Looking for a driver recommendation.

taproot

taproot

Well-Known Member
I've decided to build another light and was looking for a recommendation for the correct driver to use and best practice of wiring it parallel or in series and the pros and cons to each of the two methods. My last light I wired it in series..worked great. One question, I know if you wire in series and one strip goes out you loose the whole thing..but what if one or a few chips on a strip goes out does it still take out the whole strip and whole series? I know parallel won't do this but my question about that is..if a strip fails all the other strips now get the excess current the failed one was using. Right? I assume if you're running the strips at say 80% max this isn't a big deal since they all divide the extra current up and chances of a overload is non existent?

Anyways I just bought nine (9) of the following strips and was wanting opinions on wiring them and some driver options. I'd prefer, not absolutely necessary, to have the ability to adjust the current with a external potentiometer as my last driver had it built in and it was kinda a pain.


The specs say each strip is:

60W
48V
500-1500mA

I was planning on running them at 70-80% for longer life and efficiency. So, I guess that would be like 42/48 watts each. Hopefully the driver can adjust down to this but give me enough room that if I wanted to push this up close to 60W each say when ending flowing I can. I guess a 500-550W driver capable of currency adjusting down enough. If possible I wouldn't mind getting a 600W driver so if I wanted to I could add a few extra strips latter on if the driver can adjust current down to where I want to be with these 9 strips.

Now how would you guys go about this..getting a driver at 48V for parallel or running in series. The higher the volt the less Amps so would this help to say run them in series for efficiency and heat concerns.
 

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grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
first up at 60w a strip these diodes are already getting pushed pretty hard, if you are wanting to build a fairly efficient light then i wouldnt go over 30watt a strip, 20 watt a strip would be better.

taproot said:
One question, I know if you wire in series and one strip goes out you loose the whole thing..but what if one or a few chips on a strip goes out does it still take out the whole strip and whole series?
Click to expand...
short answer is no.

taproot said:
I know parallel won't do this but my question about that is..if a strip fails all the other strips now get the excess current the failed one was using. Right? I assume if you're running the strips at say 80% max this isn't a big deal since they all divide the extra current up and chances of a overload is non existent?
Click to expand...
short answer is yes.

taproot said:
I'd prefer, not absolutely necessary, to have the ability to adjust the current with a external potentiometer as my last driver had it built in and it was kinda a pain.
Click to expand...
any decent driver has this function so no problem with external dimming.

taproot said:
I was planning on running them at 70-80% for longer life and efficiency. So, I guess that would be like 42/48 watts each. Hopefully the driver can adjust down to this but give me enough room that if I wanted to push this up close to 60W each say when ending flowing I can. I guess a 500-550W driver capable of currency adjusting down enough. If possible I wouldn't mind getting a 600W driver so if I wanted to I could add a few extra strips latter on if the driver can adjust current down to where I want to be with these 9 strips.
Click to expand...
like i mentioned at the start 60w is too juicy for these strips, if you are wanting to build something as efficient as some of the better high-ish end led growlights @ around 2.8+ppfd then these strips only want about 15watt each (this is presuming a lot of things like the diodes are what they say they are and pcb construction is decent ect...).

taproot said:
Now how would you guys go about this..getting a driver at 48V for parallel or running in series. The higher the volt the less Amps so would this help to say run them in series for efficiency and heat concerns.
Click to expand...
this wants wiring in parallel not series, even with only 9 strips at 48v a strip you are over 430v which is high/dangerous. also the conectors on the pcb's wont be rated for this much voltage.

so you want a constant voltage driver something like a HLG-600-48B with the strips wired in parallel.
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Before buying a 600w B-type meanwell id doubecheck the strips actual current versus voltage using a multimeter or something. It is fairly likely that you may need a bit more than 48V to hit 60w, i wouldnt trust that alibaba spec sheet too much, especially when theres no derating curve as in normal spec sheets. It would be a real bitch to buy it and then realize that you can only squeeze out 45w per strip.

Tbh im not sure its that great a buy, especially when arrow electronics have great deals from time to time. Does anyone have a link to that thread that posts special led strip deals for OP?

As for mitigating this problem you could either buy A-type meanwell with voltage regulation, but then youre stuck with onboard dimming, or try to get one of those fancy constant power drivers which work with almost any voltage, although i doubt that theres a 600w meanwell constant power driver. One version for this would be getting 3x meanwell xlg-200h drivers and set them up with a single dimmer. But youd have to check up on dimmer spec cause iirc correct you need a different spec dimmer for 3 drivers at the same time.

