DIY HLG V2 build (Im a noob).

[Thegermling]

Hello, fellow led gardeners! I have a 4x4 tent that I was planning on buying a hlg 550 v2 lamp but the price is too much for me even with the 20% discounts. I wanted to save a couple hundred and build my own. I have never built a cob light or quantum board light. Any help would be appreciated. I've watched about 5 minutes of growmaus', six part series, of diy led but havent gone back. What else am I missing? I am a "visual learner" so any other vids on diy led would be nice. Thanks in advance!

[Jolly Green Giant]

welcome to the forum

I did the same thing a little over a year and a half ago... hlg550 was too expensive, so I bought 4 boards with a HLG-480h-c2100b and a RapidLED substrate... I've loved it ever since..( minus the substrate.. old one was too bulky for me.) my build and upgrade buried on page 8 viewtopic.php?f=11&t=56

as for videos.. our awesome host LG has quite a few there's a great one on how to put together the hlg QB kits! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrXV02 ... pp=desktop

again welcome.. and don't hesitate to ask questions or dig thru the wealth of info on here

[rdooski3]

Welcome

I was also brought into diy because I wanted something like HLG had but it was too expensive. What I would recommend and ended up doing is a strip build. Its no different than a qb build really when building. And its cheaper mainly because of not needing big heatsinks, runs cooler, and has alot better coverage. There is a bunch of great info here on building a strip setup also.

[xenophon]

The Atreum Quantum V2 boards are roughly identical but cheaper. They sell with a cheap heatsink kit too. I prefer their square size.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Horticultural- ... :rk:2:pf:0

HLG may be lowering their prices in response, I'm not sure.

[Thegermling]

welcome to the forum

I did the same thing a little over a year and a half ago... hlg550 was too expensive, so I bought 4 boards with a HLG-480h-c2100b and a RapidLED substrate... I've loved it ever since..( minus the substrate.. old one was too bulky for me.) my build and upgrade buried on page 8 viewtopic.php?f=11&t=56

as for videos.. our awesome host LG has quite a few there's a great one on how to put together the hlg QB kits! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrXV02 ... pp=desktop

again welcome.. and don't hesitate to ask questions or dig thru the wealth of info on here

I dont know why a notification ever came to my email. The settings are right. Anyways, I was thinking about using that same driver but if im correct (just finished growmau5's 6 part beginner DIY to led) that driver doesnt have a dimming option right?
I was thinking about getting the a version. How would I wire these boards together? I know HLG posted a way to wire them up over at rollitup but I cant seem to find it. I should wire them in series right?

[Jolly Green Giant]

welcome to the forum

I did the same thing a little over a year and a half ago... hlg550 was too expensive, so I bought 4 boards with a HLG-480h-c2100b and a RapidLED substrate... I've loved it ever since..( minus the substrate.. old one was too bulky for me.) my build and upgrade buried on page 8 viewtopic.php?f=11&t=56

as for videos.. our awesome host LG has quite a few there's a great one on how to put together the hlg QB kits! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrXV02 ... pp=desktop

again welcome.. and don't hesitate to ask questions or dig thru the wealth of info on here

I dont know why a notification ever came to my email. The settings are right. Anyways, I was thinking about using that same driver but if im correct (just finished growmau5's 6 part beginner DIY to led) that driver doesnt have a dimming option right?
I was thinking about getting the a version. How would I wire these boards together? I know HLG posted a way to wire them up over at rollitup but I cant seem to find it. I should wire them in series right?

With the meanwells, "A" type drivers have just internal dimmers.. ( the ones you pop the plug out and use a mini screw driver.) a "B" type driver has 3way dimming option.. you can hook a 100k ohm potentiometer or a PWM dimmer to it.. ( I forget third.. those two more common.)

as for how to wire.. with the hlg-480h-c2100 ( a or b type ) and 4 quantum boards you have to wire in series to make it work..

hook the + out of the driver to the first boards +... connect the - on first board to the + of second board... keep repeating - from one to + of next until the forth board... with the forth run the - back to the drivers - lead... and your wired for series

if using the hlg-480h-48/54 ( 48 v2's or 54 for the v1's) you have to wire in parallel... easiest way with 4 boards is.... put a 3way wago right at the driver leads.. on both the + and -... that will give you 2 + and 2 - to run too 2 sets of 2 boards... take + to + and - to - for the first board of each chain... then + to + and - to - from first boards to the next 2 boards...

https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/p ... oard-guide the first picture under parallel section is what I'm referring too..( they show two lines out of driver... that's our 3way wago )

the series picture below the parallel section is just missing 2 boards.. same theory.. just 2 more boards...

[Thegermling]

welcome to the forum

I did the same thing a little over a year and a half ago... hlg550 was too expensive, so I bought 4 boards with a HLG-480h-c2100b and a RapidLED substrate... I've loved it ever since..( minus the substrate.. old one was too bulky for me.) my build and upgrade buried on page 8 viewtopic.php?f=11&t=56

as for videos.. our awesome host LG has quite a few there's a great one on how to put together the hlg QB kits! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrXV02 ... pp=desktop

again welcome.. and don't hesitate to ask questions or dig thru the wealth of info on here

I dont know why a notification ever came to my email. The settings are right. Anyways, I was thinking about using that same driver but if im correct (just finished growmau5's 6 part beginner DIY to led) that driver doesnt have a dimming option right?
I was thinking about getting the a version. How would I wire these boards together? I know HLG posted a way to wire them up over at rollitup but I cant seem to find it. I should wire them in series right?

