DIY with Quantum Boards

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Choppity chop time.
KKP

Watered a few days ago and noticed it hasn’t pulled a drink .... SO ... I scoped and figured it was time.

Purp Coloring deepened since 24th and a bit more mass but it won’t drink so time to grab the fiskars.
week 10 of flower. Pretty good for a 1 gallon grow bag.
Might end up with some sugar trim for some “ Buddha butter “ ... lol.
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Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
And some Concord Crush for everyones viewing pleasure. Does anyone use relfectors on their light builds? I think im gonna build some when this run is done and see how they do. I have a ton of thrown light bouncing way too many times before hitting the canopy.View attachment 4469134View attachment 4469136
COBs and the infamous "Angelina" reflectors taught all of us here on the forums all about them. If you're in an open area, where walls are at least 3-4' away from the canopy, reflectors are probably a smart idea.
But in a tent of any kind, just reflective walls surrounding your grow, reflectors just aren't needed and actually waste light compared to just an open COB. I'd have to think the same applies to any and all LED diodes in general.
 

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Was gonna replace a a51 sgs160 with my new 135v1, and I did, plus I took out an a51 rw75!
seems to be keeping up with my photon 180 pushing 2 1818 citizens at 90 watts each.
 

pop22

Well-Known Member
I've been running 3 QB 288 V1 @ 55 watts without a heatsink for over a year now without a problem. I have a pair on an 80H54 that is powering them to that level ( 117 watts from the wall ). I've got about $115 invested as I got the drivers for $15 each! ( from a going out of business sale ), so i'm at about a dollar a watt also with them.

Its whole different game building with soft run boards, it opens up so many possibilities. If you have a look at the specs at hlgs web: half power V1s are very similar in efficiency to full power V2s, but with the added advantage that you can run them much closer to your tops, better spread, and if you need to spread your boards over more cannopy you can allways up the power a bit. At 60w theyre supposed to be able to run without heatsink, id suggest alubacking between 60-80w but thats me.
 

PrometheanLeaf

Well-Known Member
The qb288 v1, what driver should I use to run four of them without heatsinks? I'd love to be able to put them on a 240w hlg ideally and run 8 boards over a 3x3 tray.

If not I suppose I'll just grab 12 boards.
 
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Jqwerty1

Well-Known Member
There is absolutely nothing in the spectrum of a CFL that can't be had in LED, and they are very inefficient compared to LED. Also, if you are going to make the statement " significant evidence" about anything, then you should provide links to said data, otherwise it's still conjecture.
Yes, I've been reading into a lot of datasheets for all the specific nm's I'm interested in and ive tried to diy my own stuff but its extremely expensive. Theres very, very little evidence to support anything with FR. Its very likely active in photosynthesis but i have yet to see anything that conclusively proves its worth it. Its very simple if you think about it as the shade trigger. THC, flavor and color compounds being like sunscreen, why would a plant produce subscreen in the shade. Take a look at the interactive chart here
Heres flourescent peaks
Flourescents provide UVA and UVB which have been proven to increase THC. They also have a green peak around 550nm thats perfect for increasing bluing and purpling, other peaks are also good for orange colors like carotenoids. The cheap price of flourescents outweighs the efficiency. I'm going to be installing a 36inch reptile bulb in a 2x4. Plug and play piece of kit for 35$ to get the same in leds would cost me double and be a huge hassle to assemble AND the efficiency gain wouldnt be that much. LM301B isnt the end all be all light, it is however a great base spectrum, cheap and highly efficient. The RSPECs are even greater, i love mine. My only complaint with the QBs is they dont produce as potent or flavorful bud as HPS or MH, those however use more than double the wattage. Far red is the wrong way to go IMO, and until they make some efficient UV leds, QB with a flourescent supplement is the way to go.
"The plants grown without FR displayed darker leaf color. Another observation was that the plants without far-red had a stronger spicy taste"
[/URL]
"The data shows that the amount of terpenes in dried
Cannabis flowers increases with a “No Red” light
treatment for the final three days of production.
Based upon these findings, we feel confident in rec-
ommending a spectrum control program that elimi-
nates red light output from LumiGrow fixtures for the
final 72 hours of the Cannabis flowering cycle. "
Not using far red results in more color, more flavor, more terpenes and likely more THC. it may help in inducing flowering but not taking a week off your flowering time. It will also cause stem elongation, resulting in less nodes, less overall bud, possibly why some people claims it flowers faster, because mine are always mature at different times based on where the buds are on the plant. All the evidence that says far red increaes yields is based on lettuce.
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
Anyone know which driver to get for the B-specs? The site doesn't specify.. I see the 550 RSPEC rig uses a Meanwell HLG-480H-C2100A and the 550 Bspec uses a Meanwell HLG-480H-C2100AB. Whats the differnce? I was planning on just one Bspec on a single slate, so I figured the HLG-120H-54A was going to work for the b spec but is there a HLG-120H-54AB i should get instead or something?
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
The qb288 v1, what driver should I use to run four of them without heatsinks? I'd love to be able to put them on a 240w hlg ideally and run 8 boards over a 3x3 tray.

