Multimeter Suggestions and How Do I Measure?

1212ham

Well-Known Member
It shows the load being downstream so I would come out of the driver, into the DROK, then into a Wago and to the boards? Does going through the DROK reduce downstream current?
Correct. There will be a very slight voltage drop through the DROK, but it should be insignificant. Hard to say about the accurracy.
No battery needed, it's just one possible power source for the load. It would be good for you to have a DMM, even $20 DMM's normally have decent accuracy. I have a couple old Radioshack models and this one, https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Multimeter-MSR-C600-Auto-Ranging-Multimeters/dp/B00NWGZ4XC/ref=sr_1_18?keywords=dmm&link_code=qs&qid=1560131363&s=gateway&smid=A99MZGWBBIGK9&sourceid=Mozilla-search&sr=8-18
 

Cana-bliss

Active Member
Ok that looks awesome. A few questions... Is it accurate and granular? So I don't get the battery diagram. I have to have an external battery that I wire to it? There isn't a battery compartment and I just stick one in? It shows the load being downstream so I would come out of the driver, into the DROK, then into a Wago and to the boards? Does going through the DROK reduce downstream current?
No battery needed, the meter gets it's power through the meanwell driver, there would be a slight reduction in downstream current but it would be so minimal that it would not matter. The meter is accurate and worth every penny. Multimeters work great as well and can be used for many other applications. If I had to choose between the drok and a multimeter I would get the multimeter so I could use it for other things. If you want a painless way of adjusting your driver and seeing exactly what the output is all the time the drok is the way to go.

DROK.jpg
 

Cana-bliss

Active Member
Ok so will this work? Only one review. Any suggestions on a better model or is that it?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FYHTBD2/?coliid=I1EJFGJ00YX0XK&colid=2GQ914KZRGB5G&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Yeah that is the exact one I got, check out amazon.ca if you want more reviews of it. If you are wiring in series you might need something that reads a higher voltage though. 100v and 20a is more then enough for a parallel build, but in series you might only use 1.5amps and 300v. Word of caution before you spend your hard earned beans.
 

JavaCo

Well-Known Member
That looks great as well but would you have to take into account the driver efficiency loss?
Well most peoples goal would be to see the driver is putting out the right wattage so that meter would tell you that. To answer you're question if you want the output side of the drivers wattage then you would have to factor in efficiency. The kilo-watt hours are going to be more accurate because you are not leaving out the power the driver is consuming. Plus if you have a multiple driver light you can get a total power consumption rather then run a meter for each driver output. But here is a pic of mine full blast 390.6 watts all I need to know that the light is working properly. 0611191341a[1].jpg
 

BodhiKarma

Active Member
Yeah that is the exact one I got, check out amazon.ca if you want more reviews of it. If you are wiring in series you might need something that reads a higher voltage though. 100v and 20a is more then enough for a parallel build, but in series you might only use 1.5amps and 300v. Word of caution before you spend your hard earned beans.
Thanks for pointing that out. I'm doing parallel so only need about 50v. The granularity on the amperage side is more of a concern for me and since that has two decimal places it should be fine.

Pulled the trigger on a couple of them. Drivers are on the way as well so I hope to be live this weekend.
 
Last edited:

BodhiKarma

Active Member
Well most peoples goal would be to see the driver is putting out the right wattage so that meter would tell you that. To answer you're question if you want the output side of the drivers wattage then you would have to factor in efficiency. The kilo-watt hours are going to be more accurate because you are not leaving out the power the driver is consuming. Plus if you have a multiple driver light you can get a total power consumption rather then run a meter for each driver output. But here is a pic of mine full blast 390.6 watts all I need to know that the light is working properly. View attachment 4348405
Neat setup. I'm not really concerned with what I'm pulling from the wall. I'll have two A type drivers and 8 boards and I am looking to monitor what is going to the boards and to be able to balance between the two drivers.
 

Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
If all you want to do is check your current to the boards and have a quick reference for the adjustment screw on the A driver, there's a simple method I use that's at least 98% accurate.

(EDIT: Ensure the Vo adjustment is at maximum volts - use only the Io current adjustment for this method - this will ensure the driver is in constant current mode.)

If you don't want to wire a permanent meter in, get yourself a cheap wall meter and multimeter. Connect the multimeter using wagos to measure the current, then note what the total wattage is at the wall meter. Do it again as you increase the current in increments and note down the wattages on a piece of paper.

You'll end up with a reference chart that tells you the current to the boards for a particular wall meter reading.

After you've done that, it's a simple task to adjust the A driver to whatever wall meter reading you know corresponds with whatever current you need - no need to hook up your multimeter again. You can then use your multimeter to test the voltage at whatever current you have set so that you can work out how much power the driver is using. (Multiply voltage by current to get board watts, then have a look at the wall meter to see how many watts are being used by the driver.)

Accuracy: as the boards (LEDs) heat up, the voltage reading for the same current will fall bit-by-bit until the LEDs - and voltage - stablise. You'll see this at the wall meter. When you turn the boards on and set the current, you will note that the wall meter reading will start to fall bit-by-bit until the boards have fully warmed up. Once the temperature of the boards has stabilised, the wall meter reading will stabilise.

So, how to ensure accuracy?

Well, the relationship between LED voltage and current will change as LED temperature changes. A number of things can affect LED temperature, such as ambient temperature and heatsinking - such as having a fan blowing on the boards etc.

