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Quantum Board led question for indoor

superhaze420

New member
hi,

I have never used this type of lighting, but I saw on a Spanish-speaking farming blog that it was possible to buy a cheap Quantum Board through Aliexpress (without customs), from https://mimarihuana.es/quantum-board-led-para-cultivar/.

So I decided to try and buy a quantum board led. It's already at home, it works. But I have some doubts.

When I set the driver to full power, the led board turns off. It only works when it's at low power or medium power.

When I set the driver to medium power, the led board lights up a lot, the dissipation gets very hot too (140º f / 60 c).

I think that with the driver at medium power, the LED board is at maximum power. Is this normal?

Does everyone who uses a quantum board have this problem?


https://youtu.be/AciIhf1tRj8

[YOUTUBEIF]https://youtu.be/AciIhf1tRj8[/YOUTUBEIF]


Thanks
 

MedFaced

Active member
Thats not how mine works. The driver I got from hlg is this thing.

picture.php


The screw stops if I go left or right. Right gets brighter, left dimmer.
 

TheDarkStorm

Well-known member
How many boards do you have on the panel super haze..you may have wired them up wrong...you can wire in series or parallel....it either that or your driver is too powerful.
 

Pro Headies

Active member
Veteran
you have two 120 boards? there only good up to 65-70watts per board without heatsink. id recommend buying a killowatt meter to measure exactly amount your putting to each board.
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
I don't think it's just boards, I think it's the complete outfit from the link offered.

A total power outage is most likely the ballast. I notice some odd specs on it. It's 240w ballast, no problem there. By default it's 4.9A which hopefully flows before you need 49v to encourage it. It says it's capable of 6.66A though, and I think that's the problem. Taking control with the use of a potentiometer has opened the door to it's use of 56v and 6.66A which is way over it's rated spec. It's 375w. I reckon you could demand 6.66A if it were delivered with 36v as that is 240w. But it's trying to deliver the 6.66A when 36v isn't enough.

The driver is a poor choice. It's very flexible, so will fit in many builds. But when it's only job is this, a more specific driver would of been a better choice.

I was confused by this myself until I got my calculator out, and I'm a taxi driver, so know everything in the world.
 

superhaze420

New member
I got a voltmeter and measured the driver's output volts.

My QB panel is now running at 41.5V

The driver is a bit hot and so are the heat sinks (2 plates of 120w each). But the heat is not very intense, I can keep my hand.

I turn up the voltage with the driver dimmer, now there are 43 volts. The driver gets very hot and the heat sinks too. I can't put my hand on it, it burns.

I turn up the voltage with the driver's dimmer, now the LED panels go off. The driver makes a little electrical noise, there's no light on the leds. I turn the voltage down and the LEDs come on again, everything works fine.

So the maximum I can use, is 43 volts.

Is this good or bad?
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
Medface has said his works the same. Saying he can't turn it all the way, there is a stopping point in each direction
 

superhaze420

New member
I received my power meter plug.

I have checked the consumption of my quenatum board led.

Adjusting the dimmer. just before the leds turn off, the consumption is 260w. / 43v.

Adjusting the dimmer to a consumption of 240w/42v. the leds are seen with a very powerful and bright light. The heat sink of the plates gets very hot (60ºC/140ºf), but the manufacturer tells me that is normal. The driver also gets very hot.

I have adjusted the dimmer to 180w/40.5v consumption, the light is good and now I am in the growing stage. The temperature is high but acceptable, I can put my hand without burning.

So in short, everything works ok. The driver offers more power than the LED boards can hold, so they turn off when I set the dimmer to maximum. But everything is ok, it works according to the indicated consumption and voltage.

Thank you for your help
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
Good to hear. These drives are about 93% efficient, so 260 at the wall is right. I run mine about 200 usually, and would see temps in the high 50s if it were not for sitting a 60mm PC on each. Getting them down to the mid 40s. A temperature difference that makes these LED's 3% more efficient. So cooling them is a great use of power.

The driver, when turned up, is trying to send 6.66Amps round. If it can do this with 36v worth of pushing, it's happy. 6.66 x 36 = 240w. So it's ideally suited to 240w 36v panels. Your panels won't let 6.66a flow through them without more pushing. The driver can push harder, it has 60v worth of pushing. However it's just killing itself trying to do that.

Your 180w at the wall, is about 165w of power to the LED's. So you must be demanding 4 amps through your LED's which the driver can do with 40.5v of shove. 4 x 40 = 160w. It seems you can demand anything up to 5.7A and to give you that the driver will have to push at 42v as 5.7 x 42 = 240. The problem is, the driver can be asked to provide 6.66a and try as it might, using more of it's 60v, it's just not that strong.


Anyway.. The bit you turn. Is it a plastic thing that you twist with a screwdriver? If so, I can almost guaranty that will be how your driver dies. You need a perfectly fitting screwdriver of it will get chewed up over time. These ballasts are for set&forget use. Not constantly changing them. I suggest a little investment into a ceramic or composite screwdriver of the right size. Then you won't loose it.
 
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