CXB3590 grow light keeps shorting out

ApfelStrudel said:

How about contacting Cutter? I'm sure Mark will sort you out. He's even here on the forum @welight

Click to expand...

HortiBloom said:

If all the cobs look good on the surface, no black spot, no crack, then it should be the problem of the driver, here is the link of the driver, it should still be under warranty.
http://qxw1608770029.my3w.com/en/pro_main.aspx?id=A7E4888F1E16013E

Click to expand...

Randomblame said:

Its 100% the driver! Nothing else can cause a popping sound. There is probably something causing a short inside the driver and for this reason there is some current flow on ground and that triggers the braker. Its not because of too much current!

And yeah, black/brown spots below the phosphor layer are usually burned out diodes. In the worst case the affected string will stay off but the current will be shared by the other strings. So watts and output stays almost the same but you lose a bit efficieny.
For COB's I always recommend using a good thermal grease. You will get 2 times better thermal transfer and its pretty easy to apply. Even graphite pads are not comparable.. Arctic MX4 or something with similar specs would work. Apply only a thin layer to close the micro gaps and screw the ideal holders hand tight. Not too strong! If you see a little sqeezed out TIM around the edges of the COB it's perfect.

Click to expand...

Randomblame said:

Its 100% the driver! Nothing else can cause a popping sound. There is probably something causing a short inside the driver and for this reason there is some current flow on ground and that triggers the braker. Its not because of too much current!

And yeah, black/brown spots below the phosphor layer are usually burned out diodes. In the worst case the affected string will stay off but the current will be shared by the other strings. So watts and output stays almost the same but you lose a bit efficieny.
For COB's I always recommend using a good thermal grease. You will get 2 times better thermal transfer and its pretty easy to apply. Even graphite pads are not comparable.. Arctic MX4 or something with similar specs would work. Apply only a thin layer to close the micro gaps and screw the ideal holders hand tight. Not too strong! If you see a little sqeezed out TIM around the edges of the COB it's perfect.

Click to expand...

Stay green said:

Quick update,
Spoke to the boys Mark and Andrew from cutter, awesome guys and really helpful.
Turns out; it was the driver, (you guys called it) still under warranty.
Mark sorted a new solution and hopefully will be back up and running this evening. They stopped carrying that driver so mark replaced it with 2 new meanwell drivers. This will also allow me to add some extra lighting
I really learnt a lot from all the troubleshooting.
Thank you everyone for all your assistance.

Click to expand...