Cree Newbie and all that jazz

NunyaBiznass said:
I think I will go with the EB3 590s they are just small enough to fit and overkill at 20 seems like the way to go! Would the mean well 2100 driver you used in your build in November be enough for 20 of the lights? Also pigtails, I have a soldering iron and all that but was assuming there would be a proprietary pigtail for the driver, or do you just grab your own?

final question (suuuure it is!!!) are you using solid indoor wiring or multi strand dc wiring on the boards? What ever the max gauge wiring that will fit is what I will use. The overkill comment was literally right on the money. I’ll have to post up some old photos of the cars later, won a few dub shows without stupid butterfly doors so you know they made me work for it!
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Many people use solid core wire for the board/strip connections ( board/strip manufacturers also recommend the same).

Stranded wire comes in handy for your driver to connectors (wago 221 series are a common choice for connectors) run because it's much more flexible than solid core. This can be especially helpful if you choose to remote mount your driver. If you need to, you can tin the ends of the stranded wire with a soldering iron. It's also a good idea to do this if you ever do use stranded wire for board/strip connections.
 
20x 2 foot strips will be for sure enough.
as 20 is the given min. order qty. it makes the decission essier for the driver.

i dont think you will need 320W in 2x2, not even with CO2, the voltages on the eb3 slim are also slight different then the 2 foot EB3.
@Rocket Soul is deep in to the eb3´s atm.
think some nice driving option could be a maxed out 36V driver or a 42V driver.
would need to check which constant current driver would be a good fit, but first one need to decide for the needed wattage.

120W will do perform allready good in a 2x2, could imagine it will be hard to give the plants more then 150W in that space.
considering the strips will work quite efficient are well spread and quite near to the tops.
would choose a A/B or B driver for the dimming capabilities anyway, so there is some room.
for exaclty 20 strips there arent tons of options.
named 36 or 42V drivers, or maybe a XLG 240 M A/B type
there 4 groups at each 5 in series, should be about 96V if i am right.
thats on the low end of the 240w driver, giving 2100mA max.
200W you can get out of it this way, maybe a tad more in real world idk.
there are for sure more driver options.
with a external dimmer you can dimm down to 10%.

and for "filtered", real RO water or just these desk filters?
RO is nice, these water softener desk filters are crap and should be avoided.
theyre ion exchange filters and exhange to sodium, baaaah.
they hardly lower the ec anyway.
 
cobshopgrow said:
20x 2 foot strips will be for sure enough.
as 20 is the given min. order qty. it makes the decission essier for the driver.

i dont think you will need 320W in 2x2, not even with CO2, the voltages on the eb3 slim are also slight different then the 2 foot EB3.
@Rocket Soul is deep in to the eb3´s atm.
think some nice driving option could be a maxed out 36V driver or a 42V driver.
would need to check which constant current driver would be a good fit, but first one need to decide for the needed wattage.

120W will do perform allready good in a 2x2, could imagine it will be hard to give the plants more then 150W in that space.
considering the strips will work quite efficient are well spread and quite near to the tops.
would choose a A/B or B driver for the dimming capabilities anyway, so there is some room.
for exaclty 20 strips there arent tons of options.
named 36 or 42V drivers, or maybe a XLG 240 M A/B type
there 4 groups at each 5 in series, should be about 96V if i am right.
thats on the low end of the 240w driver, giving 2100mA max.
200W you can get out of it this way, maybe a tad more in real world idk.
there are for sure more driver options.
with a external dimmer you can dimm down to 10%.

and for "filtered", real RO water or just these desk filters?
RO is nice, these water softener desk filters are crap and should be avoided.
theyre ion exchange filters and exhange to sodium, baaaah.
they hardly lower the ec anyway.
Click to expand...
I ordered the aluminum for the base yesterday and will probably order the LEDs today or tomorrow. Looks like I will still be researching on the power supply to make sure I get that right and I don’t understand all the parameters yet. I understand series and parallel wiring and how to raise and lower the voltage but since I haven’t played with them yet I’m not so sure on the driver so that’s why I’ll wait so I know I grab the right one. Maybe @Rocket Soul will have a recommendation on a driver for 20 of the strips :)

my water here is VERY bad and I did not have a ppm or any water testers so I use a Brita filter for now. The regular water has enormous amounts of chlorine and particulates so I know the filtered water isn’t ideal but better than what I have from the tap! I did order my water testers so I’ll have them soon and I am only a month from harvest so this showed up late and I think I can remedy.
right now I am using advanced nutrients 3 part at 1/2 oz each per gal. I’m going to bump up the calcium magnesium to 1oz on the next feed. Luckily it showed up later and I think I can get a handle on it.
 
