Modifying Old Blurples for Greater Efficiency...

[ganjamystic]

remove half the drivers. wire half the leds in parallel with the other half
put extra drivers on shelf

instant 10% efficiency upgrade without changing diodes

your light is now half the power so supplement with some newer efficient leds

there are 5 drivers though... I can't remove 2 1/2 drivers... it seems my only options with these drivers are using all 5 with 2 modules per driver (as it was originally) or using only 2 drivers with 5 modules per driver, right?

 

[CobKits]

so pull 2 and run 8 modules at half power and 2 at full power. are the 2 modules per driver in paralle or series now? you might be able to rewire the last two to run at half current (if they are now in series, put them in parallel - they may not light up due to low voltage but then again they may. you wont hurt the leds, they are designed to handle full current and you are giving them less

 

[ganjamystic]

You can run 4 per driver wired in parallel. Or 5 per driver which gets you down to 2 drivers with 3 spares. Then you can hang them anywhere as heat will be negligible.
...

ya I was thinking I could try running 5 per driver and just use 2 drivers... would that mean each module would be getting 32-42V at 284mA (1420 / 5)?... I'm a little confused about wiring them in parallel vs series... how do I know if these drivers are constant voltage or constant current? since they're labeled 32-42V 1420mA, I was thinking that meant they deliver a constant current of 1420 mA... am I misunderstanding? can I use parallel wiring with a constant current driver? I guess it must be possible since they were originally wired with 2 connections coming out of the DC side of each driver, each going to a separate module (2 modules per driver), that must have been parallel wiring, right?

@CobKits ?

 

[CobKits]

can I use parallel wiring with a constant current driver?

yes it will split that 1420 mA out over however many numbers of modules you put in parallel. running the whole thing on 2 drivers will cut down on output considerably but efficiency will be way up and it would make for a great veg lamp

 

[ganjamystic]

so pull 2 and run 8 modules at half power and 2 at full power. are the 2 modules per driver in paralle or series now? you might be able to rewire the last two to run at half current (if they are now in series, put them in parallel - they may not light up due to low voltage but then again they may. you wont hurt the leds, they are designed to handle full current and you are giving them less

ok I think I get this lol. I'm pretty sure they were wired 2 per driver in parallel before, because each driver's DC end connected to 2 modules... none of the modules were connected directly to each other...

 

[CobKits]

leave the other drivers in there. get some primary wire and wagos and get to snipping and splicing. can be a 15 min surgery. prob best to cut the ac to the drivers that are not wired to leds. make sure to wirenut any leads you cut that will still be hot

 

[ganjamystic]

@CobKits , thank you btw! I know you are a busy guy with a business to run. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions

 

[CobKits]

no worries, good luck!

 

[Photon Flinger]

yup

remove half the drivers. wire half the leds in parallel with the other half
put extra drivers on shelf

instant 10% efficiency upgrade without changing diodes

your light is now half the power so supplement with some newer efficient leds

With blurples typically being driven at their nominal, the efficiency improvement is far more profound, likely in the 20-40% range. The better quality the light source, the less of an improvement.

 

[CobKits]

ive never seen an led that gains much more than 10% by cutting current in half, they all follow the same thermodynamics

 

[Photon Flinger]

ya I was thinking I could try running 5 per driver and just use 2 drivers... would that mean each module would be getting 32-42V at 284mA (1420 / 5)?... I'm a little confused about wiring them in parallel vs series... how do I know if these drivers are constant voltage or constant current? since they're labeled 32-42V 1420mA, I was thinking that meant they deliver a constant current of 1420 mA... am I misunderstanding? can I use parallel wiring with a constant current driver? I guess it must be possible since they were originally wired with 2 connections coming out of the DC side of each driver, each going to a separate module (2 modules per driver), that must have been parallel wiring, right?

@CobKits ?

Yeah, wiring in parallel splits the current in half so long as both are the same voltage. They are cc drivers most likely.

Easiest way to set up for parallel is to construct a terminal block that provides a bridge for each of the DC poles that will mate with the existing connectors to the leds. There are several ways to do this depending on your skill level so you will get numerous opinions all of which will be correct. I would suggest doing some research into simple electrical and electronics, youtube has a lot of good stuff.

 

[ganjamystic]

Yeah, wiring in parallel splits the current in half so long as both are the same voltage. They are cc drivers most likely.

Easiest way to set up for parallel is to construct a terminal block that provides a bridge for each of the DC poles that will mate with the existing connectors to the leds. There are several ways to do this depending on your skill level so you will get numerous opinions all of which will be correct. I would suggest doing some research into simple electrical and electronics, youtube has a lot of good stuff.

I was just planning on using wagos

 

[Photon Flinger]

ive never seen an led that gains much more than 10% by cutting current in half, they all follow the same thermodynamics

Well, I find that cutting the draw in half resulted in approximately a 75% reduction in temps for the delta between case and ambient. Cutting in half again was less pronounced, about 85% reduction overall.

 

[ganjamystic]

I'd love to post some pics.. I've never posted any that I've taken. I only know how to insert pics into a post with a url. I have no idea how to post pics from a camera or phone, or how to upload them online somewhere so I can post them with a url... obviously tons of people are posting pics they take.. can somebody help me out? maybe just pm me or something... thanks!!

 

[Randomblame]

Hey ganjamystic,
sorry for the delay. Very busy currently.
I've added a few screenies with the documented upload process on Android, should be similar on IOS.

In short,
- press "upload a file",
- choose you document provider or galerie in the next step(whatever pops up, but do not forget to give your browser
storage permissions otherwise you get not permissions to choose files from internal storage),
- now navigate to the folder with the pictures you want to upload.
- As last choose the image which shall be uploaded.



BTW,
I would also recommend to use 5 modules per driver in parallel for ~280mA per diode and to run all LED's with the same current/brightness.
Only ~100w net./120w total but should be enough to supplement your whites.
5 port Wagos are perfect to get these job done.

 

[ganjamystic]

pics..

 

[ganjamystic]

this is how it was all wired together originally.. (minus the power cord connector and switch, which I cut off because they're still attached to the case..)

you can see 2 leads coming from each driver, connecting each driver to 2 of these modules

 

[Mohican]

So you could run each bar with one driver.

 

[ganjamystic]

...I would also recommend to use 5 modules per driver in parallel for ~280mA per diode and to run all LED's with the same current/brightness.
Only ~100w net./120w total...

ok so I could do it the way you suggested... but is there any way to run 2 parallel strings of 5 modules in series (if that makes sense..)? as in, could I wire each of those bars as 5 modules in series and then wire each bar in parallel to a driver or multiple drivers wired together? why were the drivers wired together originally? can I wire multiple drivers together and combine the voltages?.... sorry for stupid questions...

So you could run each bar with one driver.

I'm also wondering if there are other options.. involving wiring modules together in series... or if running 5 per driver in parallel is the best option...

 

[Mohican]

The AC power for the drivers were connected together. The two output plugs drive the LEDs.

I would ad a plug to one driver and connect it to all five modules and make each bar a separate light.

Easy peasy.