I am purchasing 4x Qb132 and have a question about the driver. The manufacturer along with most discussions are powering them with some variation of HLG-240H-36 or HLG-240H-C1400. But this would mean 60watt per board instead of 75w for which they are rated. Why?
Could I not purchase the HLG-320h-36 and a dim it down about 5-10%?
I ask because I am already under powering my 4x4 grow area. With only these 4 qb132s and one qb120 that I already have. I plan to add more in the future, but I like to make the most of what I’m purchasing.
Finally, I’m not seeing good options for these drivers on amazon. Is mouser a good alternative? It says products in stock so I can ignore the lead time?
Recap:
1. Why do most people seem to run these at 60w instead of 75?
2. Can I safely power 4 of these with a hlg-320h-36 and just dim it slightly?
3. Is mouser a reputable place? Does this community have a preferred driver vendor? (Time is of the essence, would like to switch to 12/12 ASAP)
4. Bonus: could someone explain the difference between a and b models? I don’t plan to dim them more than once, so saving money on an additional remote dimmer would be ideal.
5. Bonus: I grok the difference between series and parallel but what do most of you prefer. Series seems the safer option.
1) 2)There's really not a perfect driver for four QB 132's wattage wise. If you power them at 60 watts per board, the efficiency and efficacy numbers will be slightly higher than if powered at 75 watts per board. You can power four QB 132's in parallel on an HLG-320H-36 and just dim it slightly. A Kill-a-watt meter will give you a volts, current and watts reading on the AC side. You can use an inline meter or a multimeter to figure it out from the DC side.
3. I have heard that Mouser is reputable. I've had good experience with TRC Electronics for drivers.
4. The A version constant current HLG drivers have internal current adjustment. The A version constant current, constant voltage (the HLG-320H-36 is a constant current, constant voltage driver) HLG drivers have internal current and voltage adjustment. They have an IP65 rating.
The B version HLG drivers have a closed case and an IP67 rating. They have dimmer leads to attach an external potentiometer.