9 qb96elites would fill the 6x6. 6 would do the 5x5 and 4x4. Or you can do 4 in 4x4. If you get 6 qb96elites and 3 HLG-380H-54a drivers, you’ll be able to run 6 in 4x4, 18 high and dimmed to around 120 watts each for 1000 ppfd across canopy. Those same 6 can be spread out a little in a 5x5 and run around 200 to 240 watts each. You’ll need some fans blowing on heat sinks above 200 watts to keep cool but the versatility to cover 16 sf and 25 sf with the same lights is awesome
My thought is they are good for about 2 feet or so each board. If you're running in a 6 foot wide area approx you'll want at least a row of three across it to cover it fairly evenly. 2 is only going to spread a little over 4 feet. When you run two on an HLG 320h-54a they will each run at 162 watts each which actually runs pretty warm on the heatsink. If you run a third board on that same driver it will split the available current and the 3 boards will run at 109 watts each approx. That will make them run a bit cooler and give you much better light spread for only the cost of an additional board. You're right though there is the disadvantage of them not running as intense of output each at the lower wattage. They are so bright at 162 each though I could almost see dimming a little. They're the most intense LED's I've ever seen. You can't even lay eyes on them for a split second. They're like looking at the sun. I think you'll find that you don't need a walkway all the way around the space. You can reach in about 4 feet for trimming or training. You could push the grow up against one wall. Later on maybe next crop buy another two boards and 320h driver. Then they can all run the full 162 watts. Believe it or not they can take a full 250 watts each. They run really hot like that though and need fans. You could run the 4 you have on two 480h drivers since you have the larger space and add fans to each heatsink. Run them at more light distance like that and they would cover a much larger area. That's part of what makes these new boards so cool is the massive power potential.
Oh wow, maybe ill put this tent aside for now and buy a smaller tent. Id love to see the results of 6qb96's in a 4x4! From starting this post ive learnt i have a lot to learn with how these lights work compared to lights I've used haha. Im currently reading a few posts both you and tbone have been part of and it seems like i got very lucky to have you chime in! You're both killing it haha! Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
It’s the lights man. Of all the money you can spend to improve your grows, the light is the most important. An ounce costs about $240 here so it makes it easy to spend money on my setup. Don’t set the tent aside, just scrog the footprint you wanted too.
I agree. An oz is about the same price here. When an oz is $250 or more then a pound is worth over 3k. You can easily grow that much and more 4-5 times a year with a good setup. Suddenly spending $800 on your bloom setup doesn't sound like a bad idea if the first crop could be worth 6k. If you skimp and try to save too much money it could cost you 3-4 times as much money as you saved on that cheap setup in crop loss. I'm not advocating selling but if you don't grow it and you're a pothead then you end up buying it.
I don’t sell either. But I make a ton of RSO and it takes about 100 grams of flower to get 10-15 grams of oil. And at 1-3 grams a day, that doesn’t last long.
Sorry for the late reply everyone, been tending to sick kids unfortunately. I think i will take a bit more time getting things setup as i really do want a nice room and dont really want to cut corners. I have in the past and was very disappointed with the results lol. And as its been mentioned, in no time at all i will make that investment back. That will please my partner haha. Im not after growing 10 pounds at a time or anything silly but if i can get enough to keep myself going until the next grow plus a little on the side to cover electricity etc then ill be over the moon Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Actually in a 6.5x6.5 area with supreme skill and a light setup that fits it, close to 10 pounds is not all that crazy. Or Gro got 3 pounds out of a 4x4. I've personally done 2 pounds in a 4x4. 6.5 x 6.5 is 42.25 square feet. 4x4 is 16 square feet. Granted in an area that big you'll need at least a central walkway to reach everything unless you want to shuffle plants around so you may only be able to grow in about 39 square feet. That's still 2.4 times larger then a 4x4. 3 pounds x 2.5 = 7.5 pounds if you can smash that grow area as good as Or Gro did. The cool thing about going to a reasonable size like a 4x4 is the power requirements are pretty low. Between my veg and bloom areas and everything I have running I'm a little over 1000 watts total and still can produce between 1-2 pounds every 8-10 weeks. Watts per square foot remain pretty constant if you design your area well compared to mine. I'm running 240 watts in my veg 4x4 and most times I only have 180 plugged in like right now. 600 in my bloom area.
Hey everyone just a quick update I have an the way 4 qb96 elite v2 and 2 hlg 320h 54a drivers. Ive also decided to buy a homebox evolution par+ tent (4x4). Im thinking of adding another 2 and another driver before flower to really boost things up. Ive opted for 2 per driver as i would rather have the extra watts to play with rather than 3 per driver. Once everything gets here and ive got things setup i will let you all know! Thanks again for all the advice too 1 more question sorry, Im looking at buying a 6inch phresh hyper fan rated at 315 CFM. Will this be enough for heat extraction as well as being connected to a CF? I will also have a few clip on oscillating fans around the tent, or would i need to go 8inch (710CFM)
You just became a better a grower, great purchase!! That should exhaust the area fine. If having trouble with temps, just lower the temps in the room tent is in by a few degrees.
Haha thanks! After all the info i got from you guys i feel a lot more comfortable going the 4x4 route. I have a portable A/C that i will use especially on warmer days so im sure i will figure the heat out. I will run it for a week or so once its all here and setup to dial things in anyway. Im really looking forward to seeing what these lights can produce!
Sorry for showing up late and for my ignorance on everything led but I need some help. If I wanted to run two of the 96’s in a 2x4 tent with active cooling on top of heat sinks and would like to run these as powerful (bright)as possible, which driver do you guys recommend? I am very big believer in putting as much light in small places as I can get away with. I would like to run both at 200watt output or maybe 3 lights at total of at least 400 watts in the tent. Thank you for your help
A Meanwell HLG-480H-54a will drive those to 240-250 watts each. You’ll need the fans. I run 2 in my 2x4 area on a 320H-54a driver and they get warm.
How is your tent performing with that driver? Also I would like to run a dimmer and I was under the assumption you cannot run external dimmer with a models?
The a models have built in current and voltage dimming. You can dim by about 50%. I’m just about to chop these two up
For a 2x4 grow area I couldn't see needing more then a 320h-54a for two qb96's. They are actually able to run maxed on that driver with no fans on the heatsinks. I would still blow a fan down on the fixture itself but you don't have to have a dedicated fan on each heatsink at that power level and the output is pretty unbelievable. That driver will draw about 350 watts at the wall. That's well above the power level most people run in a 2x4 with this type of lighting so you'll be ahead of the curve even at that level. I just completed my first flowering with the qb96 and I was quite impressed. I got a ridiculously high yield for a single plant. I'm still not done trimming and drying over 2 weeks later.