Bridgelux EB Gen 2 Thermals

Chip Green

Well-Known Member
driver choice will work with my strip choice.
It will work, but it wont do, what you said, you want to do...
That driver, will produce 7.5a at 20v...So that's going to get you closer to 500ma (7500ma/16 strips= 468ish ma per) gonna want a sink of some sort...
If you took an HLG-120H-20A, it would produce 6a at 20v (6000ma/16=375ma per) that's where you wanna be for naked, no heatsink, EB Gen2 1 footers....
 

Sandman81

Active Member
Chip,

Thanks for the quick reply.

Looks like the 120w is a popular choice.( Out of stock at digikey.ca)

Correct me if I am wrong.
My understanding of the meanwell hlg "A" suffix drivers allows adjustability on the output current.

I was hoping I could "turn it down" for now and if I feel the need to add more strips or heatsink in the future I would have the option.

Also, if there is adjustability, (but not as much as I'm assuming) adding a few more strips to the equation is a possibility as well.

Cheers
 

Chip Green

Well-Known Member
The A versions allow Voltage and Amperage adjustment via internal potentiometers.
The Voltage should be factory set to 20, then use the current POT for 50%-100% current adjustment.

You could do that, get a 150, and either add more strips, or dial it back to get the current down.
Running those strips without heatsinks, your safe up to about 500ma Id say, I run some 560mm at 1050ma naked, and they stay under 60C.
Add any sort of aluminum, even just 2mm flashing sheets and they stay ALOT cooler....Aluminum U channel really does the job.
 

Sandman81

Active Member
Thanks again,

I think I've got my head around the components involved here. (Just need that reassuring confirmation)

I decided to dial it back a bit to just 8 strips on a hlg-80h-20a which of course give me about .5a per strip with some adjustability.

I have some bare metal 1" drywall cornerbead (see below) that would be super easy to build a frame out of.

Assuming the above works (or some flashing) shoud I use screws and thermal paste to mount to strips, adhesive thermal tape or just screw it in "bare back"
 

Attachments

Chip Green

Well-Known Member
Ive gone through the whole list, screws on bare, paste and screws, thermal adhesives....
Thermal tape for the win. Its just so much easier, to attach, and remove later if needed...and it works great.
If those drywall cornerbeads are aluminum they'd probably do it, but steel isn't the best for sinking purposes. Could do the outside frame for a sheet of flashing with it though, even if it is steel...
 

HydroFood

Active Member
What up ROC pile!
Perfect driver selection, perfect match.
Same parts Iv used for multiple builds.
Quick question.
Forgive me if this in in the wrong thread (new to growing, and web forums)

I am looking at adding some more lighting to my 4 x 2 flower closet to supplement 250w @ the wall of Chinese warm white led.
(Roleadro 300wX2)

Planning on adding 2pcs x 1foot bx eb2 strips each side of my existing lights on outriggers (8 per light-16 total)

Just really looking for confirmation that my driver choice will work with my strip choice.

Not planning on any heat sinks and hopping I can run them at close to 350ma @19.5v in parallel with the listed components.

Cheers


View attachment 4275441
 

Sandman81

Active Member
Since this is a thread about thermals, I'll report.

Ended up attaching 8x280mm 3500k strips to my existing lights on a hlg-80h-20a in parallel.

Used some 1/2" PTFE sheet cut to 3"x12" wrapped in aluminum foil tape to mount them next to the exhaust on my China LEDs.

Barely warm at 500ma per strip.

Also,
Using my phone as a lux meter(best tool at my disposal) I've doubled the light output and evened out the spread on my canopy.

I'm so impressed, I'm contemplating replacing the factory LEDs in my Roleadro panels with these strips if the existing drivers can work.

Cheers
 

garyocampo

Active Member
i just bought 11 of these i'm gonna be running them at 1.3a each 300w total, in a few months i'm gonna buy 11 more of these and run them in parallel 650ma each. what kind of heatsinking if any would you guys advice? is this too little lighting for a 2f x 3f space?
 

eyderbuddy

Well-Known Member
i just bought 11 of these i'm gonna be running them at 1.3a each 300w total, in a few months i'm gonna buy 11 more of these and run them in parallel 650ma each. what kind of heatsinking if any would you guys advice? is this too little lighting for a 2f x 3f space?
300w if these is way too much for a 2x3.... think 240w max
 

noodle-led

Well-Known Member
Yeah agreed, that's way more light than you need. I run 9x at 205W at the wall in my 2.5'x2.5' grow space (32"x32" tent) and it is plenty to get 10oz from a single plant per grow.

Running at 1.3A per strip you're going to need good heatsinking, at the very least aluminum u-channel for each strip (may not be enough), or actual heatsink. At 650mA per strip, you don't even need to attach them to anything to heatsink them. You've got both ends of the spectrum there. I'd consider the cost of heatsink material and compare it to strip cost. Thermal tape and aluminum flashing I'd say are good up to 1.1A if there's a slight breeze in the tent and that's $10 worth of material. If you really want to push them at 1.3A you're going to need $50 or more in heatsinking that you could have just spent on more strips to drive them lower and would have had more even coverage too.

That said, 11 strips is already a lot for a 2x3 (coverage-wise) so I'd suggest just driving those at 1050mA with aluminum flashing and something like a HLG-240H-C1050 that will have enough voltage to drive all 11 in series.
 

garyocampo

Active Member
the only issue i found with that power supply is that the seller programs the output current using philips simpleset technology that means that if i want to change it i have to take it to the seller. i'll look into getting a meanwell driver in the future.
 

