TheTinkerer
Active Member
I am still debating qb vs strips. The strips sound great, but they seem expensive. There’s a QB324 3500k on sale that sounds pretty good. I’m not finding strips that compare well with the price of qb’s
QB vs Strips
- Thread starter TheTinkerer
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TheTinkerer
Active Member
At today’s prices, shipping included, it seems like I can get three 2’ H inFlux strips (4000k) for about $90, or I can get a QB324 (3500k) with a heat sink for the same $90
Which would you prefer?
Which would you prefer?
TheTinkerer
Active Member
I can’t find much. It’s 324 lm301b at 3500k
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Stay away from any board over 288's. The 324's have suuuuuper high, like 100+, voltage reds making it impossible to use Constant Voltage drivers.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
I thought those boards were a higher voltage than 54?
Humple
Well-Known Member
That was the original version of the 324. The new ones are 54v and use LM301B, just like the 288.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Aahh I see. Very cool. They must have realized how unbelievably stupid a mistake it was and remedied it.
Humple
Well-Known Member
Can't agree with you on that one. I'm still scratching my head, trying to understand the point of a 324 board that has almost the same power rating as the 288. HLG even recommends the same drivers as those used with the 288. So... What's the reason for the 324 to exist now? With the older version you could push the boards to 200w (or even higher with active cooling). Not my cup of tea, as I'm all about low power/high diffusion, but they certainly had their application. @Prawn Connery put them to good use in his buddy's garden, with two boards running at 400w total to replace a 600w HPS. The new 324s can't do that.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Do you mean you can't agree MORE with me? Lol
Humple
Well-Known Member
No, I can't agree that they remedied the original 324 with the new one. Is that not what you meant?
Prawn Connery
Well-Known Member
Guys, the new QB324 V2 is a completely different board to the old QB324 V1.
V2 uses 2.8V/200mA LM301B at CRI 80
V1 uses 6V/150mA Nichia LEDs (NT2L757GRT-V1) mixed CRI 80 and 90
I've had quite a few questions from people about the new QB324s and its unfortunate that HLG doesn't spell out the differences, as many have assumed they are very similar.
@Humple, I tend to agree with you. The old QB324 may not have been the most efficient board on the market, but it offered something other boards didn't (high CRI, more red for the same spectrum, more power for those who wanted it, and a decent price). Just my 2c
V2 uses 2.8V/200mA LM301B at CRI 80
V1 uses 6V/150mA Nichia LEDs (NT2L757GRT-V1) mixed CRI 80 and 90
I've had quite a few questions from people about the new QB324s and its unfortunate that HLG doesn't spell out the differences, as many have assumed they are very similar.
@Humple, I tend to agree with you. The old QB324 may not have been the most efficient board on the market, but it offered something other boards didn't (high CRI, more red for the same spectrum, more power for those who wanted it, and a decent price). Just my 2c
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Well you said they're 54v now right?
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Can you lay out the voltages for versions 1 & 2 of both 324 & 288?
Prawn Connery
Well-Known Member
The circuit is 18Px 18S. Simply multiply the individual LED Vf by 18.
So the new boards are rated 54V, but at their maximum current (HLG says max current board rating of 3.2A), each LM301B is typically dropping about 2.85V. Round that up to 2.9V to be safe. So around 52V
The old boards could theoretically be pushed to 6.5V/150mA (going by the data sheet) but we have been running them at about 6.1V/100mA per LED for a total of 200W per board. That's about the limit of the passive heatsinks - although we do blow a circulation fan across them (indirect cooling from a fan in the room, as opposed to direct cooling from a fan mounted on the board).
So that works out about 110V. We have two boards wired in series for about 220V total.
Prawn Connery
Well-Known Member
Sorry, missed the bit about the QB288 V2. EDIT: The circuitry is 18S x 16P, so multiply 2.85-2.9V by 18 and you get closer to 51-52V. That's at max rating (which is less as a percentage than the max rating for the QB324 according to HLG).
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Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
So 324v1/110V, 324v2/52-54V, 288v1/56v, and 288v2/46v?
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
So what would happen if you wired a 324V1 board to NA mains 110voltage? Hehehe...
Prawn Connery
Well-Known Member
Oops!. No - my mistake. The QB288 boards are 18S x 16P, so the V1 would be about 54V max while the V2 would be about 51-52V. I'll go back and correct that in my original post.