Help a girl choosing quantum board/driver

[Prawn Connery]

HLG24H-1750 - as has already been suggested - if that's what you want.

Dim it to 1050ma, but it won't be that much more efficient, and it won't be enough to get decent yields from a 4'x4' area. Run it at 1750ma for 250w (125w per board) and you might get OK yields with it.

But best for two boards and 3.5'x3.5'/4'x4' would be the HLG320H-2100 - also mentioned above.

Sheet aluminium will be fine. Anyone who says otherwise can argue with this: https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/products/hlg-550

Listen to the positive people who have posted - they're the ones offering you good advice.

 

[Green.Lady]

HLG24H-1750 - as has already been suggested - if that's what you want.

Dim it to 1050ma, but it won't be that much more efficient, and it won't be enough to get decent yields from a 4'x4' area. Run it at 1750ma for 250w (125w per board) and you might get OK yields with it.

But best for two boards and 3.5'x3.5'/4'x4' would be the HLG320H-2100 - also mentioned above.

Sheet aluminium will be fine. Anyone who says otherwise can argue with this: https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/products/hlg-550

Listen to the positive people who have posted - they're the ones offering you good advice.

Thanks! That was really helpfull and you gave me an idea, if i buy 4 qb 336 and run them with a hlg240-c700mah ? Can i grow a better yeld on a 4x4 ? Or 3,5x3,5 ? And no more heat problems

 

[Randomblame]

Your heatsink is very nice can you showme more details? PM

Hey Poison-Ive, ähh Green.Lady!
There is realy not more to show about those heatsink. It's a 3mm alu base plate with 8 glued c-channels on the backside, like mentioned in the above post.
You could also take a sheet two times bigger as one of the fake-qb's. It's just about enough cooling surface.
For passive cooling you need 110cm2 cooling surface per Watt pure heat. Active cooling needs ~40cm²/heat watt.

An example!
A 100x 100cm sheet has a total surface of ~20.000cm²(100*100*2, front and backside) divided by 110cm²/w = 181,81w. So with absolute no air movement it is enough to remove 181,81w of pure heat.
Remember that these LED's are ~55% efficient(100mA) it means you could run ~330w of LM561c on such a 1x 1m sheet without any air movement.
Consider the fact that there is always slightly air movement in a growroom because of the fans/inline fans and it is enough for up to 600-700w and more.
Calculated with 40cm²/heat watt for active cooling, 20.000 : 40cm² it could remove up to 500w heat. So with fans on the backside such a sheet could work with up to 1100w of LM561c.

BTW,

scrap yards are a really good place to find cheap aluminum. I would call a few in my neighborhood and ask for ..

I have purchased 8 massive heatsinks á 200 * 250 * 40mm, 10mm baseplate, 3,25kg and payed only 8,75 bucks per heatsink (2,70 € / kg). So only the pure aluminum price! Online I would have paid ten times as much + shipping, LOL!

 

[Prawn Connery]

Thanks! That was really helpfull and you gave me an idea, if i buy 4 qb 336 and run them with a hlg240-c700mah ? Can i grow a better yeld on a 4x4 ? Or 3,5x3,5 ? And no more heat problems

Probably not. Better light coverage, but at 700ma, each board will be drawing 66v for a total of 46.2w each x 4 boards = 184.8w so much less total power.

I'm currently building 2x LM561C strip boards with 2x HLG240H-48A drivers to cover a 4'x2' area, which is 4x the wattage you're proposing. I've got a HLG240 currently vegging my 2.5x2' space and it's about right.

I guess one question is, is there any reason why you want to run such a low-powered driver for such a large space? If you're trying to save money, a 320w driver is only about $20 more than a 240. I think most here would agree a bigger driver would be more beneficial than trying to run the boards at less than 25% for a very small gain in efficiency.

 

[Green.Lady]

@Prawn Connery Well,i was thinking its was better put 4 boards on a 3,5x3,5 (lets forget the 4x4) and drive it at 700mah instead 2 boards at 1750mah. The price of the driver i take in consideration as well, in mouser website an ELG 240 cost me 45 euros and the hlg 320h 100 euros. I was aiming for 240h because of power consuption(saving money on the eletricaL bill) half the cost and very little heat at 700mah, but obviously was a dumb thought lol

 

[OLD MOTHER SATIVA]

yes you still need 500-650 w leds to do a 4x4 area well
more boards
more coverage
lower wattage =cooler
more photons per watt

 

[Prawn Connery]

Well I look at it this way: how much does weed cost? How much do you smoke? Electricity is cheap compared to weed. So is a driver. The golden rule to growing is more light = more weed.

