InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time

Working on it Amy! I can almost taste it :p.
I think you should get a AC/DC clamp meter instead of a "kill-a-watt". It's so much easier to dial everything in when you got that. It's very easy to calc the wattage if you have both voltage and amps. P(W)=U(V)*I(mA)
I've got one of those but never learned to use the clamp part. Something about having just one side of the circuit running through it.
Thanks for the plant pic!! I’ll take more please:D
Nice start to #quadlife
Your wish is my command! While Graytail and PGR get on with the part of their lives that doesn't involve me peppering them with one question after another, here is the Saturday update with what I did this morning...

Remember those rooted clones in the cloninator? Well I did! Here is the AK-47 cut on Oct. 21:

And here is the Sour G cut (would you believe) on Sept. 30:

Finally into soil. (I wonder it Norcaliwood approves of the size of the roots on these):

And when I pulled the AK out I noticed that it's neoprene-mate had this:

That's also one of the original Sept 30 cuttings. Here it is from the top with that pistil thing going on:

They seem to grow right through those pistils and not have to reveg:

And last for today...remember that AK-47 cutting in the pot o'clones that I wasn't sure about? It's survived!

That's my non-lighting/plant-related update for the day! I hope it scratched your itch for something green :).

Happy Saturday.
:green_heart:
 
Awesome with your clones Shed!

I've got one of those but never learned to use the clamp part. Something about having just one side of the circuit running through it.

Yes you clamp one of the wires, preferable the plus side in a dc circuit. You will then see the amps you are running through the circuit and be able to adjust the driver accordingly to hit the desired current. If you are buying a driver with more power than you want to run through it at the moment be sure to turn down the current adjustment before connecting it so you don't fry the leds.
 
Awesome with your clones Shed!
Thanks Crazy...took a year to get to this point!
Yes you clamp one of the wires, preferable the plus side in a dc circuit. You will then see the amps you are running through the circuit and be able to adjust the driver accordingly to hit the desired current. If you are buying a driver with more power than you want to run through it at the moment be sure to turn down the current adjustment before connecting it so you don't fry the leds.
Greytail said "each strip will get a constant amperage and constant voltage in these drivers...there's an adjustment screw on the a-type drivers that lets you turn the wattage down if you need to."
 
Ok, as far as using a big honkin' driver turned down, we have a couple obstacles to overcome. 16 strips at 23 volts each (higher current increases voltage a bit) is 368 volts. That's a lot of volts - not many driver choices unless we go to constant voltage and then we're dealing with some pretty high amperage, close to 20 amps - nasty stuff. Two drivers would make more sense. The price is very close either way.

How much current should the strips get? If you're shooting for 400 watts, then 16 strips would be 25 watts each. That's a current of 1050ma at 23 volts. So we want a 1050ma driver. Unfortunately, the big 480H doesn't run as low as 1050ma, so we're left with a 320H, but that doesn't power your 400 watt target.

Two 240Hs would do it, but that gives you another 80 watts you'll never use, and it's serious overkill. 400 watts in a 2x4 is 50 watts/sqft. I have 40 watts/sqft and it's more than enough. That'd be 320 watts for your space, which is a nice little coincidence. But the 320H has an upper limit of 305 volts - you need 368 to run 16 strips - you'd have to lose 3 strips in that design - not such a bad thing, really - nice compromise.

So you could go with 13 strips and a 320H-C1050. Each strip would run at 24+ watts with a total of 320 watts, 40 W/sqft, 936 diodes, almost 55000 lumens, etc. :)

:bongrip: I like it.


[Edit] Damn, the more I look at that design the more I like it! It's really elegant! :love: Hits all the metrics. :bongrip::slide:
 
Morning Grey! Thanks for spending so much time working this out for (with ;)) me :thanks:.

So we're looking at 13 strips that I could run as high as 320 watts if I wanted to (which is your w/sf) but will run fine at 250 watts in the shed at 75%. Have I got that right?

So 13 SI-B8V261560WW is $179.05 with free shipping from arrow, or $13.77 each. (How do they do overnight shipping from China? :hmmmm:)

The HLG-320H-C1050A (with dimmer) driver is $88.77 from arrow.

And the rest is wire, wagos, heat-sink tape, and u-channels, right?

Progress!
 
Morning Grey! Thanks for spending so much time working this out for (with ;)) me :thanks:.

So we're looking at 13 strips that I could run as high as 320 watts if I wanted to (which is your w/sf) but will run fine at 250 watts in the shed at 75%. Have I got that right?

So 13 SI-B8V261560WW is $179.05 with free shipping from arrow, or $13.77 each. (How do they do overnight shipping from China? :hmmmm:)

The HLG-320H-C1050A (with dimmer) driver is $88.77 from arrow.

And the rest is wire, wagos, heat-sink tape, and u-channels, right?

Progress!

:bravo: Bingo!

That was fun! Yep, you've got it right. :thumb:

I assume they stock from stateside warehouses - I've seen SmokeSara mention their own
stocking inventory. Cool - you can get the driver from Arrow, too - that makes it sweetly simple. :slide:

You'll need a power cord for the driver, a couple reels (black and red) of 18ga solid core wire, a pack of 3-way wagos (or 2-way?), thermal tape and U-channel, bolts n stuff ... you're going to come in very close to a buck a watt. That's darned competitive!

Sweet design for a 2x4!

:yahoo:
 
Sweet design for a 2x4!
Your design really! Of course you like it :).

Can I use a computer power cord and cut the end off? I've got a mound of them at work. I'll get to the wiring side of this once the strips and driver come in. How many feet u-channel do I need? Is it 2' for each strip plus some 4' pieces to tie them all together?

Thermal tape I'm guessing is Amazon as well as the wagos (is it 2-way or 3-way? I've never used them...only twist caps and crimps). The wire and bolts would be Home Depot.

I'm sure Crazy is monitoring my credit card to see if I've hit the "buy" button yet ;).
 
I had a bunch of drivers to wire, so I bought a pack of computer power cords online - just be sure they're high enough amperage - you'll be drawing 350 watts.

I'm seeing a ladder design with the long sides supported with L-bars, the U-channel sitting on them. It'll be a tight fit, though - better measure. 22" doesn't leave any room. That would be a simple rack. The long way could work as well, though, with 2 strips per U-channel, supported on the ends with L-bar. Yeah - works either way - easier to fit. You end up with an odd strip though. I got an idea for that ... I've been thinking that a strip mounted a foot or two lower on the wall might be a nice thing for lower nuggage. :hmmmm:

Most of your connections will be 2-way, I think. You'll have to think that through. I bought all 3-ways, 'cause I had a lot of 3-way connections to make with my series/parallel wiring. It's all on the 'zon.
 
could go with 13 strips and a 320H-C1050. Each strip would run at 24+ watts with a total of 320 watts, 40 W/sqft, 936 diodes, almost 55000 lumens, etc. :)
That sounds like a winner to me - very simple and effective. It’s actually more light per sqfoot than I currently have - cause my rig was designed for a slightly smaller space. And mine is doing it’s thing perfectly:)

If it were me I’d stop researching right now :D and move on to how am I gonna build it. :slide:

I would have thought you could get a driver prewired with a power cable in the US, but maybe not it sounds like...
 
Y'know ... you're not going to have a lot of connections - you'll just wire from strip to strip, up and down the rack. Nice. Tidy.

:hmmmm::bongrip:

And there are online videos to go by ... gonna be easy peasy. :cool:
 
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