What is a good addition to 3500k LEDs?

I have 480W of 3500k bridgelux eb gen 2. They do well. I'm looking at amping up the wattage a bit to 600W max. What would be the best addition? I already have some 5000k veg leds.

2700k full spec LED? A small HPS? Some ~750nm red diodes? Please give your product suggestions with cost and lm/W.

Thx

Is this 974mm long Emerson Effect Booster board too long for your setup? https://www.rapidled.com/emerson-effect-booster-board/

Isawthelight said:

Is this 974mm long Emerson Effect Booster board too long for your setup? https://www.rapidled.com/emerson-effect-booster-board/

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Looks like something I could use. Think I may try to make it from components though, as it's kinda pricey for how simple it is and how low the wattage is.

If price is an issue - I'm using 3500K and am in the process of adding custom rigid strips from an alibaba manufacturer. 2:1 660nm:730nm ratio like the rapidled thing, custom length. Just contact some led PCB maker and they could make something for you. In my case 150w of strips for less $ than a single rapidled emerson unit. (Which admittedly is probably better)

10WeekFlushBro said:

If price is an issue - I'm using 3500K and am in the process of adding custom rigid strips from an alibaba manufacturer. 2:1 660nm:730nm ratio like the rapidled thing, custom length. Just contact some led PCB maker and they could make something for you. In my case 150w of strips for less $ than a single rapidled emerson unit. (Which admittedly is probably better)

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Haven't dabbled in Alibaba yet but I'm intrigued and think I will try it. They also have amazingly cheap pin fin heatsinks

Cutter.com.au
Have some great deals on crees new XPGs, best efficiency around afaik and i think they come in less than a $ per watt.
Im on airplane wifi (living the dream) so cutters web wont load for me so no link, @welight should be able to tell you more, they got some 3 led, 4" mini strips with solderless connection, some ability to mix and match nm but id allways go for separate channel for far red for end of day treatment and to be able to dial the far red up or down. For some indicas more stretch is better, to not get buds too thick and mold prone.
Iirc 660s go all the way up 4V at 1500mA at over 3 umols/w, thats more or less twice what youd be able to squeeze out of normal 3w chips, and aprox 3 times the output of osram squares.
This higher than usual max amp; take it to account if you mix and match chips as some of the chips in the list are happier below 700mA.

Alibaba reds: usually epistars or if theyre cree they will generally not be top bin. Ive been happy with many boards bought on alibaba, great price for what it is, and in any case i leverage diode count more than chase top bin. But on china reds id probablyt take a pass. What ive seen have been similar priced to sponsors and reputables, in US and in my region. No point in getting them if youre youre not able to get 2 or 3:1 on price.

Heres the link: https://www.cutter.com.au/product/cutter-80-sxp-custom/

I also like their solstrips, so many combos with some really interesting spectrums and monos. Got some 2000k with near uv for my self for flower boost

Id suggest you talk to them to get a clear picture of etas and such, sometimes they are really slammed and out of stock I had to wait a bit but in the end they came thru with some custom strips im hoping to get up, as soon as we can get a new location.

Rocket Soul said:

Heres the link: https://www.cutter.com.au/product/cutter-80-sxp-custom/

I also like their solstrips, so many combos with some really interesting spectrums and monos. Got some 2000k with near uv for my self for flower boost

Id suggest you talk to them to get a clear picture of etas and such, sometimes they are really slammed and out of stock I had to wait a bit but in the end they came thru with some custom strips im hoping to get up, as soon as we can get a new location.

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I assume I'll get hit with duties and shipping, ordering from an Australian site. No?

If there's something like that on Digikey that'd be great but I'm not finding it

Cutter has some really interesting products. I just wish that combined cost with shipping was a bit more reasonable. Long way from Oz.

GBAUTO said:

Cutter has some really interesting products. I just wish that combined cost with shipping was a bit more reasonable. Long way from Oz.

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I'm looking at adding a luminus cxm-22 (COB) gen 4, 2700k running at 60w. However I don't like that it isn't really hitting its peak on the deep red area and with a heatsink it's more than strips cost.

Can anyone give me the skinny (or a link) on making your own boards with individual diodes? I just got a fine soldering kit and did a bunch of soldering on some tiny cobs with teeeeny weeny little soldering pads (1/16"?) so I think doing my own custom board full of 650nm and IR diodes may be the next reasonable challenge step if I wanna stay cost efficient.

I could use reccomendations on Digi key diodes that would be cost effective and efficient.

Do I even need to worry about adding IR since my 3500k strips are considered a "full spectrum white" and have some ir? Perhaps I just need 650nm. As far as the indicas go I'd be fine with just the 3500k. My sativas seem to be in need of some more red light to cut down on their stretch.

Im still waiting to try out a bunch of ir i bought.
If you dont dont problems with cold, or vpd/transpiration related problems id forgo IR to start with. You can get the same or results by raising temps.
I got mine due to large and by wintertime cold open space instead of tent grow.
And also for the kicks of trying something new. But there is not really any data to show it as necessary.

The main spectrum tweaks being proposed around the interwebs are reds (id go for separate channels for farreds and reds for end of day treatment) and some deeper blue or UV.

Rocket Soul said:

Im still waiting to try out a bunch of ir i bought.
If you dont dont problems with cold, or vpd/transpiration related problems id forgo IR to start with. You can get the same or results by raising temps.
I got mine due to large and by wintertime cold open space instead of tent grow.
And also for the kicks of trying something new. But there is not really any data to show it as necessary.

The main spectrum tweaks being proposed around the interwebs are reds (id go for separate channels for farreds and reds for end of day treatment) and some deeper blue or UV.

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Thanks! Your reply helps a lot and gives me something to look into.