Bridgelux EB Series Build

HydroFood · Dec 2, 2018

Running in series does not necessarily equate to better efficiency.
And you won’t be electrocuted by 40v lol
I’m asking if anyone has run 2 in series with strings in parallel to match up with the 36v A driver or similar.
I have builds over 250v in series, and a build with 22 in parallel. Iv just never wired any up in series/parallel.

Nutria · Dec 3, 2018

HydroFood said:
Running in series does not necessarily equate to better efficiency.
And you won’t be electrocuted by 40v lol
I’m asking if anyone has run 2 in series with strings in parallel to match up with the 36v A driver or similar.
I have builds over 250v in series, and a build with 22 in parallel. Iv just never wired any up in series/parallel.

I'm not sure I got what you're saying.
I have a eb2 setup: two strips are in series and then all couples are parallel wired.

HydroFood · Dec 3, 2018

Nutria said:
I'm not sure I got what you're saying.
I have a eb2 setup: two strips are in series and then all couples are parallel wired.

Just curious how it’s worked out. What driver you using for that setup.
I’m looking to utilize the HLG-185h-36a that I have by wiring strings of 2 in parallel just like you it sounds.

Nutria · Dec 3, 2018

HydroFood said:
Just curious how it’s worked out. What driver you using for that setup.
I’m looking to utilize the HLG-185h-36a that I have by wiring strings of 2 in parallel just like you it sounds.

I am using a HLG-150h-42b and everything is working great (after I thrown the 100k pot in the trash).
https://ledgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1406

HydroFood · Dec 3, 2018

So all your troubles were a faulty connection somewhere?
At the pot it seems?

I’m running an A type because I want maximum adjustability.

HydroFood · Dec 3, 2018

1foot strip @ .350mA is really 4.7 umol/s per joule?
Am I reading this wrong? I thought the best lights out there were pushin like 2.6-2.9 umol/J
This quote is regarding gen1 strips.
Does anyone know about this type of data for the gen2 strips?

Abiqua said:
you need to find the definite LER (probably 324/325) and the approximate umol/s per joule...some of that info is in the cob effiency sheets thread...i google those three words with riu and its the 1st result usually...

calculating ppf /ppfd
1.
you need the LER to calculate efficiency

example: at 350 ma this gives 159 lumens/ watt 4K......that would be 49% (324 LER)and 48% (325 LER)
.....159/324 = .49xx etc
2.
calculate ppf
ppf is calculated by taking the amount of light emitted by your effiency and total watts (PAR watts)
.and then multiplying the umol/s per joule x PAR watts

example: 6 bars @350ma is 7.7 watts x 6= 46.4 watts total x .49% eff = 22.736 PAR watts

if the umol/s per joule is 4.70....then PPF = 22.736 x 4.70 = 106.85 PPF

3. Calculating PPFD
...ppfd is just a function of ppf in a square meter....meter squared is 39.37" *39.37" = 1549.99 inches
ppfd = ppf in a square meter (1)

example:
ppfd in 12 inch by 12 space using your PAR
144inches 144\1550 = .09 meter squared

106.85 \ .09 = 1187 ppfd

Nutria · Dec 4, 2018

HydroFood said:
So all your troubles were a faulty connection somewhere?
At the pot it seems?

I’m running an A type because I want maximum adjustability.

I had 2 problems.
1. A little flickering due to a badly soldering job I done on a strip connection.
2. System not working at 100% power. I got a potentiometer advertised as "100k linear pot" but that wasn't correct, unplugged the pot and everything is working over the top.

HydroFood · Dec 4, 2018

Nutria said:
I had 2 problems.
1. A little flickering due to a badly soldering job I done on a strip connection.
2. System not working at 100% power. I got a potentiometer advertised as "100k linear pot" but that wasn't correct, unplugged the pot and everything is working over the top.

Yea pots are hit n miss.
I ordered like 15 or so recently of varying designs and 11 of them were at 100k or higher.
No surprise that all of the good ones were 5% tolerance.

Abiqua · Dec 4, 2018

HydroFood said:
1foot strip @ .350mA is really 4.7 umol/s per joule?
Am I reading this wrong? I thought the best lights out there were pushin like 2.6-2.9 umol/J
This quote is regarding gen1 strips.
Does anyone know about this type of data for the gen2 strips?

4.7 umol/s per joule is the 100% theoretical limit, if you are running 49% efficiency, like the example above and leave out driver calcs etc, you would be at 2.3 umols/s per joule.[ .49 x 4.7]

caretak3r · Dec 4, 2018

Abiqua said:
4.7 umol/s per joule is the 100% theoretical limit, if you are running 49% efficiency, like the example above and leave out driver calcs etc, you would be at 2.3 umols/s per joule.[ .49 x 4.7]

is the 4.7 umol/s per joule figure specific to a light or is that the theoretical limit of any LED?

