Let's talk DIY lights

Like I said no big deal, I’m here to learn also. So my plan is to run the small space at separate time frames. Since I will germinating the seed first and then taking clone cuttings just before those seedling begin their flower stage. I thought I could get more efficient by only utilizing one board/space at a time. I know I could probably be more productively, but I’m just growing for myself, no mass production here. Do I still have a plan or should I alter things now before I get to deep?

Plan looks solid other than switching off boards from the cv driver. I’m of the opinion if you want to potentially run those 2 boards in small space independent of each other, you should run each from its own driver. Then it wouldn’t matter if you had one board on, the other, or both. Or, use the driver you ordered and just run both or neither.

In your previous post I got the impression that I could connect both the small space boards together with the driver I bought. Would that be efficient enough to put both boards in a single space and still utilize it as I described?

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The issue isn’t with space or efficiency. It’s about the current/temp behavior of the leds and opening a portion of the circuit with that much current available.

So if I change my plan to use a single space for both germ/clone each separately, can I connect both extra QB120 4000K boards in parallel/series with the HLG-60H-24 driver?

Maybe I’m just confused. I have been treating that as 1 space with 2 shelves. No different that a long narrow space that had 2 different fixtures in it, only these are vertical instead of horizontally mounted. Is that not what you have?

Running 2 boards from that driver would have to be done in parallel.

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You’re not confused, that’s what I initially described. But that shelf separating upper and lower space can easily be removed to create one tall space. I can also rework the shelf to be adjustable. I’m thinking my new plan is to make the shelf adjustable and to put the light fixture in the upper portion as a permanent fixture. Making some of lower portion storage space or whatever (wasted).

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Oh ok. You can leave it how it is with that setup too, as long as it’s ok that both lights are on at the same time. Just remote mount driver somewhere in the middle, grab a couple of 3 port wagos and it’s piece of cake. Just mount one to top of space and the other under shelf. I would take some steps to keep water or whatever from hitting light under shelf, otherwise would be gtg.

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Yeah I can still do that, I got time till parts come. I’ll give it some thought till then and decide which way I intend to go. Thanks for all your help and advice, I’ll keep you posted when I begin my build, may need a little coaching.

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For sure! If you decide to run those lights independently let me know. The 30-40 drivers are something like $12-$15 each, so not a real big deal.

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I’ve ordered everything.
What style of light for the 2x4 I want to build would it be. Cob, strip, or qb?
I want 2x4 as efficient as possible cheapish. Efficient and kickass before cheap. So highend cheap. Lol. I love the chilled pucks. But at $55+ Each not going to happen I don’t think. Is $300 reasonable to be planning on.

They dont seem to be a bad deal, they are 100w pucks. So you would only need 3 of them to light a 2x4. And at 2.3 umol/j are pretty efficient. I would probably try to aim for a goal. Maybe 800-900 umol/m2 and then work from there. You can definitely get pretty good system efficiency at around 2.3 umol/j now for pretty cheap, or even higher. It’s just really all what you want to do. In strips or QBs. You could do the same with COBs but usually you would have to opt for more at a lower current. And with the LM301b I think it was cheaper to go with the QBs over the H in flux strips.

You could definitely get pretty close for around 300$, if not just a bit more.
Arrow does have the F-Series strips right now for around 12.50$ a piece, and you could definitely build a badass light for pretty cheap, if you were to utilize those. They fit nicely on the .601 aluminum heatsink from Heatsink USA (or even aluminum uchannel will be sufficient)
Also if you like the 660nm, HLG sells a qb 18 that has a range in the 660-730nm. You could add it to one of your builds mayne if you dont opt for the chilled pucks.

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There is a website selling strip builds for cheap too.usually the F-Series strips are hard to find(Arrow does have some 3500k in stock), so even just buying this light and rearranging strips how you see fit. Although they do use the cheaper meanwell LRS models. Just an example of how easy it is to achieve such efficiency.

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Looking at hlg, on commentor said he has 2 Qb288 v2. 1300umol 2ft x4ft. Those are $75 each. Then frame/ heatsink and driver($80ish) the kit is $330. If it’s cheaper to part it out. I’d like to do that with y’alls help. That sounds like option A. Option B would be whatever y’all can come up with that’s close to that but cheaper.
Q1- beating the kits price- what do I need(will an aluminum plate work for the heat sink? ) what driver
Q2. Can we get that but cheaper

I parted using the chilled pucks saving $100 or more rather than buying the kit. But Qb Kit is cheaper . QB Kit from hlg is as cheap as parting out the chilled kit myself. So hlg wins imo on that one. This forum has not only opened my eyes to what’s out there but has cranked out ocd I didn’t know was there. Lol.

I dont think 2 QB v2 will put out 1300 umol in a 4x2 but I could be wrong. Seems a bit on the high side. Also the 260 kit is a little under powered for a 4x2 while you could use it. The 320 XL kit is a better fit imo

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I am looking to add some red. Thank for the info

I’m at work right now, but in the morning I’ll be able to help out a bit more.

I am
Too. Lol. I can’t find f series strips. No they aren’t there just I am sucking at searching for this stuff. Google, arrow- nothing

They are there.
Here are the part numbers.
The 2 footers (72 diodes) will be what we are looking for, alternatively you could probably run 3-4 1120mm strips long ways.

**1-Footers (275mm):

LT-F284B (72 Diodes, 8 Series x 9 Parallel, Voltage = ~24V, Max Current = 1800mA)**

3000K: SI-B8V261280WW

3500K: SI-B8U261280WW

4000K: SI-B8T261280WW

5000K: SI-B8R261280WW

**##### 2-Footers (560mm):
LT-F562B (72 Diodes, 8 Series x 9 Parallel, Voltage = ~24V, Max Current=1800mA)

3000K: SI-B8V261560WW

3500K: SI-B8U261560WW

4000K: SI-B8T261560WW

5000K: SI-B8R261560WW**

LT-F564B (144 Diodes, 16 Series x 9 Parallel, Voltage = ~48V, Max Current = 1800mA)

3000K: SI-B8V521560WW

3500K: SI-B8U521560WW

4000K: SI-B8T521560WW

5000K: SI-B8R521560WW

4-Footers (1120mm):

LT-FB22B (144 Diodes, 16 Series x 9 Parallel, Voltage = ~48V, Max Current = 1800mA)

3000K: SI-B8V521B20WW

3500K: SI-B8U521B20WW

4000K: SI-B8T521B20WW

5000K: SI-B8R521B20WW

LT-FB24B (288 Diodes, 16 Series x 18 Parallel, Voltage = ~48V, Max Current = 3600mA)

3000K: SI-B8VZ91B20WW

3500K: SI-B8UZ91B20WW

4000K: SI-B8TZ91B20WW

5000K: SI-B8RZ91B20WW

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