Some DIY LED questions....
- Thread starter IggyP
- Start date
boilingoil
Well-Known Member
And the stranded wire leads coming out of the driver is 16ga. Are you wiring everything in series? If 18 ga wire isn't big enough then the traces in the stripes aren't going to handle 16 amps.
My driver puts out 10 amps for my stripes and all the leads just get twisted together and wire nutted , all run in parallel wiring.
i am right by the line...dont want to build with a limitation like that tho....
the hlg-320-24a is rated at 13.34amps
18ga = 16amps - 3.2amp for continuous = 12.8amps
....think i have to do it all in parallel, which is fine to me...im guessing the way would be to run 16ga for the parallels and jump to the strips with 18ga, thats the move here?
the hlg-320-24a is rated at 13.34amps
18ga = 16amps - 3.2amp for continuous = 12.8amps
....think i have to do it all in parallel, which is fine to me...im guessing the way would be to run 16ga for the parallels and jump to the strips with 18ga, thats the move here?
welight
Well-Known Member
true the J series is marketed as 195 LPW which is achievable in the higher flux bins however like all led products there is a range of values. you can check the Cree PCT if you would like to know all available values or as your doing ask me and I will tell you
cheers
Mark
nfhiggs
Well-Known Member
Run 16 or larger wire to a distribution block or terminal strip like this:
And from the terminal strip you can run the 18g wires to each individual strip.
Randomblame
Well-Known Member
Is not high-purity audio cable too exspensive for something like that?
nfhiggs
Well-Known Member
Its relatively cheap stuff. $7.99 for a 25 ft roll at Fry's.
bit of a waiting game by now....ive got some 100' solid 18ga and 16ga coated copper coming 15 and 19$ respectively....was sort of planning to use 3-way push connectors...gonna be alot of little wire pieces anyway i slice it....least that way they will be shorter...maybe if i can find some sort of casing for the ends to cover the electric would be nice tho
boilingoil
Well-Known Member
Looks like you have stranded ran to the strips also ?
nfhiggs
Well-Known Member
yes, 18G to the strips.
Viceman666
Well-Known Member
If you look up lm561c datasheet you will see a s7 bin but never heard before
Just realized that it was for the cri70 not cri80 or 90
Just realized that it was for the cri70 not cri80 or 90
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yes it seems to be a confused meaning on the strips....indicating manufacturer plant id, rather than diode bin...
i was worried of that lower CRI for a moment but having verified they are in fact gen3 F-series alone seems to solidly verify correct diodes and the 80cri...
if i understood that part correctly...
so excited to plug this thing in....still dont even have clones rooted tho, guess i need to stop slacking lol...
ended up 23 strips per 2x4' ....with 5- 4k strips on each...lets me push em that tiny bit more i was "short" and the spacing seems much better, at least from a drafting perspective lol...ive grouped them into 3 diff spacings from middle to ends...
think its all i can do till the rest of the materials are here
i was worried of that lower CRI for a moment but having verified they are in fact gen3 F-series alone seems to solidly verify correct diodes and the 80cri...
if i understood that part correctly...
so excited to plug this thing in....still dont even have clones rooted tho, guess i need to stop slacking lol...
ended up 23 strips per 2x4' ....with 5- 4k strips on each...lets me push em that tiny bit more i was "short" and the spacing seems much better, at least from a drafting perspective lol...ive grouped them into 3 diff spacings from middle to ends...
think its all i can do till the rest of the materials are here
boilingoil
Well-Known Member
23 strips in 4' would be one every 2 inches almost. Or the same as 5 quantum boards in a 2x4 area. That seems like a little overkill. What's your plans on the wattage your going for in that space?
right....24strips was = 6 qb's if i added correctly...
perhaps i should better explain the logic and goals i followed with this build...
so first off, i am aware that it is around "double" the strips "needed"....which in normal/average cases will be driven around the 75% mark...
in this case ive paid a little bit more...what 150$ or so? in order to gain other benefits....
#1 = i wanted the most even spread of light possible, which is where it seems solutions like qb's fall short...
#2 = i want to achieve max efficacy of the diodes, which happens when ran around 65mA
overall, i think these are some relatively minor points, but value enough to justify adding them in...
i have extra drivers if it ends up i need to build double the units lol, but see the logic i followed?
drivers are 320w so will have to split them up to push them very hard anyway..
perhaps i should better explain the logic and goals i followed with this build...
so first off, i am aware that it is around "double" the strips "needed"....which in normal/average cases will be driven around the 75% mark...
in this case ive paid a little bit more...what 150$ or so? in order to gain other benefits....