NunyaBiznass said:
I ordered the aluminum for the base yesterday and will probably order the LEDs today or tomorrow. Looks like I will still be researching on the power supply to make sure I get that right and I don’t understand all the parameters yet. I understand series and parallel wiring and how to raise and lower the voltage but since I haven’t played with them yet I’m not so sure on the driver so that’s why I’ll wait so I know I grab the right one. Maybe @Rocket Soul will have a recommendation on a driver for 20 of the strips :)

my water here is VERY bad and I did not have a ppm or any water testers so I use a Brita filter for now. The regular water has enormous amounts of chlorine and particulates so I know the filtered water isn’t ideal but better than what I have from the tap! I did order my water testers so I’ll have them soon and I am only a month from harvest so this showed up late and I think I can remedy.
right now I am using advanced nutrients 3 part at 1/2 oz each per gal. I’m going to bump up the calcium magnesium to 1oz on the next feed. Luckily it showed up later and I think I can get a handle on it.
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You could do this with xlg m drivers but im still wrapping my head around them, their a bit funny like with their internal dimming working a bit weird. Also i dislike recing drivers with high voltage due to the increased risk and not being sure how much voltage the connectors of the ebs really can take. Its sometthing id wanna try before recing.

If youre really going to use 20 strips for 120w i guess id say Meanwell hlg120-36A or even better AB at the end. Youd use 2 in series and as long as the driver follows spec and report youd be able to fit your strips in to the voltage range:
https://www.meanwell-web.com/content/files/pdfs/productPdfs/MW/HLG-120H/HLG-120H-36-rpt.pdf
Should go up to 40V with internal voltage regulation (report sayss upto 41V and i usually accurate) and eb gen3 at 8ish watts each have a fV of approx 18.9V so if you can avoid losing voltage in long connections you could just about fit them in. If you want a safer bet use hlg120-42AB.

Constant current is also possible, i think the hlg120-c1400 would be the closest match with around 108V top iirc, youd gave to double check the datasheet. That would make 4 strings of 5 strips each but youd miss out on about 10% of the output but youd still have more than plenty for your 2x2. My best guess is around 950-1000ppfd.
 
Rocket Soul said:
You could do this with xlg m drivers but im still wrapping my head around them, their a bit funny like with their internal dimming working a bit weird. Also i dislike recing drivers with high voltage due to the increased risk and not being sure how much voltage the connectors of the ebs really can take. Its sometthing id wanna try before recing.

If youre really going to use 20 strips for 120w i guess id say Meanwell hlg120-36A or even better AB at the end. Youd use 2 in series and as long as the driver follows spec and report youd be able to fit your strips in to the voltage range:
https://www.meanwell-web.com/content/files/pdfs/productPdfs/MW/HLG-120H/HLG-120H-36-rpt.pdf
Should go up to 40V with internal voltage regulation (report sayss upto 41V and i usually accurate) and eb gen3 at 8ish watts each have a fV of approx 18.9V so if you can avoid losing voltage in long connections you could just about fit them in. If you want a safer bet use hlg120-42AB.

Constant current is also possible, i think the hlg120-c1400 would be the closest match with around 108V top iirc, youd gave to double check the datasheet. That would make 4 strings of 5 strips each but youd miss out on about 10% of the output but youd still have more than plenty for your 2x2. My best guess is around 950-1000ppfd.
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Could I basically just build out two zones with your original recommendation of 10 lights and a driver so I’d have the convenience of having two lights in one? I have a smart plug coming with timers and all that so could run one zone when it’s too much and two for flower or whenever I need max light?
I think the biggest confusion for me is the relative energy I will be getting. If I’m designing a light for between 120-150 watts I’m not sure if that will only be 20-50% better than the mars hydro 600 I am currently using which draws about 100 and I can’t reconcile either VS a 600-1000w HPS other than night and day difference in heat. The cost of this light will be around 3-400 total it appears but I don’t know what the final product will compare to. I know building a 100 watt light will be better than what I have now it’s just so confusing when it’s new!

I learn best by just doing so I’m ordering up my crap and will start assembling as items come in.
You guys have been really helpful and I hope to make a light that makes everyone proud!
 
@cobshopgrow @Rocket Soul well as I had promised it would take me a while but I have finally put together my first light thanks to you two! I will use my Mars Hydro to veg and then put this monster in for flowering. Current harvest is set for tomorrow so will be germinating some GG4XPurp for a SOG and see what difference this makes!
Any input or advise is always welcome. She’s a bit ugly but overall I think not too bad. She literally barely fits. Had to order l bracket corners so it now uses the frame as a track

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cobshopgrow said:
nice, thats a shitload of light for a 2x2 tent, let us know how it works out.
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Lol, yeah that's why I was going to wait until flower to put her in :). Do you think 24" from the tops will be too close? I can turn her down but didn't get the B model so I can't add a dimmer but I'm going to mount the driver remotely and will have access.
 
yeah, could be too much.
i saw the A model and thought, huh that will be a lot light for a 2x2 with refelctive walls that close by.
we will see, in best case they simply take it, but i would start on lowest setting possible.
lets see how it work out, am curious.
 
cobshopgrow said:
yeah, could be too much.
i saw the A model and thought, huh that will be a lot light for a 2x2 with refelctive walls that close by.
we will see, in best case they simply take it, but i would start on lowest setting possible.
lets see how it work out, am curious.
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I’m going to veg with the Mars 600 to be safe and build up a strong root zone. When I do flip to flower I’ll take her down to about 150 watts and see where it goes since that seems to be the consensus on max for this tent my CO2 ranges from 900-1200 but I’m going to see how raising it will adjust what they can take. Will play with distance too.
I’m always ok with turning it down-it’s the maxing out my light before my plants are maxed that frustrates me!
 
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