Efficient Driver for 4x QB

[Mcalidan]

Hi All,

I know this question probably has been asked a thousand times, but I'm still confused. I have 4 x QB's (288), and I'm looking for the driver that will run these most efficiently. If I understand correctly I pretty much have 4 options. The HLG-600, HLG-480, HLG-320, or 2 x HLG-240.

Right now I'm leaning toward the 600 or 480. I'm wondering though if I did go with the 600, would that be efficient on the boards or am I making them run more power than needed?

Lastly, also kind of confused on whether I want a CV or CC driver. Which one is more efficient on the board? Is it better that my current or voltage is the same across the boards?

Any help is appreciated I've been trying to figure this out for days.

[Jolly Green Giant]

welcome to the forum . are you asking about driver efficiency? or the boards?

most of the drivers over 240 from meanwell are 94- 95% efficient.. when you look at the data sheets( the hlg480h-c2100b charts is page 7) they show how much voltage needs to be used to hit that 95%. running 110v most of them hit that Mark using 80-90% of the max voltage it can handle.

boards efficiency depends on what the current your pushing thru them are.. the higher the current the less efficient light. the lower the current the higher lum/w or umole/j you get.

I run 4 288's on a hlg480h-c2100b on a 4x4 frame over a 4x4 scrog in a 5x5 tent.. with this setup I'm running my boards at 53volts max and 111watts max. getting a 2.59 umole/j or a 177 max lumen per watt rating. running those 4 softer and more efficient I would not have enough light.. I would have to double my boards and get two smaller current drivers to be close to the same wattage.. but my umole/j or lumen/w would jump up by a little bit. with my driver on 110v a.c. and those 4 288's at 53v each I'm at 92.5% of the max voltage ( 53x4=212x100/229= 92.59%) so those 4 put me in that max efficiency of the driver.

wether you need the 320/480/600 depends on the space your trying to light up.. if your trying to cover a 3x3 or 4x4 I would say copy my driver.. if your trying a 5x5 with 4 boards I would go 600 the 600 would push them to the max if you got a 54cv type or a -c2800cc type.

yea I'm starting to ramble lol hopefully making some sort of sense.. whether you go cc or cv is preference on how you want to wire nowadays. we use to worry about thermal runaway with cv and parallel wiring. but after watching Ledgardener pushing 8 + amps thru one board we don't have to worry as much... the major thing about wiring in series is making sure your components (wire mainly I know the boards can handle 300v) can handle the voltage. so both are easy and reliable if you get the right components.

again welcome to the forum and forgive my rambling on! I think I attempted to answer everything lol

[Mcalidan]

Hello GG,

Thanks for the welcome and all the info. The more you ramble, the more I'm learning. You definitely gave me enough information to make a decision here.

I guess I should've asked what size driver would be best for 4 x 4. I was worried the 480h-2100 wouldn't be powerful enough for the space. I read that the 480 would run the boards at 70%, I didn't want to get the driver if it wouldn't be strong enough for the space. At the same time I didn't want to get the 600 if it would just run the boards too hard in that space. You definitely made my decision easier, I'll keep it simple and stick with the 480-2100B model.

Thanks again

[LEDG]

Good call. The 480H-C2100 is perfect for those boards in that space.

[Jolly Green Giant]

Hello GG,

Thanks for the welcome and all the info. The more you ramble, the more I'm learning. You definitely gave me enough information to make a decision here.

I guess I should've asked what size driver would be best for 4 x 4. I was worried the 480h-2100 wouldn't be powerful enough for the space. I read that the 480 would run the boards at 70%, I didn't want to get the driver if it wouldn't be strong enough for the space. At the same time I didn't want to get the 600 if it would just run the boards too hard in that space. You definitely made my decision easier, I'll keep it simple and stick with the 480-2100B model.

Thanks again

I though the same thing when I was planning mine.. is 480 going to be enough?? I was going to do 6 with a 600-54 but I couldn't afford it all at once. so I did 4 with the 480 and planned on adding another 4 with added red ( when ever they release them) on another 480 and dim way down. I have been surprised by what the single 480 has done!! I've had 3 runs with my DIY light and I have equaled my hps 1000w s.e. every time!!!

when hlg says the 550( it's got the 480 on it) is a s.e. hps replacment, they mean it!!!

[ronaldmosely]

So what is the con of running a 600H - 54A in that space? it is dimmable.

[Jolly Green Giant]

So what is the con of running a 600H - 54A in that space? it is dimmable.

my con was running slate 1 heat sinks ( rated for 100-120w max I think...but they fit perfect in the RapidLED substrate). if I would of gone with slate 2's ( 5's and 6's weren't out then) that can handle 150w ( 600w on the slate 5) the 600 wouldn't be a problem.

[ronaldmosely]

Right now I have 4 boards 288 going to do a mixed spectrum of 2 x 4000k and 2x 3000k. I also have the slate 6. So it wouldn't be a bad idea to run the 600 h 54A. Also, can anyone provide me with a wiring diagram for the slate 6 boards as all boards would be running in sequence next to each other I'm thinking in parallel but can't picture the wiring in my mind. I've attached a pic of the slate 6 for mental reference

[LEDG]

Sweet. Just connect the positives of all the boards to the positive of the driver and connect the negatives of all the boards to the negative of the driver

[ronaldmosely]

Are there any cons to doing series wiring on these boards? Just asking as parallel is a lot of wiring.