If not I suppose I'll just grab 12 boards.
Dimmable


I see on this page a bunch of recommendations for the 288's; it seems to be the same drivers for whatever 288 your using.. It just doesn't clarify if that goes for the 288 bspecs as well
 

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
@Nizza I'm pretty much just wanting to know what ma is safe to run without any heatsinking for the 288s
If you are running 4 in series I think there is only either the ELG/HLG240-C1050 listed on their site. You could run them without heatsinks if you want but I will say that 4 boards on a heatsink running at 60w is still pretty warm to the touch. A fan blowing across the top of it on low speed turns that into nothing tho. Also note that the HLG site says > 50W to use a heatsink. Other people have luck running with no heatsink. To each their own, my goal is efficiency and the way I look at it the cooler I keep them the more light they put out.

Look back a few pages and you will see I just put together a similar setup this week. The second 4 board 240W is going up today.
 
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PrometheanLeaf

Well-Known Member
If you are running 4 in series I think there is only either the ELG/HLG240-C1050 listed on their site. You could run them without heatsinks if you want but I will say that 4 boards on a heatsink running at 60w is still pretty warm to the touch. A fan blowing across the top of it on low speed turns that into nothing tho. Also note that the HLG site says > 50W to use a heatsink. Other people have luck running with no heatsink. To each their own, my goal is efficiency and the way I look at it the cooler I keep them the more light they put out.

Look back a few pages and you will see I just put together a similar setup this week. The second 4 board 240W is going up today.
Well the price of a single heatsink is the same as another board. If I run them at half wattage I can double the diodes and thus the efficiency correct?
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
@Nizza I'm pretty much just wanting to know what ma is safe to run without any heatsinking for the 288s
Hlg say 50 watts without the sinks. That's around 1 amp. 1000mA
I think theyre being conservative
You could probably run them a bit higher with a fan blowing over them I'd say
So a 1050mA driver would be nice.
Or an hlg xxx 54a or 48a
 

PrometheanLeaf

Well-Known Member
Hlg say 50 watts without the sinks. That's around 1 amp. 1000mA
I think theyre being conservative
You could probably run them a bit higher with a fan blowing over them I'd say
So a 1050mA driver would be nice.
Or an hlg xxx 54a or 48a
I'll try to go with 12 boards and see which drivers I'll want to pick up, thanks buddy.
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Hlg say 50 watts without the sinks. That's around 1 amp. 1000mA
I think theyre being conservative
You could probably run them a bit higher with a fan blowing over them I'd say
So a 1050mA driver would be nice.
Or an hlg xxx 54a or 48a
Do you understand the whole concept of a CV driver running and switching to CC, or maybe it vice versa? How does this happen? What parameters need to be met?
 

ianc4990

Well-Known Member
COBs and the infamous "Angelina" reflectors taught all of us here on the forums all about them. If you're in an open area, where walls are at least 3-4' away from the canopy, reflectors are probably a smart idea.
But in a tent of any kind, just reflective walls surrounding your grow, reflectors just aren't needed and actually waste light compared to just an open COB. I'd have to think the same applies to any and all LED diodes in general.
Im flowering 2 4x4 in an 8x12 room. I think they will make a bit of a difference
 

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
Well the price of a single heatsink is the same as another board. If I run them at half wattage I can double the diodes and thus the efficiency correct?
Yes that is how I am running them. 4 boards @ 60W each for better efficiency. Im just telling you from just having done the exact build, they put off a fair bit of heat still. I personally would at least use aluminum sheets or bakers pans. It will help keep the boards cooler, which improves the diodes life and increases output.
 
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