DIY lamp done

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8/10

Well-Known Member
Huzzah, at last!

I'm pretty satisfied with the results, but I did manage to fry three leds during this project... Replacements are on the way though, but one red ledengin will have to be switched for one cxa1304. Won't make much difference, anyway.

One question though, can I wire two drivers to the same power cord?

Like this: main power outlet, main power cord, terminal block, two blue driver-wires in one hole, two brown driver-wires in the other. So, I guess they are connected in parallel. problems?
 

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churchhaze

Well-Known Member
It depends how much total current is going through it. More drivers with inputs in parallel after the cable will mean more current through the cable.

It's not a problem as long as the wires in the cable are thick enough gauge to support the combine current draw of all the drivers.

The risk of to much current is the wire heating up, so as long as the wire stays cool, you're probably fine. Risk of shock is not increased.
 
Greengenes707

Greengenes707

Well-Known Member
AC wiring is the most misunderstood part of DIY from what I have seen...everyone asks about it. I will do a how to video soon...it's needed.

The AC side of electricity is constant voltage...so no matter how many things you hook up to it, 120v or 240v will be going through it. Which is why we don't hook up in series...always parallel like we do with fans...because they are constant voltage too. If we did hook anything up in series off AC it would not work because there wouldn't be enough voltage to power it. Only exception is if two 120/240 devices were in series on a 240 line...then they would draw 120 each...but still, one should never do that.

The only restrictions on how many of anything you can hook up together is...the wire it's self(usually ~15a/300v or 600v) AND/OR the breaker in you box/circuit.

If you have a 15amp breaker and you have drivers that pull 1 amp each...you can hook up 15 of them on that breaker...in theory... more like 12-13 in reality for safety/surge protection...but for the concept, let's go with the simple math.
If you changed your breaker to a 30amp...you could not hook up 30 drivers. But remember...the power cord would be the limiter here(15a). But 240v will give you amps to work with.

Anyways, hope that makes sense to people...good luck.

EDIT:
If using wagos, ideal, or any kind of connectors...check the amps and volts tolerances for the connectors. Big builds could be too much for cheap connectors.
 
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8

8/10

Well-Known Member
The drivers are 700mA each, so I think they're good to go. I heard some crackling noises last time I turned the lights on, so I was worried this was an issue. I suppose it was just a bad connection.

Edit: yeah, that makes sense. Also I was (am) worried about the connectors as they are the bottleneck, wire gauge-wise, in this build. They work, but what exactly could happen? is everything okay if they stay cool and do the job in the near future?
 
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SupraSPL

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
Sometimes extension cords or power strips can have loose connections inside causing the crackling and if you run on a gfci circuit it can catch that and shut the circuit down. If that is the case it is highly recommended to swap them out with new, heavy duty outlets/cords/splitters etc. When you plug something in that is switched on you can get some arcing in the outlet, but other than that there should be no crackling sounds when turning it on and if it flickers or crackles when you jiggle the connection it is not safe to use.

According to this dataheet the Wago Lever Nuts are safe for 600V 20A. Perfect for connecting drivers on the AC side. Very good in terms of safety and a great time saver. 5 pole version
 
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churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Crackling means a connector has high impedance (probably loose). This is very bad for the lifespan of leds as it could cause ringing in the driver, causing it to overshoot it's intended output voltage. For this reason, also make sure that you do not connect it while power is on. Turn it off first, then connect it.

If the connections come lose while power is on, there is likely still a charged capacitor, so treat it as if it's live still. If you want to discharge it, connect the loose connection and the light will come on for a few milliseconds.
 
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8/10

Well-Known Member
Ok, got it. This is not a gfci circuit, supra, and I think the power strip is good as it is brand new and should be alright. I'll go over the connections and check them one after the other. Also, I have indeed made it a habit to connect before switching on, after I fried the first led trying to free-hand the wire to the led connection while everything was live. sparks upon impact and a dead led. The cxa1304 are a tad more fragile than the ledengins I must say, but the fault is on my side in any case.

How dangerous is the power from a 50V 0.7A driver anyway?
 
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