New to LED, one 240W driver or two 120W?

[CattleTurd]

I have a 32x32x63 tent that I want two qb288 v2 boards in.
Is there any reason to have two 120w small drivers, than one 240w big driver? Other than the price of another driver. I want two separate boards with separate heatsinks to spread light and control temps well. I don’t want a single heat sink with two boards..

 

[Old Salt]

It's a personal preference. Two x 120W drivers will give you more flexibility in the future. One 240W driver lowers the parts count and the cost by a little.

If this is your only tent used from seed to harvest you will recoup the cost of a second driver as savings on your power bill in a grow or two. You can use a single qb288 from seed through the early veg stages.

If you have multiple tents, you'll need to make the decision on how to configure your lights. There may be good reasons on both sides.

Getting power supplies that use external components to adjust their output makes it very easy to do so. I highly recommend them.

 

[CattleTurd]

I will get the Qb288 v2 4000k and the qb288 v2 rspec. Both at 135watts would be 40 watt per square foot in my 32x32 tent. I heard that’s a good amount of led light... will be running autoflowers only..

 

[Old Salt]

It appears as though the voltage requirements for the two boards are different. That can cause problems. I'd get two boards of the same type if you are going with a single power supply, At 135W each, you will need a heat sink.

 

[CattleTurd]

I will have two separate 135w kits from hlg. One with rspec. One with 4000k So two of everything.

 

[Stunned]

just curious
why 4000K?

 

[CattleTurd]

One 3000k and one 4000k. Why not? I was going to mix the 2 spectrums. I heard blue light is good with far red, like 3000k rspec

 

[CattleTurd]

Does anyone have LED side lights they can recommend? LED bars, supplemental lighting.

 

[HayStack]

I've never used quantum boards before. But if your grow space is like mine and you have no way to control the temp. I would opt for two drivers. That way you can always turn off one light if your room gets too hot. All it takes is one or two 90 degree days to put your tent over 100 degrees. And that can cause some irreversible problems, especially in hydro. I had one of my plants get burned so bad that my brother in law named it Tan Mom. That grow was a failure. I think I ended up with about 12 good oz from that grow, and Tan Mom just got worse everyday.

 

[CattleTurd]

I have one QB 288 and it’s very easy to cool down. I know if I had two it would barely raise the temperature maybe one or two degrees. They are very efficient. I’m just looking for side lighting now.

 

[HayStack]

I have one QB 288 and it’s very easy to cool down. I know if I had two it would barely raise the temperature maybe one or two degrees. They are very efficient. I’m just looking for side lighting now.

What's your budget on the side lighting?

 

[CattleTurd]

About 250. Problem is that I would like them only 24 - 30 inches long. I may just have to diy strip light build.

 

[HayStack]

Strip lights sound good to me. And inexpensive too. The only other choice would be some cheap Chinese LED's from Amazon. Their not that bad. I use some of them myself.

 

[shotnva777]

I know this is an old thread but I have a question. If I have a 240w Meanwell Driver and I'm trying to power two of the exact same quantum led boards, that are 120w a piece.... how would I go about that? I know it's possible, but I don't know how to split the wattage, as dumb as that sounds. I understand parallel and series, but that just deals with amperage right? Or is that splitting the watts too??? TYIA

 

[bluter]

I know this is an old thread but I have a question. If I have a 240w Meanwell Driver and I'm trying to power two of the exact same quantum led boards, that are 120w a piece.... how would I go about that?

do they have a daisy chain option in place ?

I understand parallel and series, but that just deals with amperage right?

no. nothing to do with amp.

parallel and series are two different ways of wiring a rig entirely. you never mix the two unless you seek disaster and big fire.

first you need to know if you have a constant current or constant voltage type of driver. then you need to know how the rigs you have are wired at present.

series circuits connect components end to end making a single path for the current to follow. each emitter gets the same current across it. constant current drivers are generally best for this.

with parallel circuits the emitters are connected sharing two nodes to each other. each emitter shares the same voltage across it. constant voltage drivers are generally best for this.

here is an example :

Or is that splitting the watts too???

no. think of it as simply building a single light. it isn't split so much as shared, creating a single thing.

 

[shotnva777]

do they have a daisy chain option in place ?




no. nothing to do with amp.

parallel and series are two different ways of wiring a rig entirely. you never mix the two unless you seek disaster and big fire.

first you need to know if you have a constant current or constant voltage type of driver. then you need to know how the rigs you have are wired at present.

series circuits connect components end to end making a single path for the current to follow. each emitter gets the same current across it. constant current drivers are generally best for this.

with parallel circuits the emitters are connected sharing two nodes to each other. each emitter shares the same voltage across it. constant voltage drivers are generally best for this.

here is an example :

no. think of it as simply building a single light. it isn't split so much as shared, creating a single thing.

It's a Meanwell ELG-240-AB Driver and I'm trying to wire these two boards to it.

 

[shotnva777]

Pretty sure thats a constant current driver, so would I just wire the two quantum boards in parallel and they'll split the wattage??

 

[bluter]

Pretty sure thats a constant current driver

make sure you know what the driver is. elg series come in dedicated constant voltage, dedicated constant current, and split constant current and voltage.

I just wire the two quantum boards in parallel and they'll split the wattage??

if you have the right driver. otherwise go series.
treat each board as if it was a single emitter and wire accordingly. it's not that hard.

edit : you will also need to attach those boards to some kind of heat sink. aluminum cookie sheets have proven useful for that. make sure whatever you use is aluminum.