DIY with Quantum Boards

Blake_n_Concentrates

Blake_n_Concentrates

Well-Known Member
I need some advice from the quantum gurus! So I have two tents, one 3'x3' and one that is 1.5'x3' (9 and 4.5 sq. ft. respectively). I also have two lights. A 600w apollo HPS/MH and 2 QB288 running at around 220 watts total. Originally, I was gonna run the HPS in the big tent and the quantum in the small one. Now I'm wondering if the added light spread and efficency of the quantums would be better off in the 3x3? Any input from the pros? Is it feasible that the QBs could be more than double the efficency of an HPS?
 
Evil-Mobo

Evil-Mobo

Well-Known Member
I will not throw myself into the efficiency battle, but my 320 QB had to be dimmed down to 250 watts or I was burning plants in my 3x3. And my tent is an over sized 3x3........I have a 260 watt kit on a slate 3 heat sink in my 2x4 as well...........the QB's are kicking ass all around for me so far. I was previously running a 600 watt Blue MH in an A/C Daystar hood in the 3x3.
 
Budzbuddha

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
^^^^ agreed ... You would find the 260w Kit a great light for a 3x3 . I run a quad setup in a 3x3 with cobs and run it softer because I was getting light stress. The spread of a 2 QB slate will have better light footprint than a " centered " bulb . Plus you will be able to utilize more vertical space since slate design is flat and can be brought closer to tent ceiling .

I removed all of that unnecessary DUCTING and blower fan that I had for all that old school light bullshit. Now it's just the tent and light with oscillating fan ... That's it no AC of other bullshit.

Note: how much " vertical space " I can play with now. This a 3 QB rig.

Remote driver placement just reduces unnecessary heat from driver on top of slate.

image.jpg image.jpg
 
S

Seedjunky

Member
JustMeds said:
Mine is 32x34 which makes each board pretty centered on its 2x2 area of the 4x4 tent. Should get nice even coverage of the canopy I am hoping.

I got the 480 driver as it was highly recommended by @Stephenj37826
Click to expand...
Will you be running 4 of the 304 boards off a hlg480 2100?? This is what I'm looking to do right now as I have the parts but I don't know how to match up boards to drivers yet? Will this work?
 
S

Seedjunky

Member
I need some help boys , trying to learn this DIY led stuff and it's not clicking yet.. I'm not understanding how to match up boards to drivers can anyone help please!!! I have an hlg 480 2100 driver and 4 304 quantum boards... will this set up work???? I built a 4 board 304 with a hlg 320 2800 and it works great seems like it's running pretty soft tho... what I am confused about is I have been watchin all of growmau5 video and he says the output of the driver has to be equal or less than the output of all the cobs/ quantum boards .. in this video he used cobs as an example so I will here .. he had a driver with an output of 286v and the cobs all ran at 28.6 volts sooo 10x28.6 that means 7,8,910 cobs will work ..but 11 and. Not one of them will work... so with that bein said my first light i built with the hlg3202800b and 4 of the 304 quantum boards , according to growmau5 video this set up shoul NOT work but it DOES the output of that 320 driver is 57-114v and a single quantum boards output is around 108 v I belive ... so according to growmau5 video I should only be able to run 1 quantum board off this large driver but I'm running 4 perfectly fine !!!!! What am I missing ??????? Someone anyone please educate me!!! Thanks
 
S

Seedjunky

Member
1000ppm said:
Probably about 600 - 650w. 2 HLG 320 2800s
1 powers 3 boards x 2
Click to expand...
I need some help boys , trying to learn this DIY led stuff and it's not clicking yet.. I'm not understanding how to match up boards to drivers can anyone help please!!! I have an hlg 480 2100 driver and 4 304 quantum boards... will this set up work???? I built a 4 board 304 with a hlg 320 2800 and it works great seems like it's running pretty soft tho... what I am confused about is I have been watchin all of growmau5 video and he says the output of the driver has to be equal or less than the output of all the cobs/ quantum boards .. in this video he used cobs as an example so I will here .. he had a driver with an output of 286v and the cobs all ran at 28.6 volts sooo 10x28.6 that means 7,8,910 cobs will work ..but 11 and. Not one of them will work... so with that bein said my first light i built with the hlg3202800b and 4 of the 304 quantum boards , according to growmau5 video this set up shoul NOT work but it DOES the output of that 320 driver is 57-114v and a single quantum boards output is around 108 v I belive ... so according to growmau5 video I should only be able to run 1 quantum board off this large driver but I'm running 4 perfectly fine !!!!! What am I missing ??????? Someone anyone please educate me!!! Thanks
 
