Sorry kinda in a rush this morning getting ready for work after months off bound to forget something
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No worries. I thought @BIGE was linking a light there. I just realized it was a pop up advertisement lol.
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I could post link for CMH with bulb around 250 easily enough though I prefer remote ballast myself
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Hi @dbrn32 - Iâve been reading the DIY lights thread - is there a Utube video link you could find that will help me to understand what we are trying to build. The order for the lights and driver are due to arrive by Friday and the ancillary stuff you had me order is due from Amazon before Friday as well. Slightly nervous but excited about this new adventure in growing. The sprouts are doing great and it looks like I will have to raise their grow light an inch or so when I get home from work today. Best, Jeb
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This is about the best video Iâve found that shows strip assembly. Obviously construction will vary depending on a few things. But it shows using that thermal tape and wiring of the strips. If you see something that jumps out at you please lemme know.
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Great build there, one thing I did notice was his cleanliness. But also for the assembly he should of been more shorter on the jumpers, it would of been brighter! But over all good light I would say.
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Hi @dbrn32 - well the first thing that jumps out at me is that guyâs video is at hyper speed 
I see how the thermal tape works but the rest of the process seems pretty scary to me. We will have to see - maybe the other light builders on here can chime in. 
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Start from square one and weâll take it one step at a time. Have you figured out how or what you plan on mounting them to yet?
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18x36 piece of sheet metal or should we build a frame thatâs 18x36 with 36 inch cross bars (3) inserted into the frame so there are five total 36" pieces to attach the strips? Id rather build it so the driver can be run outside of the tent and have the lights as flush to the top of the tent as possible.
Those are looking dank bar none!
Sheet metal will work. Is it rigid enough not to flex a lot?
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Thanks @dbrn32 @raustin - I canât believe I might actually have to buy one of those jewelers loops Itâs so amazing to have gotten this far on my first grow! Super psyched!
And thanks for the Amazon link @Screwauger 
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That should be perfect!
So first step is usually best to just kind of lay your strips on it about where you want them. Your shelf is 18â wide right? I would probably put them about 2-2.5 inches on centers. You obviously donât need to go all the way to edge of your shelf, you want majority of light to stay on it. But then just kind of mark your strips about where theyâre gonna go. Once you have that kind of figured out, try to get any drilling in the metal done prior to mounting strips. Hangers, bolt holes, or whatever you figure youâll need. I like to try and get all foreseeable stuff like that as possible done. You can also cut or trim down to necessary size if youâd like. Or leave it be if it fits, whatever suits you.
Once you have that done, take a look at surface condition. If itâs kind of beat up, give it a light sanding on led side just to try and get it flat as possible. If itâs aluminum, wear a dust mask or do outside. The dust isnât good to breathe. After that, clean it up real good with some rubbing alcohol or similar.
After that, you can peel tape and mount strips. You may want to go back and make some mounting location marks again. Make sure the strips are all oriented the same way, so it goes positive negative positive negative from one side to the other. I like to apply tape to strips first, then line up to marks and apply strips to metal. But you can do either way. Once your satisfied with strip location, run your finger up and down sides of strip a few times applying some pressure. You donât have to lean on them though. After all strips are mounted, will be time to wire.
Youâre gonna wire the leds in series. So take driver dc positive to far end that has positive on outside of fixture. Then run a jumper from the negative on that strip to the positive on the next strip in line. Then repeat that process down the strips until you only have the negative on the very last strip remaining. That last negative is where the dc negative from driver will go. That will complete the output side. Oh, and to get the wires in, lightly depress the tab on strip on the little dot located on connector. Slide stripped wire in and release. For whatever reason I canât upload pic right now. But Iâll figure it out if you need it.
After that, youâll wire up ac input side. Acl is ac line, thatâs your hot. Acn is ac neutral, thatâs your neutral. My driver like that is double insulated, so no grounding conductor. Yours will probably be same. If it has a ground wire on input, you can attach that to your frame.
Once thatâs done should be hang and plug in.
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You are the best @dbrn32! Thank you so much for taking the time to lay that out for me. Once I have all the stuff laid out I think that will all make more sense. How sad is this though - while watching that video I realized I donât own wire strippers 
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Perhaps you can borrow some? If not, picking some up could be an investment into your lighting future haha.
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I know you probably donât think so, but if you can get to this, most difficult part of job is complete.
Of course, my electrical skills much further advanced than my fab skills. If youâre caught up on other thread, you get first hint. Parts are in, weâll be building together my friend.
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Which light is this? Been following your post and your plants seem to have done really well. Iâm trying to figure out my setup and canât decide what to get for lights. Will be growing 1 plant to start in a 2x2x4 tent.
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