Smerc

Active Member
Yeah agreed, that's way more light than you need. I run 9x at 205W at the wall in my 2.5'x2.5' grow space (32"x32" tent) and it is plenty to get 10oz from a single plant per grow.

You're running yours @ 1.1a-1.2a?
205w gives me 21.69v @ 1.05a x 9 strips.
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Funny. I'm trying to set up a LED build for the exact same grow dimensions (32"x32") and was looking to get around 240w which would net me around 33-34w per sqft.
Using 9 strips as well.

If you're getting upwards of 10oz per plant @ 29w per sqft, then that's awesome. 1.38g/w.
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Not sure if you've changed anything since the OP other than wattage.

I'm looking at your pics here: https://www.rollitup.org/attachments/dsc04734-jpg.4098330/ & https://www.rollitup.org/attachments/dsc04736-jpg.4098331/

You're using a single 28-30"ish x 28-30"ish aluminum flashing + the L bracket stuff to hold it all together still?
Did you join several flashing sheets together? The largest I've see @ lowes is 20"w x 10'.
Is there issue of buildup of moisture w/ that setup? Don't see any holes in the flashing to exhaust air up through it (guess it all goes around the panel).

I was going to use 2x 18"x26" 18gauge baking sheets ($25) + 2x 80CFM fans, but the flashing and your amazing results seems very reasonable (not sure doable for most since you're probably very experienced in growing).
 

noodle-led

Well-Known Member
Yup I am still running this exact setup with the only change being that I've had to replace the dimmer potentiometer since the original was bad from the start. I've never had any condensation on the light panel, with an ambient (out of the tent) humidity of ~55%, I have a controller inside that runs the vent fan to keep it 60% humidity during the day and 70% humidity at night and it hasn't gotten out of hand. I even grew tomatoes in the tent in between my last grow and this one, which were the absolute worst in terms of how much moisture they transpire and the light was never a problem. The walls of the tent started to get mildew on them because the fan couldn't keep up, but the light remained fine.
DSC06708.JPG

This is my current grow. One plant taking the whole tent, three weeks into flower. I added those elastic grid trellis things this time and I bought a size too big (80cm x 80cm) so they're a bit saggy but getting the job done. You can see the light is at 179.3V and 1.095A for a total of 196W which works out to 214W at the wall. During veg 18h/4h, I ran half the panel at 50W and slowly ramped it up to the whole panel at 75W, then slowly up to 150W for the last week of veg. When I flipped 12/12 I turned it up to max power. Still a long way to go but starting to see trichomes.
DSC06715.JPG

The flashing I used I had to order from Amazon because I couldn't find the wider stuff locally, it is "AMERIMAX HOME PRODUCTS 66324 Aluminum Flashing" 24inx10ft 0.0078" thick and yeah I still have like 7.5ft of it sitting around. It was $17 shipped I think? There's more details about the light construction in the thread "Keep adding more features, EB Gen2 build". My last grow I had a bit of an issue with it because I had a pretty uneven plant that exploded in the stretch, so two colas were pressed against the light panel bent over and the rest were 6-8" away. There was just nowhere for the plant to go! This time I got it pretty even.

This is only my fourth grow, the third with that panel, although it sees continuous use as I grow other things in it as well. Green peppers, thai chilies, san marzano tomatoes, spinach, lettuces, coriander, and french lavender. Only the tomatoes didn't do well, mostly because they were just out of control and it took near daily work to keep them pruned, the fan was really loud trying to keep the humidity down, and the tomatoes were kinda smallish even for san marzanos. I might have overcrowded the tent though with two plants now that I think about it.

Oh wait! I have made a change, I have an old Intel CPU heatsink fan stuck on top of the HLG-185H-C1050. It got pretty warm although not so hot I couldn't hold my hand on it indefinitely. I already had 12V coming to run the controller and far red LEDs so I just tacked it on with a knob so it barely runs.
 

Smerc

Active Member
There's more details about the light construction in the thread "Keep adding more features, EB Gen2 build".
I'm going to check out that thread and figure out the panel.
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THANK YOU!!! for all the feedback. Very much appreciated. Answered all my questions and then some!
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I'm probably just going to get the HLG-240H-C1400(251w max) + 9x 560mm strips and use the potentiometer to regulate it to around 1.1a (+ regulate lower during seedling/veg/late veg as you've done). Going to have to figure out how to hook up a voltmeter or just use a kill-a-watt.

Thanks once again!
 

noodle-led

Well-Known Member
All that green light is going to come in handy penetrating that bunch.
Haha yeah it is a mess in there. Everything below the lowest elastic grid is pretty thinned out but the canopy is pretty dense. I always think I should defoliate the top so I get bigger buds lower down, but my yields are high enough to meet my needs and have plenty to give away to friends so I'm not sure it would be worth the effort. One of these times I am definitely going to strip half the plant and see if one side grows more than the other, but it is too late on this round.
 

garyocampo

Active Member
just some follow up on my last grow running 300watts on a 2 by 3.
1 plant yielded 150g
1 plant yielded 130g
1 plant 80
1 plant 125
and the other 2 I had to move into another tent because it was packed in there. one day you remove some leafs and the next you are back to having a jungle, impressive.
 
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