Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Yes sir.
DiY LEDs - How to Power Them
- Thread starter SupraSPL
- Start date
Forrestfirebuds
Member
Yeah i was thinking about using 3 or 4 drivers on 1 plug. Do you think thats too much. They are the meanwell 185 drivers powering 4 cree 3070 each.
Forrestfirebuds
Member
How many can i connect on 1 plug? Meanwell 185 running at 1400ma powering 4 cobs each.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
As many as you want(realistically). Just don't ever plug in more than your average 15-20amp out of one outlet space. Im not sure, but I think each "room" of your house is usually wired on its own breaker. So I think all the outlet receptacles on thar one breaker, in total can't go above the 15-20 amps. I could be wrong though.
Forrestfirebuds
Member
Ok cool. Im building a subpanel box that has 220 and im branching several circuits down to 110 from there.
Forrestfirebuds
Member
So basically i could run up to 10 drivers on one 15 amp circuit? Since 10 drivers at 1.4 amps is 14 amps. Obviously i would want to do less since a good rule of thumb is to run each circuit only 80% of its max.
Forrestfirebuds
Member
Well originally there was 220 power ran to the garage already on a 40 amp circuit on 8 gauge wire. So i planned on turning the outlet into a subpanel box with 6 different circuit breakers. I was going to dedicate 1 circuit for the original 220 plug that was already there.(i already i wouldnt be able to use that while the lights are on) then i was going to use the other 4 circuits to make 4 or 8 outlets for each light setup. 4 light setups total. On each light set up i will have 18 cree 3070 cob lights on six 6" heatsinks that are 40" long. Each light setup will be running on a light rail that i will move about 1 to 2 feet at most. So there will be a total of 72 cob lights on 4 light movers in a 10x16 foot area. I will also run 4 maybe 6 wall mount fans also. I will run a separate power line for my air conditioner from my main panel and that air conditioner eats up 7.1 amps. All my drivers will be mounted on the walls to lighten up the cob light setup up. So i figured that 18 drivers running at 1.4 amps is 25.2 amps plus the light rails and the fans are another 4 to 6 amps. 30 to 31 total amps to spit up between 4 circuits on a 40 amp subpanel should be ok. What do you think? I was just determining how many drivers i can splice together one 1 plug safely. Another think i saw on these drivers was that the power to hook up the cob lights is 14 gauge wire while the power into the driver is only 18 gauge wire. I planned on soldering 14 gauge solid wire in between the cobs but should i only us 18 gauge wire to supply power to the driver? Or should I stick with 14 gauge?
Thank you very much for the reply.
nevergoodenuf
Well-Known Member
I would run all your driver on 220v. This is what I use, hook into a 30 Amp dryer type plug. The drivers seem to run cooler.
Hope somebody could help me. I'll make this short.
Looking to power only 2 CBX3590's on a single driver.
What driver to use?
36V or 72V COB's?
What is the area a single COB can grow?
My growing area is narrow. 4ft wide, 1.5ft deep. Will 2 COB's be enough for this you think?
Will this be better than my single Mars300 grow light?
Looking to power only 2 CBX3590's on a single driver.
What driver to use?
36V or 72V COB's?
What is the area a single COB can grow?
My growing area is narrow. 4ft wide, 1.5ft deep. Will 2 COB's be enough for this you think?
Will this be better than my single Mars300 grow light?
Forrestfirebuds
Member
I would say to use 3 of the 3590 for a 4x1.5ft area. I know most of the people ive learned this stuff from use 36v but the guy "nevergoodenuf" who commented right before you did says 72v runs the driver cooler. How hard are you pushing the 3590 and what distance will your lights be from the canopy? I would say 1 cob can cover a 1.5 sq foot area pretty good. Some try to go 1 cob per square foot.
I appreciate the response! I was thinking 3 might be better after I posted this. I want them to run as efficient as possible i guess. The more COBs the more efficient you can run them from what I gather. I can't afford a lot of them though.
What PAR should I shoot for before reaching diminishing returns from the plants? I plan to keep the lights pretty close to the plants if possible for optimal lighting. Will be SCROG. My current plant is stretching, the Mars300 just isn't cutting it.
Forrestfirebuds
Member
Yeah go with 3-3590 and put it on a meanwell hlg-185h-36b drivers. That way you can control the efficiency and the intensity of those cobs using a potentiometer. The lower the current the more efficient but there is that happy medium tho. You should be shooting for par around 1000 to 1200 from what i have read. And its not the more cobs the more efficient either. It basically comes down to what driver you use and how much current you are using (how many milli amps you are using) that determines the efficiency
I could be completely wrong, but I was under the impression that these COBs run most efficient under powering them at about 60%. To grow good plants you need a minimum PAR. The more lights you have, the more you can DIM them to get to the minimum PAR needed, and drive them at their most efficient 60% state. Then you have driver efficiencies that are within certain milliamp ranges. Then you find the driver that best correlates to your COB milliamp ranges at their most efficient state.
I could be completely wrong, love learning about this stuff. I'll look at that driver though for sure. Worse comes to worse might end up springing for the MAUIV Kit I keep seeing online. $450 just seems like a lot of money.
Forrestfirebuds
Member
Yes you are right. Minimum par to grow is probably around 450 from what i have read but ideal range is 1000 to 1200. You can run the lights at 700ma, 1050ma, 1400ma, 1750ma, and 2100ma. So 700 would be the most efficient and efficiency starts dropping as you go up but at the same time light intensity and par goes up as you go up in milli amps. If i were you i would go 1050ma or 1400ma. Check out growmou5 youtube videos and he shows par readings of the 3590 at 22 inches aways and also at 12 inches away. Thats where i learned most of my stuff from. Follow growmou5, greengenes707, supraspl, realstyles and theres a few more people that real know alot about this.
Very good info. I have a feeling I'm at around 300 PAR with the Mars light i have now... Would love to get into the 1000 region next grow. Need to get a meter on Amazon so I have a starting point.
Forrestfirebuds
Member
I bought one of the cheaper par meters from hydrofarms and they have been on back order for almost 2 months now. They said i should finally be getting it the middle of july. Should have went with a more expensive one but i just spent over 7 grand on my new set up. I cant wait to get it so i make sure my par is around 1000. How far above your canopy did you have your mars light? I have a few l.e.d. lights similar to mars and they worked pretty good for me but i kept my lights about 10 to 12 inches from my tops. I cant wait to see the difference with these new cob lights
Definitely let me know how your new setup goes! I've let my tops get as close as 4-6 inches. No bleaching or anything effects so far. They still stretched a little too much after flower still. I backed it up to 10 inches now so it covers more of the canopy. Not too impressed with the light so far.
Forrestfirebuds
Member
I will for sure. One question? What is the difference between your daytime temperature and night-time temperature? Too big of a temperature change can cause stretching. It might also be the strain too. With your light that close it shouldnt stretch a bunch but ive never used mars lights either. I know realstyles used to use mars but smashed his light ever since going to these diy cob lights.