Yes, there are many other factors, but light is the biggest IMO. Plus, the better you get at growing, the higher grams per watt you will achieve for the same light. You may already be a very experienced grower, in which case you would be doing yourself a disservice by trying to save a few dollars now.

But maybe you can start with 1x 240w driver and a couple of boards and add another driver and boards later when you have more money. It's really up to you what you want to achieve.

EDIT: I was comparing the HLG series drivers, because that's what you quoted.

I noticed the ELG-240-1750 only puts out about 180w on 110v mains and you cannot run two boards in series because it is only rated to 137v - unlike the HLG-240H-1750.

EDIT 2: Actually, the ELG-240-C1750 will drive two boards in series, but at reduced voltage and current for about 100w per board.

 

[Green.Lady]

@Prawn Connery you re right! I just go with 4 boards 320h at 1750mah or 2100mah and dimmable if i need later, cost a little bit more but what the well you only live once eheh

 

[legalcanada]

myself i used 4x qb304 and 2x HLG-320-1400A on a slate 5 heatsink in a 4x4 grow tent, it's dimmable from 260-695 watts. was expensive due to currency conversion, shipping and duties

 

[Prawn Connery]

Or you could buy 2x ELG-240-C1750 and run two boards in series for each driver (4 boards total), but you would only get about 100w per board, as they would run at reduced voltage and current (68.5v per board at about 1470ma).

But that's still 400w, which is more than the HLG-320 for a little bit less money (10 euros).

 

[Prawn Connery]

LOL, it's hard work trying to figure out drivers and board layouts sometimes when you're on a budget.

 

[legalcanada]

well that's the wonderful thing about these DIY solutions is you can slowly build or add to it over time. canadian dollar is shit.

 

[VegasWinner]

Hi daniel, the boards is from alibaba the company name is hs the specs are those that i write, and i want to power 2 boards and series. This is the pic from the board

smart move. I have my boards made there, as well. Good folks there. they know their stuff. I believe they use a 2100ma driver for two boards. I think you need a HLG-C320H-C2100B driver for two boards. The forward voltage for the driver is 76 - 152v your combined Forward voltage connected in series is 140v indicating you will get at least 150w per board or 300w per driver. Nice catch.

 

[frigginwizard]

not trying to critisize or argue here, just trying to understand.
If its the same place that makes the QBs, why is the diode count and configuration different? Why would it not look just like a QB288?

 

[Randomblame]

@Prawn Connery you re right! I just go with 4 boards 320h at 1750mah or 2100mah and dimmable if i need later, cost a little bit more but what the well you only live once eheh

If you area is really 3,5 x 3,5' I would even take two HLG-240H-1750b (b=dimmable).
The HLG-240 has the best price / performance ratio of all HLG drivers.
You can dimm them anytime, but If you have not enough light, you need to upgrade later, result: double shipping costs.
4 boards and two drivers means also you could only use one for vegging and the second only when needed.
I believe I read you are from europe? If so TME is the cheapest place for Meanwell drivers in the EU.
52,50€ + VAT
https://www.tme.eu/de/details/hlg-240h-c1750b/netzteile-fuer-led-dioden/mean-well/

 

[Randomblame]

not trying to critisize or argue here, just trying to understand.
If its the same place that makes the QBs, why is the diode count and configuration different? Why would it not look just like a QB288?

Because of the higher standards. It's simple cheaper to make them this way and the profit margin is higher...

 

[VegasWinner]

Just so you know, the board produced by HS will carry high amperage as the pcb is made like a rock. i know mine are made at the same factory, and I am in constant contact with my factory rep on a regular basis. We are more friends than business partners.

Some basic math 2100ma x 69.9v = 146w [er board. two boards will, yield 292 watts getting about 35 watts per square foot. not bad.

 

[VegasWinner]

not trying to critisize or argue here, just trying to understand.
If its the same place that makes the QBs, why is the diode count and configuration different? Why would it not look just like a QB288?

it is called a non-disclosure agreement which HLG and HS signed. HS can design other boards as tbhey designed the QB's, they just cannot duplicate them, just as they cannot duplicate the GrowGreen boards either, and possibly others using their services. HS is one of the leaders in pcb fabrication and design.

 

[Prawn Connery]

not trying to critisize or argue here, just trying to understand.
If its the same place that makes the QBs, why is the diode count and configuration different? Why would it not look just like a QB288?

I'm sure they make more than the QB boards in the factory. It's just a generic board that they make and sell as far as I can tell.

 

[Prawn Connery]

@Prawn Connery you re right! I just go with 4 boards 320h at 1750mah or 2100mah and dimmable if i need later, cost a little bit more but what the well you only live once eheh

Hey Green.Lady, how much are the boards you plan to buy including shipping etc?