Ideal thermal interface for EB strips?

Those boards are not designed to be driven hard, you can drive them hard but they are not designed to be driven hard. They are great because of the price point but to keep them lasting you need to use alot of them to get enough power and longevity. Boards like that are made by alot of manufacturers, tridonic sell shit loads of them to the lighting industry

Bought a 10 pack of Gennel silver grease, looked like good thermal conductivity and non corrosive and doesn't have a shelf life like most others.

TEKNIK said:

Those boards are not designed to be driven hard, you can drive them hard but they are not designed to be driven hard. They are great because of the price point but to keep them lasting you need to use alot of them to get enough power and longevity. Boards like that are made by alot of manufacturers, tridonic sell shit loads of them to the lighting industry

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So, what do you consider driven hard?
The test current is 700ma on the 560mm and 1120mm, many of us are running at that level. Some of mine run at 1050ma, completely bare, and don't even come close to the data sheet maximum temps. These particular EB series emitters we're designed to be run without heatsinks, and many hobby builders have proven that to be true. Total curcuit voltage drop of less than 1% on my builds, from cold start, to full temp.
Many of us have a different idea of what you may consider "longevity". I've had the same EB series Gen1 emitters running in perpetual gardens for over 2 years. The minimal investment has paid for itself over, and over, and over, and over. I've run some panels at the "max" amperage for multiple grow cycles and have still yet to have a strip fail.
I think these things can handle alot more than they are credited with.

I mean degregation over the lifetime, to be honest these are so cheap you could swap them out every 2 years and not worry about lifetime. What ever they rate them at regarding current should be what they are run at, you will find that they only need to get a bit hotter to degregate much faster. But if you plan on changing them out to new generations ever 2 years then it doesn't matter too much

TEKNIK said:

I mean degregation over the lifetime, to be honest these are so cheap you could swap them out every 2 years and not worry about lifetime. What ever they rate them at regarding current should be what they are run at, you will find that they only need to get a bit hotter to degregate much faster. But if you plan on changing them out to new generations ever 2 years then it doesn't matter too much

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That's a good point. I get all horny to make this thing efficient and last forever, but the technology will be old and cheap before it's halfway through its' lifetime. Hence why I'm aiming for dirt cheap diy.

Most thermal pastes from my research are good for 50-250c in temps. Do these strips even get to 50?

I run 1ft Eb2s at
500mA
On 1/8 x 14 x 1.5” aluminum strips using cheap amazon thermal tape
Ambient temp 69F
Strips barely rose above 105F

I read the entire Eb thermals thread before I started building and wasn’t worried one bit. This build has performed beautifully.

Doesn’t it raise your suspicions that it doesn’t have a shelf life like most on the market?
Makes me wonder.

Hadez411 said:

Bought a 10 pack of Gennel silver grease, looked like good thermal conductivity and non corrosive and doesn't have a shelf life like most others.
View attachment 4307652 View attachment 4307653

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HydroFood said:

I run 1ft Eb2s at
500mA
On 1/8 x 14 x 1.5” aluminum strips using cheap amazon thermal tape
Ambient temp 69F
Strips barely rose above 105F

I read the entire Eb thermals thread before I started building and wasn’t worried one bit. This build has performed beautifully.
View attachment 4307900

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Interesting. I’m running 9 at 700ma. 2 foot strips. Didn’t think they got that high. That’s internal temp correct? I’m on a .25 aluminum sheet.

HydroFood said:

Doesn’t it raise your suspicions that it doesn’t have a shelf life like most on the market?
Makes me wonder.

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None of the silver pastes on digikey had an expiry either

So that company is just adding fluff to their listing.
Iv never used the stuff but I’d definitely stay away from generic amazon.
How do similar products from digi compare?

Hadez411 said:

None of the silver pastes on digikey had an expiry either

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What do you mean by didn’t think they got that high? And internal temp?
Recorded temp at the back of each strip.

Skoal said:

Interesting. I’m running 9 at 700ma. 2 foot strips. Didn’t think they got that high. That’s internal temp correct? I’m on a .25 aluminum sheet.

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