Edit: found the deals in led strip thread

Samsung H series strips, Arrow seems to be blowing them out! what a deal!

Bunch of 200w/24V Led Power Supplies from MEANWELL for $21.91 USD each! Grab em While they're HOTTTT!!!! https://www.arrow.com/en/products/xlg-200-24-a/mean-well-enterprises
www.rollitup.org
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
Before buying a 600w B-type meanwell id doubecheck the strips actual current versus voltage using a multimeter or something. It is fairly likely that you may need a bit more than 48V to hit 60w, i wouldnt trust that alibaba spec sheet too much, especially when theres no derating curve as in normal spec sheets. It would be a real bitch to buy it and then realize that you can only squeeze out 45w per strip.

Tbh im not sure its that great a buy, especially when arrow electronics have great deals from time to time. Does anyone have a link to that thread that posts special led strip deals for OP?

As for mitigating this problem you could either buy A-type meanwell with voltage regulation, but then youre stuck with onboard dimming, or try to get one of those fancy constant power drivers which work with almost any voltage, although i doubt that theres a 600w meanwell constant power driver. One version for this would be getting 3x meanwell xlg-200h drivers and set them up with a single dimmer. But youd have to check up on dimmer spec cause iirc correct you need a different spec dimmer for 3 drivers at the same time.

Edit: found the deals in led strip thread

Samsung H series strips, Arrow seems to be blowing them out! what a deal!

Bunch of 200w/24V Led Power Supplies from MEANWELL for $21.91 USD each! Grab em While they're HOTTTT!!!! https://www.arrow.com/en/products/xlg-200-24-a/mean-well-enterprises
www.rollitup.org
Click to expand...
yer if you are wanting to put 60watt through these strips he may need to go with a hlg-600-54b but even with great heat sinking its just not a good idea.
if he runs them where he should be running them a 48b driver will be fine.
 
taproot

taproot

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
Before buying a 600w B-type meanwell id doubecheck the strips actual current versus voltage using a multimeter or something. It is fairly likely that you may need a bit more than 48V to hit 60w, i wouldnt trust that alibaba spec sheet too much, especially when theres no derating curve as in normal spec sheets. It would be a real bitch to buy it and then realize that you can only squeeze out 45w per strip.

Tbh im not sure its that great a buy, especially when arrow electronics have great deals from time to time. Does anyone have a link to that thread that posts special led strip deals for OP?

As for mitigating this problem you could either buy A-type meanwell with voltage regulation, but then youre stuck with onboard dimming, or try to get one of those fancy constant power drivers which work with almost any voltage, although i doubt that theres a 600w meanwell constant power driver. One version for this would be getting 3x meanwell xlg-200h drivers and set them up with a single dimmer. But youd have to check up on dimmer spec cause iirc correct you need a different spec dimmer for 3 drivers at the same time.

Edit: found the deals in led strip thread

Samsung H series strips, Arrow seems to be blowing them out! what a deal!

Bunch of 200w/24V Led Power Supplies from MEANWELL for $21.91 USD each! Grab em While they're HOTTTT!!!! https://www.arrow.com/en/products/xlg-200-24-a/mean-well-enterprises
www.rollitup.org
Click to expand...
Thanks for your input..well I already bought them. I got them on a flash sell for $13 a piece so hopefully they work out. They seemed to be similar to king bright which a lot of people seem to like. Also, I wasn't wanting to run them at 60w. The last EB strips I bought years ago, I've been away for a few years, I ran them at 80% of their full power output on heat sinks and they still work. I figured I'd target 35-42W for these strips. I just wanted a larger driver that had some head room for adding some more strips in the future but it needs to be able to current adjust down enough to hit my target range now. If I recollect there's some meanwell drives that can dim 50% of their full output ..so a 600W driver should be able to get down to 300W while maintaining the voltage? Like I said I've been away from all these for a few years so I'm sure there's changes.

Another question. What's the theory / opinion on mixing different strips, with different electrical requirements, on the same driver? For example what if I wanted to get some EB strips and put a few in series to get into the correct voltage range of the driver would that work or just best to use another driver. I've not seen people mixing a lot. The last driver I got a HG series had a range for the voltage and adjusted accordingly I guess.
 
taproot

taproot

Well-Known Member
grotbags said:
yer if you are wanting to put 60watt through these strips he may need to go with a hlg-600-54b but even with great heat sinking its just not a good idea.
if he runs them where he should be running them a 48b driver will be fine.
Click to expand...
You know what I have a thread about heat sinks and there's a lot of people saying don't even worry about them. They say they never had a issue running their EB's at full power without sinks. I used aluminum to sink my last EB grow and they pulled out a lot of heat even at running them about 80%. Flat bar has like everything else has got to dam expensive. Here's the pic of my old and first light I built a few years ago using EB 3500k gen2 with flat bar for the frame and sinks. I did this instead of using a sheet so the air flow could flow past the bars and pull air up to the top of the tent.
 

