DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

GBAUTO said:
All of my Meanwells have mounting brackets on the ends that provide a small standoff from the bottom of the case. Most of the heat dissipated is through convection rather than conduction. I remote mount mine outside because I don't want the thermal load-it should help a bit if you need the heat.
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Gabito: Thank you! I have a couple other smaller QB set ups but always questioned if it was better Cooling via conduction or convection I assumed the latter but I am an old school MH & HPS guy that struggles with change lol..
 
Kipn said:
i watched that video hints why i said i didnt want to use cobs. i didnt want to tap my own mounting holes or cut my own heatsink and have to deal with the wiring and trying to connect them in series. i was hopping for a board i could just directly swap with the one already in it . i can take a photo of it when i get home from work but last time i looked inside i think it was much the same driver as that
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Here is a mars UPGRADE to QB 304 board.

Gutted mars classic white panel - pulled old pcb . Left fan driver and fans .
Used ONE of the six drivers . It powered the qb very well at 50 watts.
Fans provided extra cooling but I also added the slate 1 heatsink. Qb fit well .
Did not use glass ... repainted case.

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Budzbuddha said:
Here is a mars UPGRADE to QB 304 board.

Gutted mars classic white panel - pulled old pcb . Left fan driver and fans .
Used ONE of the six drivers . It powered the qb very well at 50 watts.
Fans provided extra cooling but I also added the slate 1 heatsink. Qb fit well .
Did not use glass ... repainted case.

View attachment 4300096 View attachment 4300098 View attachment 4300100

View attachment 4300117
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been hell busy @ work only got a chance to take a photo just now but this is my insides of the mars 300w. id imagine they all use the same cheap parts but not 100% sure it has an A and a b drivers my guess is each drive half the board. can i remove the a driver and only use the b to power the fan plus a QB or some sort
 

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ShartyWaffles said:
Looks like you will be running the lefty .... it has fan power wiring.
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thats my though id guess i could splice in a connector to the A driver but it might over drive the fan if i did that or just run the fan from B and board from A id imaging that would just waste power though
 
Kipn said:
hi people i know ill probably get some hate for asking this but i have seen it done before just cant find the old posts on it

i have a mars hydro 300w (135w true wat) crappy led that i would like to swap the board out with something decent like a QB board
i know the drivers are shit and its super old technology but i have one sitting around going to waste and if i can spend less then $100 to upgrade it. i see that worthy
id prefer not to use cobs even if they are better due to the fact the wiring is more complicated then just taking the existing positive and negative wires and plugging them in to a QB. id even prefer if i can slot it in the original housing if i can get the board to have similar dimensions. can anyone help me out with some information or links to boards i could use. also preferably boards that can be use to veg and flower if not at least used for veg
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Mars released a new light that is simialr with QB light. Maybe you should have a look.
 
Fake stoker said:
Mars released a new light that is simialr with QB light. Maybe you should have a look.
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i would buy another one even if it came with a QB. i might buy a board if its cheap
i have given up on the idea anyway as i cant really find a QB 304 board that's in stock
i might try using cob set up one day just to try it but yeah that would cost me more for the tools and stuff then it would to just buy a good driver heat sink and board
 
Kipn said:
i would buy another one even if it came with a QB. i might buy a board if its cheap
i have given up on the idea anyway as i cant really find a QB 304 board that's in stock
i might try using cob set up one day just to try it but yeah that would cost me more for the tools and stuff then it would to just buy a good driver heat sink and board
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QB132 V1 3500K $110 / 4-PACK ON HLG WEBSITE.

GET HLG-320H-1750 OR lrs-350-36
All under 200 dollars and you will kill your mars !! You will then bury that POS 6 feet under so you never have to see it again !!!
 
Kipn said:
i would buy another one even if it came with a QB. i might buy a board if its cheap
i have given up on the idea anyway as i cant really find a QB 304 board that's in stock
i might try using cob set up one day just to try it but yeah that would cost me more for the tools and stuff then it would to just buy a good driver heat sink and board
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You dont want the QB304's.... there old news. Qb288 v2 with 301b s6 diodes is where its at !!

