DIY QB288 V2 Build - 4 Fixtures for 5' x 5' Tent

I was very strongly urged by my friends in the Supercloset Secret Society thread to open up a new thread here to document my Quantum Board light build. Honestly I am very new to Quantum Boards and learned most everything I am going to demonstrate here from others, but I guess if nothing else that will show how basic & easy it is to build you own great lighting system. Before starting I want to give thanks to Tbone Shuffle and Steakbomb, who both gave me most of the information I needed about QB's to even attempt this build. I also need to thank Or_Gro, whose input & knowledge has been invaluable and whose experience with these size lights led to me building four separate fixtures instead of two.

OK, attached here is a parts list showing everything I used for this build, where I bought it and how much it cost. For about $1,023 (plus shipping costs on some items) you can get everything you need for this build, and have around 1,000 watts of LED lighting in your grow space. You can actually do the same build for about $106 cheaper if you buy only two Meanwell drivers and have each one power two of the QB 288's, but as I will explain below I decided to spend a bit more for cleaner & more flexible light fixtures. To buy comparable lights (same exact Samsung boards, same output) from Timber (two of what they called the 48 SAM) would be $1,600 + shipping and from HLG (two of the HLG 550 V2) would be $1,679. That is a pretty big savings, of course I already had the tools I needed (soldering iron, heat gun, electric drill, etc.) but the build can be done without those if necessary---they just make the job easier.

 

There are a lot of different ways to build lights like this, with research and thought about my grow space (5' x 5' tent Green Qube tent that will have four plants in 8 gallon buckets) plus important input from Or Gro (who has the same lights bought from Timber in a 4' x 4' tent with four plants) I decided to build four separate fixtures. That way I can put one QB 288 over each plant and have complete flexibility on adjusting its height & positioning to give optimal light for that plant strain. I also decided to use a separate Meanwell HLG-240H driver for each QB 288 (so that I did not have any wires running in-between lights) to keep each fixture completely independent and for a much cleaner look.

I do not have the technical electronics knowledge to do a schematic diagram of my build, but here is a simple diagram showing how everything will be wired & connected:

 

The kit I bought comes with a dual heat sink, two Quantum Boards and screws to attach the boards to the flat side of the heat sink (that has pre-drilled holes). You simply screw the boards into place as shown in the diagram above, so that you can easily connect them in series. I then attached the Meanwell driver to the back of the heat sink (the side with fins), but I wanted it centered to balance the weight so I drilled additional holes. I used 1 1/4" screws with washers and hex nuts (bought at local hardware store) to attach the driver securely.

 

The first wiring I decided to complete was the power cord. The driver does not come with a power cord, just Input wiring that needs to be connected to one. I bought 6 ft power cords with wires ready to connect for $3 each, but you can obviously use ones from old electronics if you have them around. This is how the wiring goes:



There are a variety of ways to connect the wires from the driver to your power cord, heat shrink crimp wire connectors or Wagu connectors both work great. I wanted a very clean & seamless look so I went with black heat shrink tubing, when complete you can barely see where the splice took place. First you connect your three wires, I soldered them for greater strength but its not required:



Next I covered the three soldered wires with the small shrink wrap and heated it up:



Then I covered all that with the larger shrink wrap tubing and heated that up w/ heat gun:



The finished product is quite clean looking, and in fact if you view it from 4 feet away you can barely see where it was spliced:

 

A lot of people like HID lights and they are certainly an option, but all of my research and input from some really good experienced growers has shown that Quantum Boards are better. Way less heat, much lower electric bill, as good or better spectrum for the plants. Obviously each person needs to decide for themselves what to use, but this is pretty much as low a cost as it gets for 1000 watts of QB lighting.

 

The next step is to wire up the boards, per my diagram above. First I connected the two boards in series (negative to positive), its as simple as stripping both ends of a small piece of 14 gauge wire and pushing it into the connectors on the boards:



Then I stripped back the rubber covering on the output wires from the driver, drilled a hole at the edge of the heat sink and ran those wires through the hole to be connected on the other side:



Then those wires are cut to size, stripped and connected to the plus & minus sides of the boards as shown in my diagram. Now the wiring of the QB's is complete:

 

The light is now fully functional, but I bought the driver with the dimming connections (rather than use a screw on the back) so the final step is to connect the potentiometer. I bought cased potentiometers with knobs for $6 each as this will give a much nicer look, but you can just use a basic potentiometer and figure out a way to attach it to your light. I want the lights to get brighter as I turn the knob clockwise and dimmer as I turn the knob counterclockwise, so the red wire from the cased potentiometer goes to the positive dimmer wire and the black wire goes to the negative dimmer wire on the driver. I wired them up temporarily here so that I could test the lights, I am waiting on some 3M VHB Double Sided Adhesive tape (the strongest double sided tape made) from eBay so I can securely attach the cased potentiometer to the heat sink.

 

OK, its all wired up and ready to test. Cross my fingers and plug it in on fully dimmed:



SUCCESS!! Now lets turn this baby up to full brightness. The photo does not do it justice at all, it was so freaking bright I had to turn away and could barely take the picture:

 

That is all for now, once my super strong double sided adhesive tape gets here I can attach the potentiometer, size those wires and permanently connect them, tie all wires down really professional & neat and take some final pictures for you to see what the lights look like when completed.

 

Great lights, those new QB 96's are excellent from what I have read! Like your Scrog set-up, those plants look really nice & healthy. I'm looking forward to finishing my build and putting them to work in my new tent.

 

Just the one complete light so far as I am waiting on the two sided tape to attach the potentiometers to the heat sink, but I did splice the power cord on all four. I was originally going to get the A-series drivers and just deal with the screw to dim the light but decided to go the extra mile and add a potentiometer, really glad I did. Its very little extra work and will not only give me a wider range of dimming but will be a lot easier to access (I'm putting it on the front side of the lights so I can just reach up with one hand and turn the knob). I have got to really thank Or Gro for all of his great input from using his 48 SAM's, that greatly helped me in the final design of my lights.