320w QB vs 300w Vero COB, what do you choose?

DazeHazy said:

Thanks. What would be the cheapest driver to run just 2 strips, LPC-100-350? I figure I might as well get 10 and add the other 2 to my HPS chamber.

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Cheapest is a LRS-100-48 for the 46V double row strips and LRS-100-24 for the 23V single row strips.

If heat is a problem I have found qb's hotter in my area than my 16 cobs built on a coolhood design. I just pulled 6 qb's out of ~12 sq ft running at 500w. At 120 cfm from a 4" filter setup I was unable to keep the area below 95 with a 67 deg intake. I have put the 16 cobs back in and I'm setting at 78.6 now. Same thermometer location. Same 500w. ymmv

wietefras said:

That's a 350mA driver though.

On Digikey you can use their parametric search to find suitable drivers:
https://www.digikey.com/products/en/power-supplies-external-internal-off-board/led-drivers/137?k=&pkeyword=&pv1120=640&FV=fffc074a,mu100W|2187,mu101W|2187,mu102W|2187,mu120W|2187,mu90W|2187,mu95W|2187,mu96W|2187,mu97W|2187,mu99W|2187,ffe00089&quantity=0&ColumnSort=1000011&page=1&pageSize=25

Although one of those doesn't produce an output voltage high enough for two strips.

Anyway, looks like the LPC-100-1050 is the cheapest one yes. Not familiar with these drivers myself, but the biggest difference looks to be that the LPC can't be dimmed and the ELG can.

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Thanks. I've been using the parametric search.. I can build PCs, write some code, bla bla bla but when it comes to electrical I don't know my ass from my elbow lol.. apart from how to do some basic wiring or solder a DC jack to a laptop I'm pretty much useless. I don't take chances with electricity either after having cut a live wire with a pair of scissors once when I was about 12 years old.. gave my dad and I a decent little fright lol... He was an electrician but my brain just doesn't click with amps, volts and watts very well so I'd rather ask someone who knows what they're talking about to make 100% sure so that I don't end up burning our place down, or worse, with us still in it lol. Wise choice right

I'm sure some get a bit tired of answering the same kinda questions over and over again but it's a hard noob life yo lolol.. these threads quickly get convoluted and with various possible setups for LEDs in particular I doubt that the questions will cease anytime soon unfortunately.

If I need two LPC-100-1050s to run two strips then that would cost more than one HLG-185-C1050A. Could I not run the 185 at 50%?

nfhiggs said:

Cheapest is a LRS-100-48 for the 46V double row strips and LRS-100-24 for the 23V single row strips.

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Thanks maybe that's too far on the cheap side lol... the LRS-100-48 also has a 10 week lead time

DazeHazy said:

Thanks maybe that's too far on the cheap side lol... the LRS-100-48 also has a 10 week lead time

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Try looking for it at Arrow

dandyrandy said:

If heat is a problem I have found qb's hotter in my area than my 16 cobs built on a coolhood design. I just pulled 6 qb's out of ~12 sq ft running at 500w. At 120 cfm from a 4" filter setup I was unable to keep the area below 95 with a 67 deg intake. I have put the 16 cobs back in and I'm setting at 78.6 now. Same thermometer location. Same 500w. ymmv

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what cobs were they. its possible your 16 cobs were more efficient than the 6 boards

CobKits said:

what cobs were they. its possible your 16 cobs were more efficient than the 6 boards

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3590's. It seems that the large 10" heatsinks with 2" fins and a coolhood cover on 2 40" long sinks 8 per sink zigzag pattern keep most of the heat on the back. The fins are enclosed except on the ends to force air past them. I have a pic of it from a couple years ago on here somewhere if it wasn't lost. I've tried so many setups and can't seem to find anything that runs as cool. 67.6 degrees on the intake, 77.5 degrees inside the area 44"x46". 2 8 Merv 16x20 filters on the intake to keep the dirt out and then a 10x20 Merv 8 before the inline carbon filter. 4" blower with a speed controller running at probably around 100 cfm of air movement. Maybe a bit more. I'm not trying anything else.

DazeHazy said:

I'm sure some get a bit tired of answering the same kinda questions over and over again but it's a hard noob life yo lolol.. these threads quickly get convoluted and with various possible setups for LEDs in particular I doubt that the questions will cease anytime soon unfortunately.

