might lower light a bit
-boring 'ol 230w 154lm/w led strip build
- Thread starter iHearAll
- Start date
psychedelicdaddi
Well-Known Member
Fully pushed into the center of the board is all on, fully away towards the edge is minimum drive, then idr the in betweens.
psychedelicdaddi
Well-Known Member
What power are you using? I didn't have any issues until I turned the drivers to max
Hairiest_Stamen
Well-Known Member
It's on max power.. 26w. It's one section on the driver that's 120F+, with most of it still above 100F.
psychedelicdaddi
Well-Known Member
i see, i never measured the temps but a day or two of having it on max with no pc fans on the heatsink, i noticed it was very hot so i turned it down, bought a few large pc fans 180mm or 200mm. Installed them and a 12v power supply. Now i dont worry, everything is cool to the touch, even on max.
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
Mine came in today and I have a simple wiring question for you guys.
The black and red go to the strips id assume? Reds positive id also presume?
'
That leaves a Blue and Brown at the other end. So I wire this to, lets say an extension cord with the end plug cut off? This would have 3 wires though a Blue brown and the yellow/green one. Just ignore that or can I purchase extension cords with just the two plug pins? or am I better off just purchasing a few meters of cable and plugs that doesn't have the yellow/ green?
Can I run multiple drivers off the one power cable. (240V were I'm at)
Sorry if its a confusing question. I'm confident to do whatever hook ups I need to do but I haven't done much electrical work, so I'm after a little bit of guidance and would rather do the one trip to the hardware/electrical store rather than my usual 3 or 4...
Thanks in advance.
The black and red go to the strips id assume? Reds positive id also presume?
'
That leaves a Blue and Brown at the other end. So I wire this to, lets say an extension cord with the end plug cut off? This would have 3 wires though a Blue brown and the yellow/green one. Just ignore that or can I purchase extension cords with just the two plug pins? or am I better off just purchasing a few meters of cable and plugs that doesn't have the yellow/ green?
Can I run multiple drivers off the one power cable. (240V were I'm at)
Sorry if its a confusing question. I'm confident to do whatever hook ups I need to do but I haven't done much electrical work, so I'm after a little bit of guidance and would rather do the one trip to the hardware/electrical store rather than my usual 3 or 4...
Thanks in advance.
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Hairiest_Stamen
Well-Known Member
yes... black and red to the strip.
other end to AC.
Yes you can run a bunch off of one power cable. You just need to size the wire correctly. I'm going to probably run 10 on one frame and they will all be tied together from one 110v source.
You can use the 3 wire bundle, but one of the wires is your "earth ground", usually a different shape, and that will be left unconnected. Probably a good idea to eventually tie that ground wire to your metal racking system. Or you can just pick up some 2 conductor wire/plugs.
Here's my sloppy wiring for some seedlings, you can see the earth ground is left unconnected because I just repurposed a cable with a 3 prong.
U should get yourself a cheap meter if you don't have one already.
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Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
Awesome!
Thank you.
SonsOfAvery
Well-Known Member
Personally speaking I would highly recommend grounding/earth the whole thing with the third wire.
I'm not an electrical expert when it comes to these kind of things and a simple mistake with the wiring could be costly, so I tend to be cautious with DIY electricals and ground it as best I can..
I'm not an electrical expert when it comes to these kind of things and a simple mistake with the wiring could be costly, so I tend to be cautious with DIY electricals and ground it as best I can..
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
So you would recommend the 3rd wire (green/yellow one) run from the wall socket and ground it on the light frame?
psychedelicdaddi
Well-Known Member
For sure. If you have a short you don't want to be holding that frame if it weren't grounded.
Hairiest_Stamen
Well-Known Member
Yes, That's the best/safest option. If a wire comes loose you're covered as long as all of your frame is connected electrically.
This is what I'm using:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XT6LK7Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Then just grab some pc power cables from ebay and makes it a bit more modular.
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
I didnt even think of using something like that.
I just got back from the hardware store, I should have everything I need. I'm going to use 4 of the strips in a 450mm x 450mm frame and save one strip for another application, either a mother light or for clones.
Thanks everyone for the help and tips. Ill post a pic when its done (probably a few days).
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
Frame came up OK, ive made a bit of a mess with the wiring so far. But everything can be taken apart preety easily and I think ive over engineered it. Just have to wait for the silicon to cure on the drivers (I'm using hi temp gasket silicon here- don't know if it will work but we will see). Zip tyres holding them in place whilst it dries.
Then tidy the wiring up as best I can and then glue strips in place.
Damn even one strip is bright!!!!
Q. Can you easily remover the connecting wire when its in place? I wanted to remove this strip after I tested it but it held pretty firm and didn't want to do any damage.
Then tidy the wiring up as best I can and then glue strips in place.
Damn even one strip is bright!!!!
Q. Can you easily remover the connecting wire when its in place? I wanted to remove this strip after I tested it but it held pretty firm and didn't want to do any damage.
Hairiest_Stamen
Well-Known Member
yeah... there is a small nub/button on the connector that you push in to release the wire.
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
my eyes arnt the best anymore ill have a look with a magnifying glass.
Edit..lol..i think I may have broken that..lmao...I'm not good with fiddley shit.
Thanks for that.
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SonsOfAvery
Well-Known Member
Nice! Looks like a pretty sturdy construction, what size space are you going to be lighting with it?
psychedelicdaddi
Well-Known Member
Question, where is the fifth strip? Also, looking goooood
Hairiest_Stamen
Well-Known Member
You guys are way ahead of me, time to kick it into 2nd gear!
Here's the start of my first panel (of 3 total) ... hit the heat sinks with some 240 grit, followed by some 600 grit. Probably going to use tape anyhow, so doesn't really matter.
Going to mount the strips and wire this up and do some PAR measurements to see if the 8 strips are going to do the job... then neaten up the wiring. The sinks are mounted to some 24" long 8020 extruded AL strips I had laying around. I can squeeze two, maybe 3 more strips on there if have to.
Here's the start of my first panel (of 3 total) ... hit the heat sinks with some 240 grit, followed by some 600 grit. Probably going to use tape anyhow, so doesn't really matter.
Going to mount the strips and wire this up and do some PAR measurements to see if the 8 strips are going to do the job... then neaten up the wiring. The sinks are mounted to some 24" long 8020 extruded AL strips I had laying around. I can squeeze two, maybe 3 more strips on there if have to.