#1 = i wanted the most even spread of light possible, which is where it seems solutions like qb's fall short...
#2 = i want to achieve max efficacy of the diodes, which happens when ran around 65mA
overall, i think these are some relatively minor points, but value enough to justify adding them in...
i have extra drivers if it ends up i need to build double the units lol, but see the logic i followed?
drivers are 320w so will have to split them up to push them very hard anyway..
boilingoil
Well-Known Member
I understand your reasoning, whether it makes a difference or not, I notice a color shift when I start running below 500 mA on my strips. doesn't matter how close the strips are spaced..
Don't know if it actually translates to what the plant sees or uses but you can definitely see it in the human eye's.
good to know, i was wondering about that...it sort of seems by the data sheets i thought that they sort of output the spectrums they output...so i wasnt as worried as even with hps and dimming there is always some suspect in mind wondering the difference...makes sense there will be a cuttoff point for extremely dim...seems like there is a sweet spot in there tho somewhere
these have 9 series inside so 65 x 9 =585mA....im curious about exactly these things but i figured in some cases i just have to see it first hand and hope its close lol
hopefully can fire it up by tomorrow night...
these have 9 series inside so 65 x 9 =585mA....im curious about exactly these things but i figured in some cases i just have to see it first hand and hope its close lol
hopefully can fire it up by tomorrow night...
voltage drop???
starting to wonder if this is why most pics have the drivers laying on top of the arrays lol....
i wanted to mount my drivers to a board outside the room to help keep things a little cooler....
ran over some calculators saying i can go about 10ft with the 16ga...then i loose 1 volt....which is ok....but more than that i worry the diodes will dim too far past that 65mA mark....maybe i just need to use 12 wire for that part so i have some slack for a 15-20ft cord if i want?
also not sure about this "solid copper" 16awg wire i got...it is "tinned" but it seems like about half tin to me lol so idk if its a good or bad thing....guess im covered for corrosion at least lol hmm...
one good thing...i already own a kill-a-watt meter so we can be able to see direct numbers between that and the multimeter ;P
starting to wonder if this is why most pics have the drivers laying on top of the arrays lol....
i wanted to mount my drivers to a board outside the room to help keep things a little cooler....
ran over some calculators saying i can go about 10ft with the 16ga...then i loose 1 volt....which is ok....but more than that i worry the diodes will dim too far past that 65mA mark....maybe i just need to use 12 wire for that part so i have some slack for a 15-20ft cord if i want?
also not sure about this "solid copper" 16awg wire i got...it is "tinned" but it seems like about half tin to me lol so idk if its a good or bad thing....guess im covered for corrosion at least lol hmm...
one good thing...i already own a kill-a-watt meter so we can be able to see direct numbers between that and the multimeter ;P
boilingoil
Well-Known Member
It may be just these old eyes or the spectrum from the room lighting overpowering the LEDs when turned down low.
just a quick update.....scrambling like mad but i did manage to get the first unit finished and turned on without issue....properly blinding ;P
regarding wiring....i wish i found this other one beforehand
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MOKO820
......this tinned wire i still dont know about
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010T5Z1M2
...i saw some info here and there saying it should be fine, but i am still not convinced, some data still suggests otherwise.....this wire seems to me like 18-20ga thats "coated" in 50% tin lol...i did scratch into it and see some copper but i dont see how they gonna add the tin then still have it be 16awg and expect same conductivity when tin is much less conductive....seems like a total scam, unless ppl wanna use it as smaller gauge then perhaps the anti corrosive would actually be a benefit....did i miss something on that??
anyway yeah, idk why solid copper 16awg is so hard to find....but the magic word here seems to be "dog fence"....fwiw
regarding wiring....i wish i found this other one beforehand
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MOKO820
......this tinned wire i still dont know about
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010T5Z1M2
...i saw some info here and there saying it should be fine, but i am still not convinced, some data still suggests otherwise.....this wire seems to me like 18-20ga thats "coated" in 50% tin lol...i did scratch into it and see some copper but i dont see how they gonna add the tin then still have it be 16awg and expect same conductivity when tin is much less conductive....seems like a total scam, unless ppl wanna use it as smaller gauge then perhaps the anti corrosive would actually be a benefit....did i miss something on that??
anyway yeah, idk why solid copper 16awg is so hard to find....but the magic word here seems to be "dog fence"....fwiw