DIY with Quantum Boards

guitarguy10

Well-Known Member
email [email protected], they may have boards not listed on the site.
I got my soon to be American brother in law to order them for me. I doubt the Canadian vendor would have a deal as good as that 4 x QB120 v2 boards for $102 (after 20% discount), thats the only reason I'm going for them.

What should i use to mount these with? The yoyo mounting stuff looks like it would be too thick, where can I buy just wire hangars?
 

its.always.420

Well-Known Member
I got my soon to be American brother in law to order them for me. I doubt the Canadian vendor would have a deal as good as that 4 x QB120 v2 boards for $102 (after 20% discount), thats the only reason I'm going for them.

What should i use to mount these with? The yoyo mounting stuff looks like it would be too thick, where can I buy just wire hangars?
these what you're looking for?
 

guitarguy10

Well-Known Member
these what you're looking for?
That's not available in Canada, but this is: https://www.amazon.ca/OTTFF-Stainless-Hanging-Holders-Aquarium/dp/B07YC4598Q/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=Grow+Light+Rope+Hanger&qid=1606592438&refinements=p_85:5690392011&rnid=5690384011&rps=1&sr=8-14

Thanks. Now to find a way to mount them all together.
 

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
what size footprint are you going to cover? 180 watts seems like it would be good for a 2x3 area.

how cheap is aluminum near you? 1/4 angle is pretty easy to work with. get an 8ft and 6 ft section. 6 footer cut in half is your 3 foot long sides. 8 ft cut in 4 sections is your 2 ft tracks for the boards to sit in. driver goes in the middle. can assemble it all w some bolts and an eye bolt in each corner to hang it. that said the price of aluminum by me is mad expensive so let us know if you need help thinking up something cheaper. lots of other creative frame ideas on here just search qb120.
 

guitarguy10

Well-Known Member
what size footprint are you going to cover? 180 watts seems like it would be good for a 2x3 area.

how cheap is aluminum near you? 1/4 angle is pretty easy to work with. get an 8ft and 6 ft section. 6 footer cut in half is your 3 foot long sides. 8 ft cut in 4 sections is your 2 ft tracks for the boards to sit in. driver goes in the middle. can assemble it all w some bolts and an eye bolt in each corner to hang it. that said the price of aluminum by me is mad expensive so let us know if you need help thinking up something cheaper. lots of other creative frame ideas on here just search qb120.
2'x4' ... cutting aluminum seems like a skill I lack (at least the tool for sure) lol. I guess I will need to see them in front of me with dimensions first anyways.
 

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
2'x4' ... cutting aluminum seems like a skill I lack (at least the tool for sure) lol. I guess I will need to see them in front of me with dimensions first anyways.
for flower you would want to be at 240W. We usually shoot for 30w/sf with these lights. a 2x3 = 6sf x 30 =180. you might want to consider how to get another 60w in there somehow.

your local hardware might already have 2 and 3 foot sections of angle precut. drilling into it to make mounting holes is easier than it sounds too.

@GrassBurner built his frame out of 2x4s at first I think. lots of options.
 

guitarguy10

Well-Known Member
for flower you would want to be at 240W. We usually shoot for 30w/sf with these lights. a 2x3 = 6sf x 30 =180. you might want to consider how to get another 60w in there somehow.

your local hardware might already have 2 and 3 foot sections of angle precut. drilling into it to make mounting holes is easier than it sounds too.

@GrassBurner built his frame out of 2x4s at first I think. lots of options.
The choice was made based upon the driver that I have, which is rated for 180W on a 120V line (it's a European light originally and is specced for 240W at 220V).

180W driver is all that I have to work with.

And I'm only really doing this cuz $105USD for those 4 boards, which can put out 70W each, so they will have capacity for 280W, but my driver is limited. Also doing this cuz the driver is good, so is the light in fact, but I would rather try much better quantum boards with this driver I already have .. and I dont know what I'll do with it's LEDs.
 

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ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
The choice was made based upon the driver that I have, which is rated for 180W on a 120V line (it's a European light originally and is specced for 240W at 220V).

180W driver is all that I have to work with.
I understand. its all good. im sure it will be fine for now and you will love them. they will cover a 2x3 area great. if you center it in the space the 6" on either side just won't get fully blasted. they will still grow buds fine, they just won't be as dense on the edges.

you could add some strips or other lights to supplement later is all I was suggesting. since this is an HLG thread I won't post links to other products but just know u have some other options as well.
 

guitarguy10

Well-Known Member
I understand. its all good. im sure it will be fine for now and you will love them. they will cover a 2x3 area great. if you center it in the space the 6" on either side just won't get fully blasted. they will still grow buds fine, they just won't be as dense on the edges.

you could add some strips or other lights to supplement later is all I was suggesting. since this is an HLG thread I won't post links to other products but just know u have some other options as well.
You said to me in an earlier post:
"its hard to grasp at first but basically LEDs run more efficiently the cooler they are. So while you would be sending each board less watts, the amount of photons generated per watt increases. (for our purposes we actually measure in lumens per watt). "

So does it not matter that the driver is only 180W, this is where I'm confused.

In any case, I have a 600W HID in there now, I could put them all around it, but I kinda think that that would be major overkill.
 

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
You said to me in an earlier post:
"its hard to grasp at first but basically LEDs run more efficiently the cooler they are. So while you would be sending each board less watts, the amount of photons generated per watt increases. (for our purposes we actually measure in lumens per watt). "

So does it not matter that the driver is only 180W, this is where I'm confused.

In any case, I have a 600W HID in there now, I could put them all around it, but I kinda think that that would be major overkill.
check this to better understand.


at 64 watts per board they produce 183 lumens per watt. at 47 watts per board they produce 190 lumens per watt. so you get an extra 7 lumens per watt running them softer. softer means the diodes will last longer, and you can also run them closer to the top of your canopy for deeper penetration.

honestly its not that huge of a difference and you still wind up with less overall lumens than if you gave the 4 boards 240W. either way, you are working with what you got, and it will do fine.
 

guitarguy10

Well-Known Member
check this to better understand.


at 64 watts per board they produce 183 lumens per watt. at 47 watts per board they produce 190 lumens per watt. so you get an extra 7 lumens per watt running them softer. softer means the diodes will last longer, and you can also run them closer to the top of your canopy for deeper penetration.

honestly its not that huge of a difference and you still wind up with less overall lumens than if you gave the 4 boards 240W. either way, you are working with what you got, and it will do fine.
Oh ok I understand. Do I have to do any like electronics to 'dim' them? Like wire in a potentiometer? How do you control how much power the driver is supplying them?
 

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
Do you have the a or b or ab? I can't remember.
@guitarguy10 here is the pdf datasheet for your driver


the A, B, or AB is the model "option" that determines if it has onboard dimming knobs, wires for a potentiometer, or both.

ie
elg-240-48A would have internal knobs
elg-240-48B would have leads

Unfortunately your driver is a "blank" model which means IO and VO are fixed, and you can't dim it.
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
@guitarguy10 here is the pdf datasheet for your driver


the A, B, or AB is the model "option" that determines if it has onboard dimming knobs, wires for a potentiometer, or both.

ie
elg-240-48A would have internal knobs
elg-240-48B would have leads

Unfortunately your driver is a "blank" model which means IO and VO are fixed, and you can't dim it.
That's what I was thinking too. But this shit is confusing, lol.
 
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