Making the switch hps to qb

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daadank

Active Member
Went with 3 x qb288 v2 with hlg320-2100a.
I hope I'm understand correctly

3 qb288 at 2.1A = 48.96V x 3= 146.88 max 152V on hlg320-2100a. And 102.82x3=304.46 with a little overhead left. Push it.to 2.4A for 356W.

Is it.safe to push the amps higher?

Pretty simple to build these hope I'm not missing something?

Is 16G wire OK to wire boards together? Or do they not fit? Also what size screws are needed for mounting to their slates?

I have a 42"x42" tent is this adequate?
 
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shimz

Well-Known Member
Looks like you're on the right track. That driver will not overdrive those boards in any condition, so no worries there. Get yourself some 18ga solid wire rated for 300V or better. Can be hard to find locally so you may have to order it. No experience with HLG heatsinks, so can't help you there.
 
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daadank

Active Member
I feel like I should have gotten a bigger driver to push 3 boards to 450.

Why not push them higher? I'm replacing a 600hps that I get about 1g /W or more.

For the wire I think I'll just strip a 3 prong plug. I think they are 18ga
 
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shimz

Well-Known Member
Up to you, but I would not use stranded zip cord.

I do have to agree that you may need a little more to replace the 600 hid. I am having good success with 4x V2 boards at around 450w @ wall using the mean well 480's.
 
nfhiggs

nfhiggs

Well-Known Member
daadank said:
I feel like I should have gotten a bigger driver to push 3 boards to 450.

Why not push them higher? I'm replacing a 600hps that I get about 1g /W or more.

For the wire I think I'll just strip a 3 prong plug. I think they are 18ga
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600W HPS puts out about 1100 uMol/s at the bulb. Reflector losses eat up about 20% of that, leaving about 900 uMols for the plants. 340 Watts of Quantum boards is going to give you very close to that - about 820 uMol's.
 
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daadank

Active Member
1100 on a brand new hps I assume. Mine is over a year old and cheap brand.

Since I got three units I was going to organize them in a triangle pattern for the best spread. But drawing it out probably like this easier to frame. Simple T
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--X-X--
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----|----
----X----
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Each dash represents 6". Each light is within 1 foot of wall or another light.

They are approximately 7x11". With great coverage within 1 foot.
 
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daadank

Active Member
So I got them installed went well. However the three boards combined are 118V, and the amps are at 2.4A (283watts) vs 148.5V x 2.4A = 356Watt. Its a loss of 73Watts or 20.5% loss.

Shouldn't these things be pretty exact on voltage? maybe off but 1-3% not 20%, its a pretty big loss of wattage, I'm feeling pretty disappointed.
 
booms111

booms111

Well-Known Member
daadank said:
So I got them installed went well. However the three boards combined are 118V, and the amps are at 2.4A (283watts) vs 148.5V x 2.4A = 356Watt. Its a loss of 73Watts or 20.5% loss.

Shouldn't these things be pretty exact on voltage? maybe off but 1-3% not 20%, its a pretty big loss of wattage, I'm feeling pretty disappointed.
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Did you make sure the dimmer under the rubber cap on the driver was turned all the way up?
 
nfhiggs

nfhiggs

Well-Known Member
daadank said:
So I got them installed went well. However the three boards combined are 118V, and the amps are at 2.4A (283watts) vs 148.5V x 2.4A = 356Watt. Its a loss of 73Watts or 20.5% loss.

Shouldn't these things be pretty exact on voltage? maybe off but 1-3% not 20%, its a pretty big loss of wattage, I'm feeling pretty disappointed.
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Something is not wired right - can you measure the voltage on each individual board?
 
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Ryante55

Well-Known Member
daadank said:
So I got them installed went well. However the three boards combined are 118V, and the amps are at 2.4A (283watts) vs 148.5V x 2.4A = 356Watt. Its a loss of 73Watts or 20.5% loss.

Shouldn't these things be pretty exact on voltage? maybe off but 1-3% not 20%, its a pretty big loss of wattage, I'm feeling pretty disappointed.
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Seems like maybe you have 2 boards in series and one connected parallel to that does 1 board look like it's brighter than the other 2?
 
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daadank

Active Member
Ryante55 said:
Wiring looks fine maybe bad driver mess with the adjustment screw a bit. What heatsink is that? Too much heat can make the voltage go up I think did you take the power reading right when you turned it on or after it warmed up?
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slate 1 x 3, I checked right after, and hours after. It crept up from 115 to 117-118. Maybe my meter is wrong, its a smart outlet. Was pretty much at 600W with hps.

It was pretty warm/hot but you could touch it for extended periods probably indefinitely.
 
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Ryante55

Well-Known Member
daadank said:
slate 1 x 3, I checked right after, and hours after. It crept up from 115 to 117-118. Maybe my meter is wrong, its a smart outlet. Was pretty much at 600W with hps.
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If your at 2400ma you are over voltage for the driver dim it and you should be all good at 2100 ma you are barley in range of the driver
 
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Ryante55

Well-Known Member
daadank said:
I'll try it tonight, I was hoping more amps would lead to higher watts.
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It does within spec of the driver if you have the cash I would grab 1 more board and driver do 4 boards 2 per driver you get better spread plus you could crank it up to 600w if you wanted to.
 
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