Qb 96's or SF2000???

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
I got the hlg-320h-54a.
You had me worried. I had to go look up the difference between a and b type driver's . So much learning
B's are easier to adjust if you wire on an external pot.
A's are easier to adjust if you don't. also A types you can adjust the voltage higher than 54v, i think to 58v. whereas on the B type you can only adjust the current.

Anyways. you're gonna enjoy the lights. the 96s are the perfect form factor. high powered diodes. great lil boards. Congrats!
 

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
Id go for 2x 240 drivers if i where OP. Add another one if you where to expand.
I got the hlg-320h-54a.
I run 6 QB96's in a 4x4 tent myself. I started with just 4 but recently added two more for better spread and so that I can run them a bit lower and get them closer to the plants without issues. I run three of them in parallel off a HLG-240H-54A, and even though it's a driver rated at 240watts, it will put out 300watts when cranked to full. Personally I think two 320h-54a's is way overkill in a 4x4 space, but you can dim them down.

I also don't have a frame for mine, I just hang them each individually, which is my preference because the spread is more finely adjustable that way. I tend to run three boards per side off one driver, but hang the center board in that set a few inches higher than the ones on the outside, which seems to give more uniform photon output at the canopy.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
I run 6 QB96's in a 4x4 tent myself. I started with just 4 but recently added two more for better spread and so that I can run them a bit lower and get them closer to the plants without issues. I run three of them in parallel off a HLG-240H-54A, and even though it's a driver rated at 240watts, it will put out 300watts when cranked to full. Personally I think two 320h-54a's is way overkill in a 4x4 space, but you can dim them down.

I also don't have a frame for mine, I just hang them each individually, which is my preference because the spread is more finely adjustable that way. I tend to run three boards per side off one driver, but hang the center board in that set a few inches higher than the ones on the outside, which seems to give more uniform photon output at the canopy.
Agree on power levels, people dont appreciate how intenense a small 120w point of light is on the plants.
Also; Another way to do this kinda builds is to use separate drivers and powerlevels, grouping boarda depending on position: use a slightly more powerfull driver for corners and slightly less for sides/middle boards. I havent really figured out how to do this with 6 boards though, this is more a case of feeding the thread than any critique of your setup: 2x3 qb96 on 2 240 drivers is pretty much as close as you can get to golden when it comes to bang/buck/us-made/4x4.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
B's are easier to adjust if you wire on an external pot.
A's are easier to adjust if you don't. also A types you can adjust the voltage higher than 54v, i think to 58v. whereas on the B type you can only adjust the current.

Anyways. you're gonna enjoy the lights. the 96s are the perfect form factor. high powered diodes. great lil boards. Congrats!
The main deal for me with the the A type driver is the voltage adjustment: being able to cap voltage at an exact level so that if something went wrong with your connections your remaining chips would still run at standard power levels and not gulp up all the rest of the amps.
 

cbizzle

Well-Known Member
I picked up four qb96’s for a 4x4 tent, but I also have two 135w qb v2 r specs. I also have a mix of drivers, 2x hlg-120h-54 drivers one dimmable, one not. Two LNE-54V185WDAA drivers, and two LNE-54V150WDAA drivers. Was thinking of doing the 4 qb’s in the corners split out parallel on the two 185 watt drivers so ~90 watts in each corner, then the two 135 w qb v2 rspecs in the middle wired parallel on one of the 120 or 150 watt drivers. Maybe there is a better way? Sorry, not thread jacking, just getting in on this qb96 discussion.
 

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
Also; Another way to do this kinda builds is to use separate drivers and powerlevels, grouping boarda depending on position: use a slightly more powerfull driver for corners and slightly less for sides/middle boards. I havent really figured out how to do this with 6 boards though
I thought about something similar as well, but wasn't sure how well it would work with the two drivers I have. I felt like 4 boards in parallel on just one HLG-240H-54A wouldn't pair well with 2 other boards on the same driver.
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
I picked up four qb96’s for a 4x4 tent, but I also have two 135w qb v2 r specs. I also have a mix of drivers, 2x hlg-120h-54 drivers one dimmable, one not. Two LNE-54V185WDAA drivers, and two LNE-54V150WDAA drivers. Was thinking of doing the 4 qb’s in the corners split out parallel on the two 185 watt drivers so ~90 watts in each corner, then the two 135 w qb v2 rspecs in the middle wired parallel on one of the 120 or 150 watt drivers. Maybe there is a better way? Sorry, not thread jacking, just getting in on this qb96 discussion.
Sounds awesome to me.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
I thought about something similar as well, but wasn't sure how well it would work with the two drivers I have. I felt like 4 boards in parallel on just one HLG-240H-54A wouldn't pair well with 2 other boards on the same driver.
I know, its hard to match 3 per driver. Maybe this approach is really a 8 qb job, 4corners on a 320, and 4 sides on a 240. Having different hanging height will work as well, but it makes height adjustment a pita. In a tent it wont matter as much, but were in an openspace. Kudos anyway for getting the extra qbs, it is the Way...
tenor (2).gif
 

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
I know, its hard to match 3 per driver. Maybe this approach is really a 8 qb job, 4corners on a 320, and 4 sides on a 240. Having different hanging height will work as well, but it makes height adjustment a pita. In a tent it wont matter as much, but were in an openspace. Kudos anyway for getting the extra qbs, it is the Way...
View attachment 4714537
I don't want to go to 8, because I like to keep the center line free for my T5 UVB lamp and my 730nm far red bulb. It's true that adjusting hang height is more tricky, but in a tent it'snot too much trouble. That said, I think I kinda prefer the way I have it now, because raising the center light in the parallel chain also gives a larger spread (as opposed to dimming). Adding the 2 additional 96's to my set of 4 definitely is a great improvement, and for such a small additional cost.
 

DeadToe

Member
So I got the lights In last week. Still doing a remodel on my grow area so i haven't built my frames yet. I plan on doing a perpetual setup with my old 3x3 and my 400w mh as my veg tent. This got me wondering if I could save money on electrical cost per month if I switch everything over to led or qb's in the veg tent. Any thoughts???
 

Oxyrhina

Member
So I got the lights In last week. Still doing a remodel on my grow area so i haven't built my frames yet. I plan on doing a perpetual setup with my old 3x3 and my 400w mh as my veg tent. This got me wondering if I could save money on electrical cost per month if I switch everything over to led or qb's in the veg tent. Any thoughts???
For utility usage compared to a halide you should be able to easily cut it in half if not more. However, if you went with ~300w and use it dimmed for veg then later on you could use it as pretty good flower space if your needs change. Better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it, that's my motto. :D
 
Top