InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time

[KingJoe83]

We are not there with the snow yet but the temps have been dipping into the low 20'sF consistently. That is not supposed to happen for another month or so. People talk about global warming well it's not happening here. I used to not put my bikes up until after Thanksgiving. The last several years I haven't made it to Halloween riding. Spring drags out to. I swear we are down to two seasons, summer and winter.

Yeah no global warming here smith .

I call it bundle up strap in and hang on season lol

 

[KingJoe83]

Yeah, I think they said minus 31C last night with wind chill...Brrrrr...37 more days and I'm outta' here!...cheerz...h00k......

Coldest I’ve felt was in Alberta lac la Biche hit minus 52 but it’s a dry cold there .

Was super intense !!

I like cold but just doses .

Problem is these days I can’t or don’t want to sit still . But look out the window and see that be liek no thansk

 

[CraZysWeeD]

Okay, but after PGR said read that link to the LED DIY website, they had the Q-series as most efficient and the F series as top ranked. And the H series last!

Also, I was thinking of mounting these the long way along the 4' length rather than creating a ladder with them. Is that okay when I start looking at sizes? I'm covering about 2x4.

Sure u can mount them any way you like. That's the beauty of these led strips. There is a lot of info in that thread I'm not going in to the details about them there are most certainly lots of aspects regarding parameters here and there. I'm going on what he always said to me about the inFlux_L04, and they fit my driver almost perfect. I get 370W with my Logic 100 boards, that will most certainly be enough for a 2*2 tent.

They were dirt cheap as well paid 600kr/60$ for four of them. Sure I have to pay some extra tax and customs but thats like 20$ extra. The shipping was for free with UPS.

...we only have 3 seasons...winter's coming, winter's here, winter's going......

...winters here......

Look at that global warming...

 

[InTheShed]

I knew that would get you. That was intentional. The big lakes up here govern the weather more than people not from the area think. The weather here is strongly influenced by the jet stream which is in turn influnced by the temps in the Pacific. I get it.

I take any opportunity to educate! You may have been joking but some folks read that and say "yeah...see?"

...we only have 3 seasons...winter's coming, winter's here, winter's going......
...winters here......
...cheerz...h00k......

Gotta say hook, that's a beautiful pic. And if I was dressed for it I'd be up for a quick lunch on that jetty .

I’d bring your way but then I see these beautiful plants and say I can’t do that to a good man no matter my sniffles

I appreciate that and so do the plants!

I think mounting them longways as opposed to ladder like is a fine choice Shed. Blacksmiths was some that way and looks awesome - I assume we’ll be hearing from him soon sometime about how it’s worked out. Most of the others I’ve seen have racked the strips up longways like that too

Sure u can mount them any way you like. That's the beauty of these led strips. There is a lot of info in that thread I'm not going in to the details about them there are most certainly lots of aspects regarding parameters here and there. I'm going on what he always said to me about the inFlux_L04, and they fit my driver almost perfect. I get 370W with my Logic 100 boards, that will most certainly be enough for a 2*2 tent.
They were dirt cheap as well paid 600kr/60$ for four of them. Sure I have to pay some extra tax and customs but thats like 20$ extra. The shipping was for free with UPS.

The difference would be how many to buy and how long they should be. Rider had me with 3 double row strips at $50 each and I think they were 4' each (so that would cover the 2x4 area). If I'm now getting single row strips that are 22" long, am I stacking them end to end (44") and getting 6 rows (to make up for the double rows of Rider's strips)? That would be 12 pieces vs 3. Or do I stagger them?
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which is still 12.

Or is 12 strips overkill? I don't need these to mimic the sun, just be more coverage than the MarsHydro 300. Nor do I want the electric bill (that's what the hot tub is for ).

 

[InTheShed]

If I ladder them with 22" strips, how many would cover 4'?

 

[moderngroroom]

I wanna Wish everybody a safe and happy thanksgiving be with family in love each other like its your last time with them.. love and peace and safe travel to all u guys and
Happy thanksgiving tomorrow have fun and enjoy all that turkey.. goble goble

 

[InTheShed]

Thanks MGR! To you and yours as well .

