parallel wiring led strips without wago's?

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
thanks for clarifying the data.
while would make the strip even safer on the 36v driver if he needs lets say 40V.

think were all clearly on the same page, just using different examples and get confused.
the bit incomplete datas for the strips on the website doesnt make this easier.
they offer quite some combos there using one strip design, all combos will have slight different voltages.

practically, what does the meter show when driving the 660nm/white combo strips?
we can go from there and guess what it will be with UV.
...on the other hand, a xlg 240-h will work anyway.

it sucks to get a new driver, but on the positive side, it could had been much worse.
see the 240w as emergency backup if the 480 brakes.
plug in replacement with at least some light till you get the 480 fixed.

@Boatguy , i edited my answer, youre not wrong.
probably safe to say the real limit is in between the overvoltage protection and the stated constant current range voltage.
... have to admit i never thought the limit is so low and it problaby also isnt.
really think now its the fallback mode causing this low voltage, it would also make some sense.
 

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
btw. i remeber when i had this "dim led" situation.
had a HLG 240 C1750b connected instead of a HLG 320 C2100b.
The strip config i connected needed 153V, the 1750b driver could only deliver 143V max.
so 10V where missing, the leds still lit, but very very dim, like in this case.
the c1750b drivers OVP is btw 150 ~ 165V, fits.

i am also 1V over the specified 152V of my 320 C2100b driver, (depends a bit on temparature), i almost forgot.
but no problem at all, over voltage would be 160 ~ 175V in this case, so all perfect.
 

gddg

Well-Known Member
so either the meanwell XLG-240-H-AB or the meanwell HLG-240H-42AB will work for the 4000k strips?

for the 3000k strips i looked at all the connections again, i don't think the multimeter is the problem, i connected the strips straight to the driver no multimeter and it draw's the same. When i connect 10 x 3000k strips to the 240Hdriver it draws 156.3 watt, potmeter 100% open when i connect all 20 off the 3000k strips it draw's 248.4 watt potmeter 100%.

Now when i connect 10 strips to the 480H driver it draw's 135 watt and all 20 = 237 watt.

i just don't get it :wall:
 

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
for your strips with UV the 42V version of the driver should do it.

i find it strange that your 3000k strips (with the 660nm reds) draw so little.
what does the voltage says for the 3000ks?
to my quick calc on the 240 driver its 23,3V
and on the 480 its 18V something.

the voltage should be lower using 20 strips compared to 10, lower current = lower forward voltage.
but
what i dont get at all atm is why the strips run around the 20V mark??
that shouldnt be driver related.
 

gddg

Well-Known Member
This is what i get:

240H 10 strips
36,37V 4,3A 156,3W

240H 20 strips
36,16V 6,87A 248,4W

480H 10 strips
36,12V 3,74A 135W

480H 20 strips
36,08V 6,57A 237W

so only when i connect 20 strips to the 240H driver it gets to full power :confused:
Dimmers on both drivers work fine by the way!
 

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
ok am slightly lost.
but what i observe.

240H 10 strips
36,37V 4,3A 156,3W

there is the 36.37V again we had with the UVA.

240H 20 strips
36,16V 6,87A 248,4W

here we have 36.16V and the driver give full power.... at least on the 240W driver, 0.2V below the limit and all is fine.

for the 480 i have no real idea why the limit is so low.
thats the problem with the B types, nothing to set, A or AB would had a screw to set the voltage (at lest on some AB types).
i wouldnt have thought the voltage limit is soo tight on the 36V drivers tbh.
seems we have to face the reality.

to sort the problem and get a better idea, i would suggest getting the 42V driver, or the H type XLG.
then you will see quickly if its simply more voltage needed and can act accordingly.
sorry for the troubble you have, that sucks for sure, maybe the strips shouldnt be labeled 36V.
 

