Can I wait a few weeks into growing to get this or should I have it set up before starting plants? I will have fans in the tent for airflow.
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I’m not sure there’s an exact answer to that. In some circumstances you could probably start without it. In others, you would likely need it within a short period of time.
so is this how I should do the wiring up for two qb288 boards @dbrn32? I have made the frame and put it all together just need the wiring finished the driver connects to the plug with green to green, blue of driver to white (neutral) and then tan to black(hot) then I hook up the boards as shown in pic? and I can hang it. With just having two boards in a 4x4 can I grow thre I also ordered the ac infinity fan and I have ordered my seed pack. Hopefully this Friday I can be ready to start germinating some seeds.
Well my phone cut out part of that… with just two boards in a 4x4 can I flower 3 girls or will I need my other set of lights by the flower stage?
@dbrn32 @WickedAle So this is my build where I’m at. Now if I’m correct to here with the driver to power then the rest is as shown. The positive on board 1 going to negative of board 2 and then the next question is can I just hook my driver leads straight into the board? And if so then it’s the Vo- (blue wire) to the negative and the the Vo+ (Brown wire) to the positive? Sorry definitely not an electrician by any means 
Gonna rewatch some videos and see if I can find it
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Sounds right, the color designator for wires is printed on driver so double check those. But brown is typically positive and blue negative. Long story short, just like in drawing above.
The tinned driver leads are kinda big to fit connectors on board. If you can get them to fit without breaking connectors it will work. But easier to use short piece of wire and wago in my opinion.
I’m typically a quiet observer in these types of discussions, but I’m curious…how smart are those drivers, protection-wise? Say, if you did reverse the polarity or something like that…will they fire up?
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@elheffe702 I honestly don’t know the answer. I was able to plug in the light and it all worked perfectly so that’s awesome. @dbrn32 might know that answer.
No worries, I was just curious. Some electronics are like that, smart enough to see something isn’t right and shut down or go into some protective mode to keep from destroying themselves.
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I’m pretty sure they won’t work if DC side is wired backwards. I have tried, and no light. Maybe under different circumstances it would though?
Crossing acl and acn driver will still work, but it could cause problems with timers or any switching devices. Most timers don’t switch neutral. If input polarity is crossed when timer switches off the driver would still be energized from line connection. The circuit isn’t complete, but driver will dimly light LEDs. If you look around here, I’ve helped a couple of members troubleshoot issues like this even with commercially built lights. In more than one case we’ve even found polarity incorrect at their receptacle. Basically an issue of the drivers being capable of multiple input voltages.
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That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought about the fact that those are universal like that.
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Yup. Some more universal than others. Meanwell hlg series is compatible 90-305 AC input. I’m not really sure what the significance of the 90 and 305 are, but makes life real easy for me. I can spec same driver for us no matter what the household configuration is here, as I can members from Europe and down under. And they will work on most common industrial configurations.
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Hmm, could you run multiples off of 3 phase?
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Oh ya. I did some where service was 480. We took single leg to ground and ran them 277v.
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Wow, that does allow a lot of flexibility!
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Alright so how many people add shelving or a table in their grow tent? Or does everything you have inside (fans, temp gauge, and those odds and ends) attach to the corner posts or hang from the top? @Myfriendis410 @MattyBear @WickedAle
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I have shelves and tables both in my grow space
I try to mount everything I can outside the tent. Drivers, exhaust fan, temp/RH meters that just gives me more room to move and not have to worry about that stuff.
@dbrn32 @Jbum @MattyBear @Myfriendis410 so this is the top of my set up with nothing on the ground yet. I have my ac infinity fan setup outside the tent and just waiting on my filter to come. I have one fan up top pointing down and then another near the lower part going across so I should have good air movement top to bottom.
I haven’t had the lights on besides testing them but the temp is roughly 68 in there so I’m hoping lights will pull it up a bit. I’m showing a higher humidity in there so far of around 75% and have been in the process of finding a dehumidifier for my room that will work for most of the house.
I am going to grow in FFOF and just picked up some miraclegro seed starting potting mix so hoping to germinate and then plant in that in a small seedling pot to start. I do have a less intense light I can use for seedlings unless I can use the qb 288’s from a distance and dimmed.
I was planning on running 3 Maui wowie seeds and adding light if needed with flower stage.
Now starting out I have the ph meter and ppm meter and was going to get into a habit of ph’ing the water ever watering along with checking rub off.
So if everything looks good I think I’m gonna drop some seeds in some water tonight and start my grow… so now I’m thinking grow journal on here.
Also is there anything I have maybe overlooked? This is a big adventure and I’ve spent a lot of time reading on here and hoping I can have a great first grow with little growing pains.
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Rock on dude! Pick up a gallon of distilled water and water em with that until transplant: you don’t need to PH distilled. One gallon ought to last you for 3 weeks with that many plants.
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