HLG 600H vs 4 QB 96 elite

HeyMrCarter

HeyMrCarter

Member
My flower room is 8’ x 10’ with 10 foot ceilings. I’m running a RDWC, four buckets, and one control reservoir. Made the decision on leaving HPS lights for good.

I was nearly sold on purchasing 4 of the HLG 600H’s. But I’ve read some here on the forums and recently discovered the QB 96 elite engine.

So the idea would be build a fixture to hold 4 of the 96 elites and power them with an appropriate driver. I think I read that I can power them at 185W each comfortably without losing too much efficiency. Also it would be very simple to build a rack outside of my room to hold the drivers, if that helps at all with heat.

Am I over complicating things? Could I hypothetically put together this fixture with all the extra bits and pieces I would need to assemble it... and spend roughly the same money as a 600H, and have roughly 100 or so more watts? I’m trying to be reasonably budget conscious, and still put together a hell of a lighting system for my bloom room.
 
Or_Gro

Or_Gro

Well-Known Member
You might wanna watch my 96 vs 288 flowering smackdown grow: 2 identical setups using 8x288s vs 6x96elites, with supplemental reds, uvb,and co2 in 2 competing 4x4s.

I’m about 2 weeks away from 12:12, flowering should last 8-10 weeks with the four strains i’m using.

I can’t speak for the 600s but, but the 288 setup i’m using (a pair of Timber 48sams) yielded 3.8 lbs (dry) off of 4 plants @2.2 g/w, in my last 4x4 grow that is documented here.

One advantage the 96s have over the 301b boards during flowering is that they have red and deep red diodes that the 301b boards don’t. Another advantage is that they have a huge blue spike in their spectrum that make color temp 3500k, you’ld have to buy additional 4000k 301b boards if you wanted to try to match the exceptional vegging power of the 96s. It could turn out that 301b boards, w supplemental reds, are the best for your situation in $s and/or performance, you’ll have to decide that.

You mention how big your grow room is, but not the footprint you are trying to cover, so it’s difficult to help you at this point.

Two 96’s cover a 2’ x 4’ area, i recommend using a driver capable of 240w per light. How much power depends on your layout and ht.

If you go to my profile and look at my postings, check out the 96elite & heatsink thread here (someone else’s thread) for light intensity mapping and other valuable info. Build info can be found at https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/qb96elite-v2-no-bs-information-only.1521830/#post-24377190 There is an accompanying thread, the “bs here” one, that is like the 96 & heatsink thread here (i think the gc one is better, but it also has a lot more ot/bs).

There is another valuable 96 thread on gc by @tboneshuffle, who is one of the most valuable resources on the interwebs about hlg lights and meanwell drivers. He’s also a very willing and helpful guy. You need to make a good decision in a hurry, ask him to help you...else wait 10-12 weeks and see what 96s do vs 288s on my thread....
 
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Or_Gro

Or_Gro

Well-Known Member
HeyMrCarter said:
Thank you. I’m going to stick with the 4x of the 600h for simplicity and will follow your progress.
Click to expand...
if those are close to 4x288 each, i’d do 8, plus 16 qb18/35, plus eod far red, and co2....but i like to push it....

If you don’t have a light meter, get one if you’re doing 96x96 worth of white leds....even if its just a cheap lux meter like

72A52C82-5AFE-42F6-A6F0-0376AAE48F7D.jpeg

Here’s the conversion to ppfd: https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/blogs/news/converting-lux-to-ppfd

This is a great intro to white leds, page 16 is the gem: http://fluence.science/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/High-PPFD-Cultivation-Guide-9.27.16.pdf


Enjoy
 
jjng5

jjng5

Well-Known Member
@Or_Gro How did you build your beams to secure the 96's? I've been eyeing these for a bit. Got the 324 V2's but these 96 V2's look like they can throw some light!
 
Or_Gro

Or_Gro

Well-Known Member
jjng5 said:
@Or_Gro How did you build your beams to secure the 96's? I've been eyeing these for a bit. Got the 324 V2's but these 96 V2's look like they can throw some light!
Click to expand...
Simple design: angle aluminum from home depot, cut to length, assembled w a self-tapping screw in each corner.

267DA291-DC2E-465F-8D2E-E39E6535BDFF.jpeg

Main thing, make them wide enuff so that heatsink edge around diode perimeter rests on rails w diodes slightly lower, in between rails. I don’t attach the lights to the rails, since i slide them around.

DECB11B4-F700-44DB-B03D-8C201B510089.jpeg

2 Versions:
Single, independent rail sets, hanging from wires
ADFFED4D-873E-4680-8498-42F151E08BE4.jpeg

Frame for holding multiple rail sets, frame rests on movable clamps attached to tent’s vertical corner posts.
728352D6-6A3E-46BB-9496-9DF5021450A4.jpeg
lights can move closer/farther, left/right, up/down easily, on a moment’s notice...
 
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jjng5

jjng5

Well-Known Member
Word to big bird! You just buy these frames at Home depot you said -- maybe in the hardware section?
 
diggs99

diggs99

Well-Known Member
This was one of the shortest and most imformitive threads I have read on here

@Or_Gro nice job on the builds and spreading that wealth of info

Love the idea of the corner post adjustments for the frame.

Now I want qbs again lol
 
T

TokenBlackGuyIC

Member
I am almost finished with my QB elite frame build. I just need to wait for HLG to get them back instock with the heatsinks.

I used Makerbeam XL extrusion frames (750mm and 150mm) which can be found on Amazon.com. I paired the beams with m3 hex nuts, m3 thumbscrews, m3 screws, m4 screws and m3 eyebolts and shelf support brackets.

Its like legos for adults.

I will post pictures in a bit.
 
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