They're not made for necessarily being mounted in the open. They're more made to be inside of a box with the exposed screw terminals. They're just a model they don't usually use for their lights. They like to recommend the HLG series of drivers because they're more made to be exposed on the light fixture. Those drivers aren't made in the same voltage and output ranges as the LRS. The LRS series is made to wall mount or be put in an electrical box so they don't recommend that series. It happens to be cheap, highly efficient, and one of the only drivers available that will run the qb132 at full power. They're 2100mA max current rating and 75 watts but most of the recommended drivers won't run them even 250mA withing that range. The LRS-75-36 will. It also has a dimmer to dial it down slightly if need be. 20awg is fine but you should make sure the insulation is rated for over 24volts. I use the MDR drivers for some of mine which are made for IT equipment. They're the coolest running ones I have but they're slightly more money then the LRS series. I have two MDR-60-24's and two LRS-75-24's for qb120s which are 24 volts. The qb132's are 36 volts each.
So I went to home depot today to try to find electrical boxes that would fit those drivers cause that just seems safer and I'm semi OCD anyways... no luck. So before I go and get all creative and way overthink this, how do u mount them? Can I just screw the 4 boards to a piece of wood or something and hang it on the inside wall of the tent? If I accidentally touched the exposed screw terminals am I gonna get zapped? By the way, u were right , I'm definitely not regretting this purchase! I wired up 1 of the qb 132 last night to test. Damn! I feel like I have a mini star in my tent! So between the 4 qb120's and the 4 qb132's that's 540 watts of power right? What would u compare that to if we were talking hid/Hps lighting? Thank u for all your assistance!
4 x qb120's at full power is about 255 watts at the wall plug. 4 x qb132's is about 305 watts at the wall. Pretty close to around 550 watts. Enough to bloom a 4x4. If you touch the screw terminals you will get zapped but they are kind of recessed and hard to touch. If you're interested this is the type of junction box I was talking about. Unless it's metal it won't stop a fire. www.amazon.com/Wiegmann-SC101206-Wallmount-Knockouts-Painted/dp/B0078RV9D0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1516327147&sr=8-7&keywords=electrical+junction+box Personally. I would just wall mount them out of the way. As long as they're about 5 1/2 feet off the ground the plants won't interfere with them. Another option would be to put a small shelf in there for them to sit on.
Get a pack of these at homedepot to put in the knock out holes so the wire running out and in the box don't get marred by the sharp metal edges in the holes. www.amazon.com/Morris-22350-Bushings-Shutters-10-Pack/dp/B005GDFFP6/ref=sr_1_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1516327412&sr=1-3&keywords=electrical+1%22+plastic+to+bushing
There is a flange on the short side of the driver with two screw holes. You can either mount them flat or sideways.
looks like i would need 2 of those boxes to fit 4 drivers and 50 bucks seems like too much to spend to mount them. i think i’ll take your advice and just mount them to a backboard and keep it at the top of the tent. is it safe to mount these to wood? i’m probably being overly paranoid, but house fires will do that to ya, lol!
They run really cool. Like in the 90 degree range. Maybe slightly higher. If you're paranoid about mounting them to wood get a scrap of sheetrock fireboard and mount them to that. At least you'll have a small amount of fire safety compared to a piece of wood.
I think you could fit 4 drivers in that box. They're really small. They fit in my palm. There's a 12" x 10" x 4" box for $21 at amazon. That one I linked you is 12 x 12 x 6". They would easily fit in there.
Mounting them in a box does kind of ruin the purpose of getting independent single drivers. Besides them being one of the only ones that will run the qb132's at full power, having single drivers on each light makes each one portable.
your absolutely right. i apologize, i miss-read the dimensions. i think i will grab that then. 25 bucks is reasonable for peace of mind. however, for the time being they are going on a piece of wood ‘cause i’m just way to excited about them to not put them up tonight! and your right, they do run really cool. i’ve had 1 plugged in the tent since last night just hanging in the air and it’s way cooler than the hlg driver that i have on the qb120’s. it’s actually more of the exposed screw and the potential for getting zapped i worry about (i’m clumsy. very clumsy). your advice has been invaluable. it is much appreciated. thank you. i’m extremely confident that i at least have the lighting end of things covered thanks to you. hopefully i can make the rest of the grow come together just as nicely!
You can put a piece of electrical tape over all the screws. One wrap should keep you from making a stoner mistake. =)