S

Seedjunky

Member
1000ppm said:
View attachment 3969266 View attachment 3969267


Doesnt look to bright in the pic but...

I have a vertical HPS on the other side and this is drowning the HPS out. Not sure how plants are seeing the light but from a human perspective the 6 banger quantum has far more light.
Click to expand...
Nice man!!
I need some help boys , trying to learn this DIY led stuff and it's not clicking yet.. I'm not understanding how to match up boards to drivers can anyone help please!!! I have an hlg 480 2100 driver and 4 304 quantum boards... will this set up work???? I built a 4 board 304 with a hlg 320 2800 and it works great seems like it's running pretty soft tho... what I am confused about is I have been watchin all of growmau5 video and he says the output of the driver has to be equal or less than the output of all the cobs/ quantum boards .. in this video he used cobs as an example so I will here .. he had a driver with an output of 286v and the cobs all ran at 28.6 volts sooo 10x28.6 that means 7,8,910 cobs will work ..but 11 and. Not one of them will work... so with that bein said my first light i built with the hlg3202800b and 4 of the 304 quantum boards , according to growmau5 video this set up shoul NOT work but it DOES the output of that 320 driver is 57-114v and a single quantum boards output is around 108 v I belive ... so according to growmau5 video I should only be able to run 1 quantum board off this large driver but I'm running 4 perfectly fine !!!!! What am I missing ??????? Someone anyone please educate me!!! Thanks
 
D

Dave455

Well-Known Member
Have a Rapidled two wire boxed potentiometer with red and black wires. Also have Meanwell dimmable driver with blue and white wires.

How should wires be put together to use potentiometer ?
 
pop22

pop22

Well-Known Member
Grams per watt isn't the best metric but, HPS, depending on the growers skills. can be as high as 1 gpw. Average is around .6gpw.
( I've heard claims of more, but never seen results to back it.. ). Cob growers seem to average over 1 gpw easily and many hit close to 2.0 gpw. Growmua5 hit 1.86 gpw with his first COB based light, that ran at I believe 248 watts. That said, 2 QB 288 in a 3'x3' tent may come close to the 600watt HPS in production, and far exceeds it in savings from reduced heat and more efficiency. Whats really being compare is the amount of light produced, and the PAR of the QB far exceeds the hps

I've got 4 QB 304s running at 363 watts from the wall, in a 4'x4' tent, and I guarantee it would STOMP a 600 watt HPS! look back at my last pic for an idea.

Blake_n_Concentrates said:
I need some advice from the quantum gurus! So I have two tents, one 3'x3' and one that is 1.5'x3' (9 and 4.5 sq. ft. respectively). I also have two lights. A 600w apollo HPS/MH and 2 QB288 running at around 220 watts total. Originally, I was gonna run the HPS in the big tent and the quantum in the small one. Now I'm wondering if the added light spread and efficency of the quantums would be better off in the 3x3? Any input from the pros? Is it feasible that the QBs could be more than double the efficency of an HPS?
Click to expand...
 
pop22

pop22

Well-Known Member
I'm running, 4, QB304 on the same HLG320H-C2800 and it certainly isn't running "soft" IMO! And I've wired in parallel so each board is running at "only" about 85 watts per board. The 320H-C2800 should only be used for parallel strings, IMO, as it exceeds the amperage for a single board, but lacks the voltage for 2 in series. It really pays to learn to use the manufacturers spec sheet for these drivers, they tell you this information. Here's a screenshot of the C2800 specs:

Screenshot at 2017-06-30 10-11-23.png

This tells you the operating voltage range for this driver is 57-114 volts. Thats only enough for one QB304 or 2 QB 288. BUT at rated current of 2800 ma, far exceeds the QB304 max rating of about 1.6 amps ( 1600ma ). However, wired in parallel, you can run multiple board: 2, 3, or 4 as when wired in parallel, the boards share the amperage as it is divided equally among them. So, 2 boards would run @1400ma, 3 @ 933ma, etc. So my 4 boards ( and probably yours ) run at 700ma per board. The voltage remains constant, in the 104-110volt range as per actual draw.

