I made a DIY flower tent from an old canvas shoe rack and needed a light. The dimensions are 60x30x90cm. Not many quality lights out there to fit the space so I decided to build my own.
After searching online and reading guides I opted for a strip build. Part of this plan was to keep costs as low as possible so I went with the 280mm Bridgelux EB Gen 2 strips in 3500K.
Parts list
8 x Bridgelux EB Gen 2 LED strips
1 x ELG-150-C700A driver
1 x 300x400mm 3mm thick aluminium plate
1 x waterproof connector
18 AWG wire
Bootlace ferrules
25M of 30mm thermal tape
1 x AC side 3A plug and wire
2 x wire connectors
Cable ties and electrical tape
I had a couple of bits already laying around so only spent £73.10. With those added you're probably looking at about £80 All in.
So for my space I was aiming for about 60W with the option for higher power. The strips nominal current is 350mA and the chosen driver is adjustable 350-700mA. As I'd be running the strips fairly soft I decided not to bother with a heatsink. Some may argue against this but that's the choice I made. Here's some voltage and power calculations for the strips wired in series with the constant current driver.
I cut two 300mm x 30mm and two 280 x 10mm strips to create a frame for the strips to be mounted on with a 15mm gap between each strip. Excuse the wonky one I lost concentration for a second and that thermal tape is like super glue.
Here's the driver.
All connected up I tweaked the internal dimmer until I had 60W on the socket meter. Then tested the voltage across the 8 strips which read at 152.6VDC. So the current should be around 390mA. After running for 30 mins I could still hold my hand on the strips or frame no problem and testing several spots around the strips and frame the temperature didn't exceed 32.2C.
I still need to mount this into the tent and do some further tests after being on for a longer time but so far so good. Cheap, easy to build and really bright. First grow will be the real test for it.
After searching online and reading guides I opted for a strip build. Part of this plan was to keep costs as low as possible so I went with the 280mm Bridgelux EB Gen 2 strips in 3500K.
Parts list
8 x Bridgelux EB Gen 2 LED strips
1 x ELG-150-C700A driver
1 x 300x400mm 3mm thick aluminium plate
1 x waterproof connector
18 AWG wire
Bootlace ferrules
25M of 30mm thermal tape
1 x AC side 3A plug and wire
2 x wire connectors
Cable ties and electrical tape
I had a couple of bits already laying around so only spent £73.10. With those added you're probably looking at about £80 All in.
So for my space I was aiming for about 60W with the option for higher power. The strips nominal current is 350mA and the chosen driver is adjustable 350-700mA. As I'd be running the strips fairly soft I decided not to bother with a heatsink. Some may argue against this but that's the choice I made. Here's some voltage and power calculations for the strips wired in series with the constant current driver.
I cut two 300mm x 30mm and two 280 x 10mm strips to create a frame for the strips to be mounted on with a 15mm gap between each strip. Excuse the wonky one I lost concentration for a second and that thermal tape is like super glue.
Here's the driver.
All connected up I tweaked the internal dimmer until I had 60W on the socket meter. Then tested the voltage across the 8 strips which read at 152.6VDC. So the current should be around 390mA. After running for 30 mins I could still hold my hand on the strips or frame no problem and testing several spots around the strips and frame the temperature didn't exceed 32.2C.
I still need to mount this into the tent and do some further tests after being on for a longer time but so far so good. Cheap, easy to build and really bright. First grow will be the real test for it.
)))
But I'd say it's definitely worth looking at building your own. This is the first plant grown under it but it seems to be loving it.
I have some interesting ideas around the light spectrum, but lack this sort of know how.
