DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

Question, would 10 vero 18's at 1.4 amps be overkill for a 2x3 space? Would 5 be too little?

medicinehuman said:

I have a question for one of you LED smart fellow's. How do I add a capacitor to my 12v fans to give them a boost when starting. Where to add it is what I am unsure of. I'm trying to learn here but it is slow going for an old dog. I appreciate all of the help.

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Inline just before the fan on the + line

bicit said:

Question, would 10 vero 18's at 1.4 amps be overkill for a 2x3 space? Would 5 be too little?

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10 @ 1.4 would be overkill for sure. 5 would be enough IMO. You can always add more later. 1.4 is running them pretty hard though, cooling may be a problem in a small space like that. What is the vertical height?

If you have the coin, I'd definitely go for 10 of the veros and mix up a nice spectrum on a meanwell HLG-185H-C700. More efficient, easier to cool, and when running that soft should be more than enough light for the space.

overthinkingismything said:

10 @ 1.4 would be overkill for sure. 5 would be enough IMO. You can always add more later. 1.4 is running them pretty hard though, cooling may be a problem in a small space like that. What is the vertical height?

If you have the coin, I'd definitely go for 10 of the veros and mix up a nice spectrum on a meanwell HLG-185H-C700. More efficient, easier to cool, and when running that soft should be more than enough light for the space.

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Good advice. I totally agree with that. Running them soft = more lumens/watt, lower heat, longer life. Better coverage area with 10 emitters as apposed to half as many running harder.

overthinkingismything said:

Inline just before the fan on the + line

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more brake then boost for DC driven fans.

I have been using the caps in parallel to try and safeguard starting reliability with reduced voltage. I use a pair of 16V 1000uf or you could use 16V 2200uf. Of course I would insulate the legs but you get the idea, long leg is the positive:

Si Amigo, got it.

Drivers for
Vero :: http://aceleds.com/compatible-bridgelux.php
Cree :: http://aceleds.com/compatible-cree.php

just found, know nothing, but looks good.

Supra, you mentioned that one should use the black (hot) when running a ON/OFF switch, and not the N white, is the for the same reason why a timmer may keep LED's on( as the timmer cuts on/off the white wire of AC input)
I have to ask as I did use the neutral (white) thru my switch's, and if black (live) is what should be done I want to do it know before I really power everything up for usage.

Realhigh

A quick google search will explain reasons of switching the line and not the neutral.
Should always switch the line side. The switch won't be able to cut the power in case of a short.

I think you said something about just two wires to the remote drivers. I'm no expert but I'd add in a ground to the harness. If one of your leds wires become undone your heatsink should be grounded. Otherwise from my understanding your heatsink could become live.

Just a quick one from yahoo

There is a standard, and it is an important one.
Hot ALWAYS. Never switch the neutral.
The neutral is required to be unswitched, by Code and for Basic Safety.
That said, cables always come with at least one 'white', so in practice,
where cable is used for 'power and switch return' from a fixture to a switch,
it is quite common for a white, not to be a neutral.
They should be marked, but often aren't.
Source(s):
Retired Electrical Consultant

One about grounding..not the best articles but should clear it a little


"Try grounding your fixture. Proper grounding is often overlooked in DIY projects and can be very dangerous depending on the currents.

After proper grounding, some of your LEDs will likely stop lighting up and you will know right where you have a short. Don't leave them on for very long in this state because you can burn them up depending on where the short is...

I think the most common problem I've seen with DIY LED builds is that the wire is touching the package of the LED in addition to being soldered on the pad."



http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/27977-DIY-light-fixture-is-shocking

correcting the switch set up to the hot line.
Each driver does have a ground lead along with neutral and hot, all connected properly.
I do understand your point about grounding the heat sink, all are screwed together, so a solid ground connection should ground the entire tower. I will do a continuity check to make sure all panels are grounded.
Not sure if I like the idea of any of my solder work shorting out, but better to find out now rather than latter.
I will make sure all is done and working still.

Yep POS nailed it, got to switch the hot wire on the AC side regardless of what color it might be. It is often black or brown. If you are unsure which is connected to the hot wire or unsure which is the hot wire in your house outlet, you can use a multimeter to see which wire has voltage against the ground wire. If your timer switches the neutral, you may get a glow during lights out and it is a possible safety issue on your driver board.

As far as grounding the heatsink, keep in mind that we are on the DC side and for most of us it is a low voltage string (unless your drivers and AC connections are mounted on the heatsink). That said, I have experienced DC voltage getting through my skin due to this issue at least once. I have seen situations where the LED power leads were shorted to the heatsink and the lamp continues to operate until one day it gets shorted/grounded and then SNAP, there goes some of the LEDs and possibly the driver. At the very least, it is important to check for continuity between the heatsink and solder connections before powering up your DIY.

okay I am understanding more, and always assume white was neutral in the home, need to check this out for sure.
I will do a continuity check from solder point to heat sink, 256 of them to check, but I would rather be sure than burn up an LED.
I will also check the timer to see what side of supply it turns off along with seeing how this house is wired. I have felt many volts thru the body, DC and AC as I was electronic tech in AF years ago, so grounding the tower is not a bad idea at all.
Thank you Positivity and SupraSDL, seems jumping in feet first was not the best move, but really appreciate all the help I am getting to make sure I do it correctly.

sounds like you are on the right track! sometimes jumping right in is the best way because it gets you going

A bit amazed, out of the 126 LED's I had only one wire in contact with mounting base, fixed that issue and rechecked work.
My house fuse box has neutral leads to terminal strip, black leads to circuit breakers, so I take it black (live) is hot. My mind is having issues with the multimeter reading AC from outlet.

Yessir you got it, black will be hot. Normally the smaller slot in the outlet is hot. If there is voltage between the small slot and the ground hole, then that is your hot side.

There should be no voltage between the large slot and the ground hole, that is the normally the neutral side.

youve posted this same post in 3 different places... people in the know will get around to answering it in time.... but please refrain from thread bombing the same shit

Hello Marcus, the XPE, XPE2 and XTE whites have been outmaneuvered by the XML2 whites and the Vero 10s in terms of efficiency and price. As far the Oslons go, only the deep reds are competitive but the Luxeon ES 660 can match it. The best blues are Luxeon ES royal blue M4R. The best 630nm reds are the Cree XPE and XPE2 P3 bin. Are you in EU? If so the Oslons may be easier to source.

All that said, building RWB modules is a lot of work, more expensive and less efficient than COB all-white setups, so that would be my best recommendation for a 4X4 flowering tent. Good luck!