If yours appear to be running soft, do you have a dimmer? If so, try disconnecting it and see if thats better. I rum mine wide open with no dimmer.


Seedjunky said:
I need some help boys , trying to learn this DIY led stuff and it's not clicking yet.. I'm not understanding how to match up boards to drivers can anyone help please!!! I have an hlg 480 2100 driver and 4 304 quantum boards... will this set up work???? I built a 4 board 304 with a hlg 320 2800 and it works great seems like it's running pretty soft tho... what I am confused about is I have been watchin all of growmau5 video and he says the output of the driver has to be equal or less than the output of all the cobs/ quantum boards .. in this video he used cobs as an example so I will here .. he had a driver with an output of 286v and the cobs all ran at 28.6 volts sooo 10x28.6 that means 7,8,910 cobs will work ..but 11 and. Not one of them will work... so with that bein said my first light i built with the hlg3202800b and 4 of the 304 quantum boards , according to growmau5 video this set up shoul NOT work but it DOES the output of that 320 driver is 57-114v and a single quantum boards output is around 108 v I belive ... so according to growmau5 video I should only be able to run 1 quantum board off this large driver but I'm running 4 perfectly fine !!!!! What am I missing ??????? Someone anyone please educate me!!! Thanks
Click to expand...
 
S

Seedjunky

Member
pop22 said:
I'm running, 4, QB304 on the same HLG320H-C2800 and it certainly isn't running "soft" IMO! And I've wired in parallel so each board is running at "only" about 85 watts per board. The 320H-C2800 should only be used for parallel strings, IMO, as it exceeds the amperage for a single board, but lacks the voltage for 2 in series. It really pays to learn to use the manufacturers spec sheet for these drivers, they tell you this information. Here's a screenshot of the C2800 specs:

View attachment 3969708

This tells you the operating voltage range for this driver is 57-114 volts. Thats only enough for one QB304 or 2 QB 288. BUT at rated current of 2800 ma, far exceeds the QB304 max rating of about 1.6 amps ( 1600ma ). However, wired in parallel, you can run multiple board: 2, 3, or 4 as when wired in parallel, the boards share the amperage as it is divided equally among them. So, 2 boards would run @1400ma, 3 @ 933ma, etc. So my 4 boards ( and probably yours ) run at 700ma per board. The voltage remains constant, in the 104-110volt range as per actual draw.

If yours appear to be running soft, do you have a dimmer? If so, try disconnecting it and see if thats better. I rum mine wide open with no dimmer.
Click to expand...
Man thank you SO much for clearing that up , it shares the amperage when wired in parallel ,gotcha . And the reason I say it seems it's runnin "soft" is as you've mentioned there running around 85 watts per board I think the max for the boards are like 160 ish? Yes I do have a dimmer hooked up to it but even with the dimmer at 100 percent the boards are only being used at around 50 percent when I have 4 going off that one driver ,right?at one point during the build I had only 2 boards hooked upto the hlg3202800 and I stepped out as my partner finished wiring the other 2 up .. when I came back the next day and all 4 were now running off the driver my first thought was hmm doesn't seem nearly as bright.. my partner who had done the wiring said he thought it was the same , (his poor eyes couldn't tell) makes sense now as the boards went from 1400 milliamps /160 watts per board with 2 on that driver to 700 milliamps per board with 4 according to what you are saying correct ? So I guess 2 304s off a hlg 320h 2800 is basically running them at /near there full power ? And with 4 your running the boards weaker but you're spreading it around to cover a larger footprint?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top