COB build flickering again..

Can someone help me get to the bottom of this?!

I just need to compile a list of everything that can cause a build to flicker. It starts flickering after being on for around 5 fucking seconds and I have already rebuilt it once. My #1 suspect is a faulty cob holder that won't quite hold one of the wires as snug as the others. (It's still pretty damn snug.)

Anyhoo, any and all suggestions or advise will be greatly appreciated!

Trial and error of anything that could cause this is going to be a pain in the ass but I absolutely need to figure it out. I am do to start poppin' beans in just over two weeks!

what driver?

wire connection is the 1st culprit to check, yep

How many cobs, how many drivers, how many affected or is it everything?

Abiqua said:

what driver?

wire connection is the 1st culprit to check, yep

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gk skunky said:

How many cobs, how many drivers, how many affected or is it everything?

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1 Driver, is mean well hlg-185h-c1050b, running 5 cxa3070, not top bin. (Can't remember exactly which bin) the first time it was just one light flickering. I couldn't get a good enough look before nearly going blind to see what's up this time.

If just that one I would think it's either that cob holder or the between there and the driver. Somewhere between those two points there is a weak electrical contact. Could swap a good holder in the position of the flicker. If the flicker follows the holder there ya go. that's what i would do since its not across the board. Similar to diagnosing a misfire with an engine. Or that's how I'd approach it.

If the holder is an like an Ideal holder (e.g. 50-2234) where the wire connectors press down on the COB contacts as the holder is screwed down, it could be as simple as slightly tightening the holder screws.

I'll try both of these thing asap and I'll update the thread. Thanks y'all!

Do you have a dimmer in there? . I accidentally dropped a touch of solder into my pot when I was putting it together. It flickered because if it. Changed the pot and its all good now.

There is no pot on there now. I have taken off and re-applied all of the cobs, cleaning them and using fresh artic silver and making sure that all connections are snug. There is still flickering. Could damage to one or more of the cobs cause the build to flicker? It is for the entire build flickering at this point..

Have you check output from the drivers or input to drivers for fluctuating current, voltage or resistance? I'm not the best with electrical but I'd look at those if you have not already.

...just my pov...multimeter is your best friend...



Saludos

gk skunky said:

Have you check output from the drivers or input to drivers for fluctuating current, voltage or resistance? I'm not the best with electrical but I'd look at those if you have not already.

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salmonetin said:

...just my pov...multimeter is your best friend...



Saludos

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I have a multimeter, but how do I use it to test those things? It has many settings and I have barely used any of them..

...lol.. maybe supra... or robincnn do it a how to videos too... ...i know some videotutorials but on spanish...

...on youtube there are some tutos too...

...supra videotutorial testing the driver/s on ac side and on the dc side with leds in series ... and maybe on paralell... or with a potenciometer/s... is a big missing... ...voltage...amperage... continuity for hearth... or check wires and connections... maybe adjusting the value of CC or CV pots...lol..im dreaming again...

...maybe robincnn words ...helps you a bit...

robincnn said:

Yes make the light work this week. You are making the RIU look bad... just kidding

Thermal compound not eletrically conductive so should not be the issue.

+ of driver connects to + of first cob
- of driver connect to - of last cob
cobs connect to each other like - to + or + to -

For led or cob series, i connect multimeter to driver to check voltage first to test driver dc o/p
then i connect - of multimeter to driver - then put + of multimeter at cobs terminals one by one starting with cov nearest to + of driver to see where circuit is breaking. Caution freeky high DC voltage

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SSJGemini said:

Found where the circuit breaks! Multimeter, what a tool! Its the 3rd COB in the series. It's also one of the ones with TH oozing out. I'm thinking the itsy bitsy pin the ezmate connects to got covered. I'll get back to ya when I know.

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pd... for spanish ...Gaston vids... ...on some of her vids... her show us.. these measurements... thanks a lot Gaston... ese argentinooo...

https://www.youtube.com/user/bourlotg/videos



Saludos

salmonetin said:

...lol.. maybe supra... or robincnn do it a how to videos too... ...i know some videotutorials but on spanish...

...on youtube there are some tutos too...

...supra videotutorial testing the driver/s on ac side and on the dc side with leds in series ... and maybe on paralell... is a big missing... ...voltage...amperage... continuity for hearth... or check wires and connections... im dreaming again...

...maybe helps you a bit...







Saludos

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I was just thinking that a video tutorial(s). Would be amazing. Hell, I'll take the Spanish if that's it. Got a link?

Mi espanol no es bueno

https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=digital multimeter video tutorial&oq=digital multimeter video&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.17812j0j7

"digital multimeter video tutorial"

Al take pictures of your wiring. You've probably don't have the right resistors or something like that, I don't know dick about dimmable drivers but that sounds just like a recent problem @guod just helped someone with. Take those pix to the https://www.rollitup.org/t/diy-leds-how-to-power-them.801554/ sticky and post there.

@Al Yamoni

is the light flickering erractically or is it blinking on/off?

a multimeter really checks three things ....current - voltage - resistance and both in AC/DC....

Use the voltage setting on the Multimeter and check the output voltage of the LED driver.....You can check current as well, but you need a fairly good multimeter with a nice built in fuse to handle even reasonable amounts of current measurement [1000ma +]...

Abiqua said:

@FranJan said

is the light flickering erractically or is it blinking on/off?

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It is just flickering slightly, almost like a candle if that makes any sense.

I just got back from the store with a killawatt and I have some interesting findings.. First I hooked it up and the readings were confusing so I busted out the good old blurple light, I have had the thing for ten years or so. Its a grow panel pro 300. Hooking that thing up through the killawatt right away I knw the light was extremely brighter than my cobs and its readings were 270watts, 118volts, with a power factor of 99.

The cobs initial readings were dead on. This thing is only pulling 35 watts, 45volts, and it has a power factor of 77..... I feel like I'm closer to the problem.

Now I have a bit more info. What could be causing this? Like @FranJan said it must be a wiring issue? You are all super cool for helping me, and I don't mean just now. you have helped me the entire way.

Not necessarily directly related to the problem, but interesting reads nonetheless.

“Flicker happens. But does it have to?” by Cree, 2013. Available under white papers at bit.ly/1iUBg5U

Good all-around discussion of flicker, with emphasis on supply ripple.

“Exploring flicker in Solid State Lighting: What you might find, and how to deal with it,” by Michael Poplawski and Naomi Miller, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 2011. Available at bit.ly/1hgwlrH

This paper has a great series of graphs. Flicker is everywhere!