QB96 Elite V2 w/ SSTX heatsink question

Z

Zipz55

Well-Known Member
pulpoinspace said:
well what temperature is the room the tent is in. and where are you drawing intake air from?

while were at it how big is the tent
Click to expand...
tent is a 2x2

I have it in a back room in my basement

Theres no windows in the room

Basement is usually around 70 degrees.The room the tent is in is around 80
 
61falcon

61falcon

Well-Known Member
Jetfixer100 said:
Thanks for all of the great information! I’m putting four of these in a 3x3. I went with the 480H-54A (guess I’m wiring in parallel). Great idea on the DC meter. I will look into it. Thanks again!
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I am getting some for my 3x3x7 soon as well. Are you putting all 4 to just one HGL-480H-54a. Would this only give each light 120 watts or am I mistaken ?
 
Or_Gro

Or_Gro

Well-Known Member
Zipz55 said:
What can i do to get the temps down in my tent?

Im currently running 2 QB96s in a 2x2 at 90 watts per light.Both drivers are outside the tent and I can’t get the temp inside the tent below 88 degrees

I was at 89 before i put an ac infinity fan over each heatsink but that only dropped the temp 1 degree

Will i be ok at 88 degrees in the tent or should I remove one of the QB96s and just leave 1 ine the tent
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Are you running an exhaust fan?

A poster asked me exact same question on gc today...guy wasn’t running an exhaust fan.
 
Humple

Humple

Well-Known Member
Zipz55 said:
What can i do to get the temps down in my tent?

Im currently running 2 QB96s in a 2x2 at 90 watts per light.Both drivers are outside the tent and I can’t get the temp inside the tent below 88 degrees

I was at 89 before i put an ac infinity fan over each heatsink but that only dropped the temp 1 degree

Will i be ok at 88 degrees in the tent or should I remove one of the QB96s and just leave 1 ine the tent
Click to expand...
Turn the QBs down. At 45w per square foot, you're well over the average that most here use for flowering (30-40 w/sq ft). Some have success at those higher light levels, but if you're having problems with heat, don't be worried about maxing the photons - you'll get great results, regardless. Unless you don't have a dimmer?
 
pulpoinspace

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
Zipz55 said:
tent is a 2x2

I have it in a back room in my basement

Theres no windows in the room

Basement is usually around 70 degrees.The room the tent is in is around 80
Click to expand...
as humple and orgro said,

i would turn the boards down to 60-75 watts each
even with exhaust, without drawing cooler air from somewhere and expelling warmer air somewhere else, you can't do much
if the basement is 80 degrees, and you don't vent your exhaust out a window, the best you can hope for is your room to stay about 85 degrees, or warmer as your light heats the air in the basement through the day
ideally you'd wanna exhaust your hot air out a window or something. also run your lights at night while the basement is cooler
 
Or_Gro

Or_Gro

Well-Known Member
pulpoinspace said:
as humple and orgro said,

i would turn the boards down to 60-75 watts each
even with exhaust, without drawing cooler air from somewhere and expelling warmer air somewhere else, you can't do much
if the basement is 80 degrees, and you don't vent your exhaust out a window, the best you can hope for is your room to stay about 85 degrees, or warmer as your light heats the air in the basement through the day
ideally you'd wanna exhaust your hot air out a window or something. also run your lights at night while the basement is cooler
Click to expand...
Open the door to cooler area or put in a vent in wall/door/ceiling or move your tent to place with ventilation...poor hvac is not just a heat issue..,run your lights lower and/or at night... a big part of growing reef is about problem solving...
 
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Jetfixer100

Jetfixer100

Well-Known Member
@ Or Gro this is what I have so far. I got the one HLG-480H-54 driver, but I have a second one coming. I also ordered two 1.8 inch wide extruded heatsinks and eight far red and two UVA solderless LEDs to add to it.
29DB5751-7BA6-41D2-9A16-432CAE255F82.jpeg
Oh, I took your advice and ordered three of the DC meters to incorporate into the build.
 
