Samsung LED strip build having concerns. Wattage dropping

SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
hmm
yeah i was considering that, i did use cheap ebay wire
18g through out wago to strips, , i think i used 16g for the big runs( driver to wagos)

driver just outside tent, maybe only 10-12' light to driver wire length total


You folks think its just a loose connection somewhere, this driver is appropriate?
 
SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
i figured at 500w or less them wires be good haha, but really i think im using 2 different manufactureres of wire, and one is kinda cheap, damn i hope i dont have to wire wire this bbig motha all again lol
 
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Ryante55

Well-Known Member
SMT69 said:
hmm
yeah i was considering that, i did use cheap ebay wire
18g through out wago to strips, , i think i used 16g for the big runs( driver to wagos)

driver just outside tent, maybe only 10-12' light to driver wire length total


You folks think its just a loose connection somewhere, this driver is appropriate?
Click to expand...
Maybe your potentiometer broke? Try running it without the potentiometer. I've had meanwell drivers fail but for me it made the lights flicker.
 
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Ryante55

Well-Known Member
When you get this all fixed 480w is overkill for a 2x4 I'd run it at 300w like 6-10in away from the canooy unless you need the extra heat
 
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shimz

Well-Known Member
SMT69 said:
You folks think its just a loose connection somewhere, this driver is appropriate?
Click to expand...
The results of your voltage drop testing will tell us the answer to that.

You mentioned getting another driver. If you decide to do this and you can live without the external dimming, please get the 'A' version of that driver as it can be dialed up to 25.2V.
 
GBAUTO

GBAUTO

Well-Known Member
Ryante55 said:
How far away from the fixture do you have your driver? Maybe you need a different gauge wire?
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Set the multimeter to dc voltage, one probe at the driver output and the other at the corresponding polarity on each strip. When it's powered up to max, you should readings in the mV range. If it gets over 1 V, the conductor is undersized and is turning into a heater element.
Also, always disconnect the pot leads for the dimmer to get max output from the driver. That should tell you if it is the driver or the pot.
 
SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
Ryante55 said:
When you get this all fixed 480w is overkill for a 2x4 I'd run it at 300w like 6-10in away from the canooy unless you need the extra heat
Click to expand...
^Thx, I'm running them now at almost 300w @ 20" and the plants are explosive.

But i need to figure out why I'm maxing at 300 on this build, somethings wrong
 
SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
GBAUTO said:
Set the multimeter to dc voltage, one probe at the driver output and the other at the corresponding polarity on each strip. When it's powered up to max, you should readings in the mV range. If it gets over 1 V, the conductor is undersized and is turning into a heater element.
Click to expand...
Thx I'll give it a check
 
SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
Remember, I built this 450w rig not to run at 100%, but to run 60-75% for cooling and effieciency folks, I'll probobly only run it 350w I'm guesssing, but I can go up or down and experiment. Anyways, lets try and get this thing full power, please help!
 
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Ryante55

Well-Known Member
SMT69 said:
^Thx, I'm running them now at almost 300w @ 20" and the plants are explosive.

But i need to figure out why I'm maxing at 300 on this build, somethings wrong, not really sure what to test with my multimeter, I''l go check some vids.........
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20in is kinda far even for new clones I would get a few inches closer at 300w. Did you try disconnecting the potentiometer? Or is there a chance you wired a couple of the lights in series?
 
SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
GBAUTO said:
Set the multimeter to dc voltage, one probe at the driver output and the other at the corresponding polarity on each strip. When it's powered up to max, you should readings in the mV range. If it gets over 1 V, the conductor is undersized and is turning into a heater element.
Also, always disconnect the pot leads for the dimmer to get max output from the driver. That should tell you if it is the driver or the pot.
Click to expand...
Awesome, a place to start......many thx
 
SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
Ryante55 said:
20in is kinda far even for new clones I would get a few inches closer at 300w. Did you try disconnecting the potentiometer? Or is there a chance you wired a couple of the lights in series?
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Brother I tried @ 10" and 300w a weeks ago, these light are powerful, I saw light bleaching immediately the next morning.....they seemed like they didnt like it, I'm playing it save this first grow and have been experitmenting with distance, 20" so far theyve been the happiest and they are explosive at this wattage, any closer they seem stressed, I'm intensley monitoring, its been fun!

I have my seedling and clones and mothers under QB's and have to keep them way dialed back, I've been shocked at the amount the plant RECIEVES from these lights,
 
SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
Off topic, I'm worried I'm gonna run outta space here. I am planning to run one plant in each 2x4 tent, running 2 here because I'm pheno hunting, C99 shouldnt be too tall....

anyways,super explosive growth from these lights, they are impressive indeed.






and here they were a week ago after building screen

 
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SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
i drove all around and no killawatts in stock, hd, wallymart, ace, darn...

ok, I'm thinking just rewiring tomorrow and with new thicker gauge wire.

anybody know if this driver should be correct for these strips
 
1

1212ham

Well-Known Member
After looking at the numbers and the wiring, I see the problem. Your driver puts out 20 amps, and that's significant. That's why it has two output cables, they use two, rather than one big heavy cable.

A 10ft., 16ga cable will drop 1.6v at 20 amps. Since you have little voltage to spare, I'd probably use two 14 ga. cables, that gets it down to a .25v drop.

It appears the left seven strips are connected through one wire, or two if you count pos. & neg. That's roughly another 1 volt drop.

The best way with wagos is to branch out from the main cable. Run the main line to the first wago, then branch out and run each of the four lines to another wago. That divides the 20 amp current among four 18ga. lines, so each only caries five of the 20 amps. Then run lines from those four wago's to the strips.

Here's a wire loss calculator. https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/wire/voltage-drop-calculator.html

Edit: A quick, temporary fix would be common 12-2 wire from the driver to the light.
 
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SMT69

SMT69

Well-Known Member
1212ham said:
After looking at the numbers and the wiring, I see the problem. Your driver puts out 20 amps, and that's significant. That's why it has two output cables, they use two, rather than one big heavy cable.

A 10ft., 16ga cable will drop 1.6v at 20 amps. Since you have little voltage to spare, I'd probably use two 14 ga. cables, that gets it down to a .25v drop.

It appears the left seven strips are connected through one wire, or two if you count pos. & neg. That's roughly another 1 volt drop.

The best way with wagos is to branch out from the main cable. Run the main line to the first wago, then branch out and run each of the four lines to another wago. That divides the 20 amp current among four 18ga. lines, so each only caries five of the 20 amps. Then run lines from those four wago's to the strips.

Here's a wire loss calculator. https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/wire/voltage-drop-calculator.html

Edit: A quick, temporary fix would be common 12-2 wire from the driver to the light.
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whoa.... i knew it was something like this.

Hoping its the way i wired it...yes, I didnt follow a stict wago to wire run...a little all over the place...hmmm I was smokin somethin good that night.

So IF i just rewire it better, think I is should see significant increase, is it drooping that bad?
I'm glad I havent burned the house down yet. But Im mechanical, I really enjoyed building these leds, and my QB build for the veg tent was too easy to build

Thx man, I'm gonna have to think about how you said to wire it, and try to wrtie it out for my eyeballs to see...sometimes i need a visual to compute in this old brain
 
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