DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

This fan power supply seemed promising. It is cheap and has adjustable voltage. 12V 2A output. It measured 73% efficient with 1 fan and 81-82% efficient with 2, 3 and 4 fans. It cannot start up with more than 4 (.3A) fans. The adjustable voltage goes from 11.9-12.V (useless lol)

SupraSPL said:

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This fan power supply seemed promising. It is cheap and has adjustable voltage. 12V 2A output. It measured 73% efficient with 1 fan and 81-82% efficient with 2, 3 and 4 fans. It cannot start up with more than 4 (.3A) fans. The adjustable voltage goes from 11.9-12.V (useless lol)

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Thank you! thank you.....this is the one I contemplated buying, wish I could just a 1a version.......but seems fairly solid nonetheless!

PF to reply to your question about the fasttech drivers, the "20W" driver has a max vF of about 50. Once warmed up it outputs .61A at 50vF. Minimum vF was 21 and it output .67A. At 34.5vF it put out .64A. Efficiency 88%

The "30W" driver has a vF range of 22-36.5. It puts out .88A and is 88-90% efficient

The "50W" driver has a vf range of 28-36.5. It puts out 1.2A and is 91% efficient.

PeterFox said:

a)Your measuring of 1320605 from fasttech.com. The 20 watt works up to around 49 V with current drop to 600 mA, if i remember right. 50 Watt stops working when going over nominal voltage, I assume the 30 Watt as well...

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Thx for the confirmation

SupraSPL said:

Regarding the wall wort. .....
If would recommend a 12V 2A switching PSU like this for $5.19, which is adjustable from 8.4-12V.

Good luck with yr grow can't wait to see the nugs

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Regarding the 12V 2A PSU, you linked to the 12V 1A.
If I remember right, you somewhere mentioned that the voltage range from 12V 2A was from 9. to 13something V.
Is it correct that you have tested both of them? Just asking because I ordered the 12V 2A for my carbon filter´s 24V Papst 4282 NXH? If the 12V 1A goes below 9V, I would just get this one as well for ultra-silent operation during veg. Any hints on efficent below 5V switching power supplies?

Edit:
@Stu2000: That is clear, the intention behind my question was to get the voltage specs clear. Anyhow, thanks for your support .

In the link SupraSPL posted for 12V 2A driver, there's a drop down at the top of the listing, where you can select which model you require.

Yep I was unable to link to the 2A directly because of the drop box but that was the one I was referring to. The 2A sunpower I tested is adjustable from 8.4V to 11.9V. I have a 1A on order and will be testing it thoroughly. For my purposes the 2A is perfect- efficient, cheap, capable of powering 1-8 .3A fans quietly at 8.4V and moves more than enough air to reach the point of diminishing returns.

I haven't found any efficient 5V PSU but I will check into it. You can use cell phone chargers to run fans at 5V for about 1W/fan. That would be perfect for LEDs on CPU heatsinks that are in the living space and need to be silent.

Yep, been reading this DIY for awhile and someday I will attempt to build one of these. Just have to try and absorb some technical stuff. Of course easy to read instructions and links to every thing are a must. I am just not sure if my brain cells are fully charged, but as always when there's a will there's a way. I will wait a while til one of my other lights starts giving out. I am old school.

So I got the 1A version of the sunpower PSU. It has adjustable voltage just like the 2A version but the voltage range is not what I was hoping, 11-13V. Powering 1 fan it was 71.2% efficient. So it is not the best choice for a 1A PSU. The $6 Reyel did better. Voltage range of 11-15V and with 1 fan it is 76% efficient.

I have a few 5V PSUs on order. Hopefully something with higher voltages and high efficiency will turn up.

This might help to simply the COB heatsink interface quite a bit

http://www.electronicproducts.com/Thermal_Management/Heat_Sinks_and_Thermal_Materials/Thermal_interface_material_performs_like_gel.aspx

EDIT: Inexpensive 100w COB

http://www.amazon.com/Zitrades-White-Power-9000-10000LM-30-34V/dp/B00HPPIVHW/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_40?ie=UTF8&refRID=1VES8EB1KAYA6GN9TK54

Nice find pet, never heard of that.

I got the 1500mA eBay driver and tested it. Straight away I was impressed because it blew out a few of my test LEDs, not because of heat or fault, just from pure current overload. They were just some cheapos I use to make sure a driver is not faulty before I connect the expensive stuff.

So it drove my CXA3070 at 1440mA once it stabilized. vF was 37.8. Dissipation wattage was 54.4. Efficiency was 90%. Awesome! It is not power factor corrected. If you add more vF it the current drops off quickly.

Minimum vF is 18.5. It puts out 1440mA at 88.5% efficient. I have never seen my XML2s so bright.

SupraSPL said:

Minimum vF is 18.5. It puts out 1440mA at 88.5% efficient. I have never seen my XML2s so bright.

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Running my xml2's at 1500ma aswell.....eye mangle...

SupraSPL said:

I got the 1500mA eBay driver and tested it. Straight away I was impressed because it blew out a few of my test LEDs, not because of heat or fault, just from pure current overload. They were just some cheapos I use to make sure a driver is not faulty before I connect the expensive stuff.

So it drove my CXA3070 at 1440mA once it stabilized. vF was 37.8. Dissipation wattage was 54.4. Efficiency was 90%. Awesome! It is not power factor corrected. If you add more vF it the current drops off quickly.

