QB96 Elite V2 w/ SSTX heatsink question

CoB_nUt said:
Yea my fault. I know you weren't recommending a lux meter. I actually ment to delete that part of my post as I've found the thread it was mentioned in. There's one also mentioned earlier here.
I have more learning to do before I can feel comfortable purchasing the Apogee right now. With the lux meter and the conversion factor, I can get a rough idea of where I am at. I'm not so into spectral tuning at this time as I am in having great photon count throught the spectrum.
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Yeah,...the spectrum one is a tad more...
 
pulpoinspace said:
would be handy. i'm wondering if this was on a driver with 2 outputs (hlg-600h-54), and this was on only one of the outputs, would it show the power for the whole circuit or just that output? guess its more a question about how drivers work than that product.
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I believe just what’ the “load” on it is consuming....but don’t know it as a fact.

I use disconnect connectors on it, so a single unit could be used to set dimmers on all the lights, much quicker & easier than any std multimeter.
 
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pulpoinspace said:
would be handy. i'm wondering if this was on a driver with 2 outputs (hlg-600h-54), and this was on only one of the outputs, would it show the power for the whole circuit or just that output? guess its more a question about how drivers work than that product.
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@Randomblame can confirm it would show the WHOLE value even on only ONE cable.
 
There is a new even easier to use version of this AV-meter available. Simple pull the N(neutral) wire of the load you want to measure thru the hole of the current transformer(in correct direction, there is a little arrow). The AV meter must be wired externally, it can not be in the same/measured circuit(no watt, PF and kwh then).
The circuit can have up to 100A so you are able to measure the whole room if you want.(If you want you need an extra project box for wiring)
I have this one in my new driver case together with a single channel Sonoff. Pics are already deleted but I've already uploaded a few incl. one with the internal wiring. Let me see if I can find them ..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-110V-25...28678243a0:g:whsAAOSwzHRbKNsR&redirect=mobile

Screenshot_20181118-073725.png

@Rahz
Brother,
here is a pdf about far-red and his effects (without Emerson effect). Explains in part why plants love CRI90 and higher.
 

Attachments

Found that post...

https://www.rollitup.org/t/extreme-...of-timber-48sams.974039/page-26#post-14581917

downloadfile.jpg

This is the internal wiring of my external driver housing.
As you can see only the HLG-320 is connected to the meter. The orange wire is just a daisy chain connection to power the 2 Agromax bulbs and the far-red driver via a 2nd Sonoff Dual controller.
(note, T5 balast to bulb wires can not be longer then 2m)
When the single Sonoff turns on the circuit then driver and AV meter gets switched on, when it's turned off both are turned off.

Power gets in and go at first to three Wagos(N, L and ground) I need for the daisy chain connection. Than the first device connected is the Sonoff, from there the power goes to another pair of Wagos(N + L), from this wagos the AV meter and the driver are connected and the neutral wire of the driver is going thru the ring transformer. Easy peasy..
You can pull more than one wire thru the transformer and it would display the total current; its only important to do this in the right direction.
 
pulpoinspace said:
would be handy. i'm wondering if this was on a driver with 2 outputs (hlg-600h-54), and this was on only one of the outputs, would it show the power for the whole circuit or just that output? guess its more a question about how drivers work than that product.
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Airwalker16 said:
@Randomblame can confirm it would show the WHOLE value even on only ONE cable.
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This is an AC meter to display AC power draw (watt, PF, kwh, VAC and current flow). It can not be connected to a DC circuit! To measure voltage and current of the DC circuit you need another device.
Something like this could be used.. The 10A meters have a build-in shunt, above 10A you need an external shunt. Wiring is more complicated and to make it more worse not all of them use the same wire colors and you need to figure out which one is for current and which one for voltage. Therefor they are a lot cheaper.. (Voltage wire needs to be connected before the load and current wire behind the load)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-100V-10...3d1b988c6f:g:ii0AAOSwepJXbPnt&redirect=mobile
 
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Randomblame said:
This is an AC meter to display AC power draw (watt, PF, kwh, VAC and current flow). It can not be connected to a DC circuit! To measure voltage and current of the DC circuit you need another device.
Something like this could be used.. The 10A meters have a build-in shunt, above 10A you need an external shunt. Wiring is more complicated and to make it more worse not all of them use the same wire colors and you need to figure out which one is for current and which one for voltage. Therefor they are a lot cheaper..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-100V-10...3d1b988c6f:g:ii0AAOSwepJXbPnt&redirect=mobile
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ah yeah. the AC side meter looks way easier to use thank you! i'm definitely gonna pick one up.
 
