I have a 600W HPS that's 7yrs old. Ballast is finally starting to take a shit. Needless to say, got my money's worth out of it. I'm on the market for a new light under $300. I do a lot of outdoor growing and spring is around the corner, so I just need a quickie that will pull me through. Here's the stipulation. It's in an open environment in my house, so that pink/purple shit is not going to fly. I'm not operating a whorehouse lol. The last light I bought was a $90 Galaxyhydro 600W (287W) LED about 4 years ago. So I've been out of the lighting game for a while. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm crafty, so I can build without issue. Best bang for the buck. Thanks.
Haven't looked into anything yet. HPS just started shitting the bed 20mins ago. Got it running again, but I don't know for how long. I was hoping for recommendations so I can check them out.
Bava on alibaba has a good selection of QB's I got mine there for a great price Here is the email address of the guy I dealt with in emails He was awesome and got me exactly what I wanted CHEAP!! and fast.. alwen@szbava.com You can get the same quality boards from HLG here in the US but they are more expensive...
Amazon has packs of 4 qbs,,get a hlg-320h-c2100A driver =300watts or alibaba sells all sorts of qbs too..all white light Sent from my SM-J727P using Tapatalk
Id talk with @TboneShuffle he's a genius about these lights n drivers Sent from my SM-J727P using Tapatalk
I have a lec light and I like it idk how big your space is but you could switch too a lec for a little over $200. Ballast, bulb and adapter.
my generic repost is coming... Horticulture Lighting Group Shenzhen Meiju Lighting Co. Shenzhen R2T Electronic also KingBrite and Brite Electronics also Bava Electronics many more providers, I am not dissing any others. My next lights are going to come from Meijiu. The V2 800 + 660. Here's a thread that discusses alt quantum boards (warning lots a info) alternative to HLG's quantom boards... the supplier! Also can build your own lights. Its kinda fun: Samsung HinFlux L09 build and since those strips went up in price... I'd reco'd some from AliB.
You can order the QB's in what ever color you want, 27k -- 65k I think. I have the 288's V2 at 3k's, it's a flowering light, warm white, but bright
Thanks for the replies. I apologize, I have walking pneumonia right now and today was the worst so far. I'll check into the recommendations and get back. Thanks.
Best bang for buck is DIY with qb132 or qb120 boards. Unfortunately I can't help you replace a 600 watt hps for $200. It would cost a little more then that. An 8 board qb120 setup on an HLG-480h-c2100a could significantly outperform a 600 watt hps. It would draw about 550 watts but is also fully dimmable. QB120 V2 Quantum Boards https://www.onlinecomponents.com/me...VsCCtBh2aNAcpEAAYASAAEgL3QvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Option #2 cheaper, better bloom spectrum, less spread and power. 360 watts wall draw. 2 x qb96 elite boards on a meanwell HLG-320h-54a it would outperform a 500 watt hps if there was a such thing but it might only equal a 600. QB96 Elite V2 Engine https://www.onlinecomponents.com/me...VSh6tBh2JXAwnEAAYAiAAEgJPbfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I was just checking into the options listed above. The LEC/CMH reminds me of my HPS. Simple and familiar. Thanks @Popcorn. However, my grow space is pretty big (10ftx44ft) when it's complete. So I am really liking the option of the QBs because it seems relatively easy to link more together in a dense "cluster", with less heat and draw.
For now, I'm liking option 2 because I have to allocate money elsewhere. This will be for veg though. Assuming I can swap out for a different spectrum?
The qb96 elites are actually 3500k spectrum when you average them out. They make an excellent start to finish spectrum. They veg quite well. I would run them either dimmed or with a bunch of light distance like 3 1/2 feet in veg. So it's for veg and you'll bloom outside? That changes things. You don't need near as much power for veg. I veg a 4x4 area with 4 of these boards and it does amazing. QB120 V2 Quantum Boards 3500k is currently available. I'd probably rather get 4 but 3500k you can hardly tell the difference and you'll get more growth. Run all 4 boards in series on this power supply. https://www.onlinecomponents.com/me...Vex-tBh2SMgyMEAAYAyAAEgKs_vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds That setup actually will fit under your $200 budget. They don't need a heatsink. I use 9" trout leaders for hangers.
There's no such thing as too much here. I built a greenhouse into my floor plan and my grow area is 10ftx44ft, so I'll have to add more as I go anyway. I flower indoors and out, but flowering will be outside this year until I get the rest of my greenhouse in order (still building). I'll just be vegging in it til winter. I'm ok with the 3500k though. I have an LED that does quite well with veg in the deep red spectrum. Appreciate the info. Was a real eye opener from HPS.
For veg with high end led the low amount of watts you can run and still get vigorous growth is almost unbelievable. 11-15 watts per square foot with HLG boards works fine for veg. No other lighting system can be ran successfully in veg with lower watt per square foot levels. When I first bought the boards I vegged a crop with only two boards and it was amazingly full. Somewhere close to 11 watts per square foot. 120 watts in a 4x4 area.
Oh wow! My LED is 287W true (600+ advertised) and it covers a 4x4 area and does fine. More wattage though. They're easy to add it looks like too and many options I've seen. Thank you. I think I'm going to go with the QBs. I'll shop around and see what I can see see see. Anything I should stay away from?
If you order knock off brand boards from alibaba or ebay make sure someone else bought them first and has good things to say. If you go that route there's an excellent thread in the lighting section on some alternative companies. It's called "Alternative to qb boards" or something like that.