I was not saying but American(almost impossible) and I don’t have any loyalty to any company and have realized we live in a world where Intellectual Property is nonexistent.
If we are going to help people I think part of that is helping them understand what they have and what’s the limitations are. Also by looking into problems we can help others that come after us reading this thread figure out how to make the best choices.
We are a few pages removed from the light in question and trying to determine correct height. But along those lines let me propose a few thoughts about what I’ve been thinking.
@BigSm0 offers an excellent light for sale, it might be only 65w give it take but I have seen many people flowers plants under a single one. If a 2’ by 2’ area then in that case actual wattage per square foot is 16w. So we can use that and know we can grow and flower with 16w Per square foot.
I know this might seem crazy but I think there is good info here so continue reading. I am not super familiar with the efficiency of the Autocob but I assume it’s been set up to run st peak efficiency for the cob and driver. So proven platform with easily replicatable heights.
Now onto QBs. I run my QBs the same way i have seen others set them up. Pair the driver with your boards so you could run them at max wattage but plan your area so running them 50-75% allows you enough light and coverage and peak efficiency. I am able to keep both cobs and QBs at 12-18 inches at all times. Starting at 50% max cob wattage then progressing to 75% max cob wattage at full flower which also requires 75% output from the driver. The height I run is pretty universal amongst many high quality lights (led).
Side note before final point. 600w HPS would put out 40w per square foot in a 4by4. Which is why 30-40 inches many times is recommend over seedlings and young plants. Also light is usually operating somewhere near max wattage.
So here is the concern about the light that started this exchange and my concern with its setup and use. Without going back to get numbers exact I am going to generalize. The unit had 6 boards, I’m not sure of the exact wattage or draw of the board but I I can hypothesize 150 each( they had heat sinks) so that the total wattage that fixture might be capable of could be 900w. We know the driver is 300w (33% of maximum). If we assume it was designed to at least flower a 4by4 then at max driver wattage the light should put out 18.75 watts per square foot. So why not just hang it at 12-18 inches an it should perform well.
My thoughts and I’d love to have a discussion and hear feedback. With the chips being driven at 33%. Driver at 100% the chips may not be getting enough voltage to actually get the full spectrum. And then when the driver gets doomed to 50% and the chips are at 15% who knows what’s happing. Do we know from the manufacturers what the minimum driven wattage is to achieve full spectrum of light. It might be my eye or my camera but I swear when I dim my cobs/QBs down they get more orange the lowers the driven voltage. What if the non HLG board with a single driver being discussed here is actually just putting out half of the usable spectrum because of severely under driving the LEDS ? If we lose red in veg who cares I guess, but what if 33% power is just not enough to really push the blue end of the spectrum. This would certainly account for poor performance of plants in veg.
I’ve seen a lot of talk about efficiency on the higher ends of the equipments limits, but what about losses when running them under 40% ?
Either way, I have lights. They work great. I just wanted to continue the fantastic AFN vibe and get everyone a quality light. I shared my thoughts and costs to prove that we don’t need to spend a ton of money to get great lights. A little knowledge can go a very long way.
In regards to the light with one driver at 300w i would think adding a second identical driver and running 3 boards of each would probably be enough to get the boards into their optimal range. 600 w from the wall with LED in a 4by4 would be great. Set it and forget it at 12-18 inches
Good vibes to all
FB
