LED drivers

DankDunk · Jan 11, 2016

Hello All,
New member here but an avid reader for a few years now. I am in the process of moving and at the same time planning my next setup. I have been interested in LEDs for a long time and have used a Pro-grow 180 before and was able to achieve relatively good results. I hope to recreate on of BuenoTime's setups when the wife and I finally get where we are going, and have been compiling a list of the things I would need and ordering products here and there for a while.

The setup I chose to use was the 3x CXA3070 grow with the two red and blue LED light bars. My confusion has concentrated mainly around drivers. My kowledge of electrical is more in repair like soldering or coax/triax, but while in the military I wasn't introduced to calculating certain things like those asssociated with LED drivers. After reading through BuenoTime's thread which has been amazingly helpful, I am still left not quite understanding this aspect of DIY LED building.

The Meanwell drivers for the COBs is straight forward and I was able to find those with ease, but because my understanding of these drivers is limited I am having some confusion in terms of the light bars.

I was planning on ordering from Steves which carries the 3W Luxeon ES stars. I planned to follow the same format in terms of which spectrums and how many/per.

10 of the http://shop.stevesleds.com/Philips-Luxeon-ES-Deep-Red-3-Watt-LEDs-RARE-Version-8794102435.htm

4 of the http://shop.stevesleds.com/Philips-Luxeon-ES-Standard-Red-3-Watt-LEDs-8794102485.htm

4 of the http://shop.stevesleds.com/Philips-Luxeon-ES-ROYAL-BLUE-3-Watt-LEDs-8794102476.htm

Now I am considering the standard reds from Steve's as opposed to the Cree XP-E types BuenoTime used simply for convenience, but am open to criticism as to why I should consider copying his light bar exactly.

Lastly we are where my question still lies. What driver would I need to power all these babies. BuenoTime talks of the 65omA Fasttech driver but I am unclear excatly which one will work.

I appreciate any help in advance with this as I feel like I should be having an easier time with this but have found it a difficult go alone.

T.Patchouli · Jan 11, 2016

Have you watched growmau5 and greengenes gardens videos on diy cob on YouTube yet? Greengenes just had his third weekly hour long diy led tech talk.

DankDunk · Jan 11, 2016

I have watched some growmau5 videos which have been very informative. However I am still lacking confidence in ordering a driver for this and knowing it will work.

shellybelly · Jan 11, 2016

Here's a link to growmau5's video on choosing drivers. It helped me a lot. It goes into very detailed explanation of how the numbers work. Basically the video will recommend a meanwell hlg-185 for the cobs you're running. Actually that driver will run 4 cxa or cxb 3070's at optimum efficiency. I'm special ed when it comes to that sort of thing and I got the gist of it so you should have no problem. Watch it 2 or 3 times and it will click. It's hard jumping in to something that is completely new. Good luck on your build. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYdN6d0v814

DankDunk · Jan 11, 2016

I will totally watch this. Thank you very much for the link and thank you patchouli because I know now that this is what you we're alluding to in you response.

DankDunk · Jan 11, 2016

After watching the video I feel as though I have a better understanding of all this now but am left with one more question when searching for a driver. When looking at drivers I am understanding that I need probably 42v to be safe but I am guessing when a driver says a range of numbers like 3-5x3w, that that means the driver is only supposed to be used for this many stars? I am confused on which is the important factor here voltage or the number of 3w LEDs

DankDunk · Jan 11, 2016

Can anyone direct me to the right driver?

DankDunk · Jan 12, 2016

So I think I found a driver that will work for this but would love to get some feedback
http://www.satisled.com/1018x3w-pow...t-dc3057v-600ma-output-ce-approved_p1522.html

DankDunk · Jan 12, 2016

http://www.mouser.com/Search/m_ProductDetail.aspx?RECOM/RCOB-650/&qs=1IHEKNH4eQGF3LuPxPJP9w==

Then I see a driver like this but I am unsure if I can use this with 3w LEDs. I wish there was a little more feedback here. It is seriously the last component I need to account for.

Dion · Jan 12, 2016

hey

the recon driver wont work on 120v(usa)

the 2nd driver is 600mA and 30-57 v

so depending how many of what leds it shooudl work

there are issues with dif voltages on the same string though

if u confirm exactly how many of what leds you want i can check it for you

DankDunk · Jan 13, 2016

Dion,
Thanks for the help. I planned on using:

10 Luxeon ES 660nm
Fv 2.00v@350ma, 2.20v@700ma

4 Luxeon ES 620nm
Fv 2.00v@700ma

4Luxeon ES 450 nm
Fv 2.75v@350ma, 2.95v@700ma

I am glad you caught the different voltages as well. I was not sure if that would complicate things. My math if correct would have me needing a driver that can cover at least 41.8v but of course that is if the 450nm leds that have the Fv of 2.95v will work with the others. Thank you again for your help. It is truly appreciated.

