Meanwell HLG-600H-36B Issue

[TImmyC]

Hello,

I am in the process of building a 12 LED (CXB3590 36V) Array. I purchased a HLG-600H-36B in the hopes of driving each LED at 50W. The driver has two output cables. I've hooked up 6 LEDs to one cable and 6 LEDs to the other. All connections have been done in series. When I plug in the driver, the lights aren't firing. Both cables are reading 36v as they should. I bought three of these drivers and even tried to run the array with another driver--no dice. I've also tested each light independently with a HLG-60H-36B set to 1.35 Amps-just under 50W and they work great. I've searched all over the net and there is very little information on these drivers and I'm not exactly an EE. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[G84]

Hlg 600 should have 2 COUPLE of DC output.
So,considering 1 series of 6 cob, 1 red from hlg (+) should be wired to + of first cob, and 1 black (-) wired to - of last cob.
Than do the same for the other 6 series with the other couple of +- from the driver.
Also check wiring between cob(positive to negative)...If somewhere wiring is faulty, the circuit is not close and cob will not turn on.

 

[BobCajun]

You need to wire them in parallel instead of series. With six 36v COBs in series the voltage required is 6x36=216. The driver only puts out 18-36v. Plus, in series the COBS would all be getting 16.7 amps each. Obviously well above the rated current. Fortunately the voltage was way too low to actually start the lights up so I guess they didn't get toasted.

When you have a driver with a low voltage output and high current, like yours, you have to use parallel wiring. When it's high voltage, low current THEN you wire in series. Yours only puts out enough voltage for 1 COB, therefore it has to be in parallel. Parallel splits the current between the COBs while series splits the voltage.

 

[TImmyC]

Thank you for the response. 1) I wired them in the manner you illustrated. 2) All of the individual COBs were checked with the wiring in tact.

The LEDs are mounted to aluminum pin heat sinks using IDEAL COB holders. The COB holders are rated for 4 AMPs. 6 COBs will draw over 8 amps. I am wondering if the driver can sense that in the circuit.? Should I use the COB holders but direct solder the COB's? I am also using 18 gauge solid wire.

 

[TImmyC]

Thank you Bob. That is my mistake. I was trying to avoid parallel wiring based it's ability to overdrive (high amperage) and ability to set fires. I will research circuit protection and wire them in parallel. I really appreciate the help and sorry for the newb questions.

 

[BobCajun]

Thank you for the response. 1) I wired them in the manner you illustrated. 2) All of the individual COBs were checked with the wiring in tact.

The LEDs are mounted to aluminum pin heat sinks using IDEAL COB holders. The COB holders are rated for 4 AMPs. 6 COBs will draw over 8 amps. I am wondering if the driver can sense that in the circuit.? Should I use the COB holders but direct solder the COB's? I am also using 18 gauge solid wire.

Well your driver puts out 16.7 amps. If you wired in parallel, which in your first post you said you didn't, that current would be split in 6 parts so each COB would be getting 1.5 amps (1500 ma). That's an appropriate current. But did you wire them in parallel? That means the + wire connected to the + terminals of all 6 COBs and - to - terminals, not a daisy chain of COBs. If you daisy chain them it will fail.

 

[BobCajun]

Thank you Bob. That is my mistake. I was trying to avoid parallel wiring based it's ability to overdrive (high amperage) and ability to set fires. I will research circuit protection and wire them in parallel. I really appreciate the help and sorry for the newb questions.

Okay, you understand the problem now then. There can be problems with parallel wiring if one of the COBs screws up, because then the current is only split between 5. I haven't actually read any posts where it caused problems though, but in theory it could.

 

[BobCajun]

Actually I guess I screwed up that calculation. 16.7 amps divided by 6 would be 2.78 amps on each COB. That's assuming that each of the two outputs put out 16.7 amps. There's another problem though, because when you first turn on a CXB3590 they take a voltage of 37.25 at that current. When they warm up they take lower voltage but your driver is only rated for 36v max so they probably won't be able to light up. You'll probably get flashing instead of the COBs starting up. If so, that's why. You'd have to run them at less than 2 amps for the voltage to stay under 36 at all times. Looking at the data sheet, it says the voltage adjustment can go as high as 37.8 so you may be okay as long as it's set to maximum voltage with the screw.

 

[TImmyC]

Actually I guess I screwed up that calculation. 16.7 amps divided by 6 would be 2.7 amps on each COB. That's assuming that each of the two outputs put out 16.7 amps.

The weird thing about these drivers is that they have two 36v output cables. So I was thinking of running two separate 6 COB parallel circuits and split the amperage. The data sheet says that the driver outputs a max of 16.7 amps. I hate to make assumptions but I am hoping that it is 8.35 amps per cable. The total rated output is 600 watts. If it were 16.7 per feed it would over 1200 watts. Man I can't thank you enough for the information.

 

[BobCajun]

The weird thing about these drivers is that they have two 36v output cables. So I was thinking of running two separate 6 COB parallel circuits and split the amperage. The data sheet says that the driver outputs a max of 16.7 amps. I hate to make assumptions but I am hoping that it is 8.35 amps per cable. The total rated output is 600 watts. If it were 16.7 per feed it would over 1200 watts. Man I can't thank you enough for the information.

I added some more text to my last post. It looks like you should be okay with that driver in parallel. I'll see if I can find out about the current for each output.

 

[BobCajun]

Okay I don't know why it has 2 sets of output leads. Doesn't explain it in the data sheet. I would assume that both put the same current out, 16.78 amps. I don't know what would happen if you hooked 6 COBs up to each set. You'd have to try it and test the current with a multimeter I guess. Probably it divides the current by 12 but I can't say for sure.

 

[TImmyC]

I will post the amperage draw for everyone's future reference. I have a DC Clamp Meter that seems to be pretty accurate.

 

[TImmyC]

8.4 amps per cable. Lights are working great!

 

[BobCajun]

8.4 amps per cable. Lights are working great!

I see, it splits the current between the two outputs. It worked out the way you wanted it then. I guess one advantage of parallel wiring is that you can use low voltage COB holders like BJB instead of the metal Ideal ones. Then you have more reflector options because more brands fit the BJBs. Parallel wiring does have its good side, low voltage components.