Need help building bridgelux eb gen 2 grow light.

Zbud94

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
Hi all I’ve decided to pull the trigger and plunge into the led world.
I have a 20inch x 36inch x 62 inch tall tent.
I want to hit 35-40 Watts per square foot. So 5 square foot tent I would like 200 Watts.
I was thinking the bridgelux eb gen2 3500k led strips. 15-20 280mm strips.

Which driver would I need to power this and I would also like a dimmer switch. If anyone can please point me in the right direction I would really appreciate the help. Thank you.

One more thought could I use 250 maybe 300 Watts in my size tent ? Thanks
 
Zbud94

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
I’m needing help understanding which driver will work with what setup of strips. So I’m looking at ledgardener.com at the strip build page. From what I’ve gathered if I have say 15 bridgelux eb strips they would run at 20 volts ? But the size makes the current differ ? Am I on the right track ? So if I wanted to get roughly 200 Watts I could go with the HLG-185H-20B with the 15 280mm EB strips. I’m very confused
 
GBAUTO

GBAUTO

Well-Known Member
I think that if you want to use the 'B' version of the driver, you will need to use the HLG-185H-24B. The 20B won't be able to provide enough forward voltage. The 'A' version has the ability to make minor adjustments on output voltage so the '20A' would work.
 
Serva

Serva

Well-Known Member
Zbud94 said:
Hi all I’ve decided to pull the trigger and plunge into the led world.
I have a 20inch x 36inch x 62 inch tall tent.
I want to hit 35-40 Watts per square foot. So 5 square foot tent I would like 200 Watts.
I was thinking the bridgelux eb gen2 3500k led strips. 15-20 280mm strips.

Which driver would I need to power this and I would also like a dimmer switch. If anyone can please point me in the right direction I would really appreciate the help. Thank you.

One more thought could I use 250 maybe 300 Watts in my size tent ? Thanks
Click to expand...
40w/sqft seems already pretty much. Get your plants used to it slowly, think about light stress if you see plant problems going 30+w/sqft. The distance between strips and canopy may be less than 5“. It‘s quite efficient light this way. If you want produce more, the easiest way is to make your grow space bigger. Otherwise you would need to learn how to handle co2, make a small diy unit or something.
 
nfhiggs

nfhiggs

Well-Known Member
Zbud94 said:
Hi all I’ve decided to pull the trigger and plunge into the led world.
I have a 20inch x 36inch x 62 inch tall tent.
I want to hit 35-40 Watts per square foot. So 5 square foot tent I would like 200 Watts.
I was thinking the bridgelux eb gen2 3500k led strips. 15-20 280mm strips.

Which driver would I need to power this and I would also like a dimmer switch. If anyone can please point me in the right direction I would really appreciate the help. Thank you.

One more thought could I use 250 maybe 300 Watts in my size tent ? Thanks
Click to expand...
HLG-185H-20A is what I would recommend.

I would go with a dozen of them. You'd be hard pressed to squeeze 20 of them in there since they are 25mm wide (slightly under an inch) and you've only got 20 inches of width to work with. Your going to want some space in between them for air flow.

No need to go higher than 200W, IMO.
 
Randomblame

Randomblame

Well-Known Member
You can also use an HLG-185H-C1050B which is a constant current driver with 190vdc. You could use 3x 9 1footers, 9 in series, 3 times in parallel. Each strip would get its 350mA and run with 175lm/w.
You could also use 2x 9 strips in 2p9s circuit and run them at 525mA and 170lm/w.
Or if you want to run them hard an HLG-185H-C1400B has enough voltage for 2x 7 strips in 2p7s so with 700mA per strip. It depends on your desired effiency and how much you are willing to pay for that.

Screenshot_20180310-100955.png
 
Zbud94

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
To be completely honest I’m looking for a grow light that will light my 20x36inch space that has height restriction of 5 feet. I’m looking for a light I can dim down to 100 Watts or so and can also push it up around 200 Watts when I need to. Even if the efficiency isn’t the best it will be alright. I’m just looking to grow a little personal smoke but want to make sure I get a decent amount for everyone else lol.
 
Zbud94

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
nfhiggs said:
HLG-185H-20A is what I would recommend.

I would go with a dozen of them. You'd be hard pressed to squeeze 20 of them in there since they are 25mm wide (slightly under an inch) and you've only got 20 inches of width to work with. Your going to want some space in between them for air flow.

