DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

zep_lover

zep_lover

Well-Known Member
I have a question for the experts. One of my Geek beast pro lights has a bad driver. the lights would flicker then as time went on i had to dial down to under 80% so the light wouldnt turn off. I bought the exact same driver but it is a meanwell hlg 600-48-ab. How do i find out what settings to set the built in pots to on the driver? I appreciate all help in how to accomplish this! I do have more of the same light to get readings from if needed but am not sure how to do that.
 
L

Lou66

Well-Known Member
zep_lover said:
I have a question for the experts. One of my Geek beast pro lights has a bad driver. the lights would flicker then as time went on i had to dial down to under 80% so the light wouldnt turn off. I bought the exact same driver but it is a meanwell hlg 600-48-ab. How do i find out what settings to set the built in pots to on the driver? I appreciate all help in how to accomplish this! I do have more of the same light to get readings from if needed but am not sure how to do that.
Click to expand...
Do not change the internal pots and you should be good.
Do the pots of the old drivers have tooling marks or something?

You can "overdrive" the driver a bit using the internal pots and your light might or might not require it. If you install the driver and it doesn't light at all or only at low power you can look at that.
 
zep_lover

zep_lover

Well-Known Member
Boatguy said:
Is it the exact same?
That meanwell driver is constant current, and will adjust voltage accordingly. You can hook it to a pot for dimming
Click to expand...
it is exactly the same. I do not know if they adjusted the internal pots on the driver. the light is a geek beast pro. they are out of business. The light has 3000k+ 660nm Far Red + Infrared + Ultraviolet LG™ with Independent spectrum control & dimmer . if it was just a b , i wouldnt worry but seeing how they could have adjusted the internal pots I want to check. i have built a lot of cxb3590 lights with constant current and dimmers. they were just b and no internal pots.
Do the ab drivers all come preset to max or minimum? somewhere in between? I was curious if there is a standard procedure for a new replacement.
 
Boatguy

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
zep_lover said:
it is exactly the same. I do not know if they adjusted the internal pots on the driver. the light is a geek beast pro. they are out of business. The light has 3000k+ 660nm Far Red + Infrared + Ultraviolet LG™ with Independent spectrum control & dimmer . if it was just a b , i wouldnt worry but seeing how they could have adjusted the internal pots I want to check. i have built a lot of cxb3590 lights with constant current and dimmers. they were just b and no internal pots.
Do the ab drivers all come preset to max or minimum? somewhere in between? I was curious if there is a standard procedure for a new replacement.
Click to expand...
http://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product/search.aspx?prod=HLG-600H&c=d744c878-7ba0-46b3-93cd-e6f1394c0b0c
you can see its specs here... No way to tell really how they had their's set up, but i would be willing to bet they used it in its stock configuration. Still just a bet though
 
2

2com

Well-Known Member
I need some help from the diy led gurus. @Rocket Soul @shimbob? @Boatguy @grotbags @MidnightSun72

Meanwell XLG constant power drivers.
How would you guys power six HLG qb288 rspec v2 boards with them? Particularly the xlg-240w. I wanna put six qbs per "fixture" (that will cover from a 4x4 area). Three xlg-240w, each driving a pair of boards, for 720w total.

Looking at the datasheet, my thinking is XLG-240-H-AB per pair of qbs if wired in parallel? XLG-240-M-AB per pair of qbs if wired in series? Am I wrong here? And is this...good? Efficient? All that.

I'm more familiar with hlg series drivers, I'd always let the CC or CV distinction determine whether I'd wire in series or parallel (not dealing with advanced series-parallel configs).

I also want to remote mount the drivers, I've never mounted them to fixtures before. But this'll be three DC out power cords running up and over to each fixture, right? No way around that?

And lastly, I also wonder what would change as far as recommendations, for qb648 diablo boards, in the same setup? Specifically, would any one XLG-240w driver choice be suitable for both the qb288 rspec v2 and qb648 diablo setups? Considering that:
qb288 rspec v2: Max current per card 3000mA @ 54VDC
qb648 diablo: Max current per board 5000mA @ 56+VDC

I think I'd prefer to wire in series, which is not what I normally do.

Thanks guys.
 
MidnightSun72

MidnightSun72

Well-Known Member
2com said:
I need some help from the diy led gurus. @Rocket Soul @shimbob? @Boatguy @grotbags @MidnightSun72

Meanwell XLG constant power drivers.
How would you guys power six HLG qb288 rspec v2 boards with them? Particularly the xlg-240w. I wanna put six qbs per "fixture" (that will cover from a 4x4 area). Three xlg-240w, each driving a pair of boards, for 720w total.