Yeah, much less wiring effort and you can measure all your drivers(and other loads) with just one device if you want.
Takes a little until they arrive but for a tenner.. You can also find them on amazon from a local seller for a few bucks more. I could also pull the N wire of the daisy-chain connection thru the transformer hole and it would show the total powerdraw incl. UVB/far-red when switched on.
 
This connectors would work perfectly and of course you should put at least a ground wire on the frame when the driver is not mounted to the same frame. The driver housing is already grounded and if screwed to the frame the whole fixture is grounded. If you remote wire the fixture and have the driver mounted outside of the tent/grow area you should add a ground wire between fixture and ground connector.

I'll add this connectors to my DIY housing to be able to take all the wires compltely off of the fixture.
Same like yours but with metal housing. Also from e3ay and pretty cheap too.
Aviation connectors, e3ay, 1,11$ each.jpg
 
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Thanks Random, yeah I changed the type a wee bit as I don't want the panel mount style.
I've decided that I am going to rerun the DC feed now in 3 core flex so that I can ground the fixture.
FC
 
Randomblame said:
This is an AC meter to display AC power draw (watt, PF, kwh, VAC and current flow). It can not be connected to a DC circuit! To measure voltage and current of the DC circuit you need another device.
Something like this could be used.. The 10A meters have a build-in shunt, above 10A you need an external shunt. Wiring is more complicated and to make it more worse not all of them use the same wire colors and you need to figure out which one is for current and which one for voltage. Therefor they are a lot cheaper.. (Voltage wire needs to be connected before the load and current wire behind the load)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-100V-10...3d1b988c6f:g:ii0AAOSwepJXbPnt&redirect=mobile
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The one I posted is a dc meter, for adjusting lights w A drivers.

If you want to measure ac side and your voltage is <125, you could also use a plug strip connected to killawatt, eh? And get additional info...
 
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Or_Gro said:
The one I posted is a dc meter, for adjusting lights w A drivers.

If you want to measure ac side and your voltage is <125, you could also use a plug strip connected to killawatt, eh? And get additional info...
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Of course but in my case a kill-a-watt would show the total draw at the wall incl. UVB not just for the HLG driver and I want something permanent. I have a kill-a-watt too I frequently use for this and that.
 
Randomblame said:
Of course but in my case a kill-a-watt would show the total draw at the wall incl. UVB not just for the HLG driver and I want something permanent. I have a kill-a-watt too I frequently use for this and that.
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Yeah, i understand, for single driver yours works great from ac side. Seems for adjusting individual drivers, in multiple driver fixture, dc side is easier and has more info...,am i wrong somewhere on this?

As you know, i’m a grower not an electrician...
 
Randomblame said:
measure
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Randomblame said:
This connectors would work perfectly and of course you should put at least a ground wire on the frame when the driver is not mounted to the same frame. The driver housing is already grounded and if screwed to the frame the whole fixture is grounded. If you remote wire the fixture and have the driver mounted outside of the tent/grow area you should add a ground wire between fixture and ground connector.

I'll add this connectors to my DIY housing to be able to take all the wires compltely off of the fixture.
Same like yours but with metal housing. Also from e3ay and pretty cheap too.
View attachment 4235048
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I'll have mine in about 3 days :)
 
Or_Gro said:
Yeah, i understand, for single driver yours works great from ac side. Seems for adjusting individual drivers, in multiple driver fixture, dc side is easier and has more info...,am i wrong somewhere on this?

As you know, i’m a grower not an electrician...
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The tough part is finding a reasonably priced DC watt meter that handles high enough voltages...
if your drivers are all parallel low voltage it'll be easy, if you're running series, it'll be a struggle unless you are measuring individual boards.

Having the meter on the AC side is great for knowing the actual draw of watts used by driver/light assembly whereas on the DC side it would give you a closer look at actual watts consumed by the diodes but with no indication of total watts consumed.
 
GreeneryBob said:
The tough part is finding a reasonably priced DC watt meter that handles high enough voltages...
if your drivers are all parallel low voltage it'll be easy, if you're running series, it'll be a struggle unless you are measuring individual boards.

Having the meter on the AC side is great for knowing the actual draw of watts used by driver/light assembly whereas on the DC side it would give you a closer look at actual watts consumed by the diodes but with no indication of total watts consumed.
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Exactly, so, generally, dc meter to dim, killawatt or other ac meter for total consumption.

I know total consumption matters, but as a grower, i’m managing photons/diodes at a higher priority & finer detail than total consumption...and every month a certain third party let’s me know all i really need to know about total consumption.
 
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Sorry for the dumb questions, been looking over your diagram for the layout or_gro

Are the lights 1inch in from the side of the tent on the 6X 96qb diagram?
 
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