Bridgelux EB Gen 1 strips

[Randomblame]

Finally have a day to put this thing together. Not exactly sure what way to go.. Mount to the flat aluminum or go with the L channel. I will try both ways before anything is permanent. I went with the hlg 320 24v driver. I also have double side thermal tape. Hope to have the thing lit up by the days end.

Red is negative and black is positive correct? Joking..

Looks good, I have only one tip for you!
First decide how to install the strips "before" using the thermal tape. Once glued, it's very hard to remove and you could break your stripes while trying. No joking...

 

[ANC]

I am curious if I should go with a constant current or constant voltage

Imagine you had an LED you could drive with 1V. lets say it had a resistance of 1 ohm, which using Ohm's law would pull 1A for a total of 1W of power.

In the real world, the LED gets warmer when it runs. So let us say you power this LED with a constant voltage. It heats up and as things heat up, the electrons have more energy and less resistance. The LED now has a resistance of 0.8ohm. Your driver adjusts the voltage to stay 1V. 1/0.8 = 1.25A going through the LED. So now you are pushing 1.25W through the LED. Now it heats up more and it adjusts again and it just gets worse and worse until you burn out the LED.

 

[Rp1972]

Looks good, I have only one tip for you!
First decide how to install the strips "before" using the thermal tape. Once glued, it's very hard to remove and you could break your stripes while trying. No joking...

I think a bit of tetris will be in order first. Not sure what spread to go with.Yeah I think I read on another thread that it's almost impossible to remove safely. Now to decide on the spread of these. I saw one post that someone put one in center and them 3 inches apart then 2.5 in then 2 in.. I am gonna try that first.

 

[Randomblame]

I think a bit of tetris will be in order first. Not sure what spread to go with.Yeah I think I read on another thread that it's almost impossible to remove safely. Now to decide on the spread of these. I saw one post that someone put one in center and them 3 inches apart then 2.5 in then 2 in.. I am gonna try that first.

Yeah, they called it logarithmical distribution and it does make sense if you want an even coverage with no hotspot in the middle. But there is no strip in the middle but the widest gap between the strips.
I'll use this space for instance to mount my drivers and for an additional UVB-tube but that's what I prefer. You could also use it for some monocromatics to supplement deep/far red or blue/UVA.

 

[Rp1972]

Yeah, they called it logarithmical distribution and it does make sense if you want an even coverage with no hotspot in the middle. But there is no strip in the middle but the widest gap between the strips.
I'll use this space for instance to mount my drivers and for an additional UVB-tube but that's what I prefer. You could also use it for some monocromatics to supplement deep/far red or blue/UVA.

Yeah that.... Haha... Think I have decided to mount them to the solid aluminum since they will be driven kind of hard eventually so a larger heat sink area should be betrer and I will use the L channels as a frame and stability on the flat stuff...

 

[1212ham]

Imagine you had an LED you could drive with 1V. lets say it had a resistance of 1 ohm, which using Ohm's law would pull 1A for a total of 1W of power.

In the real world, the LED gets warmer when it runs. So let us say you power this LED with a constant voltage. It heats up and as things heat up, the electrons have more energy and less resistance. The LED now has a resistance of 0.8ohm. Your driver adjusts the voltage to stay 1V. 1/0.8 = 1.25A going through the LED. So now you are pushing 1.25W through the LED. Now it heats up more and it adjusts again and it just gets worse and worse until you burn out the LED.

Then why don't we hear of all the parallel wired builds burning up? I haven't read of a single case on RIU.

 

[ANC]

Parallel and series has nothing to do with this, only whether the COB is driven in constant current or voltage.
Most of the HLG drivers are either current dimming or both. Haven't looked for one, but I don't imagine they would have a voltage dimming only driver for the stated reason.

 

[Rp1972]

Parallel and series has nothing to do with this, only whether the COB is driven in constant current or voltage.
Most of the HLG drivers are either current dimming or both. Haven't looked for one, but I don't imagine they would have a voltage dimming only driver for the stated reason.

