DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

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purplegrower02

Well-Known Member
Question about dimming...

Would regulating the input voltage below 110v decrease the output voltage in a "safe" manner.

it would make sense it would but something is telling me it won't work correctly.

Also i don't quite undestand why you can't just use a "dimmer" on the DC side to drop the amperage which would dim the lights, you would need no special driver since it still thinks it's putting out the original current... if this is correct obviously it won't be as efficient since you be basically wasting power but couldn't you do that?
 
ballist

ballist

Well-Known Member
Neither will work. Led dimmers generally work by changing the pulse width of the dc signal to the led there by changing the current.
 
G

Growerx2014

Member
Gentlemen, I need some input on a hopefully not-so-stupid idea:
Is it possible to drive one CXA3070 with two of SupraSPLs 300mA 3$ ebay drivers, with the outputs wired in parallel to end up with ~600mA. That should work out fine as long as the current-sense feedback circuitry won´t sense the current delivered by the other driver. Is that a valid option for "switching" between 300 mA for vegging and 600mA for flowering?

Furthermore, I have to spend some more $ with digikey to get free shipping on two cxa3070. Can someone provide me a link on 2-channel male/ female plugs, preferably with isolation. To many options and non-metric dimensions drive me nuts...
 
clp56

clp56

Well-Known Member
Anyone have recomendations on the best budget drivers to power 3070's at a higher ma? Looking for something that has an output as high or higher than the mean well 1400's but is still cost effective. I don't care as much about power consumption or long lasting LED's since my power is a set fee and the LEDs will probably be replaced within a year or two when new ones come out.

Thanks! :)
 
clp56

clp56

Well-Known Member
guod said:
^^^^
coming soon..
Meanwell LPC-100/150

single Cob
LPC-100-1750 /1750mA/
LPC-100-2100 /2100mA/
...
LPC-150-3150 /3150mA/

2 Cobs seriel
LPC-100-1050 /1050mA/
LPC-150-1400 /1400mA/
LPC-150-1750 /1750mA/

3 Cobs
LPC-100-700 /700mA/
LPC-150-1400 /1400mA/

5 Cobs
LPC-150-700 /700mA/

http://www.meanwell.com/search/lpc-100/LPC-100-spec.pdf
http://www.meanwell.com/search/lpc-150/default.htm
Click to expand...
Coming soon as in they're not available yet correct? :(

I'm wanting to build ASAP so I need something that is on the market and comes from a more reliable supplier than alibaba (only source I've found).

Also by running in serial does this mean you could do 1 driver per 2 or 3 cobs? That'd be fantastic!!
 
epicfail

epicfail

Well-Known Member
clp56 said:
Anyone have recomendations on the best budget drivers to power 3070's at a higher ma? Looking for something that has an output as high or higher than the mean well 1400's but is still cost effective. I don't care as much about power consumption or long lasting LED's since my power is a set fee and the LEDs will probably be replaced within a year or two when new ones come out.

Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

There is a HLN-80H-42* which is 1950mA and the LPF-90D-42* which is 2150mA. Both are dimmable, Power factor corrected and available now, which the LPC series are not.
 
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clp56

clp56

Well-Known Member
epicfail said:
There is a HLN-80H-42* which is 1950mA and the LPF-90D-42* which is 2150mA. Both are dimmable, Power factor corrected and available now, which the LPC series are not.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the recomendations! $50+ per driver is a bit out of my price range though. Would add an extra $2-300 to my setup.

Anything more affordable? I'd really like the JHX 1450 drivers that Bueno uses but they're sold out :(
 
epicfail

epicfail

Well-Known Member
guod said:
^^^^
coming soon..
Meanwell LPC-100/150

single Cob
LPC-100-1750 /1750mA/
LPC-100-2100 /2100mA/
...
LPC-150-3150 /3150mA/

2 Cobs seriel
LPC-100-1050 /1050mA/
LPC-150-1400 /1400mA/
LPC-150-1750 /1750mA/

3 Cobs
LPC-100-700 /700mA/
LPC-150-1400 /1400mA/

5 Cobs
LPC-150-700 /700mA/

http://www.meanwell.com/search/lpc-100/LPC-100-spec.pdf
http://www.meanwell.com/search/lpc-150/default.htm
Click to expand...
Nice Drivers, I notice that the LPC-100 list..

INPUT VOLTAGE RANGE 90-264 VAC

and the LPC-150 lists...