With the meanwells, "A" type drivers have just internal dimmers.. ( the ones you pop the plug out and use a mini screw driver.) a "B" type driver has 3way dimming option.. you can hook a 100k ohm potentiometer or a PWM dimmer to it.. ( I forget third.. those two more common.)

as for how to wire.. with the hlg-480h-c2100 ( a or b type ) and 4 quantum boards you have to wire in series to make it work..

hook the + out of the driver to the first boards +... connect the - on first board to the + of second board... keep repeating - from one to + of next until the forth board... with the forth run the - back to the drivers - lead... and your wired for series

if using the hlg-480h-48/54 ( 48 v2's or 54 for the v1's) you have to wire in parallel... easiest way with 4 boards is.... put a 3way wago right at the driver leads.. on both the + and -... that will give you 2 + and 2 - to run too 2 sets of 2 boards... take + to + and - to - for the first board of each chain... then + to + and - to - from first boards to the next 2 boards...

https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/p ... oard-guide the first picture under parallel section is what I'm referring too..( they show two lines out of driver... that's our 3way wago )

the series picture below the parallel section is just missing 2 boards.. same theory.. just 2 more boards...

Thanks man. Damn I cant believe I didnt find that over at HLG. Hey I know you made your own HLG 550(read your whole thread) and you said that your heatsinks got too hot right? You made a new build with 6 boards. You also got a new frame. Where did you buy the pieces for your new frame? Also, HLG-480h-48/54 are really HLG-480h-4800 and HLG-480h_5400 right? Thanks for the help.

[Jolly Green Giant]

I bought the angle aluminium from a local shop.. pretty much same price as online metals or other online suppliers...

yes running roughly 120 w each ( on the -c2100 ) it was a little hot for the slate 1's... if you have slate 2's ( the big fin black/clear ones) your fine.. they max out around 150 instead of 100 like the slate ones..

technically No... the 48 and 54 are not 4800ma and 5400ma.. those numbers represent the voltage instead of the current.. when you see a HLG series ( most other mean well as well) after the wattage if it has a "-C" it's a constant current driver.. meaning it's always 2100ma ( hlg-480h-C2100b the one I used with 4 boards in the beginning) and you add the voltages together.. ( 4 288's = 54x4 or roughly 216 volts) till your within the voltage range of the driver.. ( on the -c2100 the range is 114-229v.. ) which means you need 3 minimum no more than 4 qb 288's on this driver..

the other type of driver ( what I switched to.. hlg-480h-54 ) is a Constant Voltage + constant current driver.... it puts out constant voltage of up to 54 ( instead of 2100ma current like the other) and runs 8900ma split between how ever many pcb's/strips cobs etc you hook up... if I hooked this driver up to the 4 boards each would roughly get 2225 ma each (they never split even.. but close) but since I added 2 more each board is roughly getting 1483 ma each... bonus part about the CV+CC type driver is if running constant voltage is too much amperage for what your powering.. it will swap to constant current mode and turn the voltage back to balance itself out..

constant current driver "-Cxxxx" is mainly for series wiring... always amperage match
constant voltage+constant current driver "-xx" is mainly for parallel wiring... always voltage match

[Thegermling]

I bought the angle aluminium from a local shop.. pretty much same price as online metals or other online suppliers...

yes running roughly 120 w each ( on the -c2100 ) it was a little hot for the slate 1's... if you have slate 2's ( the big fin black/clear ones) your fine.. they max out around 150 instead of 100 like the slate ones..

technically No... the 48 and 54 are not 4800ma and 5400ma.. those numbers represent the voltage instead of the current.. when you see a HLG series ( most other mean well as well) after the wattage if it has a "-C" it's a constant current driver.. meaning it's always 2100ma ( hlg-480h-C2100b the one I used with 4 boards in the beginning) and you add the voltages together.. ( 4 288's = 54x4 or roughly 216 volts) till your within the voltage range of the driver.. ( on the -c2100 the range is 114-229v.. ) which means you need 3 minimum no more than 4 qb 288's on this driver..

the other type of driver ( what I switched to.. hlg-480h-54 ) is a Constant Voltage + constant current driver.... it puts out constant voltage of up to 54 ( instead of 2100ma current like the other) and runs 8900ma split between how ever many pcb's/strips cobs etc you hook up... if I hooked this driver up to the 4 boards each would roughly get 2225 ma each (they never split even.. but close) but since I added 2 more each board is roughly getting 1483 ma each... bonus part about the CV+CC type driver is if running constant voltage is too much amperage for what your powering.. it will swap to constant current mode and turn the voltage back to balance itself out..

constant current driver "-Cxxxx" is mainly for series wiring... always amperage match
constant voltage+constant current driver "-xx" is mainly for parallel wiring... always voltage match

Good shit man thanks! Hey, Ive been researching and I considered strips as well. Ive heard that they have even better coverage over qbs. I think I might go with a strip build. Whats your opinion on them strip leds? Which ones are the best out right now?

[Jolly Green Giant]

https://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/pr ... ht-engine/
green genes strips with 96 lm301b's and 4 Cree 660's are nice..

https://www.cutter.com.au/product-categ ... /sol-skin/
Cutter from the land down under has some similar strips.. more diode options.. they also make 288 diode boards..

https://www.digikey.com/products/en/opt ... ageSize=25
for just white diodes... the h influx is the highest efficiency atm.... but with prices dropping you can get a little bit lower efficiency strip ( like the Bridgelux EB gen 2 strips) and run them really soft.. you can almost offset the difference...

oh yeah... there's word that Samsung will be coming out with a new "horticultural" diode/strip soon.. green genes and GM5 were talking a little about it in the last "kind of " tech talk