J

jbiggs695

Member
I just got my QB96 V2 up and running on my HLG-240H-54B. I hooked it up to my APC UPS, which has an LED to show the wattage draw, and it is only hitting about 180w. Thought maybe there was an issue with my dimmer, so I took that off and it had no impact. I have an inline DC meter ordered to make sure it isn't just my APC being inaccurate.. any other ideas?
 
pulpoinspace

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
jbiggs695 said:
I just got my QB96 V2 up and running on my HLG-240H-54B. I hooked it up to my APC UPS, which has an LED to show the wattage draw, and it is only hitting about 180w. Thought maybe there was an issue with my dimmer, so I took that off and it had no impact. I have an inline DC meter ordered to make sure it isn't just my APC being inaccurate.. any other ideas?
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a single 96v2?

i could be wrong but since it is a type B driver you cant adjust the voltage, so its capped at 54v, and the board will only pull so many amps at 54v.

i think to get the most of 1 board you want a type A driver you could crank the voltage.
or to get the most of that driver you want another board.
 
Frank Cannon

Frank Cannon

Well-Known Member
@Jetfixer100 bro 1 x 480 is 50w a square ft, that gonna kick ass man, my advice is careful with nutes, these LEDS are finicky little buggers compared to HPS and watch your VPD, plenty of helpful buggers (you know who you are) on here to steer you right.
 
J

jbiggs695

Member
pulpoinspace said:
a single 96v2?

i could be wrong but since it is a type B driver you cant adjust the voltage, so its capped at 54v, and the board will only pull so many amps at 54v.

i think to get the most of 1 board you want a type A driver you could crank the voltage.
or to get the most of that driver you want another board.
Click to expand...
Yeah, just a single. I thought that since the driver is rated for 4.45A that at full power I would see roughly 4.45 x 54 = 240W. You're saying that the board won't reach 4.45A due to the 54v voltage cap?

Honestly 180W is probably more than enough for what I will use this for, but I was expecting to be able to push it to at least 200W with this driver.. maybe I should exchange it for the A driver if that's the case. Or get a second QB96.. can't decide, what's my best play here? I just got the driver so it should be easy to return, if it's worth it
 
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pulpoinspace

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
jbiggs695 said:
Yeah, just a single. I thought that since the driver is rated for 4.45A that at full power I would see roughly 4.45 x 54 = 240W. You're saying that the board won't reach 4.45A due to the 54v voltage cap?

Honestly 180W is probably more than enough for what I will use this for, but I was expecting to be able to push it to at least 200W with this driver.. maybe I should exchange it for the A driver if that's the case. Or get a second QB96.. can't decide, what's my best play here? I just got the driver so it should be easy to return, if it's worth it
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@Randomblame @Or_Gro
can you verify what i am saying here? i'm not 100% on this.

yeah if you can return the driver and get the A that is an easy swap. the A type has the built in voltage pot and can go up to 57v.

From HLG:
V A W umol/J
54 2800 151 2.36
55 3400 187 2.32
56 4000 224 2.25
 
J

jbiggs695

Member
pulpoinspace said:
@Randomblame @Or_Gro
can you verify what i am saying here? i'm not 100% on this.

yeah if you can return the driver and get the A that is an easy swap. the A type has the built in voltage pot and can go up to 57v.

From HLG:
V A W umol/J
54 2800 151 2.36
55 3400 187 2.32
56 4000 224 2.25
Click to expand...
Yes, I saw that too on HLG's site after your first post. I believe you are correct. Didn't realize there was such a difference between 54 and 56v! Already got the A driver ordered, thanks!
 
Or_Gro

Or_Gro

Well-Known Member
pulpoinspace said:
@Randomblame @Or_Gro
can you verify what i am saying here? i'm not 100% on this.

yeah if you can return the driver and get the A that is an easy swap. the A type has the built in voltage pot and can go up to 57v.

From HLG:
V A W umol/J
54 2800 151 2.36
55 3400 187 2.32
56 4000 224 2.25
Click to expand...
I know enuff about drivers to be dangerous...

But, here’re my thoughts...

1. Amps x Volts = Watts....if you know two of the variables you can determine the third, using algebra.

2. Drivers are rated for max watts and either max amps or max volts. Use this to help solve 1.

3. The 3 common meanwell driver types are the ones ending in “a”, “b”, or blank...you can look up definitions and specs on meanwell site. I prefer “a”, cuz allows on-board dimming of both volts and amps.

4. Absolute max amps for a 96e is 6.0...unles you’re trying to vaporize your plants, you’ll never go even to the rated max of 4.5a... specs are listed on hlg site.

I use a single hlg-240h-54a for each 96e...means it’s rated for 240w at 54v, implies that for a single light it’s rated for 4.4a..rating is less than what you can push it to, and each driver is slightly different when pushed beyond rating...i’ve pushed single 96s to 330-370w during mapping, there is no sane reason to push them that high.

Btw, the heatsink needs fannage beyond 200w.
 
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