Am I Screwed?

Have a mogobe octopus 300w light with a messed up power cord that got disconnected at a junction point. I was able to reconnect the wires, matching ground to ground hot to hot and neutral to neutral, and got the light back on. As I tried to move it though the wires sparked and the light cut off and I haven't been able to get it back on. Is this a loss, has anyone ever replaced a mean well driver on a light and seen success? Or replaced or repaired a power cord?

You should've soldered and shrink wrapped them. You may have fried the driver.

Check for a replaceable fuse.

Good luck

Do not attempt to repair that again. You will probably kill yourself or burn your house down and endanger other people (and die).

Get a professional to do your electric work.

The correct answer to your question is, you are not screwed. You are still alive. Now you can make even more mistakes. We all do.

If you did scorch the driver, you could replace the whole driver or figure out what capacitors blew and replace those. If you are going to reuse that cable, I suggest you use some wire nuts and shrink tube. You could proly get away with solder and electrical tape. Electrical tape does lose adhesion in heat, but that 'air' insulation is only for daredevils. Please, do not go the swashbuckler route again. It was impressive that you got away with it, for as long as you did. I would rather be impressed by some sticky buds that you grew safely.

I'm no electrician, but I haven't burnt my house down yet.

I would also pay close attention to the GAUGE of the wire and match it up between what looks to be a replacement cord and the actual unit. Trying to get too many electrons through too small a wire will heat it up and could potentially start a fire (I think). You don't want to feel your cord getting hot or warm.... again, I think.

ElmerS said:

I would also pay close attention to the GAUGE of the wire and match it up between what looks to be a replacement cord and the actual unit.

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You want to make sure that the breaker trips the next time he creates a short circuit or what? Too thin wires might offer enough resistance that the breaker doesn't pop.

But that is dealing with the problem at the wrong place. He wrapped mains wires around each other, didnt secure them, didnt isolate them and now hes surprised that it popped.

Search: Wire splice..

you need this

This may help

Damn did NOT expect to get any responses I appreciate y'all a lot. I didn't know if an electrician was the person to talk to about that but I'll definitely give my guy a call about it. Try to stay discreet ya know? Idk how I'd begin replacing the driver if it's fucked tho....
For now I've had to transition back to my old cmh light. Shits hot as hell lol

sarmancoid said:

Damn did NOT expect to get any responses I appreciate y'all a lot. I didn't know if an electrician was the person to talk to about that but I'll definitely give my guy a call about it. Try to stay discreet ya know? Idk how I'd begin replacing the driver if it's fucked tho....
For now I've had to transition back to my old cmh light. Shits hot as hell lol

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Fucked driver is generally quite easy to replace as long as you keep track of +/ - on your boards light: just post a pic of the label on the driver where the specs are and we can help you source a reliable replacement most of the time. Drivers tend to have similar specs between makes so it really isnt very hard.

Rocket Soul said:

Drivers tend to have similar specs between makes so it really isnt very hard.

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my question would be how do I go about disconnecting the cords from the dimmer? Mogobe as a company has gone under I think btw I've tried emailing them and whatnot.

Probably a fuse issue.......before a smoked driver.

Disconnect from power and try to get inside the the dimmer/control box. Inline AC fuse popped probably.

Invest in an electrical meter. Even a cheapy.

Does your outlet have power?

sarmancoid said:

View attachment 5367857my question would be how do I go about disconnecting the cords from the dimmer? Mogobe as a company has gone under I think btw I've tried emailing them and whatnot.

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This should be pretty easy, just source the same meanwell driver. Octopart is a good searcher for prices and stock for online retailers. Use ELG-300-H-AB as search term. But as SH says above, make sure its not an issue on the ac side before getting a new driver (fuses etc, try in another power outlet).
Dimmer: if you can disconnect then youll have to cu the dim wires, peel and reconnect to the right cable on the new driver.

StoneDHedgE said:

Probably a fuse issue.......before a smoked driver.

Disconnect from power and try to get inside the the dimmer/control box. Inline AC fuse popped probably.

Invest in an electrical meter. Even a cheapy.

Does your outlet have power?

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Agreed. It should have tripped a breaker or blown a fuse. A short of the power cord would remove power to the driver, how could that damage it?

Step 1, determine what has failed.

Does the outlet have power?

Is there a fuse or breaker in the light?

Does the power cord connect directly to the driver, or is there a switch etc.?

I see solder on one cord but not the other, how was the original connection made?

How did the cord become disconnected, was it physically pulled out of the junction box?

Knowing how to re attach a wire like in this situation is something that should be second nature to most men, even women.. this is very basic and if you dont knownwhat to do ... learn...

Lou66 said:

You want to make sure that the breaker trips the next time he creates a short circuit or what? Too thin wires might offer enough resistance that the breaker doesn't pop.

But that is dealing with the problem at the wrong place. He wrapped mains wires around each other, didnt secure them, didnt isolate them and now hes surprised that it popped.

Click to expand...

I believe member “Warble” addressed your concerns just prior to my comment.

I DID say to ALSO pay attention to the gauge as I didn’t see that addressed. The insulation was already covered, I thought.

I was only talking about a single potential problem that was NOT addressed previously.

Sorry for any confusion.

how does this look yall? lights working again, just dont know what else i should do to make it safer. maybe a shrink sleeve?

That needs strain relief.