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taproot

taproot

Well-Known Member
One thing I've been ruminating on is the fact that these sorts of strips I bought are custom made kinda like the kingbright etc. They are at 48V but from looking around 48V doesn't seem all that common or am I incorrect in this? My concern is if these strips don't work out or I want to move on to something else like maybe some EB strips again I'd have to get another driver since the 600W hlg-600-48b doesn't have much variance. For example the EB strips are like 19V so even two in series wouldn't be enough and three would be too much. I think this is what Rocket Soul was saying and I'm understanding him now. I found the following XLG-320 drivers that have much more variance and it's about the same price for two of them vs one of the 600W. Mouser has the AB version so this means I should be able to use a potentiomenter externally right. I'm looking at the (320-H-AB). The current adjustment range is 2800-7420mA so this should allow me to run them fairly soft. Mouser has a decent price.

Opinions on this XLG driver vs the other one? I've never heard of the XLG before it's always everybody using HLG.


XLG-320-LED Driver Power Supply Solution - MEAN WELL

Finding suitable LED drivers for LED lighting? A complete range of 8~1000W drivers featuring dimmable, IP67 with global safety certificates and ship from stock.
led.meanwell.com






And, maybe I could use one of these on each driver to quickly adjust to my needs via the pot and see it in real time.

 
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Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
taproot said:
One thing I've been ruminating on is the fact that these sorts of strips I bought are custom made kinda like the kingbright etc. They are at 48V but from looking around 48V doesn't seem all that common or am I incorrect in this? My concern is if these strips don't work out or I want to move on to something else like maybe some EB strips again I'd have to get another driver since the 600W hlg-600-48b doesn't have much variance. For example the EB strips are like 19V so even two in series wouldn't be enough and three would be too much. I think this is what Rocket Soul was saying and I'm understanding him now. I found the following XLG-320 drivers that have much more variance and it's about the same price for two of them vs one of the 600W. Mouser has the AB version so this means I should be able to use a potentiomenter externally right. I'm looking at the (320-H-AB). The current adjustment range is 2800-7420mA so this should allow me to run them fairly soft. Mouser has a decent price.

Opinions on this XLG driver vs the other one? I've never heard of the XLG before it's always everybody using HLG.


XLG-320-LED Driver Power Supply Solution - MEAN WELL

Finding suitable LED drivers for LED lighting? A complete range of 8~1000W drivers featuring dimmable, IP67 with global safety certificates and ship from stock.
led.meanwell.com






And, maybe I could use one of these on each driver to quickly adjust to my needs via the pot and see it in real time.

Click to expand...
Those drivers are maybe not the best match for ebs; 2 ebs is 36v which isnt within the range of efficient operation; it will work just not so efficient. 3 ebs is 57v which is around top voltage. For ebs is run 36A drivers and just turn up the voltage a bit. Or a constant current with a voltage range somewhere close to a multiple of 20s.

Other things u mentioned, the 50% dimming drivers is A-type, internal dimmer, but they generally go down further.
As for mixing strips youll get an un balanced load with very unpredictable currents. Maybe if you hit voltages within a volt or two, or 5% difference, you wouldnt notice too much but basically not adviced.
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
taproot said:
You know what I have a thread about heat sinks and there's a lot of people saying don't even worry about them. They say they never had a issue running their EB's at full power without sinks. I used aluminum to sink my last EB grow and they pulled out a lot of heat even at running them about 80%. Flat bar has like everything else has got to dam expensive. Here's the pic of my old and first light I built a few years ago using EB 3500k gen2 with flat bar for the frame and sinks. I did this instead of using a sheet so the air flow could flow past the bars and pull air up to the top of the tent.
Click to expand...
i know people have had success running eb strip builds with no heatsinks but the bridgelux strips are cheap and people normally buy more so they can be ran softer hence not needing the heatsinks. at 40-60watt these strips are not running soft.
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
taproot said:
One thing I've been ruminating on is the fact that these sorts of strips I bought are custom made kinda like the kingbright etc. They are at 48V but from looking around 48V doesn't seem all that common or am I incorrect in this? My concern is if these strips don't work out or I want to move on to something else like maybe some EB strips again I'd have to get another driver since the 600W hlg-600-48b doesn't have much variance. For example the EB strips are like 19V so even two in series wouldn't be enough and three would be too much. I think this is what Rocket Soul was saying and I'm understanding him now. I found the following XLG-320 drivers that have much more variance and it's about the same price for two of them vs one of the 600W. Mouser has the AB version so this means I should be able to use a potentiomenter externally right. I'm looking at the (320-H-AB). The current adjustment range is 2800-7420mA so this should allow me to run them fairly soft. Mouser has a decent price.

