Help with QB build

DrGreenDad

DrGreenDad

Member
What's up, I'm putting together some qb288 rspec boards from hlg. I've seen a couple people running the 320w driver on 2 boards. So I decided to run a hlg-480h-54b on 3× rspec boards with the slate2 triple heatsink.
I know this will run the boards hot and do plan on adding some active cooling. My question is,
1. what gage wire do I need for the connections?
2. What potentiometer should I get?
(I was hoping for a cased potentiometer and do believe it should be 100kohm)

Any help and recommendations are welcome, thanks in advance.

-GrnDad
 
sallygram

sallygram

Well-Known Member
The 18 Gauge will work good for you. I think you will love the HLG boards. I went from HPS to CMH to COB to Quantum (with random crap Amazon blurpie buys in between) Now I have one COB rig and last count I had 54 Quantum boards going.
 
ilovereggae

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
DrGreenDad said:
2. What potentiometer should I get?
(I was hoping for a cased potentiometer and do believe it should be 100kohm)
Click to expand...
I've used these a bunch and they are solid.

rapidled.com

Cased Potentiometer with Knob

.
rapidled.com rapidled.com

i have only used in series builds though. they do specifically say to use them with the C version drivers which are constant current.. not sure about constant voltage like the one u have, so wait for someone else to confirm they will work.
 
7CardBud

7CardBud

Well-Known Member
Nice Setup DrGreenDad! That's exactly what I did except went for series circuit.
How high do you drive your QB288s? | Rollitup

The wire is 18AWG, you can use stranded as it a bit easier to work with if you tin the ends for the push connectors.
They don't really make boxed pots.[EDIT-puts foot in mouth] You just need to find a small project box and drill it out.
You can use a 150K pot, but it will have some slop at the end, or get a 100K and few resistors to tweek it if needed.
I would highly suggest using a thermal bonding agent if your gonna drive it balls to the walls like that.

GL
 
DrGreenDad

DrGreenDad

Member
You guys are amazing! Thanks for the help.

@7CardBud thanks for the link too. I'm glad you mentioned the cooling. I was thinking about rigging an aluminum laptop cooling pad to the back of the Slate2 heatsink and mounting the driver on top of that, or a similar setup framing the light and adding fans.. any input?

Also if the cooling pad would work should I have fans blowing on slate2 or pulling air away?
 
DrGreenDad

DrGreenDad

Member
7CardBud said:
Nice Setup DrGreenDad! That's exactly what I did except went for series circuit.
How high do you drive your QB288s? | Rollitup

The wire is 18AWG, you can use stranded as it a bit easier to work with if you tin the ends for the push connectors.
They don't really make boxed pots.[EDIT-puts foot in mouth] You just need to find a small project box and drill it out.
You can use a 150K pot, but it will have some slop at the end, or get a 100K and few resistors to tweek it if needed.
I would highly suggest using a thermal bonding agent if your gonna drive it balls to the walls like that.

GL
Click to expand...
sallygram said:
The 18 Gauge will work good for you. I think you will love the HLG boards. I went from HPS to CMH to COB to Quantum (with random crap Amazon blurpie buys in between) Now I have one COB rig and last count I had 54 Quantum boards going.
Click to expand...

Thanks. This will be my first build and first LED crop. I've grown with hps and t5s. Haven't had a harvest since 2013. I'm really looking forward to the whole process
 
7CardBud

7CardBud

Well-Known Member
Those drivers get pretty damn hot when run full tilt. I wound up mounting the driver to the wall with 20mm pcb feet and using the 12v fan for the driver. The slate 2 triple has a 6" clip fan blowing down the length of it and it actually runs cooler than my HLG100.

The PC cooling pads look like an awesome solutionto blow air onto the heatsink!

1606659036044.png
 
DrGreenDad

DrGreenDad

Member
7CardBud said:
Those drivers get pretty damn hot when run full tilt. I wound up mounting the driver to the wall with 20mm pcb feet and using the 12v fan for the driver. The slate 2 triple has a 6" clip fan blowing down the length of it and it actually runs cooler than my HLG100.

The PC cooling pads look like an awesome solutionto blow air onto the heatsink!

View attachment 4755010
Click to expand...
Okay, so it's not just the heatsink but also the driver I'll need to cool? Or am I reading that wrong? I did think about mounting the driver outside my tent with the pot but if I can keep my light all in one piece I'd prefer it
 
7CardBud

7CardBud

Well-Known Member
The driver will run at about 75C maxed out without any active cooling. I didn't want that heat near my light so I mounted the driver on the wall in the grow room. Also the life starts to drop pretty fast over 70C. I might be a bit on the OCD side, but I like to take care of my equipment even though the driver is rated to run at a case temp up 90C.
Screenshot (5).png

You don't "have" to cool anything, but the more you do the longer the life with less degradation.

I'm definitely interested to see a build with a PC cooling base with the driver attached.
 
C

ComfortCreator

Well-Known Member
7CardBud said:
The driver will run at about 75C maxed out without any active cooling. I didn't want that heat near my light so I mounted the driver on the wall in the grow room. Also the life starts to drop pretty fast over 70C. I might be a bit on the OCD side, but I like to take care of my equipment even though the driver is rated to run at a case temp up 90C.
View attachment 4755080

You don't "have" to cool anything, but the more you do the longer the life with less degradation.

I'm definitely interested to see a build with a PC cooling base with the driver attached.
Click to expand...
I run heatsinks w 4 boards on each, driver mounted in the middle. With a small fan blowing over the length of the heatsink and the driver, it is very cool to the touch. I dont run above 110w per board typically.
 
DrGreenDad

DrGreenDad

Member
You have no clue how thankful I am to have found yall lol. Super excited for this build, probably will not be the prettiest, but it should work. I am curious though, for checking temp.. if I have the heatsink covered with the cooling pad. Am I good only checking the temp of the boards?
 
C

ComfortCreator

Well-Known Member
DrGreenDad said:
You have no clue how thankful I am to have found yall lol. Super excited for this build, probably will not be the prettiest, but it should work. I am curious though, for checking temp.. if I have the heatsink covered with the cooling pad. Am I good only checking the temp of the boards?
Click to expand...
What cooling pad are you refering to?
 
DrGreenDad

DrGreenDad

Member
To clarify, the mA output range of my driver is divided by my number of boards in this case 3 right? Or is the driver delivering that to each board?

Also got an email from hlg about upgraded drivers... it seems they maybe switching to Inventronics drivers. Are they better?
 
Burt Hooter

Burt Hooter

Well-Known Member
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