 

[Amy Gardner]

don't need these to mimic the sun,

True... however it’d be worth pricing for the minimum requirement for a decent light in your space.

PGR cites the basic rule of thumb as 800 diodes per sq. metre.

I have lots more than that and run them softer, so does Graytail I’m pretty sure.

So you could make something that covers that basic spec. and even run it a bit softer if you want only supplemental light when the sun isn’t functioning.

But then, see, you’d be able to crank it to have a fully adequate light for that space if you ever needed. It’s worth pricing that out anyway.

 

[InTheShed]

True... however it’d be worth pricing for the minimum requirement for a decent light in your space.

PGR cites the basic rule of thumb as 800 diodes per sq. metre.

I have lots more than that and run them softer, so does Graytail I’m pretty sure.

So you could make something that covers that basic spec. and even run it a bit softer if you want only supplemental light when the sun isn’t functioning.

But then, see, you’d be able to crank it to have a fully adequate light for that space if you ever needed. It’s worth pricing that out anyway.

If I only knew what I was pricing out! F series, H series, Q series? Should I use the LED DIY recommendations? There are so many options when I click the digikey links that in don't even know how to narrow down those choices in the columns because I don't know what the columns mean! And I haven't a clue about amps and corresponding drivers.

I reckon I've got to start at the very beginning. Good thing I've got a 4 day weekend!

 

[Graytail]

Well, you've looked things over and have a better idea of what's what. I priced things again last night and the Q-series is still about 50% more cost than the F-series. Also, the Q-series only uses 40 diodes per 22 inch strip and the F-series uses 72 diodes, so the Qs run cooler, and the Qs get 200 Lumens/watt while the F-series gets 180.

I'm not sold on the additional cost, although it's only $50-60 when you're only dealing with 10 of them.

Try going back to thinking about watts. A 80H driver delivers 90 watts, a 120H delivers 150 watts. If all you really want to do is replace a MarsHydro300, then a 120H should do it. IIRC, the MH300 is either 3x100 at 180 watts or 5x60 at 120 watts.

The strips draw about 22 volts.

So you could run 6 of them at 1050ma. They'd draw (22volts x 1.050 amps) 23 watts each for a total of 138 watts.

Or 9 of them at 700ma. That'd be (22 x 0.7) 15.4 watts each for a total of 138 watts.

Or 13 of them at 500ma. That'd be (22 x 0.5) 11 watts each for a total of 143 watts.

The next step would be a 240H driver delivering 250 watts.

The number of strips is kinda odd but that's because of the way the volts break down. You can run up to that amount of strips at that power.

The more strips you run, the lower the heat and the higher the efficiency.


(I have about 250 diodes per sqft.)

 

[Amy Gardner]

Perfect breakdown Gray!

 

[InTheShed]

Well, you've looked things over and have a better idea of what's what. I priced things again last night and the Q-series is still about 50% more cost than the F-series. Also, the Q-series only uses 40 diodes per 22 inch strip and the F-series uses 72 diodes, so the Qs run cooler, and the Qs get 200 Lumens/watt while the F-series gets 180.
I'm not sold on the additional cost, although it's only $50-60 when you're only dealing with 10 of them.
Try going back to thinking about watts. A 80H driver delivers 90 watts, a 120H delivers 150 watts. If all you really want to do is replace a MarsHydro300, then a 120H should do it. IIRC, the MH300 is either 3x100 at 180 watts or 5x60 at 120 watts.
The strips draw about 22 volts.
So you could run 6 of them at 1050ma. They'd draw (22volts x 1.050 amps) 23 watts each for a total of 138 watts.
Or 9 of them at 700ma. That'd be (22 x 0.7) 15.4 watts each for a total of 138 watts.
Or 13 of them at 500ma. That'd be (22 x 0.5) 11 watts each for a total of 143 watts.
The next step would be a 240H driver delivering 250 watts.
The number of strips is kinda odd but that's because of the way the volts break down. You can run up to that amount of strips at that power.
The more strips you run, the lower the heat and the higher the efficiency.
(I have about 250 diodes per sqft.)