So the above method will never be 100% accurate, but it will be close enough if you do one of two things. You can either wait for the boards to stablise when you take the readings - you'll know they have stabilised, because the wall meter wattage will not change (or change very little) - or you can take all your readings when cold (this is faster, but slightly less accurate)

As long as you are consistent, you'll be fine. And honestly, the difference in voltage between 25C and 85C on those LM301B LEDs is only 3%, so using this method means a maximum inaccuracy of 3%, but usually only 1-2%. That is within the tolerance of some multimeters and wall meters.

Want an even simpler - but slightly less accurate (and still good enough) - solution?

Forget the multimeter. Get a wall meter, plug it in. Use the HLG reference chart here: https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/quantum-boards/products/qb288-v2-quantum-board

That 320H-48A Mean Well driver of yours is 91-92% efficient at almost all loads (Page 6): https://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product/search.aspx?prod=HLG-320H

Whatever the wall meter says, multiply that by 0.92. That will tell you the wattage at the boards. Use the HLG reference sheet to see how many volts and amps the boards draw at the corresponding wattage.

For example, the wall meter says 290W. Multiply that by 0.92 = 267W. Divide by 4 boards = 66.7W per board. HLG reference sheet says 66.78W is 1400mA at 47.7V at each board.

This method will never be 100% accurate, but it will be close enough and is very cheap and easy to use.

But if you're happy to wire in a permanent meter like the ones others in this thread have posted, that is obviously your best solution.
 
Last edited:

JavaCo

Well-Known Member
Neat setup. I'm not really concerned with what I'm pulling from the wall. I'll have two A type drivers and 8 boards and I am looking to monitor what is going to the boards and to be able to balance between the two drivers.
You could still do that with one input side meter and a switch rather then two output meters. Would be a bit cheaper you can get a switch for 2 or 3 dollars. But just add the switch to one driver so you can turn it off. Then you just switch off the one driver while adjusting the other. Say you wanted 300 watts total , switch one driver off then adjust to 150 watts then switch the driver on and adjust that driver till you get 300 watts. That will even them out.
@JavaCo That is one slick looking build! Hope your build goes well @BodhiKarma!
Thanks put way to much time into it but it is my forever light last one i should have to build for myself. It will except cobs from pretty much every manufacturer so in 15 or so years when upgrading I can slap who ever is making the Best ones in it .
 

dipaqua

Member
Yeah that is the exact one I got, check out amazon.ca if you want more reviews of it. If you are wiring in series you might need something that reads a higher voltage though. 100v and 20a is more then enough for a parallel build, but in series you might only use 1.5amps and 300v. Word of caution before you spend your hard earned beans.
This looks super helpful in a number of ways, thanks for posting! Any chance you can take a pic of how you have it wired? Just got my HLG 320W XL QB V2 R SPEC LED KIT equivalent and getting ready to wire it up. See he diagram you put up from the Amazon listing but love to see an actual pic to help make sure I dont screw this up. Also, do you think the DROK you suggested fine for the setup I have? Any guidance would be very much appreciated!
 

Cana-bliss

Active Member
See above in post #22, taking a pic wouldn't make it any clearer then that drawing. That is exactly how I have it wired. You also need to make sure your setup doesn't exceed the power rating of the drok.
 

dipaqua

Member
See above in post #22, taking a pic wouldn't make it any clearer then that drawing. That is exactly how I have it wired.
Gotcha, thanks for reply and yea with driver in hand does make sense now :) Do you think this would be a good option? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013PKYAV6/ref=psdc_14244481_t3_B014W3D1OC Also did you remote mount your drivers? If so, mind me asking how long the additional wire was, what AWG used and if you grounded the heatsink or if that is needed? Thanks so much!!
 

Cana-bliss

Active Member
That looks like the same thing so I'm sure it would be fine, my driver is mounted on top of my heat sinks so I didn't have to do anything to the wires other then hook them up. Once you get putting things together you'll get a better idea of what you need, everyone's setup and needs are different so it's hard to give you advice on wire length. Never grounded the heatsinks, maybe something required for series builds? I butchered an old ps3, wired the meaanwell into the on/off switch I robbed from it then used the old ps3 cable from the on/off switch to the wall plug, think it might be 14 awg, used 14 awg solid core for the mainline from the drok through the build with 18awg solid core wires jumping down to the lights.
 

dipaqua

Member
That looks like the same thing so I'm sure it would be fine, my driver is mounted on top of my heat sinks so I didn't have to do anything to the wires other then hook them up. Once you get putting things together you'll get a better idea of what you need, everyone's setup and needs are different so it's hard to give you advice on wire length. Never grounded the heatsinks, maybe something required for series builds? I butchered an old ps3, wired the meaanwell into the on/off switch I robbed from it then used the old ps3 cable from the on/off switch to the wall plug, think it might be 14 awg, used 14 awg solid core for the mainline from the drok through the build with 18awg solid core wires jumping down to the lights.
Cant thank you enough for this detail and the pics as well...nice build btw! Question on the wires was due to the fact I plan to mount my driver outside the room to help with heat which doesnt look like you needed to worry about. AWG concern request was about concern of having wire from driver to LED long, hence resistance and power degradation or other risks. All very helpful info you have provided in this thread, thx again 8-)
 

Cana-bliss

Active Member
No problem at all. Heat isn't much of an issue at all, if anything I've been fighting to keep temps up. Running at 84% of max with only a wal-mart 6" fan blowing over the light keeps everything cool to touch.
 
Top