Looking at the datasheet, my thinking is XLG-240-H-AB per pair of qbs if wired in parallel? XLG-240-M-AB per pair of qbs if wired in series? Am I wrong here? And is this...good? Efficient? All that.

I'm more familiar with hlg series drivers, I'd always let the CC or CV distinction determine whether I'd wire in series or parallel (not dealing with advanced series-parallel configs).

I also want to remote mount the drivers, I've never mounted them to fixtures before. But this'll be three DC out power cords running up and over to each fixture, right? No way around that?

And lastly, I also wonder what would change as far as recommendations, for qb648 diablo boards, in the same setup? Specifically, would any one XLG-240w driver choice be suitable for both the qb288 rspec v2 and qb648 diablo setups? Considering that:
qb288 rspec v2: Max current per card 3000mA @ 54VDC
qb648 diablo: Max current per board 5000mA @ 56+VDC

I think I'd prefer to wire in series, which is not what I normally do.

Thanks guys.
Click to expand...
For wiring in parallel I would use the XLG240 H because it puts out 56V but that might be tight for a QB648

IMG_2731.jpeg

Also keep in mind the QB 648 can be ruined if you power them backwards (negative on strip to positive on driver and viceversa)

for wiring in searies the XLG240 M will be perfect. From the chart you can see it will give 114V @ 2.1a.

IMG_2733.jpeg

so two qb288 in series or 2 qb648 in series should work fine with this driver.

QB 288 in series
54V x 2= 108V

QB 648 in series
56V x 2= 112V
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
I need some help from the diy led gurus. @Rocket Soul @shimbob? @Boatguy @grotbags @MidnightSun72

Meanwell XLG constant power drivers.
How would you guys power six HLG qb288 rspec v2 boards with them? Particularly the xlg-240w. I wanna put six qbs per "fixture" (that will cover from a 4x4 area). Three xlg-240w, each driving a pair of boards, for 720w total.

Looking at the datasheet, my thinking is XLG-240-H-AB per pair of qbs if wired in parallel? Yes

XLG-240-M-AB per pair of qbs if wired in series? Am I wrong here? And is this...good? Efficient? All that. Yes, only efficiency issue is the driver, its not super efficient but you would be in the drivers most efficient voltage range on both setups.

I'm more familiar with hlg series drivers, I'd always let the CC or CV distinction determine whether I'd wire in series or parallel (not dealing with advanced series-parallel configs).
Have you worked in practice with these drivers? Its easy; connect correctly, as per how you mentioned above, H parallel, M series, and just turn up the amps slowly, light increase until it wont anymore a little more power and the light goes out. So then you dial back on the dimmer a bit, and it goes back on. Thats your max output.

I also want to remote mount the drivers, I've never mounted them to fixtures before. But this'll be three DC out power cords running up and over to each fixture, right? No way around that?
If you dont wanna drill too may holes or similar: use 2 standard grounded power cables, they carry 3 wires inside; one each board, then another for grounded cable for the 3 negatives. At least youre down to 2 slightly thicker cables.

some drivers can be bundled into series or parallel connections; not the xlgs though.

And lastly, I also wonder what would change as far as recommendations, for qb648 diablo boards, in the same setup? Specifically, would any one XLG-240w driver choice be suitable for both the qb288 rspec v2 and qb648 diablo setups? Considering that:
qb288 rspec v2: Max current per card 3000mA @ 54VDC
qb648 diablo: Max current per board 5000mA @ 56+VDC
Both drivers will work fine with same wiring as above, remember that the diablo is sensitive to be reverse wired (while most other boards arent) - if you reverse wire it i think it burns out all the reds.
I think I'd prefer to wire in series, which is not what I normally do.
M version for series: if you were to reuse the driver later its nice for strip builds: being able to wire 4-5 strips in series instead of parallel is real nice, much tidier. It also allows for making light recipes f ex as you make your own string.
Thanks guys.
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
MidnightSun72 said:
For wiring in parallel I would use the XLG240 H because it puts out 56V but that might be tight for a QB648

View attachment 5372571

Also keep in mind the QB 648 can be ruined if you power them backwards (negative on strip to positive on driver and viceversa)

for wiring in searies the XLG240 M will be perfect. From the chart you can see it will give 114V @ 2.1a.

