Noticed my Led flicker a couple of times
- Thread starter CraigMk
- Start date
7CardBud
Well-Known Member
You're probably hovering right around the threshold voltage for that boardset. Most people run them on the 54V drivers. I would max out the voltage trimmer on your driver and see if it eliminates the flickering. If it still flickers your options would be to run cooler, add cooling to lights or run less amps. Upgrade the driver to 54V.
CraigMk
Well-Known Member
This is 2 separate led fixture that are identical and have 2 x 240w drivers , each running 2 boards.
the boards are 48v boards and was told / advised on forums that I could run the 4 boards with 1 driver as as it would be more efficient then running them separate and having them dimmed 50%. Does that sound right?
In the last hour while watering, its flickered 5-10 times if that. Its not constant like a strobe light haha.
The driver itself isn't hot at all and you can easily hold your hand on the heatsinks no problem.
Thanks for replying.
the boards are 48v boards and was told / advised on forums that I could run the 4 boards with 1 driver as as it would be more efficient then running them separate and having them dimmed 50%. Does that sound right?
In the last hour while watering, its flickered 5-10 times if that. Its not constant like a strobe light haha.
The driver itself isn't hot at all and you can easily hold your hand on the heatsinks no problem.
Thanks for replying.
Rennpappe
Active Member
No you don't.
It's a HLG-240H-48B.
What happens if you disconnect the dimming wires? The driver should try to deliver full power.
Does it flicker?
If one driver cannot run four boards without flickering you might have to use two drivers.
However I also think that one driver should be enough to drive four boards. Maybe your cables are faulty.
Last edited:
Rocket Soul
Well-Known Member
Does the flicker happen on all 4 boards, on one board or on 2 boards at the same time?
The AB-type driver you got : its a drver that was marketed as having the best of A type and B type in the same driver. But apparently it seems like they have ditched the voltage regulation knob that would give you those extra couple of volts to give you a better margin. Depending on your boards forward voltage they may be enough (especially if driven soft) or just short of voltage range. Its a bit tricky cause even on the meanwell report webpage, which is usually the best page for actual spec, it says that this sriver should have voltage regulation, even if it appears as it doesnt have that.
Those boards youve got there are 16+1 diodes, which would give you around 28V forward voltage if run soft but kinda depending on the voltage bin of the diodes.
Id start with trying out if the driver still does it with the dimmer attached.
gooshpoo
Well-Known Member
are you using a potentiometer or a controller? I was having a flicker problem on my hlg wile using ac infinity controller turned out i had the wrong adapter.
Check your wiring, this means all wiring from the wall to the light.
Did you place a AC plug on the cable? check it.
Did you wire the Potentiometer or adapter plug?check it.
Did you hook wire the lights? check all the connection.
The driver or Potentiometer could be failing , disconnect the Potentiometer or controller, the light should go to its maximum setting.
If you have checked all wiring and the "Dimmer" is disconnected and the light is still flickering the driver could be failing.
At this point i would unhook one of the board and continue to monitor.
Make sure whenever you are messing around with the wiring you have it unplugged. I am a trained electrical person you are not
Do you own a multimeter and are familiar with how to use it?
Disconnect all lights set the Multimeter to DC measure and monitor the voltage accross the the 24V watch for a quick fluctuation in voltage.
in order to do this you will have to plug the driver into the wall, bare leads will be exposed you need to take the upmost safety in not allowing these to touch.
If a Voltage drop is observed then its safe to say the some component inside of the driver is most likely failing.
If no drop is observed then hook up each light separately one at a time and observer the voltage on the out of the fixture voltage.
If no flickering is observed hook up all panels adding one at a time checking for flickering in between hooking each panel up.
when you find the panel causing the problem switch it out with a different panel.
If the problem persists after a new panel is placed then the driver is bad.
hope this helps
Check your wiring, this means all wiring from the wall to the light.
Did you place a AC plug on the cable? check it.
Did you wire the Potentiometer or adapter plug?check it.
Did you hook wire the lights? check all the connection.
The driver or Potentiometer could be failing , disconnect the Potentiometer or controller, the light should go to its maximum setting.
If you have checked all wiring and the "Dimmer" is disconnected and the light is still flickering the driver could be failing.
At this point i would unhook one of the board and continue to monitor.
Make sure whenever you are messing around with the wiring you have it unplugged. I am a trained electrical person you are not
Do you own a multimeter and are familiar with how to use it?
Disconnect all lights set the Multimeter to DC measure and monitor the voltage accross the the 24V watch for a quick fluctuation in voltage.
in order to do this you will have to plug the driver into the wall, bare leads will be exposed you need to take the upmost safety in not allowing these to touch.
If a Voltage drop is observed then its safe to say the some component inside of the driver is most likely failing.
If no drop is observed then hook up each light separately one at a time and observer the voltage on the out of the fixture voltage.
If no flickering is observed hook up all panels adding one at a time checking for flickering in between hooking each panel up.
when you find the panel causing the problem switch it out with a different panel.
If the problem persists after a new panel is placed then the driver is bad.
hope this helps
CraigMk
Well-Known Member
Thanks for your time. I'm a builder and very aware when dealing with electricity, I keep away from that and gas as when it goes wrong people can die. I will get that multimeter from a pal tomorrow and have a good read again.
Very good instructions and I understand, if not I will message.
Thanks.
BrazillianGrower
Active Member
If you are using a 48v qb288, they will work at around 45-46v, the driver is to be used in parallel, dividing the 5A, in this case each board will work with 1.22a, around 54w per board, when you connect from one board to the other, you increase the current on the first board, causing heating, which is the reason for the oscillation, the correct thing to do in parallel connection is to use 4 positive wires and 4 negative wires connected directly to the driver using a 221-415 waggo, do not connect from one board to the other. other.
Rocket Soul
Well-Known Member
You may wanna be careful describing these as qb288: they may have the same amount of diodes but these boards dont look like they have the same diode string as the old hlg qb288.
The hlg is 16x 18 diodes in series, this one looks like its 18x 16diodes in series, 2 being reds. But i believe you probably got the voltage right.