Adjusting light intensity for veg and flower.

D

Distortionist

Well-Known Member
Hi guys. I never knew you can have too much light. After lifting the light my plant is so much happier. I guess my light may be overkill for veg. Never flowered yet.
Lucky me, tis dimmable with a turn of a screw. My plan of action is to dim it from 450W to 350W and increase or decrease from there to try to dtop my plant from getting tired too early. Any advice with regarding to this is welcome.

Now for flowering. I'm reading you can up the light in flower since it has to process light for significantly less time. My question is do you see the same symptoms where the plant looks tired and wilts if I have too much light? I'm scared to crank it up in flower too much I would like to learn how to read my plant in flower.

Last question is, am I better off running the light higher with more intensity or lower with less?

Appreciate it in advance.
 
fragileassassin

fragileassassin

Well-Known Member
You've not mentioned the size of space you're trying to light or what the light is, which are some of the most important pieces here
 
D

Distortionist

Well-Known Member
fragileassassin said:
You've not mentioned the size of space you're trying to light or what the light is, which are some of the most important pieces here
Click to expand...
My room is 3x3
My light is an SF 4000.

I was playing with dimming today and it's not so easy. There are 2 pots. Vo and io. Neither was set on max and I have no idea what I am doing. There are 2 drivers to make it worse. I adjusted both pots to get down by about 70w.

I'm trying to make sense of this but it is conflicting. Some people say turn io to max and use voltage and some people say no voltage should be set to the lights and use the io.

I have no idea what the voltage is or what it needs to be lol. It is my understanding that I can max out current and use volt to dim if I am sure the driver can't cool the board. Again I don't know any of this.

Can someone help me set it so I don't blow the board? This light is so bright it is crazy it was not even set all the way. For now it is dimmer but I would like to know how to use my light and make sure I don't damage it. Anyone know the SF 4000 and if I can turn one pot all the way up so I just need to worry about one of them?
 
TreeFarmerCharlie

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
It looks like that light uses the Meanwell ELG-240-48A driver. If you swap it out for a Meanwell ELG-240-48B then you can just wire a potentiometer to it and easily dim it with that.
 
D

Distortionist

Well-Known Member
TreeFarmerCharlie said:
It looks like that light uses the Meanwell ELG-240-48A driver. If you swap it out for a Meanwell ELG-240-48B then you can just wire a potentiometer to it and easily dim it with that.
Click to expand...
Well I am hoping to set it and forget it at something good for my tent. I'm not too worried about how I dim it as much as understanding what I am doing to it so I don't blow it. I would imagine they use a driver that wouldn't blow their board at max and I am nowhere near max. I shouldn't have touched the voltage knob haha.

My general understanding is I should max out the current and just use the voltage to dim. I can't give it too much current if the volts are right. My fear is me doing that and then deciding I want more light and when I turn the voltage up it cooks. That's what I'm terrified of.
 
TreeFarmerCharlie

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
Distortionist said:
Well I am hoping to set it and forget it at something good for my tent. I'm not too worried about how I dim it as much as understanding what I am doing to it so I don't blow it. I would imagine they use a driver that wouldn't blow their board at max and I am nowhere near max. I shouldn't have touched the voltage knob haha.

My general understanding is I should max out the current and just use the voltage to dim. I can't give it too much current if the volts are right. My fear is me doing that and then deciding I want more light and when I turn the voltage up it cooks. That's what I'm terrified of.
Click to expand...
My mistake, I thought you were planning on changing the levels based on veg and flower.
 
D

Distortionist

Well-Known Member
TreeFarmerCharlie said:
My mistake, I thought you were planning on changing the levels based on veg and flower.
Click to expand...
If I have to. I never had an adjustable light before. Usually I just lower and raise it. My plant is sick and I can't raise it any higher so I want to dim it for now and jack it back up to the max my plant can take. I'm delaying flowering till my plant heals so I just wanted to know how to adjust it and read my plant without shortening the lights life.

My goal is to have it set where I just need to worry about height in the end but if I known what I am doing and can set the intensity by reading the plant that is a win.

Replacing the driver is a bit overkill. I just need someone knowledgable with this stuff to tell me I'll be ok cranking the volt to maximum and use current to dim or the opposite, max out current and use voltage to dim. I don't understand the specs of the driver vs light and the current and voltage calculations. Way over my head lol. I'm just worried about blowing it but for all I know I can set everything to max and not worry about blowing it... I just don't know.
 
TreeFarmerCharlie

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
Distortionist said:
If I have to. I never had an adjustable light before. Usually I just lower and raise it. My plant is sick and I can't raise it any higher so I want to dim it for now and jack it back up to the max my plant can take. I'm delaying flowering till my plant heals so I just wanted to know how to adjust it and read my plant without shortening the lights life.

My goal is to have it set where I just need to worry about height in the end but if I known what I am doing and can set the intensity by reading the plant that is a win.

Replacing the driver is a bit overkill. I just need someone knowledgable with this stuff to tell me I'll be ok cranking the volt to maximum and use current to dim or the opposite, max out current and use voltage to dim. I don't understand the specs of the driver vs light and the current and voltage calculations. Way over my head lol. I'm just worried about blowing it but for all I know I can set everything to max and not worry about blowing it... I just don't know.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I get what you are saying. I would just recommend swapping out the drivers, and selling the ones you currently have, if you plan on adjusting between the growth phases.

This video may help you with what you have.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top