DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

Kevin the Great

Well-Known Member
I've looked and can't find a thread so far...

Is there a thread that shows how to wire the driver and the fan power supply to the same dimmer and power switch? Is that possible?

Also, has anyone used the Pairui drivers from cutter?

Thanks!
Wiring the dimmers to the same potentiometer should be straight forward and simple. You'd need a dimmable driver for your fans though. You can get little in line resistors with some pc fans that reduce fan speed too. They're known for noise reduction but it just slows the fan down.
 

giantsfan24

Well-Known Member
Wiring the dimmers to the same potentiometer should be straight forward and simple. You'd need a dimmable driver for your fans though. You can get little in line resistors with some pc fans that reduce fan speed too. They're known for noise reduction but it just slows the fan down.
Actually now that I think about it, do I want to connect the driver and the fans to the same dimmer? The power switch, sure, but perhaps I want to keep the dimmers separate?
 

Kevin the Great

Well-Known Member
Actually now that I think about it, do I want to connect the driver and the fans to the same dimmer? The power switch, sure, but perhaps I want to keep the dimmers separate?
I keep my fans at 100% all the time, it's quiet enough and I'm not worried about .37amps at 12 volts.
 

thetr33man

Well-Known Member
Im looking for a decent driver to run 4 12v fans, with a POT dimmer function would be nice to slow the speed if not needed.... Any suggestions? These are standard sized PC fans scavenged from an old PC tower.
 

DackEW

Member
Yes. HLG-240H-C1400A dims to 50% with an internal pot. The "B" model can dim down to 10% with an external potentiometer or resistor.
I'm struggling also between the A and B model which to buy. Is difficult to access the potentiometer on the A model? Why is good idea dim more than 50%?
 

alesh

Well-Known Member
I'm struggling also between the A and B model which to buy. Is difficult to access the potentiometer on the A model? Why is good idea dim more than 50%?
Dimming below 50% seems kinda useless to me. The main advantage of the B version for me is that I can put the pot wherever I want to and there's also space for automation. With the A version, you're restricted to control the output on the case of the driver and therefore you have to leave it easily accessible in order to dim it.
 

chatoo123

Well-Known Member
Hi would like to no I got a bunch of these meanwell drivers and wanna no if they will work for powering my leds i got 2 vero 29 300k and 2 cree cxa 2530's 4000k and 5 cree cxa 1507's 3000k i have 4 differentiation drivers 3 lpf 1 lpv and the lpf's are 90d-30v 3.0amps 60d-30v 2amps and a 25d-54volt 0.47amps lpv is 60-12 12volt 5 amps can i run 10 watt 12 volt colored off the lpv and what about my lpf's and running the cree and vero 29 thanks so much for all the help this place gave me but i realky need help LMAO!!!!
 

DackEW

Member
Dimming below 50% seems kinda useless to me. The main advantage of the B version for me is that I can put the pot wherever I want to and there's also space for automation. With the A version, you're restricted to control the output on the case of the driver and therefore you have to leave it easily accessible in order to dim it.
Thanks for that explanation. How often do you use the dim switcher? Like every day when you enter into the box or just at the different grow stages of the plants?
 

chatoo123

Well-Known Member
Hi would like to no I got a bunch of these meanwell drivers and wanna no if they will work for powering my leds i got 2 vero 29 300k and 2 cree cxa 2530's 4000k and 5 cree cxa 1507's 3000k i have 4 differentiation drivers 3 lpf 1 lpv and the lpf's are 90d-30v 3.0amps 60d-30v 2amps and a 25d-54volt 0.47amps lpv is 60-12 12volt 5 amps can i run 10 watt 12 volt colored off the lpv and what about my lpf's and running the cree and vero 29 thanks so much for all the help this place gave me but i realky need help LMAO!!!!
Anyone out there wanna help I also got a iventronics 160 watt 4 40 watt out puts with 0.7 amps each
 

J-Icky

Well-Known Member
chatoo, the meanwells seam to be on the high side for amperage. If they had more voltage you might have been able to run them with a parallel setup, but they all seem low on the voltage side. They only one I think could work is the 54v @ .47amps bt even that you would only be able to run 1 cob and would be very inefficient on the driver side.
 

hehehemann

Well-Known Member
I'm having trouble with the fans and getting them powered if anyone can help.

I have the arctic 11 plus with the 4 wires coming out of them. Black, Red, Yellow and Blue.
I will be powering 4 of them off a 12v 1amp switching adapter which has two black wires, one with a white stripe (positive wire).
Which wires from the fan will connect to the adapter for power?
I have read a few sites to figure this out and I'm thinking its the black to black and red to black w/white stripe?
I blew one fan or adapter so I wanted to make sure as I dont want to ruin anymore.
Thanks for any assistance.
 

alesh

Well-Known Member
I'm having trouble with the fans and getting them powered if anyone can help.

I have the arctic 11 plus with the 4 wires coming out of them. Black, Red, Yellow and Blue.
I will be powering 4 of them off a 12v 1amp switching adapter which has two black wires, one with a white stripe (positive wire).
Which wires from the fan will connect to the adapter for power?
I have read a few sites to figure this out and I'm thinking its the black to black and red to black w/white stripe?
I blew one fan or adapter so I wanted to make sure as I dont want to ruin anymore.
Thanks for any assistance.
Black with white stripe from the adapter to yellow on the fan.
Black to black.
 

hehehemann

Well-Known Member
Black with white stripe from the adapter to yellow on the fan.
Black to black.
Thanks Alesh. I have seen a few posts now and several are different on the wiring process.
This quote from another on the forum was what threw me and I had no idea what wires do what,
"It sounds counter intuitive but I believe you want to run the black wire from the power block to the red wire on the fan and the white wire on the power block to the black wire of the fan. A/c uses black as hot wire but d/c uses red as hot wire. Basically switch one set of connections."

edit... Gave a 3 wire fan I had a test, black to black, black/white to yellow..it blew the fan and smoke came out. 3 wire fan has black, red and yellow wires. Is a 3 wire fan different than a 4 wire fan? I will be using a 4 wire fan for the main build...if i can find out the order to wire it.
 
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alesh

Well-Known Member
Thanks Alesh. I have seen a few posts now and several are different on the wiring process.
This quote from another on the forum was what threw me and I had no idea what wires do what,
"It sounds counter intuitive but I believe you want to run the black wire from the power block to the red wire on the fan and the white wire on the power block to the black wire of the fan. A/c uses black as hot wire but d/c uses red as hot wire. Basically switch one set of connections."

edit... Gave a 3 wire fan I had a test, black to black, black/white to yellow..it blew the fan and smoke came out. 3 wire fan has black, red and yellow wires. Is a 3 wire fan different than a 4 wire fan? I will be using a 4 wire fan for the main build...if i can find out the order to wire it.
Ye there's a difference between 3pin and 4pin. I was talking about 4 pin. Lesson learned I guess :)
3 Pin Fan.png
4Pin.png
http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/Motherboard_(CPU)_3_Pin_Fan_Connector
http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/Motherboard_(CPU)_4_Pin_Fan
 
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