Glad it was enough! Hopefully you’re happy with it and grows you some gorgeous nugs.
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Dude looking super awesome! Congrats on the new light. I had a busy day hit a piece of metal and got a flat tire which took my local tire shop 3.5 hours to fix. That was my time I planned to build my frame. I’ll start building my frames tomorrow now. Can’t mount lights till Thursday but I can build the frame now. Yours looks fantastic hopefully mine goes as smooth as yours looks.
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Damn, that sucks. Hopefully light goes together smoothly.
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I only took the heatsinks out of the box to look at them. I really expected them to be rough dull aluminum but they’re shiny and smooth as glass. And much more rigid than I expected. So if I don’t mess up it’ll be a nice looking light.
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You’ll be fine. Just get all of the drilling and assembling done before you mount leds.
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This though. I drilld holes for hanging. N skipped driver mounting to aluminum. But wish i made the holes anyway. Hanging that beast was a battle. 
could have used a central hole for a stabilizing loop.
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That light looks boss. Very cool. Just out of interest, how much was it all up? And would this replace my 600w HPS?
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$70 2 sheets of 2x2 metal
$83 20 strips
$10 tape
$20 wiring (various)
$15 screws n harnesses
$5 wiring wagos/connectors
$45 driver
$250 ~ total. If i add another $46 driver and $15 worth of wires, i can build a complete other light.
Well… id be remiss if i did not address the downfalls to this light. Everyone always talks anout how amazing it is… there are certain… drawbacks if you will.
- They have a smaller footprint then you would expect. You can run them extremely close. But the closer, the smaller the footprint.
- Expected MAJOR nutrient usage increase. Everyone ive seen with these lights (no matter how small or large) the increased photosynthesis = greater need to feed.
-
insanely dense nuggetry? Not a downfall persay. Who doesnt want heavy thick nuggets? Someone who cant control humidity and worries with bud rot! Thats who! But in all seriousness. None of those are deal breakers.
I believe the 200w~ is almost on par with the 600 hps. Probably not as big a footprint. But BEYOND comparable in output. And WAAAAAAY more efficient considering 200 vs 600 watts and the amazingly low heat comparison. For $300. 2 2x2 strip built lights is an absolute steal! 35 watts per square foot? Check! make the jump.
Speaking of the jump. Loved this journal. But it is time for round two. Get ready ILGM… purp has lighting AND a pH meter 
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A single hlg-185 setup won’t have the ppf of a decent 600 watt hps. Would probably be as good or better than a 400 though. When you get the other light together your ppf with both will be a little higher than that of a 600w hps.
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@Ausgrow 
The light doctor has spoken
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Ah shit look out world. Purp is moving on up.
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Ok so 2 of dr purps lights would equal 1 600w?
2 of my exact lights is 400w~ from the wall. But according to the light Dr (DB sorry i cant have no credit there) yea about equal output then
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Yeah it’s slow going for me. I have broke 3 drill bits so far lol. So I’ll need to go buy more. I got self tapping screws but the pilot hole helps tremendously. But here’s a preview of what they’ll look like. I’m building 3 identical lights 18"x23". The strip is just on the one for checking my dimensions were good.
Here’s the heatsink
Here’s about 3/4 of the way done with first one. I’ll finish it tomorrow running out of time today.
Thankfully my math was good so the pieces fit well.
That tiny gap is with the strip pushed to the far end. So I did good with my sizes lol.
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Sucks but yours is gonna be hella more detaild then mines. Keep plowing ahead brother
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Thanks! It’ll get easier on the second one. Had to work out my layout and get a process figured out on the first one. But I’ve got about 2 hours into cutting the end pieces and getting this far. I’m hoping if all goes well I’ll take considerably less time for the next two.
At this point I’m really wishing I went with the easier way lol.
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Two of them is more light than the typical 600 watt hps you could buy on amazon.
Grab some cutting fluid, or even a little dab of 3 in 1 oil on end of bit before each hole will help. Then just try not to push on the drill, let the bit do the bit do the work.
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I think I have some 3 in 1 I’ll try that. The bits I had were cheap. I had trouble getting them to bite in and start cutting that’s where the extra pressure came in. I’ll try some better ones with oil.
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I’ve had same drill index I snagged when previous employer closed for about 11 years. Lost a few, but don’t remember breaking anything since I left. A little bit of oil on fresh bits should keep them around a long time.
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