parallel wiring led strips without wago's?

[gddg]

i did some more testing.

connected the + and - opposing each other but as expected didn't make a difference

disconnected 5 strips and connected only 5 to the 480H driver they now max out at 70watt
potmeter closed 0% they burn at around 48 watt when i turn the potmeter 15% open they're at 70 watt. 15% to 100% full open they stay at 70w.

so i connected 10 strips at 0% they burn around 48 watt when i turn the potmeter 25-30% open they're at around 127w. 25-30% to 100% full open they stay at 127w

next i connected 20 strips at 0% they burn around 48 watt when i turn the potmeter 40-45% open they're at around 224w. 40-45% to 100% full open they stay a 224w.

 

[cobshopgrow]

makes all sense and the problem is probably gone with the higher voltage driver.

 

[Barristan Whitebeard]

ok tried the d cell battery with the 240H 36B driver and the 4000k strips. They definitely burned brighter, instead of 7,2 watt now it was 28,7 watt, so the 42AB driver will probably be the solution!

tried the same driver and battery with the 3000k strips but it didn't make a difference.

i borrowed a manual digital multimeter to look if the drok multimeter works properly. I see a small difference the drok meter gives a 0,15 to 0,45 higher voltage reading then the manual multimeter.
I disconnected all the drok meters and used the manual mutlimeter to measure everything again

240H 36B driver without drok meter's measured with manual multimeter
1 row off 3000k strips is 36,2V and 3,69A and 2 row's are 35,7V and 5,94A

240H 36B driver readings from drok meter.
1 row off 3000k strips is 36,37V 4,3A and 2 row's are 36,16V 6,87A


I still don't get it why when i'm using 10 strips instead 20 the Amp drops almost half

theoretically the 6,7A from the 240H-36B driver should be evenly distributed and is doesn't need to matter if you're using 10, 20 or 100 strips, the more strips you use the less watt and heat they put out and the more efficient they will be, am i right??

very frustrating all of this

i did some more testing.

connected the + and - opposing each other but as expected didn't make a difference

disconnected 5 strips and connected only 5 to the 480H driver they now max out at 70watt
potmeter closed 0% they burn at around 48 watt when i turn the potmeter 15% open they're at 70 watt. 15% to 100% full open they stay at 70w.

so i connected 10 strips at 0% they burn around 48 watt when i turn the potmeter 25-30% open they're at around 127w. 25-30% to 100% full open they stay at 127w

next i connected 20 strips at 0% they burn around 48 watt when i turn the potmeter 40-45% open they're at around 224w. 40-45% to 100% full open they stay a 224w.

Also while you have that multimeter it may be worthwhile to test the resistance of the potentiometers you bought from Kingbrite.

 

[gddg]

Unfortunately the 42AB drivers are delayed en will take a couple more weeks te get delivered. I don't have faith they will be delivered any time soon, it seems like they out of stock everywhere here in europe!

I'm thinking about rewiring everything and connect the strips in series but i have no idea what driver i need.

I would like te get a total off around 750 watt

250 watt for the 10 x 4000k strips and 500 watt for the 20 x 3000k strips

does anyone know which meanwell drivers i can use?

 

[cobshopgrow]

tme have little stock for the 320w one.

HLG-320H-42AB MEAN WELL - Power supply: switching | LED; 321.3W; 42VDC; 3.8÷7.65A; 90÷305VAC | TME - Electronic components

MEAN WELL HLG-320H-42AB | Power supply: switching; LED; 321.3W; 42VDC; 3.8÷7.65A; 90÷305VAC - This product is available in Transfer Multisort Elektronik. Check out our wide range of products.

www.tme.eu

and 480w one

HLG-480H-42AB MEAN WELL - Power supply: switching | LED; 478.8W; 42VDC; 5.7÷11.4A; 90÷305VAC | TME - Electronic components

MEAN WELL HLG-480H-42AB | Power supply: switching; LED; 478.8W; 42VDC; 5.7÷11.4A; 90÷305VAC - This product is available in Transfer Multisort Elektronik. Check out our wide range of products.

www.tme.eu

you need to think whats best for you.
a option you can dig in is may going for 3 XLG 240W AB ones,, theyre quite versataile.

 

[gddg]

Thank you @cobshopgrow drivers arrived today!

i hooked everything up again today, it's an insane amount of light

I turned the current and volt screw all the way down, connected everything and turned it on. After that i turned the current fully open en slowly start to open the volt screw untill i hit 480watt on the 480H driver and 240watt on the 240H driver but i don't know if this is the right way/setting?
i'm not sure how far i can or need to push the strips, i'm scared that if i turn the volt screw all the way open the strips will blow.

