Lighting Sizing drivers, Series vs paralell - by BigSm0

[SpiffyFoxx]

I just got the HLG-240H-C1050B running four 1818s in series. I just got the driver on Wednesday night....WOW....What a difference from the no name 600ma Chinese junk. My very first Meanie!! I will be grabbing the 320 version as well. I now have a KICK ass light setup...Just in time for my AvT and Livers N Cheese. Just finished my very first Autos....Three Walter White phistos that showed two very distinct phenos. The two I'm assuming are rock solid Walter...But the other one is like a more spindley and lanky girl that screams old school Northern Lights. Very strong Northern aroma. Just harvested two about 2 hours ago and got one more coming in 2 or 3 days. I picked these a day or two early, because I love the super quality of the genetics when the trichomes are just milky. Such an uplifting high rather than couch lock.

I have to assume I have the most MacGyvered light on AFN...Or close to it. All my cobs are on one circuit, but they are all on different pieces and parts that I stole from other places. One is on a 133mm anodized pin fin...Which is on a freaking gooseneck!!!!! Another one is an tiny heatsink with a fan....On ANOTHER gooseneck, and the last two are on a slab of heatsink.....With fans. I turned an old car stereo amp chassis into the standoff to mount my potentiometer for my 240 Meanie. Works great. The true spirit of DIY is scrounging as much as building!! Good luck to all the true diy COB guys!!!!!!! Peace

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I pictured some super ghetto rigged up light system that's flickering, and somehow it just goes perfect with the creepy clown avatar.
Yummy! Pie!

 

[Mr.Prospector]

Hey everyone. I've been lurking and reading here for quite a while but this is my first post.

I have a grow space that is slightly smaller than 4ftx4ft. I started with a cheap 600w HPS but due to heat, I bought a Mars II 1600. It works, and I've gotten decent results, but its a cheap Chinese light and heats my space more that I'd like.

So, I've decided to take the plunge and build my own COB light. I've got everything picked out but need help picking a driver.

As I said, my grow space is slightly under 4x4 and I thought I'd start by building a light to cover 1/2 of that and then add another light for the other half later on.

I'm looking at putting 3 lights on a 3' canopy rail. I'll be using 2-CREE CXB3590 (3500K 80 CRI) LEDs with a single CREE CXB3590 (3000K 90 CRI) in the middle. Each will have a reflector and be mounted to a pin heatsink for passive cooling.

I'd like to make this light dimmable and I'm looking at Mean Well drivers but there are so many different models/specs, my head is spinning.

Can someone suggest the best driver for the light I'm building?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dr.Bubbles]

HLG Constant Current Series. For example HLG-320H-C1050B. Get the B suffix. Also get a 100k ohm linear taper potentiometer for dimming.

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[Dr.Bubbles]

Use the Constant Current driver selection tool on LED gardener website. That should help you.

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[Dr.Bubbles]

Wired in series also.

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[Mr.Prospector]

Thanks.
I'll go have a look...

 

[Dr.Bubbles]

Your driver will look like this:

HLG-___H-C____B. Fill in the blank's. First number is size of driver . 60, 120, 185, 240, 320, 480. Second number is the current it puts out in mA. 700,1050,1400,1750,2100

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[Mr.Prospector]

I have so much to learn.
Gonna be fun!

 

[Mr.Prospector]

So, those 3590s have a Max Drive Current of 3600mA. How close to that do I imput on the spreadsheet and what are the advantages?

 

[Dr.Bubbles]

Volts x Amps = watts. Higher drive current would run the cobs harder. Example: 36v x 1050mA is 36 x 1.05 = 37.8w. 36v x 1400mA is 36 x 1.4 = 50.4w. Higher current drives them harder....But it also eats up power faster from a driver. Its all a matter of choice. Its cheaper to get a few cobs and drive em hard. BUT if you really wanna see what CXB3590s can do...drive em at about 40-50w each. More cobs running softer is better. Example. 10 running at 40w each for 400w is WAY better than 4 at 100w each. Still 400w, but the lower driven ones will outperform the harder driven ones. Run cooler too. Just get as many as you can. Run em softer if you can afford to buy more gear. Cobs rule.

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