Two HLG 350Rs or a single 650R for a 5x5?

Pardon if this subject has been covered in another post. I like what I've seen from HLG on the lamps with the diablo boards but I don't want to throw down $1400 for the scorpion. With 10% off I can get either of these options for under 1k. That sounds pretty good to me but what's the better option for coverage between the two? Does that additional 50 watt bump make any difference? Will I get more heat from two drivers than the one? Are there details I'm not considering? Just looking for some input before I pull the trigger.

Thanks

CannabisFanaticus said:

Pardon if this subject has been covered in another post. I like what I've seen from HLG on the lamps with the diablo boards but I don't want to throw down $1400 for the scorpion. With 10% off I can get either of these options for under 1k. That sounds pretty good to me but what's the better option for coverage between the two? Does that additional 50 watt bump make any difference? Will I get more heat from two drivers than the one? Are there details I'm not considering? Just looking for some input before I pull the trigger.

Thanks

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Getting 2 instead of 1 is the better option allowing you to raise or lower them individually.

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking that as well and spreading them out by another 2-3 inches apart to disperse the light a bit more evenly. Hoping that would help hit those outside edges a little more. Although I still question if I'd be sacrificing efficiency over the life of the light without much more benefit in intensity. I'm still thinking two drivers would have to put off more heat than the one and my fans would would be working more often to compensate. I dunno, maybe that's negligible though.

CannabisFanaticus said:

Pardon if this subject has been covered in another post. I like what I've seen from HLG on the lamps with the diablo boards but I don't want to throw down $1400 for the scorpion. With 10% off I can get either of these options for under 1k. That sounds pretty good to me but what's the better option for coverage between the two? Does that additional 50 watt bump make any difference? Will I get more heat from two drivers than the one? Are there details I'm not considering? Just looking for some input before I pull the trigger.

Thanks

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If you have 2 you will get better coverage to the edge of the tent. You can also under drive them and increase the life of the diodes. And you will have less hear because the work load is split over 2 drivers

Plus the 650 needs to be somewhere between 2-3 feet over the canopy that leaves you with not much room

Autofire said:

If you have 2 you will get better coverage to the edge of the tent. You can also under drive them and increase the life of the diodes. And you will have less hear because the work load is split over 2 drivers

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Good point.

Dopesmoka said:

Plus the 650 needs to be somewhere between 2-3 feet over the canopy that leaves you with not much room

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I assume you're referencing Autofire's response in that I'll be able to dim these and bring them closer to the canopy? That seems pretty logical.

Now that I'm looking at the specs more closely I do see that hanging height for the 350Rs is only 15" - 24" above canopy but the 650Rs is 30-36 inches above canopy. Interesting. These are the same boards. It must be the different drivers? Why the foot and half distance between the two? Anybody know off hand?

CannabisFanaticus said:

Now that I'm looking at the specs more closely I do see that hanging height for the 350Rs is only 15" - 24" above canopy but the 650Rs is 30-36 inches above canopy. Interesting. These are the same boards. It must be the different drivers? Why the foot and half distance between the two? Anybody know off hand?

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I can’t fully answer the question but i would assume it has something to do with the 650 having more diodes

Dopesmoka said:

I can’t fully answer the question but i would assume it has something to do with the 650 having more diodes

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Ok. In essence, cross lighting increases the amount of photons hitting the plant and they can only take so much at once requiring the light to be raised. Makes sense. Following that logic, then if I put two 350s next to each other, I'll experience the same effect but at less intensity due to spreading them out and dialing back the dimmer to get what I want. I think need a par meter. haha

CannabisFanaticus said:

Ok. In essence, cross lighting increases the amount of photons hitting the plant and they can only take so much at once requiring the light to be raised. Makes sense. Following that logic, then if I put two 350s next to each other, I'll experience the same effect but at less intensity due to spreading them out and dialing back the dimmer to get what I want. I think need a par meter. haha

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Par meter will for sure come in handy and yup you got it

The feedback is definitely appreciated. I had been seeing many people saying the 650R is really great for a 4x4 but will fall off at the edges in a 5x5. Then I saw the 350R specs noting Flowering Footprint is 3' x 5' at 15". The price for two of these is $1 less than the 650R and a quarter off the cost of the scorpion which seems to be the only other option for a 5x5 with these boards but I don't think I really need six boards for that space. Maybe I'm wrong and the cost for the scorpion is justified. I dunno. I'd consider buying the boards and DIY but it appears they're all sold out. Guess my choice is made. Thanks everyone!

CannabisFanaticus said:

I'm still thinking two drivers would have to put off more heat than the one and my fans would would be working more often to compensate. I dunno, maybe that's negligible though.

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Heat produced by the drivers is determined by driver efficiency and total wattage, not the number of drivers.
If a driver is 94% efficient, 6% of the power is wasted as heat. Two 300w drivers would be 300w x 2 x 6% = 36 watts lost as heat.

CannabisFanaticus said:

Now that I'm looking at the specs more closely I do see that hanging height for the 350Rs is only 15" - 24" above canopy but the 650Rs is 30-36 inches above canopy. Interesting. These are the same boards. It must be the different drivers? Why the foot and half distance between the two? Anybody know off hand?

Click to expand...

With the 650R light is concentrated over a smaller area, raising it allows the light to spread out and avoid a hot spot in the center. As the others said, I'd go with two 350's for the versatility and better spread.

1212ham said:

Heat produced by the drivers is determined by driver efficiency and total wattage, not the number of drivers.
If a driver is 94% efficient, 6% of the power is wasted as heat. Two 300w drivers would be 300w x 2 x 6% = 36 watts lost as heat.

Click to expand...

With the 650R light is concentrated over a smaller area, raising it allows the light to spread out and avoid a hot spot in the center. As the others said, I'd go with two 350's for the versatility and better spread.
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Ok. Got it. So if the drivers are equally efficient, a driver double in size wouldn't put off any more heat than two drivers that match in total wattage. That's helpful. Thanks.

Unanimous responses. Can't argue with that.

I've been limited to a 3'x3' tent using 4 autocobs (Citizen clu-048-1812) and a 1.5' x 3' tent using a Timber 2VL for the last couple years, so this is going to be a huge step up. I'm pretty excited to have enough space to move past just running autoflowers again!

Hey guys! Just wanted to update and let anyone know who might be looking for a deal on the 350Rs. I just ordered two of these and they're on sale right now on HLGs website for 549 each from 599 which is about 9% off their list price and they still allowed the RIU10 code which brought the total down by another $109. So all in was $998.23 USD for 2 units - about a 17% discount over all. Not bad. I was specifically looking only for the units with diablo boards but FYI, I checked and they won't accept the discount code for the Rspecs that are also on sale.

Anyway, just throwing it out there for anyone who might be interested in these. I'm off to research par meters! Good times! Grow em if you got em folks!