Well that just saved me at least a day! Graytail . Heat isn't really a concern as they will rarely run during the day and they are in an un-insulated 6x14' shed. And what I want to do is double the length of the coverage of the Mars 300, which now barely covers two 7 gallon pots. From 2x2 to 2x4.

Here are my thoughts/questions:
The Q series costs 50% more but is only 10% more efficient (200L/w vs 180L/w)? What seems more important, rather than lumens/watt is lumens/board. How does the light output of 40 diodes on the Q compare to 72 on the F?

Because if you're running 250 diodes/sf, that would be 6.25 Q series or 3.47 F series (just doing straight division for simplicity). Isn't light output a more important measurement than diodes/sf or lumens/watt? Lumens/diode or lumens/board would seem to be more helpful to deciding which strips to buy.

Do those questions even make sense? I feel like once I decide on the boards and number, the driver decision is simple math (for someone else ).

Thanks again for the quick schooling. And have a happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Graytail]

Yes, your questions make perfect sense. You arrived at the same conclusion I did. The Q-series is the leading edge but it's expensive. It don' add up unless you feel like paying the extra just to have the newest, which is a pleasure in itself.

So go with F-series. IIRC they run a couple volts higher at 24 or so, but the driver size is still the right way to look at it. How many watts do you want? If you just need to cover 2x2 feet, then all you need is 150 watts. That's 6 strips at (24 x 1.050) =25 watts each, or 9 at (24 x 0.7) = 17 watts each, or 12 strips at (24 x 0.5) = 12 watts each.

The diodes are rated at 0.2 watts each. That's where they rate the 180 lumens/watt. At 0.4, it's lower - more like 160 Lu/W. No big deal. At 1050ma, they'll run hot enough that you'll need to mount them with thermal tape to aluminum L-angle or something. At 500ma, they can probably just run bare. So 72 diodes per strip is 14.4 watts at rated power.

I got loads o' numbers. Lemme know if you want more.

 

[CraZysWeeD]

some one said help me with lights...

 

[Graytail]

Data dump!

I forgot to answer the question about light output per diode. I haven't studied the Q-series datasheet yet, but for the same size strip, the Fs deliver 4400 lumens and the Qs only make 2000. That's why the Qs cost less per strip. Qs are about $10 and Fs are about $14? I haven't run the ratios, but that's most of the difference. You can compare lumens directly from strip to strip - as good a measure as anything.

 

[CraZysWeeD]

There will be a lot of wiring if you are up to that on this system you are putting together.

 

[Graytail]

There will be a lot of wiring if you are up to that on this system you are putting together.

And the good news is that you can't blow anything up. I know 'cause I've tripped the drivers two different ways, and mis-wired the boards, too. All that happens is stuff doesn't light up. So you re-check everything, call yerself a dumbass, fix the stupid mistake and try it again.

 

[Graytail]

After mulling things over, I have a suggestion. If you got 12 strips, you could put the MH300 right in the middle of the 2x4, run 3 strips down each side against the walls, and 3 on each end to fill in the gap from the MH300.

The room would be ringed in white light, with the blurple spraying everything from the middle.

... That'd be spendy though ... ... but that'd be the ideal. Work back from there.

Nah, sorry. I keep editing. Nah, that's too much light on the sides. It'd be tidier to run one side with whites and one side with blurple. Or the ends in while.

 

[CraZysWeeD]

And the good news is that you can't blow anything up. I know 'cause I've tripped the drivers two different ways, and mis-wired the boards, too. All that happens is stuff doesn't light up. So you re-check everything, call yerself a dumbass, fix the stupid mistake and try it again.

Iknow I've done this too. But you always have to remember you got mains on the other end of that driver, that DC can certainly make spark fly too. The more wiring the harder it becomes to keep track of everything. But its a lot easier now with molex on the boards and wago to clamp everything with.

 

[Graytail]

Hah! I just realized that you can just mount the strips to a flat sheet of aluminum with thermal tape, and you'd have a nice tidy fixture with all the heat dispersion you want.

All you need is a 2x2 foot sheet of aluminum. You can make one panel or cut it in half for two. Then just tape the strips to it. Cool. Dajerm did one like that with HLG panels - just mounted them to a big sheet.