Flux Characteristics at 55C VDC Current (mA) Watts at Board μmoles/joule at Board (55C) 51.5 1400 72 2.60 52.2 1750 91 2.52 53.4 2400 128 2.40 54 2800 151 2.36 55 3400 187 2.32 56 4000 224 2.25 51.5 volts would be minimum to run them at 1400mA. Horticulture lighting group's new HLG-350 fixture uses the meanwell HLG-320h-54a for two boards. That's the same setup I'm using. That puts out about 2950mA each board. It's still able to do that at 54 volts but for higher current range it might require slightly more voltage then 54 according to this chart posted with the boards. They are essentially 54 volt boards.
Or_Gro hasn't had a problem maxing out the 240h-54a drivers on them. Most 54a drivers will put out a little more then 54 volts when maxed.
With an led as you push the current higher the minimum forward voltage required to turn it on at that current level also goes up but quite slowly as you can see by the chart. It goes from 51.5-56 volts at a current range of 1400mA to 4000mA. It only changes about 4.5 volts on the fVoltage.
So 30v won't get it even dimely lit? My driver didn't show up yet .. connected it to my bench supply which tops at 30v.
Nope. That is not enough voltage for that board. You need a 54 volt driver. The HLG-185h-54a is what I would recommend for a single board. It will run it close to 200 watts. HLG-185H-54A
The HLG-240h-54a is also an excellent single board driver if you want the extra power capacity but you'll most likely run it a little dimmed. Better for driver temps though not running it maxed all the time.
It can take it full on especially if you add a fan blowing on the heatsink. It just depends on what you want the board to do. They can cover a 2x2 area with peak ppfd numbers at near 18" in the 900+ range at 162 watts each. Maxed on the 240h you can have peak readings at 18" above 1000ppfd in the center but some plants don't like the high intensity and it's no good if it comes at the expense of optimal temps in your garden. It does seem that the sweet spot for flowering with the qb96 is somewhere between 150-200 watts or so.
I was thinking of running a qb288 3000k + the qb96 , overkill? (I have 2 smallish plants) which I plan to switch to flowering with these.
Are you running them on different drivers? With a constant voltage driver they're sort of dissimilar loads. You'd be better off with them on different drivers. The single qb96 on the 240h by itself could grow two small plants. With the addition of a qb288 you could dim the qb96 down a little, run the qb288 on an HLG-150h-54a and fill a 2x4 approx well for flower. Since you're using HLG series drivers with built in dimmers you could dim the whole setup half power for veg.
Got this thing working I settled on 200W output and wow this thing is bright, and doesn't run hot, I'm pleasantly surprised, now let's hope it lasts for a while.
The qb96's are even brighter then HLG's other boards which is saying something because they are so concentrated. More power then a qb288 v2 at full power in a space that's only about 5". They look like the surface of the sun.