View attachment 5372570

so two qb288 in series or 2 qb648 in series should work fine with this driver.

QB 288 in series
54V x 2= 108V

QB 648 in series
56V x 2= 112V
Click to expand...
The qb648 is 56V at 5 amps, for 120w power will be about 2.1A. my best guess is not much problem with the H.

2com: These constant power drivers, which have a wide voltage range and not a set controlled voltage are generally a bit less efficient than MW HLG series; inventronics have a few with very good efficiency. If you look thru their web youll find 600w options with 94ish% efficiency instead of mw xlg around 88%. Inventronics web blows a bit though, its hard to find stuff.

Some people care less about the driver side efficiency, were looking into ours cause they seem to draw more than their spec.
 
MidnightSun72

MidnightSun72

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
The qb648 is 56V at 5 amps, for 120w power will be about 2.1A. my best guess is not much problem with the H.

2com: These constant power drivers, which have a wide voltage range and not a set controlled voltage are generally a bit less efficient than MW HLG series; inventronics have a few with very good efficiency. If you look thru their web youll find 600w options with 94ish% efficiency instead of mw xlg around 88%. Inventronics web blows a bit though, its hard to find stuff.

Some people care less about the driver side efficiency, were looking into ours cause they seem to draw more than their spec.
Click to expand...
I think the data sheet lists these drivers at 91-93% efficiency.
 
L

Lou66

Well-Known Member
The XLG drivers have reliability issues. Better to get the ELG-240 series. Similiar output (but constant current) and similiar price.
 
2

2com

Well-Known Member
@Rocket Soul @MidnightSun72 Thanks for your help guys.

The XLG-240 spec sheet: https://www.meanwellusa.com/upload/pdf/XLG-240/XLG-240-spec.pdf
The H and M versions are 91% and 92.5% efficient, respectively. They're also only $70 cad each. The HLG series equivalent are $122 cad each. $210 cad for 720w of driver? Sounds pretty good to me.

I spoke with *the man* at HLG, he's such a good dude. Anyways, he actually kinda suggested the "H" model of the XLG-240W, and parallel wiring. He pointed out, and please chime in if you have thoughts, that the "M" version would handle three qbs, and would be more efficient doing so (It would use 168V of the 171V max, instead of only 112V).

Sounds like the "H" and parallel is the way I'd go then. Now, I'm still not 100% sure about if that "56V" max in the 27-56V range is a real hard cap or not. You know, will it only hit 55.5V or something? Can it go to 57.2V? Know what I mean? Do the graphs or anything in the datasheet let us know that? Because I don't think, from experience, that the qb648 diablos will even turn on with anything under 56V (they do not work on an HLG-320H-54AB).

Thanks.

Lou66 said:
The XLG drivers have reliability issues. Better to get the ELG-240 series. Similiar output (but constant current) and similiar price.
Click to expand...
1. Where'd you hear that? 2. The ELG series have various other shortcomings, like the ac input has no ground conductor on models other than the one ending in "3Y" (only Line and Neutral), and you only giving you ~75% of rated power at 120V (so the 240w model gives 180w at 120V, only get full wattage at 240V+). Sounds pretty awesome hey? (No).
I have 240V available, but I won't always.

Thanks for your input. Have you run any ELG stuff?
 
MidnightSun72

MidnightSun72

Well-Known Member
2com said:
@Rocket Soul @MidnightSun72 Thanks for your help guys.

The XLG-240 spec sheet: https://www.meanwellusa.com/upload/pdf/XLG-240/XLG-240-spec.pdf
The H and M versions are 91% and 92.5% efficient, respectively. They're also only $70 cad each. The HLG series equivalent are $122 cad each. $210 cad for 720w of driver? Sounds pretty good to me.

I spoke with *the man* at HLG, he's such a good dude. Anyways, he actually kinda suggested the "H" model of the XLG-240W, and parallel wiring. He pointed out, and please chime in if you have thoughts, that the "M" version would handle three qbs, and would be more efficient doing so (It would use 168V of the 171V max, instead of only 112V).

Sounds like the "H" and parallel is the way I'd go then. Now, I'm still not 100% sure about if that "56V" max in the 27-56V range is a real hard cap or not. You know, will it only hit 55.5V or something? Can it go to 57.2V? Know what I mean? Do the graphs or anything in the datasheet let us know that? Because I don't think, from experience, that the qb648 diablos will even turn on with anything under 56V (they do not work on an HLG-320H-54AB).