So are you saying is a CC driver is safer for your equipment?

 

[ANC]

Yes, CC or both CC and voltage on the same driver.
The fancier the driver the more feedback and protection systems it offers.

 

[ANC]

Keep an eye open for Inventronix ballasts, they are being used in the latest HLG designs. some of them even have build-in timers and light ramping.

 

[Randomblame]

HLG CV/CC driver series has both a voltage and a current poti.
The voltage poti can be used to limit the max. voltage, in case of EB/gen1 strips to 22,5v for example. This would avoid thermal runaways because the strips can not get more than 22,5v which means 800-850mA would be the maximum one strip can get. Set the limit to 22,1v and 700mA is the max. and when set to say we 23v the limit is somewhere between 1000 and 1100mA.
If you want to use these drivers, eg. for safety reasons, first set the voltage limit and dimm later only via the current poti.

BTW,
Meanwell also offers the HLG series as T version(with digital timer) like Inventronics, which means you can control voltage, current and set on/off times via PC.

 

[Serva]

Ok, I was looking for them, it seems you mean „D“ version? Actually it’s „D2“ which are programmable? But it seems, there aren‘t sold anywhere, and you need to contact meanwell directly. Guess this is only for buying a bulk?

 

[Randomblame]

Yeah, this is probably the case! I've seen very few orderable so far, but to be honest, I did not search for.

 

[1212ham]

Parallel and series has nothing to do with this, only whether the COB is driven in constant current or voltage.

Parallel is used with constant voltage drivers, series with CC.
Why would Meanwell sell CV drivers if they burn up LED's?
Why aren't the dozens CV builds on RIU burning up the LED's?
I'm not trying to stir the pot but there are several people saying CV causes thermal runaway, yet there are dozens of CV builds on RIU and they are not burning up!

 

[BuddyColas]

Parallel is used with constant voltage drivers, series with CC.
Why would Meanwell sell CV drivers if they burn up LED's?
Why aren't the dozens CV builds on RIU burning up the LED's?
I'm not trying to stir the pot but there are several people saying CV causes thermal runaway, yet there are dozens of CV builds on RIU and they are not burning up!

So anyone getting anxious about "thermal runaway" should see this video.

If you build it right, there is little chance of it. And if you still can't sleep at night, then put a fuse in for each cob/panel. Just saying.

 

[Vehlor]

So anyone getting anxious about "thermal runaway" should see this video.

If you build it right, there is little chance of it. And if you still can't sleep at night, then put a fuse in for each cob/panel. Just saying.

If I have a HLG-185H-48 and 6 x 24v strips:
Can I make 3 groups of 2 lights each wired in serie, and then wire the groups in parallel? Or does it work only with constant current driver?

 

[BuddyColas]

If I have a HLG-185H-48 and 6 x 24v strips:
Can I make 3 groups of 2 lights each wired in serie, and then wire the groups in parallel? Or does it work only with constant current driver?

That should work. Remember your driver is capable of 3.9 amps, or 1.3 amps for each series string of 2 strips. Max current is 1.4 amps. The strips could get very hot very fast if you have it on max current right from the start! Start with the driver current turned down!

 

[Vehlor]

That should work. Remember your driver is capable of 3.9 amps, or 1.3 amps for each series string of 2 strips. Max current is 1.4 amps. The strips could get very hot very fast if you have it on max current right from the start! Start with the driver turned down!

Thanks!

 

[nfhiggs]

Parallel is used with constant voltage drivers, series with CC.
Why would Meanwell sell CV drivers if they burn up LED's?
Why aren't the dozens CV builds on RIU burning up the LED's?
I'm not trying to stir the pot but there are several people saying CV causes thermal runaway, yet there are dozens of CV builds on RIU and they are not burning up!

Exactly. As long as you have sufficient cooling, the system will simply reach temperature equilibrium and stabilize.

 

[ANC]

Looked at dodgikey Seem they have none of the high efficiencies available in less than 400 or 100s apart from the higher Kelvin ones.