Thats great, Im pretty decent with DIY but I’d feel better trying to build the easiest option lol. If I built and completed it before my plants are ready for Flowering, would I be able to swap out the lights I’m using now and put in the quantum without any ill effects? Im eager to get started building it so I can yield the best results, if its safe to swap mid grow.
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Ya. Just give them a little time before hitting them with full intensity from qb’s.
You’ll be looking for about three full hlg-240 drivers for a 5x5. Doesn’t really matter which boards you use. Three qb 260 xl kits is a good choice, or you can get individual boards and heatsinks and assemble frames. Using the 120 or 132 boards work too. They all require a different driver due to to different voltages. I can help you with that, just figure out what is in stock when you want to order and let me know
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Im on HLG now and they’re sold out of the 260 XL kits, and only have the 132 v1 available, not v2. I’m not sure what the difference is between them. I found a seller on Amazon that has a few kits260 left. Im just not a big fan of buying stuff from third parties because of legitimacy. here’s a link to it, there’s two options for light to choose from 2700k or 5000k. Im a little confused now lol am I allowed to post a link to the amazon kits?
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Amazon and Ebay for sure. Check growerslights, they are authorized hlg retailer.
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So they have them in stock on Growerslights, When selecting the spectrum, should I be choosing 300k so Its "full spectrum? and it also gives an option to choose between two different boards, the qb288 v2 is the only one available with it, is that alright? sorry for all the questions, I appreciate your help
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Ya, 3000k or 3500k is what you want for seed to harvest growing. They’re all “full spectrum”, but those will give you good balance.
288v2 is just about as good as is available right now, period.
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Thanks for all the help and knowledge, I’m buying two of the kits right now and I’ll buy the third in another week or two. Do you think these two new kits I’m getting are sufficient to use for the remainder of my 2 plant grow in the 5x5 or should I just wait til I have the third available? I’m assuming they would be enough compared to the KING LED lighting I’m using now
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One of those fixtures is probably better than the king led light. How you use them is totally up to you.
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Don’t buy a kit just buy 2x288 QB’s with heatsinks and then get a hig-240-2100 to power them and some aluminum edge to make them one piece
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Or this and a driver about $220 for the light then
https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/quantum-boards/products/qb288-v2-slate-2-double-combo
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Thanks, I wound up already ordering two of the 260xL kits though. Im excited for them to get here. I’m kicking myself for not doing this to begin with and now I’ll have Two spare king LED lights laying around.
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I probably have ten light’s, use three of them in flower tent and 2 in my grow the rest are stored behind the back flap of my tent. I like the 2x288 and use that in flower tent, Daylight savings time sent a pick went lights go on
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You can take them apart and put better LEDs in them if you need to
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I sure am glad I bought HLG boards. They could not blow them up.
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@dbrn32 In the video they drove a single 288V2 with a 600H-54A driver. I thought this would blow a single board. This had me thinking. Should it not be doable to drive a single 288 with a HLG240H-54A or HLG320-54A making the single board set-up expandable to 2-3 at a future date without having to go out and get another driver?
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Its possible, but you should really regulate the current if doing so. Having a clear understanding of how the components work is pretty key here. As this is exact reason people were burning buildings down with LEDs.
In theory, you plug a led into a constant voltage source like that and it will only pull the current it needs. As the board heats up, that current draw will increase. As the current increases it will cause the board temps to get higher and draw more current as described in video.
On the constant voltage driver was a pretty clear demonstration of how the current temp relationship plays out. The board equalized at temp and stopped pulling current. On the constant current driver the board was supplied with 25% over rated current and held tight. Which makes your theory seemingly true. However, those tests were done in open air in what looked like probably temperature controlled environment. I bet if CV driver was done in an enclosed space like a tent without any airflow it would’ve gotten hotter and eventually pulled enough current to get a failure.
Nobody would ever purposely do that. But what about the case of an exhaust fan failure? Hlg-240h-54 is 150% rated current for a single board and the hlg-320-54 200%. I don’t like recommending them even when the load is proper, because one loose connection puts you in the same boat. Using constant current driver and wiring in series with any of those conditions simply opens the circuit and your light doesn’t work.
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Completely understand. I would not want to be recommending doing something that could burn a house down.
As an aside did you catch the next video in the series? They had a QB288 (probably V1) up 8.6A and ~63+V. Board was 126C. And the board still held! Boys and girls that’s hotter than boiling water so don’t do this at home!
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I’ve seen it before, but don’t remember exact details.
Personally, I would run a load protected cv/cc in something for myself no problem. But I don’t think I’ve ever spec’d one for anyone else, nor do I intend on doing so. Not with multiple loads anyway.
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That’s purdy light
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