No need to go higher than 200W, IMO.
Click to expand...
What I was thinking is running the 1 foot strips run 15 one foot strips with 1 inch spacing along the length of the tent so 36 inches. Say the strips are 1 inch wide with 1 inch apart multiplied by 15 strips get you 30 inches or so... then with the framing say an 2 inches I now have 2 inches extra on each side of my tent. Then I was think since my tent is 20 inches wide and I’m using 1foot strips I still have 4 inches on each side that isn’t covered. What if I ran an out strip length wise down the side of the tent? So I’d have 15 strips in the middle of the light frame then have 3 strips running down the lengths of the frame. If I could draw it out I would. Maybe I’ll get really stoned and try my luck at drawing... I’m a 3rd grader when it comes to drawing lol.
 
1

1212ham

Well-Known Member
GBAUTO said:
I think that if you want to use the 'B' version of the driver, you will need to use the HLG-185H-24B. The 20B won't be able to provide enough forward voltage. The 'A' version has the ability to make minor adjustments on output voltage so the '20A' would work.
Click to expand...
Gen-2 strips are 19.5v. Maybe you are thinking of the 1st Gen that run 22v?

In my 20" x 36" I used 18 of the 280mm strips, very even light spread. I can post a drawing if needed. I used an HLG-240H-42B because I already had it. Later I added a 560mm strip vertically in each corner. They just hang by the wire from the top cross bars of the tent.

@Randomblame, Running 250 watts (flower) I get 55,000 lux at the canopy with the corner strips on and 65,000 with them off. Strips 15cm over canopy. Any thoughts?

EB gen-2 - Copy.JPG
 
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Zbud94

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
  1. It seems the gen 2 eb series are out of stock on digi key. Can I get away with the first gen and still have decent efficiency ? around 4200 lumen lose at 200 Watts could be made up by using 27 extra Watts if I’m correct ?
 
Randomblame

Randomblame

Well-Known Member
1212ham said:
Gen-2 strips are 19.5v. Maybe you are thinking of the 1st Gen that run 22v?

In my 20" x 36" I used 18 of the 280mm strips, very even light spread. I can post a drawing if needed. I used an HLG-240H-42B because I already had it. Later I added a 560mm strip vertically in each corner. They just hang by the wire from the top cross bars of the tent.

@Randomblame, Running 250 watts (flower) I get 55,000 lux at the canopy with the corner strips on and 65,000 with them off. Strips 15cm over canopy. Any thoughts?

View attachment 4103427
Click to expand...
Hmmm!
Are the vertical strips connected to the same 42v driver. If yes, the current is divided thru 4 more strips, so less intensity from above but additional intensity in the corners.
The small white dome of a lux meter limits the incident light to an angle of 120 maybe 140°. With smartphone sensor the angle would be even smaller. You can not measure two light sources at the same time, when these shine in two different directions (one horizontal + one vertical). There is not less light it's simply more spreaded ..
 
Canadain Closet Gardener

Canadain Closet Gardener

Well-Known Member
I have the same tent and am using 33 eb Gen1 one footers. I could add 6 more but waiting for my Far Reds.
This light is just temporary as it's going in a 5x3 tent.
It will give you an idea on how to place your strips.
20180301_001227.jpg
In the tent
20180302_234108.jpg

Also why not the HLG-240H-20B that will give you around 50w a max per square feet.
I would go with 15 or 18 one foot strips. That's just me.
Cheers
CCG
 
1

1212ham

Well-Known Member
Randomblame said:
Hmmm!
Are the vertical strips connected to the same 42v driver. If yes, the current is divided thru 4 more strips, so less intensity from above but additional intensity in the corners.
The small white dome of a lux meter limits the incident light to an angle of 120 maybe 140°. With smartphone sensor the angle would be even smaller. You can not measure two light sources at the same time, when these shine in two different directions (one horizontal + one vertical). There is not less light it's simply more spreaded ..
Click to expand...
Yes, that's the situation, all strips connect to the same 240w driver. Do you think it's good to run 50w/ft. if there's no light burn and1/3 of the light is on the sides with 55,000 lux on top for flower? The top of the verticals is just a little below the canopy. Since plants are 3 dimensional, I'm wondering if watts per square foot is a poor way to measure? I wish that dome on my lux meter was a sphere. ;)
 
Zbud94

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
Canadain Closet Gardener said:
I have the same tent and am using 33 eb Gen1 one footers. I could add 6 more but waiting for my Far Reds.
This light is just temporary as it's going in a 5x3 tent.
It will give you an idea on how to place your strips.
View attachment 4103559
In the tent
View attachment 4103564

Also why not the HLG-240H-20B that will give you around 50w a max per square feet.
I would go with 15 or 18 one foot strips. That's just me.
Cheers
CCG
Click to expand...
How close are you running your lights from the canopy ?
 
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