INPUT VOLTAGE RANGE 180-305 VAC

Which is not suitable for everyone. Just wanted to point that out in case anyone missed it.
 
clp56

clp56

Well-Known Member
epicfail said:
Well if your just looking for 1.4 amps then you can get LPC-60-1400 on ebay, they are NON PFC and Not dimmable, but cheap. Not as cheap as those JLX but I hear those run real hot and who knows when they will be back in stock.
Click to expand...
Yea those were the ones I was planning on getting. Can anyone recommend a driver with higher than 1400 ma? I'd like to maximize output. Preferably around 1600-1800. If not I plan to get the 1400s!
 
GroErr

GroErr

Well-Known Member
epicfail said:
Well if your just looking for 1.4 amps then you can get LPC-60-1400 on ebay, they are NON PFC and Not dimmable, but cheap. Not as cheap as those JLX but I hear those run real hot and who knows when they will be back in stock.
Click to expand...
Hey epic, probably a stupid question but those LPC-60-1400's don't have a ground wire, how would you ground them? There's only Red + and Black - (???), not getting it...
 

Attachments

epicfail

epicfail

Well-Known Member
GroErr said:
Hey epic, probably a stupid question but those LPC-60-1400's don't have a ground wire, how would you ground them? There's only Red + and Black - (???), not getting it...
Click to expand...
Umm that is a good question, I would say ground it to the case but its plastic so I don't know, it is only low voltage maybe that's why they don't add the ground wire. My HLN series drivers have a green/yellow ground wire and they are the same voltage.

lpc60.jpg​

hln60h.jpg​
When looking at the block diagrams of both you can see that one is grounded with a capacitor between -V and ground (I/P also) while the other is not. I guess you don't need to ground it like a hair dryer or fish tank heaters are (2 prong plugs). You can always bypass the driver and ground (AC green) the heat sink and chassis with if you have one. Maybe someone else has a better idea.
 
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stardustsailor

stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
GroErr said:
Hey epic, probably a stupid question but those LPC-60-1400's don't have a ground wire, how would you ground them? There's only Red + and Black - (???), not getting it...
Click to expand...
epicfail said:
Umm that is a good question, I would say ground it to the case but its plastic so I don't know, it is only low voltage maybe that's why they don't add the ground wire. My HLN series drivers have a green/yellow ground wire and they are the same voltage.


When looking at the block diagrams of both you can see that one is grounded with a capacitor between -V and ground (I/P also) while the other is not. I guess you don't need to ground it like a hair dryer or fish tank heaters are (2 prong plugs). You can always bypass the driver and ground the heat sink and chassis if you have one. Maybe someone else has a better idea.
Click to expand...

Red and black wires are the LED SIDE . (output to leds )
You DON'T ground any of those two wires NOWHERE !

Blue and Brown wires are the AC side (to the mains ) .
No need for grounding because case is made of plastic and double insulated ("Class 2 " ) ...
These drivers better to have an additional EMI filter at their ( common ) AC inlet .


(4)
Equipment Classification:
a. Class I Equipment:
Equipment where protection against electric shock is achieved by using basic
insulation and also providing a means of connecting to the protective earth
conductor in the building where by routing those conductive parts that are
otherwise capable of assuming hazardous voltages to earth ground if the basic
insulation fails.

b. Class II Equipment:
Equipment in which protection against electric shock does not rely on basic
insulation only, but in which additional safety precautions, such as double
insulation or reinforced insulation are provided, there being no reliance on either
protective earth or installation conditions.

c.Class III Equipment:
This type of equipment draws power from a SELV source which means
hazardous voltages does not exist in its circuitry.
Click to expand...
http://www.adminstrumentengineering.com.au/media/pdfs/Catalogues/Manuals/Mean-Well-USER-Technical-Manual.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
class 2.JPG

earthing 1.JPG
earth leakage.JPG

emc filtering.JPG

http://www.xppower.com/pdfs/techguide.pdf



Cheers.
:peace:
 
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GroErr

GroErr

Well-Known Member
stardustsailor said:
Red and black wires are the LED SIDE . (output to leds )
You DON'T ground any of those two wires NOWHERE !

Blue and Brown wires are the AC side (to the mains ) .
No need for grounding because case is made of plastic and double insulated ("Class 2 " ) ...
These drivers better to have an additional EMI filter at their ( common ) AC inlet .


Cheers.
Click to expand...
Great thanks for the details stardust, figured if anyone knew these you would :) Thought they had to be grounded, didn't know how though, that's easier. Plug them into my power bars for protection, they have EMI filters so should be fine.
 
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