LED FAQ) Building and DIY

[bob857]

Ah have you wire up a meanwell driver to a US cord. I have and what I told him is what I've done over 15 panels lol


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The issue here is hooking up the drivers so they comply with code. That way no one gets burnt or juiced.

Uh... what does the picture (which is correct, white to neutral and black to voltage (or Line)) have to do with LED drivers? You know, three conductors, A/C Line - brown, A/C Neutral - blue, and FGround - green/yellow.

Hmmm... The long tall slot on any receptacle is Neutral. The smaller slot is Voltage, so if you were hooking a driver to a power cord to plug into an outlet it would be: Green/Yellow to the small circular opening; Blue to go into the long tall slot; Brown to go into the small slot. It is important to get it right because switches and timers work on the power wire. But if the neutral is hooked up to power... it will still work but it can cause problems.

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[Dion]

no point in arguing with him bob its

if GDSburns checks the link to the pdf data sheet he will see what u r saying is correct

 

[GDSBurns]

Wait so how is it working if its wired wrong? And should i switch these wires around cause im not trying to be responsible for burning someones place down...

 

[Dion]

Wait so how is it working if its wired wrong? And should i switch these wires around cause im not trying to be responsible for burning someones place down...

its working because ac= alternating current
the wire doesnt give a fuck what color plastic its covered in it conducts whatever electricity you connect to it

just leave it for now seen as no one else is gonna be working on the wires its fine

 

[GDSBurns]

its working because ac= alternating current
the wire doesnt give a fuck what color plastic its covered in it conducts whatever electricity you connect to it

just leave it for now seen as no one else is gonna be working on the wires its fine

Ah i see ok. Ill get some pics up in a few.

 

[bob857]

Wait so how is it working if its wired wrong? And should i switch these wires around cause im not trying to be responsible for burning someones place down...

its working because ac= alternating current
the wire doesnt give a fuck what color plastic its covered in it conducts whatever electricity you connect to it

just leave it for now seen as no one else is gonna be working on the wires its fine

It's a common mistake and Dion has it right. It's not gonna burn you or your house. The worst that could happen is some switches or timers might leak voltage to the cob when off. But probably not, so no worries. Next time...

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[exploziv]

Keep in mind that our receptacles and plugs in the EU are not even designed to keep same orientation. So it's not that big of a deal.

 

[Dion]

Ah i see ok. Ill get some pics up in a few.

i noticed on RS thread u are going to ground the wires( probably a good time to wire it up properly then especially as u are building this for another person)

and u promised pics

 

[welder22]

Might be a stupid question that has already been answered but can the cxb2540 be closer to the canopy than cxb3070? Only have a 40" height total and don't wanna fry anything, have been researching and just trying to put together a list of options.

 

[Dion]

Might be a stupid question that has already been answered but can the cxb2540 be closer to the canopy than cxb3070? Only have a 40" height total and don't wanna fry anything, have been researching and just trying to put together a list of options.

in simple terms yes

you have less light(which turns to heat when it makes contact with the canopy) so it will not need to be as far away

although 1000 photons of 2540=1000 photons of 3070

but i think u mean to use more smaller chips than 1 big one

so yes

 

[welder22]

Thanks a bunch this helps out as I couldn't make a list of needed materials till I got help.

 

[Dion]

Thanks a bunch this helps out as I couldn't make a list of needed materials till I got help.

no worries

if u care to share what your thinking(like ur grow size budget and location[usa/EU etc) i can float you a few more ideas?

 

[luvdemshrooms]

Might be a stupid question that has already been answered but can the cxb2540 be closer to the canopy than cxb3070? Only have a 40" height total and don't wanna fry anything, have been researching and just trying to put together a list of options.

You can accomplish the same thing by dialing down the power of the 3070's (or any higher power LED's).

The advantage to doing so is that should your grow area change, you can dial the power back up and not have to buy new LED's.

 

[Koondense]

Here's an example of a Cree 3590 3000K on pc/cpu heatsink, being driven at 700mA. Totally 3 units at the moment, driving them with 700 to 1400mA, 75-150W total. Another 3 units will be added this week, before switching to 12/12.

I use these along with 5 25W 6500K cfls for veg.

Cheers

 

[GDSBurns]

Here is my pics as promised.

 

[Dion]

You can accomplish the same thing by dialing down the power of the 3070's (or any higher power LED's).

The advantage to doing so is that should your grow area change, you can dial the power back up and not have to buy new LED's.

And the obvious disadvantage is that it will cost a shit ton of cash

With smaller chips u can expand by adding more modules

Even the guy real styles copies his designs off (supraspl) measured and the 3590 have been shown to output the same amount of PAR at 50w as the 3070


So as I've always said more smaller chips run softer is better

 

[GDSBurns]

Dion i have seen you mention ppfd a few times and honestly have no clue what the numbers are. Do you know of any places to find good info on this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[GDSBurns]

i noticed on RS thread u are going to ground the wires( probably a good time to wire it up properly then especially as u are building this for another person)

and u promised pics

And i did switch the wires around, working like a charm!

 

[welder22]

Us, and been thinking 24"x24"x40" maybe running 4 2540 each with its own driver and prolly artic active heat sinks. Having all 4 evenly spaced and close to the corners. Wanna a scrog possibly 4 at a time maybe 5 but I doubt it. What do you think? And seems like a lot of places I've looked have a min order like you just can't buy 1 cob what's with that?

 

[welder22]

Us, and been thinking 24"x24"x40" maybe running 4 2540 each with its own driver and prolly artic active heat sinks. Having all 4 evenly spaced and close to the corners. Wanna a scrog possibly 4 at a time maybe 5 but I doubt it. What do you think? And seems like a lot of places I've looked have a min order like you just can't buy 1 cob what's with that?

Oh forgot the budget, I'd like to keep it under $200, but don't wanna cheap out on something and have to replace components. Would like it to last a good while with no worries maybe upgrade later on but not fix broken parts lol.