DIY with Quantum Boards

MedMonkey said:

Took a trip into town and went to Home Depot for the solid core wire. About $1/m, which makes me glad I didn't order from amazon. Also got some aluminum for a frame.

4 x qb288 w/heatsinks
2 x HLG-320H-C2100B + potentiometer
6in fan + Phresh filter
4x4 tent

I'm hoping this works out pretty good once it's up and running. Anyone got a guess on how much I should be able to grow with this setup assuming I don't mess everything up? I'd like to run about 500-600w. I have decided to wait on getting the other 2 boards for a separate tent, but that will happen soon.

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420Barista said:

heres some thoughts for you.

first off the hlg 300 is a prebuilt fixture hlg sells which is nice but they also have a diy kit in the same wide configuration. https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/diy/products/260w-xw-qb-led-kit
whats nice about the kit is it includes everything you need to assemble except rope ratchets and tools. and as far as I can recall the tools needed were a phillips head screwdriver to mount the boards to the heatsink and wire strippers to cut and strip the wire for the hookup. now currently as of writing this hlg shows out of stock but no biggie they also distribute to https://growerslights.com/products/horticulture-lighting-group-260-watt-xw-quantum-board-led-kit?variant=2764371197980 and thru them for $25 more ya dont need the tools cause they will build it and test it b4 shipping to you.
as for your crees thats up to you if you can find a buyer.

I myself have 2 of these kits https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/diy/products/260w-qb-led-kit which was their first 2 QB kit I ordered back in may 2017 they didnt offer the wide 2 board kit yet. I had originally planned to run 3 tents 2 4x4 for flower and a 3x3 for veg. but reality set in when I realized I currently had the space for a 3x3 tent only and Im barely fitting that in. so in the 3x3 i am using the 2 kits and at lowest output on the 4 boards plus a 2 30w secret jardin fans one blowing up from the center floor and another hanging in a corner on a pole blowing across the fins of the heatsink. and im at 296watts according to the kill a watt and my temps in the tent dont exceed 84. I cant run at full power cause it drives the temps up to the mid 90's, and from the grows guys are doing with the QB's many are not running full blast and are getting great results.

still I would be very interested to see how you do with them.

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RangiSTaxi said:

Ive been running 16 Cree 3590s in a 4 x4 i.e 1.2metre x 1.2 metre x 2 metre high but i have always run duel layer, i.e i have a table mid height, 8 x 3590s driven at 50 watt each layer, i plant in a table only 15cm deep. top and bottom.

Im considering selling my lights and changing to 2 x HGL 300s.

my 3590s pull around 800 watts i imagine , 2 x hgl 300s would pull around 600 watts,

I keen on the low profile of the quantum boards and the weight reduction.

p.s i live in nz so if anyone wants the 3590s let me know in the next few days

thoughts?

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CobGirl said:

Hi again gang just looking at dimmer switches to run my qb288 board setup i plan on running 2 qbs per 1 hlg 240h 2100 b drivers but 4 boards total.
Question is should i use 1 power cord/dimmer switch for the 4 boards as they are covering the same area ? Or 1 power cord/dimmer per 2 boards? (id prefer less cords and dimmers)
From what i have read i need a 50k not a 100k for 2 drivers or do i use 1 power cord and 2 dimmers
And is the cased switch at rapid led suitable for this?
If you have seen the" Bud Light The Quantum Board Build" thread I was looking to replicate this using different drivers
Appreciate all the advice so far

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MedMonkey said:

Took a trip into town and went to Home Depot for the solid core wire. About $1/m, which makes me glad I didn't order from amazon. Also got some aluminum for a frame.

4 x qb288 w/heatsinks
2 x HLG-320H-C2100B + potentiometer
6in fan + Phresh filter
4x4 tent

I'm hoping this works out pretty good once it's up and running. Anyone got a guess on how much I should be able to grow with this setup assuming I don't mess everything up? I'd like to run about 500-600w. I have decided to wait on getting the other 2 boards for a separate tent, but that will happen soon.[/QUOTE

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SB85 said:

What is the price of aluminum at home depot? I may pick some up.

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TheBFA said:

I don't know off hand, but I know it's pricey compared to how much out should cost from a metal supplier. I'm a welder by trade so have some experience sourcing metal. You'd be a lot better off buying a full length stick of the aluminum angle from a large metal supplier. Even if you don't have a truck, you can bring a hacksaw and just cut it up, or they may be able to cut it for you.

I just looked it up and Grainger supply sells 8' sticks of 3/4" x 3/4" x 1/8" for $7.25. Home depot has the same size, but only 4' for $9.27. You pay a substantial amount more for half the amount of metal.

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Victor6634 said:

Lowes is like $25 for 1/2x1/2x1/8 for 8 foot

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TheBFA said:

I don't know off hand, but I know it's pricey compared to how much out should cost from a metal supplier. I'm a welder by trade so have some experience sourcing metal. You'd be a lot better off buying a full length stick of the aluminum angle from a large metal supplier. Even if you don't have a truck, you can bring a hacksaw and just cut it up, or they may be able to cut it for you.

I just looked it up and Grainger supply sells 8' sticks of 3/4" x 3/4" x 1/8" for $7.25. Home depot has the same size, but only 4' for $9.27. You pay a substantial amount more for half the amount of metal.

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nfhiggs said:

I can get 3/4' angle and channel for $10 per 8 foot length at my local hardware store. That's for architectural aluminum (1/16" thickness).

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TheBFA said:

I don't know how big you guys are making your frames, but I made one 600W setup with two 300W kits and 1/16" angle would have been way too flimsy. I used 3/4 x 1/16 channel, which is more rigid, but I would have preferred 1/8" angle. It's still a little flimsy with the channel.

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bizfactory said:

200w QB288 fixture with a sonoff wifi controller and bayite power monitor. It turned out pretty nice.

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nfhiggs said:

My frame is 48" x 18". Nine 44" bars of 3/4 channel with strips mounted on them and ends made from 3/4 inch angle. Sure, it flexes a little bit if I grab the bars and push on them with some force, but so what? I mean, its not like I'm hanging 20 pound weights off of it. Hell, I didn't even bolt or rivet it together, I used RTV.

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TheBFA said:

You have a lot of reinforcement there. I'm just looking at it from a price point of view. You wouldn't need that many bars going across of you used thicker material. Like I mentioned before, I'm a welder and a fabricator, so this is right up my alley, and I'm just throwing out some info to save some people some money. You don't save money if you go with a thinner material but have to use 3 times as much of it than if you just went with stronger stuff in the first place. Here is my last light fixture I made. The frame is about 40x24. I made it with less than three 8ft lengths of channel.

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bizfactory said:

200w QB288 fixture with a sonoff wifi controller and bayite power monitor. It turned out pretty nice.

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619kt619 said:

Yes the rapid led pot will work. And there is an advantage to having separate dimmers on each driver, you can control how many watts are going through a specific driver. where as if you hooked up both to one pot they would keep the same wattage.

I have three 2 board sets-ups running on the same driver as you. each of my drivers has a pot and I am running the tent at 550 watts. One driver is full bore and the other two split the difference.

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