DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

Uzzi

Well-Known Member
G'day
I am about to begin building my light this weekend. The drivers will be located in one spot/case at the centre with each COB on an arm. Problem is this means that to wire them in series, the wires will need to run from the driver at the central location, down the arm to the cob, back up to the central location and back down to the next COB. There will be two COB's driven by each driver which will mean about 2m (6.6ft) of wiring per array. Do I just use the largest practical core wire to reduce voltage drop? Or can anyone point me to a resource to learn about calculating the appropriate wire size? Or am I over thinking this?

x2 CXB3590 72V driven by each HLG-120H-C1050. 75.6W each COB. I assume being on 240V mains shouldn't make a difference...

Cheers
 

robincnn

Well-Known Member
Got another noob question. Can the power supply be installed sideways or is the orientation important within an enclosed light.
 

Greengenes707

Well-Known Member
Well shit, I feel pretty stupid now. I had the nuetral and ground mixed up like you were saying. I should have caught or check it or just did it right. :eyesmoke:& senior moments. Thank you for bringing it up, it made me go strip the wires to see.
Everyone does something...it's part of the fun. Like I said, I've done it. When you got connectors bridging to the mains and/or multiple drivers it's hard to see what the hell is going on sometimes. Specially if you don't strip more than meanwell strips stock. You're all good to go now. Happy growing!
 

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
G'day
I am about to begin building my light this weekend. The drivers will be located in one spot/case at the centre with each COB on an arm. Problem is this means that to wire them in series, the wires will need to run from the driver at the central location, down the arm to the cob, back up to the central location and back down to the next COB. There will be two COB's driven by each driver which will mean about 2m (6.6ft) of wiring per array. Do I just use the largest practical core wire to reduce voltage drop? Or can anyone point me to a resource to learn about calculating the appropriate wire size? Or am I over thinking this?

x2 CXB3590 72V driven by each HLG-120H-C1050. 75.6W each COB. I assume being on 240V mains shouldn't make a difference...

Cheers
At 1A, that distance should be OK with 18 gauge. But you could use 16 gauge double insulated wire like this if you want to go the extra mile. It is cheaper to buy it as an extension than to buy it by the foot at HD. The red Husky wire has a nice flexible jacket with no rubber or plastic smell to it. And as a bonus it comes in handy on the AC side too.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-100-ft-16-3-SJTW-Extension-Cord-Red-and-Black-AW62669/100661436
 

medicinehuman

Well-Known Member
I finished 3 of my passive cooled lights, taking a infared reading on the top the cob after 5 hrs. they were reading 25.6 - 26.3C. You can see how I hooked them together, it works better than I thought L metal and some square tube. I riveted the L metal to the heat sink and added some self tapping screws. You can see the little L metal piece that was added , it really adds support to help keep it from sagging . I still need to attach my far red's , you can see that red wire running through the tube and it's holding it . This is the 5.88, it may not work on some thing that is more heavy. DSCF0231.JPG
 

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SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
That is a tough one. You could run 1 CXB3590 72V @ 1.4A (104W) on an HLG-120H-C1400 ($60), but not a good match in terms of driver efficiency and cost. You could run a pair of them on HLG-185H-C1400 but you might only get 1.05A out of it (75W X 2 CXAs)

Other options, with CXB3590 36V or Vero29 you can drive them to 2.45A (95W) with a $22 generic driver or 2.55A (103W) with $40 Mean Well HLN-80H-36A dimmable.
 
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Pantar

Member
That is a tough one. You could run 1 CXB3590 72V @ 1.4A (104W) on an HLG-120H-C1400 ($60), but not a good match in terms of driver efficiency and cost. You could run a pair of them on HLG-185H-C1400 but you might only get 1.05A out of it (75W X 2 CXAs)

Other options, with CXB3590 36V or Vero29 you can drive them to 2.45A (95W) with a $22 generic driver or 2.55A (103W) with $40 Mean Well HLN-80H-36A dimmable.
I will stick to 2 per HLG-120H-C then. Do you have the link of that $22 driver?
I bought some Artic Alpine 11 plus and they have thermal compound already applied, is it enough?
http://imgur.com/FYdHxYC

Thanks!
 

UKpeanuts

Well-Known Member
hello, I am interested in this driver, its cheaper than a meanwell and it has a dimming 100W output (something meanwell dont seem to offer hlg or lpc) (for 4 x cxb3070 @700mA)
Unfortunately it only offers dimming via PWM or 0-10V. Can anyone suggest a way of making a simple 1-10V dimming circuit? or PWM.
 

Positivity

Well-Known Member
Should have my LSDpower drivers in a few days! Shipping was a little steep, but if you get enough drivers it makes sense, basically half the price of meanwells. Couldn't stand paying $65 per driver on jameco.
Exactly...

Shipping is a little high but skipping the middleman is priceless.

Same with scpower. I've only received 2 drivers from them but they are high quality as far as i can tell.
 
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