H J Farnsworth
Active Member
So as the title of the post says, Are Quantum Boards worth it when compared to COBs? I've done some reading and really cant decided.
Quantum Boards: Are they worth it? Why or why not?
- Thread starter H J Farnsworth
- Start date
Stone_Free
Well-Known Member
I think it isn't always possible to compare a cob with a board such as the QB's. It's a bit like comparing white bread and wholemeal; some prefer one over the other.
Both clearly grow weed very well - assuming the grower has reasonable skills - but to say one over the other isn't easy. It depends on a few different factors; for some it might be price, or availability or other things such as headroom.
In the end you have to decide for yourself. Whichever you choose you'll know that you have a light that will do the business.
P.S. And you also have the Bridgelux/Samsung strips in the equation just to make things even harder.
CobKits
Well-Known Member
for a given rig effiiciency they are about the same cost
HiloReign
Well-Known Member
Fairly quickly pricing things, underdriving EB strips seems to have the best value in terms of light provided for money spent.
Some are saying they don't get hot when driven under 700mA with no heatsink. No heatsink would make it the cheapest option I can find.
Even if you don't plan to run them soft, aluminum C channel and a fan (cheap) will cool strips driven at higher currents.
As for myself, I've got 6x 2ft EB strips on the way to see how hard I can drive them without heatsinks. $55 for 6 strips and shipping. Driver Im going to use cost $50 brand new adjusts from 525-1050mA, around 132w at 1050.
Frame will be made with a $10 section of aluminum angle... Bits and pieces to hold it together, wires, wagos, etc I have them all but another cost for you to take into account.
Fwiw I'm no expert, just another enthusiast. Someone else may have a better option.
Some are saying they don't get hot when driven under 700mA with no heatsink. No heatsink would make it the cheapest option I can find.
Even if you don't plan to run them soft, aluminum C channel and a fan (cheap) will cool strips driven at higher currents.
As for myself, I've got 6x 2ft EB strips on the way to see how hard I can drive them without heatsinks. $55 for 6 strips and shipping. Driver Im going to use cost $50 brand new adjusts from 525-1050mA, around 132w at 1050.
Frame will be made with a $10 section of aluminum angle... Bits and pieces to hold it together, wires, wagos, etc I have them all but another cost for you to take into account.
Fwiw I'm no expert, just another enthusiast. Someone else may have a better option.
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And the COBS offer more spectrum and CRI choices to promote frosty goodness !!
dandyrandy
Well-Known Member
I went back to cobs. The heat with a cooltube diy runs cooler. The surface mount diodes seem to have more heat in the front which was harder to get rid of. The "legs" get warm. I thought of a way to put a cover over the QB boards (4) to move air in the cooltube stream but then losses occur. Plus cleaning a clear cover. ymmv
Chip Green
Well-Known Member
Its all about YOUR space. There are so, SO many viable options available, it comes down to splitting hairs over efiiciency, and the shape of your available space. Deciding what to work with is the biggest challenge of the whole process.
IMO, Cobs vs QBs is a matter of height limitation, both are fantastic in the right spaces.
I build my own panels with Bridgelux EB series.
I've put together many combinations of 2'x2', 2'x3' panels with EB Strip (560mm) and drive currents from 700ma to 1400ma, running them at 700 they require absolutely no heat removal whatsoever. I have banks of 560m strips (12 @ 700ma) that are held together by 1"x2" wood frames, like a ladder, and they are working awesome....on paper, and real life results....
The voltage droop of that total circuit, at full operating temperature after an hour, was a mere 1.1%, leading me to believe no form of cooling was necessary to maintain near optimal output, at that amperage.
The panels at 1050ma, are fastened to aluminum rollstock backing sheets, and those too retain less than 2% droop with 8x 560mm EBs, on a 2'x2' panel.
The 1400ma version had a noticeable dropoff in both flux levels, and efficiency without active cooling, with only 6 strips.
I'm admittedly, probably the biggest, total EB strip fanboy knobjockey around...
For smallish areas, IMO the QBs would be a better fit than COBs, because of the even coverage, At the time I got into this, QBs were (are?) a bit of a challenge to aquire quickly, so I dove in and started building my own similar versions with the available materials, mostly due to the help of others, on these forums.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
I'd reccomend Photon Fantom Design's boards.
Rider509
Well-Known Member
The QBs run Samsung LM561C S6 bin led chips. Without specifying a particular cob it's not possible to compare.
I'm running 16 Cree CXB3590 cobs on 4 HLG-320H-C2100B drivers in one 4'x4' area, and 8 Samsung FB24B strips on 2 HLG-600H-48a drivers in another. Output is very similar. The 8 FB24Bs have the same number and type of led chip as 8 QB288 boards and compare very favorably to the 3590s in terms of ppfd, but slightly edge out the cobs in terms of uniform distribution of light and cost. That being said, I know the cobs, and these led strips are an unknown performer. Time will tell.
