Quick Driver Question

[DukeFluke]

Would a hlg-480h-48b model work for my needs?
Or is the extra voltage an issue?

 

[DukeFluke]

Theyre Bridgelux gen3 38v btw

One thing I can't get my head round is, if pushing the voltage of the driver to it's max gives me extra watts, how is the power limited by having a higher voltage driver than rated for the Strips? Is it a safety feature?

And if so, can I simply adjust the voltage down on the driver?

I'm asking because I can get a few of these 48v drivers quite cheap

 

[shimbob]

You will get less power with a -48 became they provide less amps than the -42

 

[DukeFluke]

You will get less power with a -48 became they provide less amps than the -42

Cheers dude, how much less are we talking about?
I mean, if I could get three drivers for the price of two otherwise, would it be a good investment?

 

[7CardBud]

Diodes need current to run and enough voltage to overcome the forward drop over the series of diodes. Watts law A=W/V, a higher voltage at a set wattage will yield less amps. So, for a certain fixed watt driver series, the current will be reduced as the volts increases.

 

[1212ham]

Everyone of these threads i rec the test report, love to see someone else using it. Between about a few percent more in actual current, and the sometimes up 10% extra Voltage the A-type driver can give theres almost 15% extra output over rating. Im not sure but i think when i looked into this its generally more prominent on the lower watt drivers. If OP wanted he could probably make this work with 36A drivers, especially if he wanted to run around nominal power, for about 38V output. The 185-36A can get up to 40V output which is enough. But then again you can never be 100% sure that you can get over spec, but i believe 38V would be in spec.
It was actually @CobKits who clued me in in an old thread: test report will give you values which are closest to actual measured output.

The extra power from A-type drivers are twofold: 1: some extra current in the output. Usually a few percent at least. Again, check test report.
2: extra voltage: you can adjust voltage up by about 10% or even more which would make it easy for a 48A driver to handle 50V boards/cobs usually.

For the B-type driver the extra power lies in running the driver without dimmer pot: the dimmer will make the range from 0/5% (some will dim to off) to 100% out current but if you either unplug the dimmer (or just keep a switch on the circuit to break it whenever you want that extra boost) or you set up your pot with a small resistor in series taking the restiance of the dimmer circuit up a bit to get the extra juice. I cant remember quite how to do this though, its on some thread somewhere.
But you wouldnt get that extra voltage on a B-type driver, only on A-type.
Ive still not got a real sense of what actually is the case of AB-type drivers; ive seen some say they have voltage + current dimming knobs, and external dimming aswell. Some says its only current for onboard dimming. Some schematics show 2 knobs (or holes) some show only one.

B type dimming needs 100k or higher for full power. Potentiometers (pots) can be below their rated spec due to manufacturing tolerances so many people add a 10K resistor in series.

Regarding the internal pots, I think it's only the HLG-320H-xx with A or AB dimming that has just one internal pot, for current.

It looks like max voltage can vary depending on the wattage of the driver. I've seen 38.5v and 40v max for 36v drivers in datasheet.
HLG-240H is 38.5v in datasheet, 39.3v in test report. I think a 36v driver with A or AB dimming and 40v max would be the best match. A little extra is needed to cover wire loss.

 

[1212ham]

Theyre Bridgelux gen3 38v btw

One thing I can't get my head round is, if pushing the voltage of the driver to it's max gives me extra watts, how is the power limited by having a higher voltage driver than rated for the Strips? Is it a safety feature?

And if so, can I simply adjust the voltage down on the driver?

I'm asking because I can get a few of these 48v drivers quite cheap

Volts x Amps = Watts
The 48v driver is 10 amps so 38 volt strips x 10 amps = 380w
42v driver is 11.4a, 38v x 11.4a = 433w
36v driver is 13.3a, 38v x 13.3a = 505w

 

[DukeFluke]

Thanks for that, appreciate it. So, for the 38v gen 3, why wouldn't I buy HLG-480h-36A and push it to max Instead of buying the 42v version?

What voltage driver would you all use to run the 112cm bridgelux gen 3's?

Thanks again

 

[DukeFluke]

I think a 36v driver with A or AB dimming and 40v max would be the best match. A little extra is needed to cover wire loss.

Thanks man. So, how come the 42v driver is recommended for the 38v strips?
Is it the case that with the 42v driver I can only get 433w from the 480?

