buying a driver

[Breed]

I hate to have to ask a question that has probably been asked but I have done so much research on drivers that I am now not completely sure what to get
I want to run 6 clu48 1212's with one driver
Will a HLG-240H C1400B do it and do it efficiently or would I be better off getting two smaller drivers.
I have used the driver selection tool and do know that it will work but just want to get the best one.
Any input from you guys would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[WhiteRecluse]

That driver will run them with high efficiency at the cobs but it's not an optimum pairing. If you are shooting for about 250 watts you can use the 240h-c1050. The driver you suggested maxes out at about 250 which would scale back the current to around 1050 anyway. If you are wanting to run them at 1400mA or 50 watts each, get the 320h-c1400. Both options I suggested would give you full range on the dimming functions which helps for clones and seedlings.

It really depends on the space I guess. 300 watts is good for about a 3x3. 250 should do well in a 2x4. You could always dime the 320h to 250 if you wanted. The lower you drive them, the higher lumen to watt ratio.

Cheers

[Breed]

Thank you very much for your time in that reply. It was the current drop I was wondering about and it is good to know I can go down on my driver size.

[Breed]

That driver will run them with high efficiency at the cobs but it's not an optimum pairing. If you are shooting for about 250 watts you can use the 240h-c1050. The driver you suggested maxes out at about 250 which would scale back the current to around 1050 anyway. If you are wanting to run them at 1400mA or 50 watts each, get the 320h-c1400. Both options I suggested would give you full range on the dimming functions which helps for clones and seedlings.

It really depends on the space I guess. 300 watts is good for about a 3x3. 250 should do well in a 2x4. You could always dime the 320h to 250 if you wanted. The lower you drive them, the higher lumen to watt ratio.

Cheers

The guy I talked to at led place said this:
The HLG-240H C1400B will only run up to 5 of your 36V COBs in total. You would have upgrade to the HLG-320H-C1400B ($89) which you can run each COB at a higher wattage since your grow space requires at least 300 watts to run. You can figure out shipping costs by adding items to your cart and proceeding through checkout, the rates should populate there. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

What did you mean by I could always "dime" a 320h? My understanding is a higher lumen to watt ratio is pretty much what we are trying to achieve and less heat which is one of my struggles due to where I live. If it was just a few dollars more would it be best to get the bigger driver? Thanks

[WhiteRecluse]

Typo, I meant dim*. I looked at the datasheets again. The 240h-c1400 doesn't have enough forward voltage to run 6. I apologize for that as I was primarily looking at the 240h-1050 and 320h-1400. Both of the options I suggested will run at a Max of 250 watts and 310ish respectively. With the 320h you could dim down to around 150 watts. With the 240 you could dim to around 125.

[WhiteRecluse]

In my experience running cobs at 50 watts does not add much in the way of heat. Personally, I think you would like the 320h-c1400. However, I do not know the size of your grow space.

Yes running the cobs lower results in higher efficiency overall. However, the difference is negligible when you are either going to run it at 40 or 50 watts. Running twice as many at 25 watts would help significantly increase your efficiency but you then are at double the cost.

[WhiteRecluse]

Here are a couple graphs I found on the web that demonstrate the efficacy curve at different wattages. The first shows the difference at 40 and 50 watts. The second shows overall and you can see how at 25 watts we have a reasonable change. I do not take credit for these graphs.

*Edit . They posted in reverse order

[Breed]

going with the big driver--thanks

[WhiteRecluse]

No problem. Best of luck with your build!