DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

uzerneims

Well-Known Member
Yes you can use the HLG-120H-C1050, HLG-120H-C1400, HLG-185H-C1050, HLG-185H-C1400 etc. all dimmable, all power factor corrected and all up to 94% efficient, awesome options except the high voltage issue might deter some DIYers
Appreciate!
So using - HLG-185H-C1050 = 155W on both COB's.
Naah man, not scared from voltage, just plug everthing off ;D
 
high voltage issue might deter some DIYers
So could anyone explain the issues with running high voltage in series? I can wire a home from the service entrance to a receptacle but I have very little experience with DC. What are some of the pros and cons with running these cobs in series? I assume that if 1 cob goes out the whole series goes out which would make diagnosing very hard but do you lose efficiency or lumen output? I'm trying to decide which is a better approach, using 2 HLG-185H-C1050 in series to run 6 cobs or running a driver for each cob.
 

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
In short, higher voltage has the ability to overcome resistance and flow current in places that low voltage cannot normally access, particularly your skin. The high voltage requires a wire jacket with a higher voltage rating. So as long as you can cover your solder points and any exposed metal, it should be no problem. And worst case scenario if you do get zorked you will probably be just fine (I have been shocked by 120V many times and once badly by 240V and no harm done, BUT it is a risk that has the potential to kill and we need to respect and be aware of.
 

Greengenes707

Well-Known Member
So could anyone explain the issues with running high voltage in series? I can wire a home from the service entrance to a receptacle but I have very little experience with DC. What are some of the pros and cons with running these cobs in series? I assume that if 1 cob goes out the whole series goes out which would make diagnosing very hard but do you lose efficiency or lumen output? I'm trying to decide which is a better approach, using 2 HLG-185H-C1050 in series to run 6 cobs or running a driver for each cob.
If only running 3 per driver...then get the hlg120. You'll come closer to he max load and get better efficiency.
The hlg185 can do 5 cxa's @1050ma maxed out.
 

epicfail

Well-Known Member

DiyKindaGuy

Active Member
sorry bout chirpin in but those voltage stun guns they send out a lil stun is like 200 to 500 volts

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Rollitup mobile app
 

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
Cree has set us up with a confusing situation. The 630nm reds are binned for brightness with the P3 bin, but the 660nm Photo Reds use P2 P3 P4 and P5 to designate the wavelength rather than the brightness bin. For brightness they use groups 13 and 14, order numbers ending in 801 and 901. Luckily for us, the only photo reds I have seen have all been the higher bin group 14 (901). As EF pointed out LED-tech claims to have group 15 but according to the Cree XPE binning and labeling PDF on page 32, group 13 and 14 are for the photo reds and group 15 is for the royal blues so I dunno we might want to investigate that? Also they are asking almost $7 ea while cutter is asking $2.60. That allows us to run them softer which makes them more efficient and cheaper in practice.

Here is how the deep reds stack up, if we normalize to 700mA Tj 50C we get:
Cree XPE 630nm P3 bin - 40.8% - $4.09/PAR W
Cree XPE2 630nm P3 bin - 38.5% - $5.63/PAR
Cree XPE Photo Red group 14 - 42.4% - $4.60/PAR W
Luxeon ES 660nm EX6 bin - 38.25% - $5.66/PAR W
Osram Hyper red 656nm 3T bin - 39.9% - $6.81/PAR W

Long story short, the XPE red is cheapest from AC-RC.net you can choose 20mm stars and the photo red is cheapest from Cutter on 10mm stars. Personally I dislike 10mm stars so I would go through the trouble of remounting them onto 20mm stars LOL. There is one other problem, Cutter charges quite a lot for basic shipping. I am currently talking to Mark to see if there are any other options.
 

guod

Well-Known Member
here in europa it´s no question what to buy...

CREE XP-E Photo Red on Star...........5,49 €
OSRAM Oslon SSL 80 red on Star......2,99 €

....two* oslons will ever beat one cree, better spread included

same for whites...

Cree XP-G2 R5.................6.89 € /down to 6.39 € at 20
Nichia NVSW219BT..........4.99 € /down to 3.99 € at 10
 

bushrider

Member
Supra,

FYI I called cutter.
They will do any LED on any compatible board they sell as a custom run even in small qty.
They dont charge much extra for custom orders ....
I was considering adding some XPE2 red and XPE photo red to my mostly cxa3070 3000K setup and was planning on going with noctigon copper stars/tristars .... running 700ma dimmable ... overkill? probably but I pay a lot for power so I don't mind a higher upfront cost ... its also greener

was thinking 1:2 630nm:660nm maybe 20-30% the dissipation of the cxa3070 3Ks, too provide a balanced deep red boost.
 

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
Good info bushrider. The CXA3070 3000K has quite a lot of 630nm red output, especially if the CXA represents 80% of the total output. So maybe you could go with mostly photo red and add a bit of blue as well to maintain the blue ratio. Steves LEDs is offering a new top bin for the 445nm blues (60% efficient at 700mA) for $2.50 ea with a coupon code OverstockRoyalBlues
http://shop.stevesleds.com/Philips-Luxeon-ES-ROYAL-BLUE-3-Watt-LEDs-Luxeon-ES-Royal-Blue.htm

That works out to $2.32/PAR W and widens the blue peak of the CXA3070. According to @Greengenes707 spectroradiometer test the CXA3070 blue peak is at 460nm
 
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Bueno Time

Well-Known Member
Someone has surely tried these drivers out, right? Supra I think mentioned them testing within specs but that shipping took a long time on them. I just want to make sure they are good before I order like 15 of them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390696103437?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Yes they do seem to be the same drivers I am using for the CXA3590s. They put out about 270mA at 88% efficiency. Should work great for your Veros :)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390696103437?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Nice to know so I should expect around 270mA @88%, I ordered 2 of those drivers and two Vero 10 4000K last night to play with. See how I like the spectrum, light output and spread of the little COBs before I commit to ordering a larger quantity for a new lighting setup.


Possible plan is 2'x3' footprint 32" long heatsink bars 6 Vero 10 4000K per bar, 2 Vero 10 per driver linked above.
 

Greengenes707

Well-Known Member
Nice to know so I should expect around 270mA @88%, I ordered 2 of those drivers and two Vero 10 4000K last night to play with. See how I like the spectrum, light output and spread of the little COBs before I commit to ordering a larger quantity for a new lighting setup.

Possible plan is 2'x3' footprint 32" long heatsink bars 6 Vero 10 4000K per bar, 2 Vero 10 per driver linked above.
I'm not 100% sure, but you maybe could run all 24 of those vero10's @267ma with a hlg185-30.
4 parallel strings, one to each bar...then 6 chips parallel on each of the 4 main parallels.
6.2amps>>>>(4)1.6amps>>>>>>(6).26666amps (266.6666ma)

or do the same thing with the hlg240 and be able to go as high as 200w/333ma, then dim from there.
 
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