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There are plenty people to answer questions here.

If I need two LPC-100-1050s to run two strips then that would cost more than one HLG-185-C1050A. Could I not run the 185 at 50%?

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One LPC-100-1050 is good for two (double row) strips.

Sorry for the confusion, I meant that in the search result I posted, one of the drivers wasn't applicable due to it's max voltage rating being to low.

Indeed you could also dim an HLG-185-C1050 to 50%. That would actually be a more efficient option (93% vs 90% for the LPC driver), but perhaps the minimum voltage rating for that driver (95V) would be a tad too high for powering just two strips (2*46V=92V).

Here is a table using 3 drivers available on Digikey, (prices rounded up).
It compares 100W of lighting (or the closest the driver can provide within its specs) as 1 strip or 2 parallel, I have yet to do a table for 2 in series)....

Notice the cost per week between the setup that draws the most and least power is about 1kW per week, so that is the cost you will need to calculate how long it will take you to pay back that extra strip.

Even if you paid a dollar per kW, it would take you 80 weeks to make up the change between a single 100W strip driven at about test current or splitting that over two strips....

Just one note the second block should be at 45C not 50C as indicated, as they will run cooler...

You can make a similar one for your qb boards to find your best fit.

Ok here it is with series strips,

I did something similar calculating total costs for a certain period per square meter over the current range of the double row 56cm strips. Factoring in the costs of the led strips, cooling and total electricity used. Cooling costs are calculated for 60cm2/W of dissipated heat. Total electricity is for about 10 grows (or 2 years of continuous running 12/12). I left out sort of fixed costs like drivers, wiring, hangers, extra aluminium profiles interconnecting the strips etc.



So I ended up on a range between 700mA and 1400mA where total running cost is within 800 and 815 euro over a 2 year period (per square meter).

In practice this means anything between running 10 strips on 305W up to 6 strips on 330W sort of costs the same for me.

If you are doing a large grow, efficiencies add up.
For a small grow, I would just lay down the maximum lumens for the smallest amount, the electricity cost difference works out to peanuts.

A few more options.

I have to say those strips blow my mind.

But i am as gentle as a rhino. I like solid stuff.

It is not my intention. I am a giant man im a 4 x 4 tent. Its like hot yoga twister.

gwheels said:

I have to say those strips blow my mind.

But i am as gentle as a rhino. I like solid stuff.

It is not my intention. I am a giant man im a 4 x 4 tent. Its like hot yoga twister.

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Give them a try, everyone ive seen who uses them loves them. People seem to be pulling the upper range of yields you can get from this umol/j level realllllllly easily.

You can easily make a blanket of diodes over your grow space, which of course gives unbelievably good uniformity and your plants will thank you! More diffuse/even light has been proven to increase photosynthetic rates and plant health, so you can't go wrong.

That is the beauty, My fixture is only 20mm thick, it takes up no space and you would need to throw it on the floor, snap it over in half and jump on it to break it.

ANC said:

That is the beauty, My fixture is only 20mm thick, it takes up no space and you would need to throw it on the floor, snap it over in half and jump on it to break it.

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Kudos to that. Mine is 20mm thick as well (3/4" L frame), plus the driver sitting on top.

Solid, sturdy, thick aluminum all around.. This thing weights 30-40 lbs for sure. You could drive a truck over it (without the leds LOL) and it would be completely fine!

My fixture is maybe 3kgs
If I could get extrusions here like those I'd be running those LEDs even harder just with more spacing. That sure looks like overkill.

ANC said:

My fixture is maybe 3kgs
If I could get extrusions here like those I'd be running those LEDs even harder just with more spacing.

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Damn 3kg?

I will admit, the 1" alum heatsinks im using are really heavy. Much more so than U frame. And when you have 10 of them, it adds up haha.

If I feel i need more juice I might swap the driver for a bigger one. Using a 320h-24B right now. The strips and heatsinks are well within acceptable temps so id have no problems running them closer to 100% (they're ~75% right now).

And yeah, the goal was overkill to be honest. I wanna see how it stacks up to the 6x 100w strip build i have in a 4x4.

The aluminium channel I use is very thin and light. That is why I chose it over standard U channel, which gets thick and heavy at sizes over 1"