Thanks.



1. Where'd you hear that? 2. The ELG series have various other shortcomings, like the ac input has no ground conductor on models other than the one ending in "3Y" (only Line and Neutral), and you only giving you ~75% of rated power at 120V (so the 240w model gives 180w at 120V, only get full wattage at 240V+). Sounds pretty awesome hey? (No).
I have 240V available, but I won't always.

Thanks for your input. Have you run any ELG stuff?
Click to expand...
yes the advantage of parallel is it's easier to add more boards later on. But typically the lower the voltage the lower the efficiency, everything is a compromise. But parallel wiring for QBs is really nice and easy.
 
MidnightSun72

MidnightSun72

Well-Known Member
2com said:
@Rocket Soul @MidnightSun72 Thanks for your help guys.

The XLG-240 spec sheet: https://www.meanwellusa.com/upload/pdf/XLG-240/XLG-240-spec.pdf
The H and M versions are 91% and 92.5% efficient, respectively. They're also only $70 cad each. The HLG series equivalent are $122 cad each. $210 cad for 720w of driver? Sounds pretty good to me.

I spoke with *the man* at HLG, he's such a good dude. Anyways, he actually kinda suggested the "H" model of the XLG-240W, and parallel wiring. He pointed out, and please chime in if you have thoughts, that the "M" version would handle three qbs, and would be more efficient doing so (It would use 168V of the 171V max, instead of only 112V).

Sounds like the "H" and parallel is the way I'd go then. Now, I'm still not 100% sure about if that "56V" max in the 27-56V range is a real hard cap or not. You know, will it only hit 55.5V or something? Can it go to 57.2V? Know what I mean? Do the graphs or anything in the datasheet let us know that? Because I don't think, from experience, that the qb648 diablos will even turn on with anything under 56V (they do not work on an HLG-320H-54AB).

Thanks.



1. Where'd you hear that? 2. The ELG series have various other shortcomings, like the ac input has no ground conductor on models other than the one ending in "3Y" (only Line and Neutral), and you only giving you ~75% of rated power at 120V (so the 240w model gives 180w at 120V, only get full wattage at 240V+). Sounds pretty awesome hey? (No).
I have 240V available, but I won't always.

Thanks for your input. Have you run any ELG stuff?
Click to expand...
Some drivers might make 56V exactly, others might make 57, 57.5, 56.5 58, 60 even. But every driver will vary. Meanwell is sort of known for always having a little extra.
 
L

Lou66

Well-Known Member
2com said:
1. Where'd you hear that? 2. The ELG series have various other shortcomings, like the ac input has no ground conductor on models other than the one ending in "3Y" (only Line and Neutral), and you only giving you ~75% of rated power at 120V (so the 240w model gives 180w at 120V, only get full wattage at 240V+). Sounds pretty awesome hey? (No).
Click to expand...
It's a wildly believed fact here on the forum. Being the cheapest in their lineup does not promote confidence either.

Who cares about the ground wire? If you want it then buy the appropriate model. Your case or whatever it is attached to should have it's own grounding, if conductive.
For all models the output is not referenced to ground so it doesn't matter.
 
2

2com

Well-Known Member
Lou66 said:
It's a wildly believed fact here on the forum. Being the cheapest in their lineup does not promote confidence either.

Who cares about the ground wire? If you want it then buy the appropriate model. Your case or whatever it is attached to should have it's own grounding, if conductive.
For all models the output is not referenced to ground so it doesn't matter.
Click to expand...
-It's a widely believed fact. You wanna read that scentence back to yourself, please? And maybe could you share some links to the threads, posts or evidence?

-You suggested the ELG series, and they're almost identically priced. So that doesn't make sense.

-Regarding the ground wire. I just wanna make sure you realize I'm talking about the AC input, not the output. You mentioned output, so I think you're confused, maybe. Besides you couldn't ground anything to the case from the output side if the case isn't even grounded to the electrical system back to the panel if there's no ground conductor entering the AC input side of the driver - which there isn't on most of the ELG series. And the few models of ELG that do have a ground conductor for the AC input side aren't really even in stock if I remember correctly.
Not to mention all the other shortcoming of the ELG series I mentioned.

I don't think you know quite what you're saying...? I don't think you have any experience with the ELGs either.

Either way. I've got it sorted now.

Thanks?

