If you did a par test on two qb260's. One powered by qb304 boards and one powered by qb288v2's the v2's would outperform the 304's by about 5% while consuming about 8-10 less watts per board and creating less heat.
How long do qbs last? I thought I read somewhere like 10 years kept at 12/12 Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
I'm counting on 5 years and honestly that's fine for me with the quality and quantity of product they put out. By then I'm thinking something better by a good enough margin should be along and I'll jump on it. People like to complain about the cost but this is the 4th brand of LED's I've owned and it's the second cheapest per watt of output. You can DIY HLG setups for less then $1 a watt. For the quality that is unheard of prices until now. That's why they have hype. If you wanted a comparable cob setup a short time ago you were going to pay at least double. This is mostly true with DIY on the qb120 and 132 boards. It is ridiculously cheap for what you get. Nobody else is in the price performance ballpark in LED IMO. If you go with the qb135 or 260/600 kits the price per watt isn't quite as good but it's still better then most of the LED market that actually compares to qb performance.
i read somewhere... QB's will degrade less then 10% in 5 years, but are expected to perform 10 years or more.
Yeah mine is just a personal setup and I can run that low so they should last - but the guy I have been communicating with about the 304 just wrote to me tonight just read it - that they offer the 288 boards with the new 301s diodes for cheaper than the 304s only by a buck or two but maybe 3 of those over the same space - I have to work it out do some more research.....
I agree. I've been trying to gently tell you that even if the price difference in the v2's is $20 a board I would pay it. These 304's run hot. This is coming from a guy that owns 4 and has run them for a year. I would pay that much for more efficiency now if I could but I would need new drivers too so I'm sitting on my 304's. I live in Alaska so temps aren't worst problem for me. If you lived in the lower48 where it really gets hot get the v2's.
I know the HLG selection better then most people. In their board section only they sell board/heatsink combos with no wire/drivers. You have to source the driver and wire to hook it up yourself instead of getting a full kit but the price is really low. Check this out. Two qb288v2's with a slate 2 heatsink for $188. QB288 V2 & Slate 2 Double Combo Team it up with this driver. https://onlinemeanwell.com/en/hlg240h54a-1372.html Wire them in parallel and you'll have a 2250mA range max output with a built in dimmer. Use an old computer cord for input and some hardware store 18awg wire for the output. We're talking about $250 for a working v2 equipped Samsung 301b diode qb260. It just take a little extra work. Get 3k.
It's almost a turbo mode qb260 too because HLG doesn't use the 54a 240h driver. They use the 2100mA. The 54a has 150-200mA more current headroom and the price is the same.
It's not even the 12th time I've heard that. I don't mean to brag but if you look at my qb120 thread in indoor growing since sep 2017 that thread has the most views on grasscity. I've never even been contacted by anyone at HLG. I pay full price just like all of you and I still think they're a great deal. I would buy again in a second.
Yeah - I am going to use the HLG drivers - I use a pre-drilled aluminum plate for heat sink it works great (it guy been making my own heat sink forever) but I source the boards through my friend for about 10-15 dollars a board I just have to get all 24 total boards for both bloom(12) and veg(12) as well as the 4 301b strips I want (GERM) all at once for shipping reasons. so my total cost is going to be 520 for those delivered. and then I need to get the drivers. Like I said personal grow 10 plants max in bloom(5x10) about the same area (5x6) in Veg, mothers and germination. maybe a Christmas present for myself.. And I know 3 boards over each of my 3x2 areas in bloom sounds like over kill - but light equals WEIGHT IN OUTPUT.. have seen this proven
Tbone, is there a way to get just the LED boards to swap my 135w 4000k V-2 with a 2700k V-1.? or the 4k V-2 with a 3000k V-2.?
Certainly. All the higher capacity boards can be purchased in singles from HLG directly when they're in stock. v2's QB288 V2 Quantum Board v1's. v1's are selling two for 130 for 4k and only $99 for two 5k 288 v1's QB288 Quantum Board 304's for $65 each. QB304 Quantum Board
Tbone Shuffle definitely knows his LEDs. But to the OP's title...The COBs are not child's play. They produce good results as well. If I had to do it over again, I would PM Tbone and let him tell me what I need to buy and do it. I think COBs are becoming history unless something new comes out soon or $ drops. Yes I run COBs
all i can find is board/heat sink combo's, i already have the heat sinks, might e-mail HLG and see if they will sale just the boards.! i am a big believer in the proper spectrum.!!
No. I don't mind one bit. I like all the different questions and info. I'm always learning. Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
In my reply is links to boards only. The v2's are $75 each. The v1's only currently sell in the 4k and 5k spectrum without heatsinks.
If you really want 2700k then the qb304 is currently selling in 2700k for $65 a board. What driver do you have to plug it into? I want the HLG model number. Do you only have single board fixtures? You can sub in the qb304 for the qb288 in a qb260 if it has the HLG-240h-c2100a. You have to wire the qb304 in parallel. It will then split the current to 1050mA per board just like it's rated for. I use the 1050a driver in series for the qb304. That's close to max current.
If you want the ultimate veg spectrum for tight nodes then 5k qb288v1's are still selling in 2 board packs. 2700k and 5k are the most extreme ends of the spectrum they've sold but I would personally rather have a 3k v2 board over a 2700k 304. I've never owned either a 5k or a 2700k board. I've only bought 3k,3500k,or 4k boards. The 4k boards grow tight nodes and are great for veg. I'm pretty sure that's why they don't sell that many 5k boards. Same with the 3k. It is red leaning enough to flower well so not that many people go more red then that.