Vero 29 LED

PICOGRAV

PICOGRAV

Well-Known Member
Positivity said:
100w each with enclosed eggs could lead to early failure
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I don't think you would need to worry about a failure at 100 or even 150 watts, I've been running mine at about 120 watts for about 2 years with no problem.

@rollyouron if you are serous I can build a panel for you with a true DC power source with a custom PCB. Non of this switching BS and using small planar transformers with crappy regulation. It would be heavy duty power that would last years and years.
 
PICOGRAV

PICOGRAV

Well-Known Member
Positivity said:
I don't think the 100w is the problem..

More 100w + small Glass optic must raise tj significantly.

Could be wrong. I wouldn't do that..
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I suppose but most of the heat of emitted into the LED's metal backing plate, that's the nice thing about these high power LED's the front of the LED is only outputting light. The heat wants to travel through the lowest possible resistance and the metal plate the chips are grafted to provide a much lower resistance than the air in front of the LED's.

But yes if you used shitty optics I guess that would tend to trap more heat on the face of these LED's. Even still they should perform at reasonably high temperatures with ease. They are like computer chips but way more rugged and last time I checked CPUs in computer can operate fine up to about 90- 100 degrees C, that's when the newer Intel chips start to throttle.
 
Positivity

Positivity

Well-Known Member
The heat off the face burns at half the watts.

Now enclose it..

Not like they couldn't be removed. I just see it as a early offering not completely thought out and rushed to market. Its a decent base but not finished..

Your big power supplys are impressive. Could be the future of industrial type setups?
 
PICOGRAV

PICOGRAV

Well-Known Member
AquariusPanta said:
Big, industrial power supplies? What?
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I guess let me put it like this.

99% of everyone powering LED's of the AC wall power uses a PWM power supply. To keep it simple these power supplies run at very high frequencies which mean you can use very small parts to convert AC wall power for the LED's.

More traditional power supplies use a much larger transformer and a simple filter and voltage/current regulator. These are simple and easy to design and build, cost more but provide much much better regulation of the power coming out. It is also true DC, not high frequency AC.

Really the only way for a PWM power supply to dim is use pulsed high frequency AC. So not only do you have a fant 50,000 to 200,000 hz running into the LED but also a second frequency if you start dimming. I don't really think It's a big problem but when I walk into a convenience store and my eyes get pounded by the flicker from fluorescent lights switching on and off at 60 hz gives me a headache, how does it affect plants?

HPS don't really have this problem because the filament itself can filter that switching but LEDs react to quickly.

It's better to over build it and have it last than to watch it burn up during a brownout.

20 amps at a max of 45 volts is all you need to run the six Veros.
 
SupraSPL

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
PICO, I have noticed this flicker in 2 different cheapo drivers I have come across. This one and this one. Just barely noticeable to the eye but you can detect it if you move your head with the light in your peripheral. But most of them are true DC constant current output and there is no flicker whatsoever. Even with the dimmable Mean Wells there is no flicker. They do not use PWM it is constant current DC output and amazingly efficient, up to 95% with 240V power input. Reliability is excellent even the cheap ones can run nonstop for many years.

But didn't we establish that the big power supplies you are referring to are 50% efficient. If so then HPS would be a better, cheaper and cooler option.
 
PICOGRAV

PICOGRAV

Well-Known Member
Well, I don't pay for power so the efficiency isn't one of my top priorities. I want the best quality of light for my babies.

There is something special for me about running power through a nice transformer. I don't see why in the audio world, tube amps with their fat sound due to large inductance transformers can't translate the same way in the light world. After hand winding quite a few you notice the slightest differences affect the output.

Thats a pretty far fetched idea but by all means you could build a very efficient traditional power supply if the output is matched to the number of LED's its connected to.

In the real electronics world 95% efficiency is more or less impossible from a device like a power supply with good regulation but if you would like to do some amperage and power factor measurements on your setup I'll be happy to look at them.

Anyway for me crappy planer transformers out, high quality and high turn transformers in.

Link me to the Mean well you are talking about and I will do some more research on how it dims.
 
PICOGRAV

PICOGRAV

Well-Known Member
churchhaze said:
PWM is only used to control the switching, but the output of the coil that is switched on and off is rectified and smoothed. (i'm pretty sure)
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You are right I should have said switching power supply, with or without PWM. When building analog circuits I try not to use any high frequency switching, I try to not even use a single Diode in my designs!
 
SupraSPL

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
These are the ones many of us are using lately. I tested the HLG-185H-C1050B at 93.5% efficiency but it was powered by 120V and should be slightly higher with 240V.
http://www.meanwell.com/search/hlg-185h-C/HLG-185H-C-spec.pdf

We can run (5) CXA3070s in series at 1050mA or (3) CXA3070s in series at 1400mA, so that works out to as little as $15 per COB. I will be using a 350mA version to run the whole veg room. Very handy that they are dimmable by internal pot or external pot, and they are all power factor corrected.
 
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