Opinions on this XLG driver vs the other one? I've never heard of the XLG before it's always everybody using HLG.
Click to expand...
strips and boards come in all different voltages, 48v isnt unusual. trying to spec a driver that you can use in this build and then maybe use in future builds is not worth the trouble, pick the strips you want to use and the quantity then spec the driver for the build.

the xlg are constant power drivers and they work slightly different to a hlg/cv and hlg/cc. but for your use case they would be acting like a constant current driver so that means a series build.

a xlg-320-H-ab is no good for your nine strips @48v each. the 320-H has a constant current region of 30-56v at a power range of 2800-7420ma, which means you could run one strip at a minium of 2800ma which is nearly twice the maxium rated capacity of that strip.

a 320-L has a constant current region of 150-300v at a range of 500-1400ma which means you could run from four to six strips in series and be within the constant current range and have a max power of 1400ma which is 100ma below your strips rated capacity.

but they still are not a great choice as they limit the amount of strips you can use. even if you bought three more strips for a total of twelve you could only ever run a max of six strips per 320-L for around 50watt a strip, you can never add more to run them softer to up efficiency or to help with cooling ie not using heatsinks ect.
with a parrallel build using a constant voltage driver you can just keep adding strips because its always outputing 48volts its just the current to each strip that drops allowing you to run them softer and cooler.
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
taproot said:
Another question. What's the theory / opinion on mixing different strips, with different electrical requirements, on the same driver? For example what if I wanted to get some EB strips and put a few in series to get into the correct voltage range of the driver would that work or just best to use another driver. I've not seen people mixing a lot. The last driver I got a HG series had a range for the voltage and adjusted accordingly I guess.
Click to expand...
mixing strips, boards and even monos of different voltages can only really be done on a diy level by using series builds using constant current drivers.
if we look at the meanwell HLG-320H-C700 its a constant currant driver that will output a max 700ma as long as the voltage is between 214-428volts.
so we could have 4 of your 48v strips @ 192volts, then say 3 bridgelux strips at 19v @ 57volts then say 10 x 660nm monos on stars @ 30volts all wired in series for a total of 279volts. 279 volts fits within the required voltage (214-428v) so each strip or individual mono will get 700ma.
this would work fine, your 48v strips would get 700ma about half the max so relatively soft ish, the bridgelux would get 700ma per strip so no problem and the 10 660nm monos would get 700ma each so they are happy.


technically it can be done in a parallel build but this requires exact maching of voltages and grouping of strips/diodes for current compsumsion that at this point you are more or less designing the series/parrallel layout of a led pcb itself just on a giant scale.
 
widowmaker31

widowmaker31

Well-Known Member
taproot said:
I've decided to build another light and was looking for a recommendation for the correct driver to use and best practice of wiring it parallel or in series and the pros and cons to each of the two methods. My last light I wired it in series..worked great. One question, I know if you wire in series and one strip goes out you loose the whole thing..but what if one or a few chips on a strip goes out does it still take out the whole strip and whole series? I know parallel won't do this but my question about that is..if a strip fails all the other strips now get the excess current the failed one was using. Right? I assume if you're running the strips at say 80% max this isn't a big deal since they all divide the extra current up and chances of a overload is non existent?

Anyways I just bought nine (9) of the following strips and was wanting opinions on wiring them and some driver options. I'd prefer, not absolutely necessary, to have the ability to adjust the current with a external potentiometer as my last driver had it built in and it was kinda a pain.


The specs say each strip is:

60W
48V
500-1500mA

I was planning on running them at 70-80% for longer life and efficiency. So, I guess that would be like 42/48 watts each. Hopefully the driver can adjust down to this but give me enough room that if I wanted to push this up close to 60W each say when ending flowing I can. I guess a 500-550W driver capable of currency adjusting down enough. If possible I wouldn't mind getting a 600W driver so if I wanted to I could add a few extra strips latter on if the driver can adjust current down to where I want to be with these 9 strips.

Now how would you guys go about this..getting a driver at 48V for parallel or running in series. The higher the volt the less Amps so would this help to say run them in series for efficiency and heat concerns.
Click to expand...
Inventronics or Meanwell the best you can get.
 
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