I'm running 16 Cree CXB3590 cobs on 4 HLG-320H-C2100B drivers in one 4'x4' area, and 8 Samsung FB24B strips on 2 HLG-600H-48a drivers in another. Output is very similar. The 8 FB24Bs have the same number and type of led chip as 8 QB288 boards and compare very favorably to the 3590s in terms of ppfd, but slightly edge out the cobs in terms of uniform distribution of light and cost. That being said, I know the cobs, and these led strips are an unknown performer. Time will tell.
Randomblame
Well-Known Member
For a beginner these QB's offer unbeatable easyness when it comes to wiring and building.
Only two wires to poke-in and 6 screws to mount it to the heatsink, no thermal grease, no soldering, only 10 minutes from unpacking to turning on.
While I prefer F-Series stripes simply because of their capabilities, Quantumboards offer a simplicity that can only be beaten by a finished and ready to use lamp.
Only two wires to poke-in and 6 screws to mount it to the heatsink, no thermal grease, no soldering, only 10 minutes from unpacking to turning on.
While I prefer F-Series stripes simply because of their capabilities, Quantumboards offer a simplicity that can only be beaten by a finished and ready to use lamp.
Humple
Well-Known Member
Don't see many builds using these boards. Wonder why?
Stone_Free
Well-Known Member
Good question! The guy who is designing/building them knows his stuff and takes a very methodical scientific approach. He has all the kit to test his products and is selling them at a very reasonable price also.
I believe he doesn't ship internationally or I'd be the owner of a couple of his boards......
coreywebster
Well-Known Member
I have both. Love both.
My Cobs yield but are less intense, I have a smaller perfect canopy zone but don't have to worry about bleaching fan leaves. I suspect that might be different if I drove my cobs harder or used reflectors or lenses.
My QBs are more intense, I have to keep a bigger distance from tops of plants but the depth of canopy is better and lower buds are solid and big.
Its all relative. Both are great.
My Cobs yield but are less intense, I have a smaller perfect canopy zone but don't have to worry about bleaching fan leaves. I suspect that might be different if I drove my cobs harder or used reflectors or lenses.
My QBs are more intense, I have to keep a bigger distance from tops of plants but the depth of canopy is better and lower buds are solid and big.
Its all relative. Both are great.
Stone_Free
Well-Known Member
I think you hit the nail on the head Corey; whichever way a person goes they have to learn how to use that light. They have different characteristics which have to be taken into account. It might be altering height, positioning or changing growing style. Both types work well but the grower has to understand the light and how it works as opposed to others they may have used previously.
Rider509
Well-Known Member
It's that way with any new product that requires a sizeable investment. People will gobble up the $99 plug&play snake oil lights but shy away from dropping big money until the technology has proved its value, which the QB boards now have. Stone_Free is right, the guys at HLG know their stuff and have produced a beautiful product and now they can't keep boards in stock. The same thing happened with cobs.
What about the Samsung F double strips ?Its all about YOUR space. There are so, SO many viable options available, it comes down to splitting hairs over efiiciency, and the shape of your available space. Deciding what to work with is the biggest challenge of the whole process.
IMO, Cobs vs QBs is a matter of height limitation, both are fantastic in the right spaces.
I build my own panels with Bridgelux EB series.
I've put together many combinations of 2'x2', 2'x3' panels with EB Strip (560mm) and drive currents from 700ma to 1400ma, running them at 700 they require absolutely no heat removal whatsoever. I have banks of 560m strips (12 @ 700ma) that are held together by 1"x2" wood frames, like a ladder, and they are working awesome....on paper, and real life results....
The voltage droop of that total circuit, at full operating temperature after an hour, was a mere 1.1%, leading me to believe no form of cooling was necessary to maintain near optimal output, at that amperage.
The panels at 1050ma, are fastened to aluminum rollstock backing sheets, and those too retain less than 2% droop with 8x 560mm EBs, on a 2'x2' panel.
The 1400ma version had a noticeable dropoff in both flux levels, and efficiency without active cooling, with only 6 strips.
I'm admittedly, probably the biggest, total EB strip fanboy knobjockey around...
For smallish areas, IMO the QBs would be a better fit than COBs, because of the even coverage, At the time I got into this, QBs were (are?) a bit of a challenge to aquire quickly, so I dove in and started building my own similar versions with the available materials, mostly due to the help of others, on these forums.
Johnny Lawrence
Well-Known Member
I built a 300 watt, 5000k light that replaced 500 watts of T5 using Photon Fantom PCBs and couldn't be happier. Are other people having issues with them?
Abiqua
Well-Known Member
shouldn't be........ they are the same diode in some of the models, so making up some kind of "difference" like above is how rumors start....unnecessarily
There are about 3-4 [maybe 5-6] diode companies that are worth it, all used by different light manufacturers.
Humple
Well-Known Member
But the Photon Fantom boards are actually cheaper than Quantum Boards. I don't see why the price would inhibit adoption? Seems like there should be a few more threads highlighting builds with these boards, especially when we see so many posts about the competition (HLG, ChilLED, DIY strip builds, etc.). Just seems odd.