DankDunk · Jan 13, 2016

Dion,
Thanks for the help. I planned on using:

10 Luxeon ES 660nm
Fv 2.00v@350ma, 2.20v@700ma

4 Luxeon ES 620nm
Fv 2.00v@700ma

4Luxeon ES 450 nm
Fv 2.75v@350ma, 2.95v@700ma

I am glad you caught the different voltages as well. I was not sure if that would complicate things. My math if correct would have me needing a driver that can cover at least 41.8v but of course that is if the 450nm leds that have the Fv of 2.95v will work with the others. Thank you again for your help. It is truly appreciated.

Dion · Jan 16, 2016

DankDunk said:
Dion,
Thanks for the help. I planned on using:

10 Luxeon ES 660nm
Fv 2.00v@350ma, 2.20v@700ma

4 Luxeon ES 620nm
Fv 2.00v@700ma

4Luxeon ES 450 nm
Fv 2.75v@350ma, 2.95v@700ma

I am glad you caught the different voltages as well. I was not sure if that would complicate things. My math if correct would have me needing a driver that can cover at least 41.8v but of course that is if the 450nm leds that have the Fv of 2.95v will work with the others. Thank you again for your help. It is truly appreciated.

looks good

take the 600mA driver with it all on 1 string and see what happens-should be fine

DankDunk · Jan 17, 2016

Thank you. I appreciate you getting back to me.

Bueno Time · Jan 17, 2016

I would use a MW HLG-185H-C1400A for the 3 CXAs (if you already have them, if not try to get some CXBs, newer and more efficient models).

The cheap but good option for the reds and blue LED string is the fasttech "20w" driver that I used it is $6.35 shipped but is just a bare board driver, not encased so if you use one mount it somewhere it will have no chance of getting wet or touched by anything metal. Mine has been running for well over a year (closer to two) and still strong as day one.

The "20W" driver has a max vF of about 50. Once warmed up it outputs .61A at 50vF. Minimum vF was 21 and it output .67A. At 34.5vF it put out .64A. Efficiency 88%

https://www.fasttech.com/products/1612/10004218/1320605-85-265v-20w-high-power-constant-current-led-driver

You would wire all 3 of your main COBs in series on the MW HLG model I mentioned. You would wire all your reds and blues in series on the fasttech driver. I would also recommend the Cree XP-E P3 630nm over the Luxeon 620nm. Also you may want to look around or ask the guys on rollitup in the LED subforum, if there are newer more efficient reds and blues to use than what was readily available when I built mine.

Other than that it sounds like a pretty good plan for a first DIY LED build.

Bueno Time · Jan 17, 2016

DankDunk said:
Dion,
Thanks for the help. I planned on using:

10 Luxeon ES 660nm
Fv 2.00v@350ma, 2.20v@700ma

4 Luxeon ES 620nm
Fv 2.00v@700ma

4Luxeon ES 450 nm
Fv 2.75v@350ma, 2.95v@700ma

I am glad you caught the different voltages as well. I was not sure if that would complicate things. My math if correct would have me needing a driver that can cover at least 41.8v but of course that is if the 450nm leds that have the Fv of 2.95v will work with the others. Thank you again for your help. It is truly appreciated.

Don't worry about the different voltages between the reds and blues, each LED will pull the voltage it needs to run, max or total vF is what matters here when all ran in series on a single driver.

Dion · Jan 17, 2016

Bueno Time said:
Don't worry about the different voltages between the reds and blues, each LED will pull the voltage it needs to run, max or total vF is what matters here when all ran in series on a single driver.

good to know

ive never run dif voltages on the same string

does this mean you could run some monos of the same driver as cobs?

say if u had a few extra volts to spare?

glad ur around agian dude

Bueno Time · Jan 17, 2016

Dion said:
good to know

ive never run dif voltages on the same string

does this mean you could run some monos of the same driver as cobs?

say if u had a few extra volts to spare?

glad ur around agian dude

Yes, you can add monos to COB strings but only if the monos can handle the mA of the driver the COBs are running on.

Example: You wouldnt want to add some red and blue monos to a 1400mA COB string since they would fry at that current.

DankDunk · Jan 18, 2016

Wow. Thank you Bueno for the response. I appreciate the information.

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