition you get bleaching. It's about avoiding this hotspot and you can do that by optimizing the gaps between the stripes.

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I've never had bleaching on plants in my life and I typically use 400w in a 2'x4' space. There are many guys in RIU that use full power lights from seedlings and they never get bleaching. Obviously it's strain related too. I very much prefer having my photons slightly decreasing towards the edges where I have the least amount of plant material, it helps bring my yield up.

We're talking about EB strips here. All of us are buying these to spread over our canopy. You're talking about hotspots like as if we're running DE's or something. The hot spot from EB strips is minimal in most setups and will not change your yield. Sure, if you want to get all anal about it and spread your photons exactly even across the canopy and lower your light that extra half an inch then go for it! All I'm saying is that for the majority of growers, the "hot spot" is irrelevant and it's not going to change anybody's yield noticeably.
I have nothing against a guy spreading his lights out "logarithmically", whatever floats your boat. I actually appreciate when guys go the extra mile in their builds. For an expert scrogger, spacing the lights out towards the center makes a bit of sense for sure.

Yes, of course, everyone should be happy with his style.
I just wanted to make it clear that it makes good sense to divide the stripes like this. And if I recall correctly, G.Geek had a hotspot with his 1st lamp as well, which was the reason to change the strips to a "logarhytmical" division.
If you have not had any problems with hotspots, you've probably been lucky in the strain selection.
But I do not want to ride on a dead horse any more. Everyone should be happy with his style and I'm the last one to force someone to change their mind.

Danielson999 said:

You can run both drivers to a junction box where the - and + and ground wire will all meet up in wago's. Don't forget to run a separate piece of wire from the 'ground' wago and screw the other end onto your frame. Run the power cord into the box and connect the wires to the same wagos and you're done. I like to add a switch so I can manually turn my light on or off whenever I want. You do everything exactly the same except you run your - wire from the power cord onto one pole of the switch and then run a short piece of wire from the second pole to your - wago and you're done.

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One driver on full blast gets pretty hot with 14 two ft strips. Is this normal?

It sais 50c to 90c operating Temps on the front of the meanwell driver. Should cool down when I add the second driver and dial em back eh

Randomblame said:

Due to the "logarithmic" spread you lower the hotspot in the middle and increase the intensity at the edges. The result is a more homogeneous illumination and in the best case you can hang the lamp lower, so that the light can be used better and the intensity can be increased overall.
Instead of 1000 μmol in the middle and 400 at the edges at 16" you could get 1000 μmol in the middle and 800 at the edge at 12".
What do you think would yield better?
Of course, if you keep them hanging at the same height, you will not notice much difference. But if you take a lux meter and hang both lamps so that they measure for example 1000μmol in the middle, you will notice that the logarithmically distributed strips will hang lower and the sides will get much more light, as with the other higher hanging lamp.
If you have the two lights, try it. It works this way.

Click to expand...

In a sense, I have done this. Ive had 2x2 panels fashioned above one large tree, like a triangle. Ive also used 3, of the 2x2 panels over a tree, or two with the outside panels hanging angled.
I have a brainchild of a diode dome, custom designed to the shape of my current genetic structure....

Made two sets of 7 and keeping it at25% until I get a chance to test it tomorrow.

I turned it up to max for a second and yeah it's 400w bright haha.

Does the meanwell driver have a limiter to prevent me from roasting these lights if I were to leave it on full blast?

projectinfo said:

Made two sets of 7 and keeping it at25% until I get a chance to test it tomorrow.

I turned it up to max for a second and yeah it's 400w bright haha.

Does the meanwell driver have a limiter to prevent me from roasting these lights if I were to leave it on full blast?

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Nice build, Dude.

projectinfo said:

Made two sets of 7 and keeping it at25% until I get a chance to test it tomorrow.

I turned it up to max for a second and yeah it's 400w bright haha.

Does the meanwell driver have a limiter to prevent me from roasting these lights if I were to leave it on full blast?

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NO! That‘s why we see so often people bursting theire COBs, too high power with inadequate heatsinsk. So even the strips are not running that hot, you will still be able to burst the diods. The diods would acts as a ballon getting too much pressure. Or a full blasted ballon getting warm and the air expands... it will all result in the same way, the ballon will burst.