 

[cobshopgrow]

great to see it working.
seems youre allready around the sweet spot.

as long you have all strips connected and not only a few you should be fine going full throttle as the driver is the limit itself this will always limit the voltage somehow.

you can squeeze some more watt out of the driver by opening the voltage srew all the way.
dont think its needed in your case.

seems you have the voltage screw not fully open now and the drivers are working in contant current mode at about 100%.
simply keep it like that and make the rest with the potentiometer.
to not open the v. screw fully gives you a little safety when some strips get disconnected or else.
maybe even close the v. srew a tiny bit till you see a slight reduction in the watts/volts.

you can do the same afterwards for the current screw, turn it back as long it shows no reaction, if thats the case.
its hard to explain atm for me, both values influence each other always.
rule of thumb, take what you need form the driver and limit it a bit over the screws afterwards.

if you think you want the last watt out of your fixture you can open the voltage screw more/full later on.

congrats, fixture finished would say, ready to grow.

 

[Rocket Soul]

great to see it working.
seems youre allready around the sweet spot.

as long you have all strips connected and not only a few you should be fine going full throttle as the driver is the limit itself this will always limit the voltage somehow.

you can squeeze some more watt out of the driver by opening the voltage srew all the way.
dont think its needed in your case.

seems you have the voltage screw not fully open now and the drivers are working in contant current mode at about 100%.
simply keep it like that and make the rest with the potentiometer.
to not open the v. screw fully gives you a little safety when some strips get disconnected or else.
maybe even close the v. srew a tiny bit till you see a slight reduction in the watts/volts.

you can do the same afterwards for the current screw, turn it back as long it shows no reaction, if thats the case.
its hard to explain atm for me, both values influence each other always.
rule of thumb, take what you need form the driver and limit it a bit over the screws afterwards.

if you think you want the last watt out of your fixture you can open the voltage screw more/full later on.

congrats, fixture finished would say, ready to grow.

This is the main benefit with the HLG A:s, you can set the voltage exactly, by turning down voltage dimming a smidgen until it drops current just a tiny bit, and get a light which cannot blow or burn any of iits parallel strings, just like you describe.

 

[cobshopgrow]

at least i hope it will work like that in a case of failure, haha.

its not stupid to limit a A type drivers voltage a bit, true.
while when using a B type driver you often use more serial wiring and concept the fixture that way one string could take the full current limit.

 

[metic]

Do you mean like this? and then the same with the 20 x 3000k strips and 480 driver ?

(please don't judge my paint skill's )

View attachment 4620872

Did you build this? What is the frame made out of, looks very clean!

 

[gddg]

Did you build this? What is the frame made out of, looks very clean!

sorry for my late reply!
Yes i build the frame. It's made from aluminium U shaped profile's, dimensions 25mm x 25mm x 25mm and 2mm thick, in the middle just a flat 20mm x 3mm alu strip for firmness and at the ends i used L shaped profile's 25mm x 25mm 3mm thick. At both ends and the middle off the U profile's i used rubber cable grommets for wiring and too keep the wire's in place.



I want to thank everyone for their support, i probably couldn't have pulled this off without you guys help!
Last round the plants where unfortunately already too big to change my old cob frame for the new strip frame without damaging the plants.

This new round the strips are finally in use.
Started with 2 packs off sannie's jack herer reg ended up with 16 female's, selected the 12 best looking.
They are 15 days in flower, hope they will grow/stretch at least another feet.

 

[welight]

sorry for my late reply!
Yes i build the frame. It's made from aluminium U shaped profile's, dimensions 25mm x 25mm x 25mm and 2mm thick, in the middle just a flat 20mm x 3mm alu strip for firmness and at the ends i used L shaped profile's 25mm x 25mm 3mm thick. At both ends and the middle off the U profile's i used rubber cable grommets for wiring and too keep the wire's in place.



I want to thank everyone for their support, i probably couldn't have pulled this off without you guys help!
Last round the plants where unfortunately already too big to change my old cob frame for the new strip frame without damaging the plants.

This new round the strips are finally in use.
Started with 2 packs off sannie's jack herer reg ended up with 16 female's, selected the 12 best looking.
They are 15 days in flower, hope they will grow/stretch at least another feet.

View attachment 4729150
View attachment 4729151

Nice clean build
cheers