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I'm struggling to understand how to size my driver to the strips I want to run.
I want to replace a 1000w HPS bulb, and if I'm on the right track I think I have a build in mind to achieve that. I come from growing mushrooms, so I'm eager to learn, but light is an area I'm lacking in.
I'm going to build a rack out of Aluminum C channel to cover a 4x4 area. I plan to wire according to this image:
Parts List:
12x BXEB-L1190U-40E3000-C-C3
1x Mean Well HLG-480H-42A Driver
~48 Feet of 1″ Heat Sink
1x Roll of Thermal Tape
1x LLT L20 Waterproof Power Connector for Driver AC Connection
8x 5-Conductor Wagos
I don't know if this driver is compatible with this setup though. I over-estimated the wattage by a miniscule amount, coming in at 360w.
30w x 12 strips = 360w <---- is that 30w per strip at full power? I'd like to run them a bit soft.
I don't know what my next step is. I'm looking at the data sheet for the lights, and don't know which values I need to use next.
Ideally I'd like to be able to calculate the specs of my system on my own in the following way. These are the specs I based this off of, not my specs:
parallel adds the current together, series sums the voltages.
LED's want a constant current driver, as the current will slowly change/get higher as it heats up and eventually burn out the diodes.
30 watts per strip, 12 strips. Find out the amps per strip you want to drive them at, multiply that by 12. Your driver should be that amperage output (constant). The voltage will vary with the amount of diodes and temperature, so find the highest wattage output the driver has, make sure that your not putting more than 80% of the load on the driver.
Watts = Volts * amps.
your 42 amp driver is probably going to blow those 12A worth of diodes out (assuming your at 1A per row)
watch the growmau5 video's on youtube for more a better understanding. I've been out of the loop for awhile.
-------------------- Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED “Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
-------------------- Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED “Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
they say 700 mA with a forward voltage of 38.2V, total of 26.8W. To run 12 at constant current you'd need 700mA *12 = 8.4A @ 39V, is 329W. (34.7-41.8V range power supply @ 700mA; chart 2 of that pdf)
you might consider doing 2-4 smaller power supplies for redundancy and heat distribution. Large parallel arrays can be problematic over time.
You could also over-drove those diodes at 1700mA, but they won't last as long. 700mA is ideal for heat distribution. Look at chart 2, there is a voltage 'range' for those two currents. (37.7-45.3V @1700mA= 680 watts)
Think of watts in terms of how much heat it will produce, consider your cooling options if you want to over-drive them. 1000mA might not be overkill if you have good heat sinks and they can stay cool. It cost more in terms of wasted electricity to over-drive them.
I would keep them at 700mA on my build.
-------------------- Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED “Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
I plan to run them at 700ma. I want to replace a 1000w hps, and I know it's apples to oranges, but do you think I could go any lower than 700ma and still be in the neighborhood of the hps? I guess I'm asking what you'd recommend on the low end.
I spent hours between the data sheet for the strips and the driver, and I end up confusing myself, but I am picking it up bit by bit. Electrical has always been my weakest skill, but this really has me interested so I'm determined to get better with it.
I'll spec out another build tonight based on constant current and see what I come up with.
On another note, those eb strips are listed at ~$14 on digikey. I can find samples of those model numbers on alibaba. From what I've asked around about so far they're basically Chinese companies that are stealing the legit designs and producing them to the "same" specs. I know results vary and you get what you pay for, and I'm not leaning towards this option, but do you have any experience with them?
I don't want junk that's gonna catch on fire, and my instinct says to stay away.
LED efficiency is like 50-90% of the wattage of your HPS. Say a 660W light is about 1000w HPS but doesn't have the same foot print so its not 'quite' a direct replacement. Quality of lights matters, light configuration (spread, footprint) makes a big difference.
Most of the newwer diodes are using small SMD's in strips or boards. Basically they're just a bunch of diodes in series secured to a board. That's basically what you listed. That's why its 39V. you can make your own. heat the board up on a hot plate with solder paste. its a simple concept, and you'd be able to mix your own color spectrum if you wanted to get high tech.
Lets say you wanted to run one of those boards, or a COB, or your own series of lights that uses 39V at 700mA. If you just wanted one it would be a 39V 700mA constant current driver.
If you wanted to run 2 in series you would need a 78V driver @ 700mA constant current.
If you wanted to run 2 in parallel (as shown) you'd need a 39V 1400mA constant current driver.
There is a 'voltage drop' for each diode/chip in series. Those diodes on the board (42 diodes) all have a 'voltage drop' (39V/42 diodes = 0.93V per diode) If you take your multi meter from the ground and test each point across the board with the positive lead you'd see the difference (example, probing the very center of just a single driven strip should read 19.5V)
Voltage is electrical potential. Each device consumes a little. Current is how fast you're delivering that potential.
Side note: the higher the CRI rating is the closer to natural sunlight spectrum it is.
-------------------- Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED “Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
Quote: phychotron said: There is a 'voltage drop' for each diode/chip in series. Those diodes on the board (42 diodes) all have a 'voltage drop' (39V/42 diodes = 0.93V per diode)
Is the voltage drop listed on the data sheet, or is there a standard calculation for voltage drop? If it's on the data sheet, what is it listed under, voltage drop isn't returning anything for me with ctl + f.
I'm interested in building diode by diode, but I don't think that's in the scope of this project.
In the build I was asking about, those strips are only available in 3000k, 3500k, 4000k, and 5000k. I need to do more research before I commit, but I had pictured using mainly 3k and 5k, and depending on the research maybe throwing a 4k depending on how I arrange them.
So 12 strips in something like: 3-4-4-5 3-4-4-5 3-4-4-5 3-4-4-5
I don't know if that's a good utilization of the spectrum, but I am planning on running a few temps. I'm shooting for something that would do well all around with veg/flower.
The voltage drop across one of those strips is the 39V. If you powered it up properly the voltage on the ends would read 39 volts. But leave the black wire on the end, and probe down one diode and you will see its 39V - 0.93V, or 38.07V, move one more diode down and the voltage will read 3(8.07 - 0.93V = )37.14V, and so on.
each little diode 'drops' the voltage .93V because that's what it consumes. all together they consume 39V as a unit.
The data sheet tells you which voltage power supply to get for 700mA or 1700mA.
the good thing with the strips is you can just replace them as needed, if you want more. Maybe one day you'll buy a new driver for it and put some fans up and over drive it at a higher current.
-------------------- Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED “Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
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