Let's talk DIY lights

I dont think I know of anybody running the HLG QB96 v2 style lights, and im not sure why? These are highly appealing to me, whats the catch im missing though as to why this is may be inferior to big QB set ups or strips?

Naw there relative qb wattage is pretty strait forward 100 watts is 100 watts are spectrums are customary blended naw but are they good yes better then most

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Yup mine do that a shit ton with my plc strips. I bought cheap spring clamps that pinch it to it. After this grow I’ll take it down and try to redo.

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First time mine has done it in two years of growing. Simple fix and I blame the assembler…who is me. I must not have got it clean enough.

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Oh ya I was quite confident it was me one way or another lol.
I thought I cleaned surface well. Then thought maybe was a cure period with the glue that had to let it set , bc I assembled and turned on right away.
The thermal tape I used was pretty cheap too. Even tho it was sagging like that I couldn’t pull board off if tried. I thought I was gonna snap it .

Oh well I’ll figure something out real soon. Last plant almost done :grin:

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Did you guys clean with rubbing Alcohol?

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Someone here has them, but I don’t remember who. I think imsickkid has a few too, but I don’t know he ever assembled them. Reasons you don’t see more of them is that they are a lot more condensed light source and pin sinks are expensive as well as not always available.

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I remember you telling me the thermal tape actually hardens with heat curing it’s designed to that…right? So I would say sand paper coupled with alchohol for a mechanical bond as well the groves give the glue some thing to grab and bind to instead of mirror flatness…hard to bond tight to slick surfaces

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Yup both strip and extrusion. Lol at least @Bubblehead lasted longer than mine did before it sagged :rofl:. Mine was like a week or two.

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It should be uber smooth, for purposes of heat transfer. The alcohol is to clean any oils or foreign materials off.

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The scuff of the sandpaper makes for grabbing of the glue the same with tile and thinset the back of porcelain tile is checkered and grooved for added mechanical bonding other then the stick factor of the thinset it’s just on a much smaller scale… we use same principal in boat building with polyester and vynilester cold joint bonds gotta scuff up the existing glass you want to bond good to or you easily get delamination just as the strips peel off the metal being smooth smooth

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I actually had some 99.9% that I used to clean. Must have touched the board some how and got it dirty again after cleaning.

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The primary function of the tape is to transfer heat from the led module to the heatsink. You definitely do not want to make it coarse to assist with adhesion. I understand that you would do all sorts of stuff for porcelain and fiberglass, but neither of them are suppose to be thermally conductive.

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I noticed the glue is kinda live when you unroll it so if it goes on live it will conform to minor scuffs and kick inside the cracks just like with a catalyst


This stuff is live sticky and is definitely conforming and helping the bond

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Doesn’t matter. The mounting surface for leds/led modules is suppose to be FLAT!

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I’m not saying not flat but lightly sanded the slightest swirl with like 320 to 600 sand paper super fine I did it and mine are holding like a champ …light sandpaper then alchohol everything super flat couldn’t even feel the scuff but you can see the swirl in the metal there like cemented down permanent and hell I couldn’t peel off if I tried… unsaid use sand paper earlier I dont kn ow why ur saying that now

That’s all I’m saying i do exactly what u said

Ya, sand them flat with fine paper then clean. Also worth noting this should be done right before mounting strips. Aluminum starts to oxidize immediately.

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That’s when I did it …right before I put tape down quick sand … whipe down tape down strip down in a minute or 2… I think its helps… mine didn’t delaminate

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Looking to potentially do build DIY setup for 5x10 grow area. Previously I was eyeing the HLG scorpion, but after some digging looks like I can build the same light for relatively cheaper.

6 qb 288s- $475
Meanwell 600-$180
Misc. comp/frame material- $75
Total- $730

HLG scorpion is on sale for $899 and comes with a 3 year warranty. Am I on the right path with the DIY or would you say go with the scorpion for the warranty, or a complete different setup? Looking to really keep lighting the 5x10 area under $2000, 1500-1800 would be ideal. Thanks everybody!

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