 

[7CardBud]

I would get the 42A. Better to get a driver that will deliver 433 watts than a driver that might deliver 505 watts.
@1212ham also mentioned manufacturer tolerances. What happens if over time, on a some hot day the strips
now need 39.5volts to overcome forward drop? The 42A will have the extra voltage to compensate, will the 36A?

 

[Rocket Soul]

Hey Duke! The issue is also tied to whats your desired drive current: if you want to push 1050ma then go for a a 42. But remember that efficiency drops off very fast on those blux strips, over 10% from 700-1050 ma. Id try yo run them at softer, 500-700ma. Then you could either try 2x240-36A. Alternatively if you want to really able to max out lighting the you can go for 3x185h-36A: they go all the way up to +41V and push up to 5.9A. But if youre running these at max you want to have them fanned down as youd be running as far as you can over spec.

Learn how to check the meanwell web: google meanwell hlgXXX-XXA to find the model on the meanwell web, click and scroll down to "report" and download the pdf. Most of the important info is on the first page. This is the 185-36A

 

[1212ham]

Thanks man. So, how come the 42v driver is recommended for the 38v strips?
Is it the case that with the 42v driver I can only get 433w from the 480?

To zero in on this, we need to know the amps per strip, how many do you plan to use?

 

[1212ham]

To zero in on this, we need to know the amps per strip, how many do you plan to use?

Poorly worded, meant to ask how many strips? I'd suggest 20, or more.

 

[DukeFluke]

To zero in on this, we need to know the amps per strip, how many do you plan to use?

I can use as many strips as necessary, I've got a load of 90cri 2700k to use and want a flower light that gives me about 500w

 

[DukeFluke]

Hey Duke! The issue is also tied to whats your desired drive current: if you want to push 1050ma then go for a a 42. But remember that efficiency drops off very fast on those blux strips, over 10% from 700-1050 ma. Id try yo run them at softer, 500-700ma. Then you could either try 2x240-36A. Alternatively if you want to really able to max out lighting the you can go for 3x185h-36A: they go all the way up to +41V and push up to 5.9A. But if youre running these at max you want to have them fanned down as youd be running as far as you can over spec.

Learn how to check the meanwell web: google meanwell hlgXXX-XXA to find the model on the meanwell web, click and scroll down to "report" and download the pdf. Most of the important info is on the first page. This is the 185-36A

Thanks for that buddy. So, theoretically the 3 x 185s can do 740w based on those numbers?
The 480h-42A does 540 at max based on the test report, which is all I'll need tbh.

At 480w, I'd need 25 strips on the fixture to keep them around 500ma, have I worked that out right?

 

[7CardBud]

You can always run series-parallel circuits and use a 480H-C.xxxx driver.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Thanks for that buddy. So, theoretically the 3 x 185s can do 740w based on those numbers?
The 480h-42A does 540 at max based on the test report, which is all I'll need tbh.

At 480w, I'd need 25 strips on the fixture to keep them around 500ma, have I worked that out right?

I wouldnt rec to keep them on full power cuase they arent speced for that wattage but yeah, about that. Youd probably need to use a number dividable by 3 for your strips, either 24 or 27 should do.

 

[DukeFluke]

I wouldnt rec to keep them on full power cause they arent speced for that wattage

How come mate?

If there are 24 strips on the fixture, that's only 20w per strip. If I use 26 it's just18w. At nominal current on the data sheet they're at 26.8w

(I'm talking about the 112cm strips btw)

 

[DukeFluke]

You can always run series-parallel circuits and use a 480H-C.xxxx driver.

Thanks bud. What options do I have with the Blux strips doing it that way?

 

[Rocket Soul]

How come mate?

If there are 24 strips on the fixture, that's only 20w per strip. If I use 26 it's just18w. At nominal current on the data sheet they're at 26.8w

(I'm talking about the 112cm strips btw)

I meant the drivers. If you juice them up to 250w they are going to run over standard wattage and probably quite hot; theyre only ment to dissipate 200w thru the chassis.
If youre talking about the 4 foot strips youre well into efficient territory. 20 w on a 2 footer and efficiency is markedly down, especially on the slim version.
Remember the slim version has slightly dodgy connectors which dont work well with 1mm stranded. Not sure what AWG that would be