Minimum vF is 18.5. It puts out 1440mA at 88.5% efficient. I have never seen my XML2s so bright.

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Very nice, I could have saved $25 on two drivers if I got those instead of the lpc-60-1400s.

Bueno Time said:

Very nice, I could have saved $25 on two drivers if I got those instead of the lpc-60-1400s.

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Trust me on that ....
Although the LPC series is a 'low-cost' CC led drivers series ...
The parts(& methods) used in manufacturing,as also the features of the driver ,comparing to those Asian cheap ones ..
( I've been working with both expensive/high quality drivers like Recom & MeanWell and asians,so I guess I'm entitled to have an opinion ... )

Let's say ,that they can't even compare ....
Won't go into details ....
I'll give you food for thought instead ....
In nothern,isolated, parts of RPC ,there are thousands of villages ,where people(inhabitants) do have the same job/occupation ..
-They recycle electronic parts from used/thrown electronic equipment ,from all over the world ..
Try to guess ,what happens to all these used IC's ,caps,resistors,coils,transformers,leds,pots,etc ...
Do you seriously think ,that they end up ,as first materials again ?
Like Carbon,Silicone,Germanium,etc ?
"....Too mach time,energy,cost do such thing ...
Beter dig earth for new material..."

(old chinese saying....Fu Led Chu 2000 B.C. )


Come on ,give it a try ....
Specially when it is 'encapsulated ' in epoxy ..
Like all/most CC led drivers ...
(Fancy alum case ,covers the crap ,filled with epoxy.....
And ....It is never going to be water-proof or IP certified ...BS ....Pure BS !!! )

You spend extra $25 ,for new-high quality- equipment ..
Still made in RPC ..
But with western standards / methods ..
And made from/with new ..ehem..you know ....parts .....
(That's why they do not fail easily and have a guaranty/certification....
Not 'cause they utilise a magic ,secret, 'fault/fail- proof ' circuit / electronic design ....
Nor caps made out of Adamantium foil ,inside Cryptonite oil paper ,rated for 100000000000 volts ....)

Hello everyone... i been catching up and im loving the information... no one around me grows with leds hard to discuss with my local vendor which he refuses to stock led units.. but anyways great work on all the links and great contribution of datasheets.. i have one question has anyone got a lux meter like and what kind of readings are you getting.. and i gotta find lux to lumen conversion

★★★kushed_out★★★

DiyKindaGuy said:

Hello everyone... i been catching up and im loving the information... no one around me grows with leds hard to discuss with my local vendor which he refuses to stock led units.. but anyways great work on all the links and great contribution of datasheets.. i have one question has anyone got a lux meter like and what kind of readings are you getting.. and i gotta find lux to lumen conversion

★★★kushed_out★★★

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1 lux is 1 lumen per square meter. Lumens/lux count is a poor metric to use for plant lighting, as it's weighted for human vision. A few members have PAR meters, which isn't the best metric to use, but better than lumen/lux.

http://www.apogeeinstruments.com/aquarium-par-meters/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit)

DiyKindaGuy said:

Hello everyone... i been catching up and im loving the information... no one around me grows with leds hard to discuss with my local vendor which he refuses to stock led units.. but anyways great work on all the links and great contribution of datasheets.. i have one question has anyone got a lux meter like and what kind of readings are you getting.. and i gotta find lux to lumen conversion
★★★kushed_out★★★

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bicit said:

1 lux is 1 lumen per square meter. Lumens/lux count is a poor metric to use for plant lighting, as it's weighted for human vision. A few members have PAR meters, which isn't the best metric to use, but better than lumen/lux.

http://www.apogeeinstruments.com/aquarium-par-meters/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit)

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Lumens and lux are photmetric units...
Photometry- is the science of the measurement of light, in terms of its PERCEIVED brightness to the human eye. It is distinct from radiometry, which is the science of measurement of radiant energy (including light) in terms of absolute power. In modern photometry, the radiant power at each wavelength is weighted by a luminosity function that models human brightness sensitivity. Typically, this weighting function is the photopic sensitivity function, although the scotopic function or other functions may also be applied in the same way.

mW are radiometric units...
Radiometry- is a set of techniques for measuring electromagnetic radiation, including visible light. Radiometric techniques characterize the distribution of the radiation's power in space, as opposed to photometric techniques, which characterize the light's interaction with the human eye.
In photometric quantities every wavelength is weighted according to how sensitive the human eye is to it, while radiometric quantities use unweighted absolute power.

PAR µmols are...
Quantum- Which is basically identical to radiometric but a step closer to plants...it measures only 400-700nm(only Photosythetically active radiation) as compared to 380-850nm(all visible) that radiometry measures.

PAR in µmols actually is just fine in accuracy...or mW...both are equal really.
What I assume you mean by PAR isn't the best...is that a handheld "par meter" isn't the best. And that is because of the calculations to convert it to µmols it does internally and has a slight error based on nm's of the light. A spectradiometer will give an accurate µmol count that is just as accurate as the mW it also give.
If a par meter gave a mW read out, it would be off too. It's not PAR µmols that is not perfect...it's the device that takes the measurement.

And with all that said...a handheld par meter...even with the error...is 10000X better and more relevant than lumens.

What do you think is the best to use?

EDIT: You can send in a spectral chart of a light to apogee and they can calibrate the meter to the spectrum so it's accurate.

Do you have a source for that info greengenes? I'd be interested in doing some further reading.