Or like i mentioned before get the qb132's they come in a 4 pack for 110 bucks!!! Each board can be powered up to 75 watts so you got a total of 300 watts of led for under 200 dollars...
Qb-132 v1 3500k - $110

Hlg-320h-1750A $90
Or
Lrs-350-36 $35


Im in the process of putting together the qb132s its very straight forward.
 
Zbud94 said:
QB132 V1 3500K $110 / 4-PACK ON HLG WEBSITE.

GET HLG-320H-1750 OR lrs-350-36
All under 200 dollars and you will kill your mars !! You will then bury that POS 6 feet under so you never have to see it again !!!
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i don't have haven't used it in a long time. yes i did use it for 1 grow then put it in storage for like a year and a half until i was cleaning and remembered it and made the post asking can i reuse the drivers and get a quantum board that would slot right in the existing space. i was looking at the QB288 V2 with a Slate 2 heatsink but didn't think it would work with the mars driver
 
@Budzbuddha built one using the qb and then re using one of the drivers. But was only able to power qb at 50 watts.... if im not mistaken... so your gonna spend 120 dollars getting it all set up when you could just bury that light and buy a new one that will be much better and will last you 10+ years.... do you want 3 oz a grow or do you want a LB per grow.... the choice is yours. Lol
 
john073 said:
Good Day, Everyone

I would like to find out what the difference is between the following 2 power supplies, i know the one has a better efficiency rating then the other one and a better warranty but double the price, is there a reason why you should use the one but not the other?

Led Driver - HLG-320h-36a

https://www.digikey.co.za/products/en?keywords=hlg-320h-36a

Power Supply - LRS-350-36

https://www.digikey.co.za/product-detail/en/mean-well-usa-inc/LRS-350-36/1866-3348-ND/7705032

Thanks
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No IP67 rating for the LRS, meaning the LRS is not suited for wet or damp locations.
 
Zbud94 said:
@Budzbuddha built one using the qb and then re using one of the drivers. But was only able to power qb at 50 watts.... if im not mistaken... so your gonna spend 120 dollars getting it all set up when you could just bury that light and buy a new one that will be much better and will last you 10+ years.... do you want 3 oz a grow or do you want a LB per grow.... the choice is yours. Lol
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Correct on the 304 ... which i did not know recently that it was off catalog. However the 50 watt power is the boards “ sweet spot “ since it is at a higher efficiency with these “ mid power “ leds. I grew 4 plants under that lowly one panel and it still blew that old mars door stop out of the water. It grew 4 plants at 5 w / per foot in a 3x3.
And the plants thrived.

Since then I modified to a 3 panel rig ( wing ) that the 304s ... even though they are off catalog , you would have to pull them from my dead hands . I got early matched sets that robin and Stephen used to write the info on the boards. These have been running consistently from dec. 2015 to last month ( since playing with the 96s ) .... the same original mars build is the center. Cooling was a bonus thru the side vents that pointed at wing boards .

And eventually pulled the old drivers for a meanwell swap.

Hopefully they refresh the 304’s and bring them back as a mixed board.

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Even though she’s about 4 years old ... she is still one of my workhorses ...

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Kipn said:
i would buy another one even if it came with a QB. i might buy a board if its cheap
i have given up on the idea anyway as i cant really find a QB 304 board that's in stock
i might try using cob set up one day just to try it but yeah that would cost me more for the tools and stuff then it would to just buy a good driver heat sink and board
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You can buy the board from China factories. There are a lot of suppliers sell this board.
 
GBAUTO said:
Yes, the AB version has the same output as the others. It just has both an internal amperage pot like the 'A' version as well as the dimming lead like the 'B'version.
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Where it is possible to get these AB drivers? I have been looking out on some sites in europe but no success :( I would appreciate your help :)
 
Based on the searches I've done on octopart, it looks like they are a special order item. Contact a local distributor.
 
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