CannaBruh · Dec 4, 2018

HydroFood said:
Running in series does not necessarily equate to better efficiency.
And you won’t be electrocuted by 40v lol
I’m asking if anyone has run 2 in series with strings in parallel to match up with the 36v A driver or similar.
I have builds over 250v in series, and a build with 22 in parallel. Iv just never wired any up in series/parallel.

I'm doing exactly this with my existing COB 36Vf drivers (various currents)
Parallel branches to 'dim' them or I'm finding that cheap China drivers at various currents go a lot further than trying to chase the correct Meanwell etc.

Get Alpha pots, they are cheap and very reliable ime. Ebay has lots of fakes

Abiqua · Dec 4, 2018

caretak3r said:
is the 4.7 umol/s per joule figure specific to a light or is that the theoretical limit of any LED?

That is specific to the LER of 3k Bridgelux, so that number will be lower or higher depending on red or blue direction. I cant quite remember how to do the exact calc on paper for determining this, its been a while, have to look it up and refresh memory. If I dont pop back in, its probably in Aleshe's Math Behind thread

HydroFood · Dec 4, 2018

CannaBruh said:
I'm doing exactly this with my existing COB 36Vf drivers (various currents)
Parallel branches to 'dim' them or I'm finding that cheap China drivers at various currents go a lot further than trying to chase the correct Meanwell etc.

Get Alpha pots, they are cheap and very reliable ime. Ebay has lots of fakes

What do you mean parallel branches to dim?
I don’t have a problem dimming. Dimming wasn’t my question.
And I don’t think anyone has to chance current around using their meanwell drivers? They dim linearly and are very simple.
A pots a pot, people have used ebay pots for a long long time.

HydroFood · Dec 4, 2018

Abiqua said:
That is specific to the LER of 3k Bridgelux, so that number will be lower or higher depending on red or blue direction. I cant quite remember how to do the exact calc on paper for determining this, its been a while, have to look it up and refresh memory. If I dont pop back in, its probably in Aleshe's Math Behind thread

Okay, thank you

CannaBruh · Dec 4, 2018

HydroFood said:
What do you mean parallel branches to dim?
I don’t have a problem dimming. Dimming wasn’t my question.
And I don’t think anyone has to chance current around using their meanwell drivers? They dim linearly and are very simple.
A pots a pot, people have used ebay pots for a long long time.

Sorry for conflating many responses into one..

Parallel branches, current divides. (dimming is a result) in response to "I’m asking if anyone has run 2 in series with strings in parallel to match up with the 36v A driver or similar." Yes..

Not sure what next line is addressing?

Pots aren't pots if many are complaining about failures

Alpha and get from reputable dealer.. Ebay since early 2000s and many fakes on there..

HydroFood · Dec 4, 2018

At pennies per pot there’s bound to be a few failures. It’s just resistance.

So what’s your setup like?
How are you wiring them?

Nutria · Dec 5, 2018

2x 1ft or 2ft strips wired in series are just like a 4ft strip.

HydroFood · Dec 7, 2018

Nutria said:
2x 1ft or 2ft strips wired in series are just like a 4ft strip.

Good analogy. Never thought of it like this.
I was having a hard time figuring out why at 39v a 4ft strip pulls the same amperage as a 2ft strip at 19.5v.
And if two 1ft strips in series push 39v, series amperage is same for both strips, wouldn’t they draw like 2 time the power they should?
That was my dilemma.

Should I wire in 2 groups of 3,
Or 3 groups of 2?

Nutria · Dec 8, 2018

HydroFood said:
Good analogy. Never thought of it like this.
I was having a hard time figuring out why at 39v a 4ft strip pulls the same amperage as a 2ft strip at 19.5v.
And if two 1ft strips in series push 39v, series amperage is same for both strips, wouldn’t they draw like 2 time the power they should?
That was my dilemma.

Should I wire in 2 groups of 3,
Or 3 groups of 2?

Strip voltage =/= system voltage
Even if wired in series each strip would have a voltage dependent on how much current is provided. System voltage would be 39v but each strip would have a voltage drop of 19.5v.
(19.5v*0.7a=13.65w)*2 =27.3w
39v*0.7a =27.3w

HydroFood · Dec 9, 2018

Nutria said:
Strip voltage =/= system voltage
Even if wired in series each strip would have a voltage dependent on how much current is provided. System voltage would be 39v but each strip would have a voltage drop of 19.5v.
(19.5v*0.7a=13.65w)*2 =27.3w
39v*0.7a =27.3w

Much appreciated.
Idk why but I could NOT wrap my head around that.

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