I would like to go the Diy route on my next light. Im running 2 240w quantum boards (meijiu) but aren’t working very well or as bright as they should so i know i need to replace these sooner than not.
I would like to set up a well put together bar light set up for my 3x3 and demote these QB to a starter veg tent.
@Mr.Sparkle would you have some suggestions for this?? Thanks for the thread. I always thought there was a diy option vs pre assembled high cost
my question would be more whats not working with the current setup as that should be more than enough light for your space even with older diodes, also one can get the prebuilt stuff now adays pretty comparable to going the diy route.
But first question first 
, ill swing by your grow thread in the mean time.
@Mr.Sparkle, on each board at different times each panel has been brighter then the other side about twice as bright. The boards are not wired together so its a similar issue. I have them bother running off the pluggin box each with their own plug in.
I was under the impression that each receptical box could handle the load requirement. My house is 12 yrs old so everythingbis updated and new
Heres a couple pictures to show what i mean.
In the 1st picture as well the light got slightly brighter at the 90% of the pot knob but still stayed relatively bim when compared to the 3rd photo. Both are 301b led chip boards.
First likely that red row is all in series and one dioded failed taking out the entire row, if you find which one that is “multimeter checking for open resistances on each diode” one can short the diode and bring those other diodes minus one back to operation.
Second just looking at it the only reason that second panel could/should be dimmer is if there is a faulty/flakey wire connection between the two boards which you should check on, but yeah it just looks like power is coming in on one side and the two boards are in parallel to each other but using there on board power headers to connect instead of two dedicated pairs of power leads, or splitting the positive and negative connections to either board to equalize it a bit better.
Now that is all fine except if one board fails or in your case goes dim then the remaining panel gets all that remaining energy and if designed like they typically are that can overdrive the already over-driven diodes to the point of failure aka your red strip, and with that gone the first panel will have a slightly lower resistance making them unbalance and then power flow favouring the faulty board more so.
Performance wise you should be more than good enough especially with 301b diodes, you just likely have a just touching connection “faulty” that is causing that second panel to be dim which im guess on both its always that second panel from the power leads from the driver.
Oh and your lights can easily run off one receptacle, most house circuits which usually link multiple outlets along a wall or included your rooms light can handle up to 15a which on the "safer side is about 1500w, so you have no need to run them on different receptacles unless say you have a microwave of big ac unit also connected to the same outlet
Thanks for the reply!! When i get home I’ll remove each light and pull it all apart and and reassemble the light while inspecting the all connections and wire locations for human errors (mystalling) 
After this I’ll grab my multimeter and have to learn how to set it for testing for resistance so i can test the individual diodes to find the faulty 1.
Arrow has some good offers, it is a shame that there is no EU distributor or the ones that exist doesn’t have this offers.
By example HBG-160-60A in arrow 1$ in spain 65€… yuhuuuuuu
I cleaned up yesterday got 5 meanwell drivers 4, 240 watt and 1, 65 watt for $22.35
At that price it might be worth having it shipped if you bought several that is
Honestly not that i need a new driver for what im thinking but i am currently browsing for those prices
As even if i said the prebuilt stuff is getting down to almost full diy price level at these cheap driver prices if you find one that will work for you its still a “cheap” option to go diy
Currently a bunch of ELG , HLG and HBG XBG options
@Mr.Sparkle I’ve switched gears and am picking up a much larger tent then I have right now so I would like to build a strip light system that will span a 4x8 tent. Is it possible if you could help me out to determine what all I would need? This area is completely foreign to me so I may need to ask some silly questions along the way
So of course one of my drivers craps out when I’m mid flower like usual (second time now). I am going to try to order a new one but I am a bit confused with the whole plug situation. I called Mouser but they were telling me these usually aren’t used with a wall plug.
https://www.mouser.ca/ProductDetail/MEAN-WELL/HLG-320H-24A?qs=DNaZHaGatO2tAtx4g0zPkg%3D%3D
This is what I’m trying to replace. The guy on the phone said that there’s only 2 wires coming from each end but the one I was looking at (another one that stopped working) has 3 wires from the input and 2 wires from the output. Should I still order this? It has the same model number as the one that powers the light that crapped out but I’m used to the 3 wires on the input.
I checked the continuity of all the wires on the grow light (solstrip rack) and all seemed good but when I checked the voltage it only showed 0.2mv so that means my driver is no good anymore? Wish there was somewhere I could repair these lol. I will now have 2 of em collecting dust. I am way too much of a noob to open it up and check for a blown fuse etc.
I just checked my email and the last one I ordered seems to be the same one I have but I just wanna be super sure.
I’m wondering what kind of plug do I need to power this thing? I could probably just cut the cord off the old driver when I get the new one but I am curious if there’s a specific type of thing I can buy to take the bare 3 wires of the input on the driver and connect it directly to a cord that plugs into a socket with one of those waterproof junction box things (what I did with the last one I replaced.
Are there any other brands of drivers with the same specs I can use to power my light that are better/ cheaper or is meanwell the standard for grow lights like these? Really hope the strike doesn’t affect me getting this thing asap, knowing my luck it prob will lol.
If I’m reading the URL correctly you are looking for a: HLG-320H-24A?
Checking the spec sheet, it’s a universal input (90~305VAC), page 4 shows the mechanical info that shows: line, neutral and frame ground (3 wires) on the input.
In most installations, this unit would be 'hard wired into the installation’s wiring. Perhaps that is what the individual was referring to.
My preferences would be for HLG-320H-24B or HLG-320H-24AB (if available). This allows the use a 100K Ohm pot as a 10~100% dimmer (or a couple other methods) for dimming that are not available with the A version .
Mean Wells are usually pretty good so I’m a little suspicious as to why your last one died.
Any chance of large line spikes? Things like arc welders etc. nearby?
Cheers
G
No welders or anything like that but I am pushing it when it comes to amps on the breaker. I’ve had the breaker switch off a few times because I have too much running. I have 2 more spots on my breaker box that are empty I might have to get a buddy to add more at some point. I also have the lights on overdrive when they are in flower (I/O max, V max) and they do get pretty hot.
The last one that crapped out on me around 1.5-2 years ago I think might have been on the older side (5+ years).I wouldn’t be surprised if it was user error both times though. I really need to add more fans and get some airflow going near the heat sinks of the lights/ the drivers. The fans keep dying on me too though 
I want to try getting some oil to lubricate them before I toss more out this time.
I already ordered the one posted above a few hours ago and luckily for me it comes tomorrow. Next time I need to get one I’ll have to check out the ones that can have the dimming because using the tiny screwdriver in it I/O thing is a pain in the ass haha.
When the driver comes I’m just gonna cut the wall plug side off the old driver, re tin the leads and use one of those waterproof junction box things to connect the wires together (because I can’t solder for shit). This is what I did with the last one and it seems to still be working OK. Hope I can get that light back up and running asap.
I typically throw a replacement plug on there.
It opens up to expose screws to attach the wires. No soldering necessary, but you will likely need an extension cord.
The junction boxes I bought were way too small to fit the cords unfortunately but luckily I had a spare light that I could take a bigger one off of so hopefully can get it to work.
First pic is input from the driver. Is the yellow/green the ground? Blue is the same as black?
Second pic is the cord that I’m about to tin and try to connect to the driver but want to make sure they match up properly. White goes in matching spot with red? and green matches with green/yellow and black with blue?
Edit: seems to be working again.