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
ok am slightly lost.
but what i observe.
It is behaving like it is wired in series. If you look back at his wiring drawing, positive is going to the first strip, and negative is going to the last. With all those negative jumpers, it seems like it should work, but maybe not. I would try moving that negative lead to the first strip next to the positive, and see if it makes a difference
 

Mak'er Grow

Well-Known Member
It is behaving like it is wired in series. If you look back at his wiring drawing, positive is going to the first strip, and negative is going to the last. With all those negative jumpers, it seems like it should work, but maybe not. I would try moving that negative lead to the first strip next to the positive, and see if it makes a difference
I thought he wired it with POS (+) down 1 side and NEG(-) down the other on each strip...he just used home-made jumpers instead of using wago's?
 

Mak'er Grow

Well-Known Member

I didnt see that one. I was refering to this pic. Thought is may explain the low amp draw, and higher voltage
I got confused myself...so many drawings I lost track of what was actually used...lol
 

Barristan Whitebeard

Well-Known Member

I didnt see that one. I was refering to this pic. Thought is may explain the low amp draw, and higher voltage
Hey man, are you referring to the pictures the OP took of his inline meters?
 

gddg

Well-Known Member
just to clear things up i connect it like this:

10 X 4000k strips to the 240H 36B driver
20 X 3000k strips to the 480H 36B driver

btw 240H 42AB is on its way and will probably arrive next week!

Final wiring led frame.jpg
 
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cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
It is behaving like it is wired in series. If you look back at his wiring drawing, positive is going to the first strip, and negative is going to the last. With all those negative jumpers, it seems like it should work, but maybe not. I would try moving that negative lead to the first strip next to the positive, and see if it makes a difference
not sure if that would be good move.
if he would go with all the power over the first strip the needed voltage would be even higher as the resistance through the daisychain would be increased.

if he would have several strips in sereis i doubt anything will lit up on the 36V driver.

think the showen above wiring is fine for his driver, simply all in parallel and well distributed.

sucks a bit that we need to wait for a new driver to get a result.
 
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1212ham

Well-Known Member
just to clear things up i connect it like this:

10 X 4000k strips to the 240H 36B driver
20 X 3000k strips to the 480H 36B driver

btw 240H 42AB is on its way and will probably arrive next week!

View attachment 4629861
The 240H-42AB could also be tried on the 3000k. I would try momentarily connecting a fresh D-cell battery in series with the driver to see if a little more voltage is needed. No need to solder or anything like that, just touch the wires to the battery.
 

gddg

Well-Known Member
ok tried the d cell battery with the 240H 36B driver and the 4000k strips. They definitely burned brighter, instead of 7,2 watt now it was 28,7 watt, so the 42AB driver will probably be the solution!

tried the same driver and battery with the 3000k strips but it didn't make a difference.

i borrowed a manual digital multimeter to look if the drok multimeter works properly. I see a small difference the drok meter gives a 0,15 to 0,45 higher voltage reading then the manual multimeter.
I disconnected all the drok meters and used the manual mutlimeter to measure everything again

240H 36B driver without drok meter's measured with manual multimeter
1 row off 3000k strips is 36,2V and 3,69A and 2 row's are 35,7V and 5,94A

240H 36B driver readings from drok meter.
1 row off 3000k strips is 36,37V 4,3A and 2 row's are 36,16V 6,87A


I still don't get it why when i'm using 10 strips instead 20 the Amp drops almost half :-?

theoretically the 6,7A from the 240H-36B driver should be evenly distributed and is doesn't need to matter if you're using 10, 20 or 100 strips, the more strips you use the less watt and heat they put out and the more efficient they will be, am i right??

very frustrating all of this:wall:
 

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
glad to hear youre at least on the right track.

"240H 36B driver without drok meter's measured with manual multimeter
1 row off 3000k strips is 36,2V and 3,69A and 2 row's are 35,7V and 5,94A "

"theoretically the 6,7A from the 240H-36B driver should be evenly distributed and is doesn't need to matter if you're using 10, 20 or 100 strips, the more strips you use the less watt and heat they put out and the more efficient they will be, am i right?? "

the count of strips matter in the way you say, less watt, less heat, more efficient.
that also means a lower forward voltage for the leds (strips) as you see when connecting 2 rows.

at least it all makes some sense.

brilliant idea with the D Cell.
 
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