Edit: Correct me if I'm wrong here. Preferably one of those that I "@'d", though.

Thanks.
 
L

Lou66

Well-Known Member
2com said:
-It's a widely believed fact. You wanna read that scentence back to yourself, please? And maybe could you share some links to the threads, posts or evidence?

-You suggested the ELG series, and they're almost identically priced. So that doesn't make sense.

-Regarding the ground wire. I just wanna make sure you realize I'm talking about the AC input, not the output. You mentioned output, so I think you're confused, maybe. Besides you couldn't ground anything to the case from the output side if the case isn't even grounded to the electrical system back to the panel if there's no ground conductor entering the AC input side of the driver - which there isn't on most of the ELG series. And the few models of ELG that do have a ground conductor for the AC input side aren't really even in stock if I remember correctly.
Not to mention all the other shortcoming of the ELG series I mentioned.

I don't think you know quite what you're saying...? I don't think you have any experience with the ELGs either.

Either way. I've got it sorted now.

Thanks?

Edit: Correct me if I'm wrong here. Preferably one of those that I "@'d", though.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
You can either believe it or not. Me using the search function instead of you doing it yourself won't tip the scale.

I just offered you an option. And given that you look at efficiency I just assumed you're using 240 V, as that has a greater impact than the model you choose in the end.

And no, I am pretty clear with my statement about ground (earth). The output is not referenced to it (as you say yourself) and if the case is non conductive no grounding is needed. The metal cases (with grounding) are nice as you can just use that to ground the enclosure. Sure it doesn't comply to VDE codes but you have too much freedom for such strict codes anyways.
Metal cases (that need to be grounded) have better heat transfer/are easier to cool. For the more powerful units it is the only option available.
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
2com said:
@Rocket Soul @MidnightSun72 Thanks for your help guys.

The XLG-240 spec sheet: https://www.meanwellusa.com/upload/pdf/XLG-240/XLG-240-spec.pdf
The H and M versions are 91% and 92.5% efficient, respectively. They're also only $70 cad each. The HLG series equivalent are $122 cad each. $210 cad for 720w of driver? Sounds pretty good to me.

I spoke with *the man* at HLG, he's such a good dude. Anyways, he actually kinda suggested the "H" model of the XLG-240W, and parallel wiring. He pointed out, and please chime in if you have thoughts, that the "M" version would handle three qbs, and would be more efficient doing so (It would use 168V of the 171V max, instead of only 112V).

Sounds like the "H" and parallel is the way I'd go then. Now, I'm still not 100% sure about if that "56V" max in the 27-56V range is a real hard cap or not. You know, will it only hit 55.5V or something? Can it go to 57.2V? Know what I mean? Do the graphs or anything in the datasheet let us know that? Because I don't think, from experience, that the qb648 diablos will even turn on with anything under 56V (they do not work on an HLG-320H-54AB).

Thanks.



1. Where'd you hear that? 2. The ELG series have various other shortcomings, like the ac input has no ground conductor on models other than the one ending in "3Y" (only Line and Neutral), and you only giving you ~75% of rated power at 120V (so the 240w model gives 180w at 120V, only get full wattage at 240V+). Sounds pretty awesome hey? (No).
I have 240V available, but I won't always.

Thanks for your input. Have you run any ELG stuff?
Click to expand...
A question re the 320-54AB: it only comes with onboard adjustable current? No adjustable voltage? Seems hard to get a clear answer theu the data sheets.

Also, when you say wont light up, no light? Or blinking light? At what current did you try to run them? Usually for a white diode youll see about a 10% drop in forward voltage ; if the details you provide (56V@5Amps) you should defo be in range around 120w/2.1A. but what happens in practice always takes precedent over theory.

If i were you id make friends with the report section of the meanwell database. This is where most of your answers is :) its taking a driver and actually measuring its specs, at least the HLG series are usually a tad bit over. However i havent found reports on the xlg range really. Their open voltage is supposed to be 60V with loaded voltage range of 27-57V. HLG uses inventronics drivers of same spec for the diablos (or at least used to). To the best of my knowledge the xlg- should run that board.

Im not a super fan of the xlgs though, id probably go for a 54A driver and turn up the voltage a bit.
Xlgs get quite hot and have not always reacted how we expected them to. Also: we seen to have more draw on the AC side of our drivers than what we expected, im suspecting the xlgs as the culprit. Will be checking next turnover, got some nice new sonoffs which should be able to measure better than what we got now.
 
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