Need driver advice for EB Gen3 Strips

G

Ganjedi

Active Member
Hello !

Gonna be buying 10x BXEB-L1120Z-30G4000-C-C3 (4feet EB Gen3 90cri 3000K strips) or 10x BXEB-L1190U-30E3000-C-C3 (4feet EB Slim Gen3 80cri 3000K strips)

Thinking to run them soft at 700mA if that will make it more efficient. (or any other way you think will make it more efficient)

Grow area 2x4 feet or 2.5x4.5 feet.


Need help with :

1) Which meanwell driver to buy

2) Which way to wire the strips to make them safer to use (series / parallel / etc.)

3) How soft to run the strips to make them more efficient

4) Would like to have a potentiometer so I can dim/increase the brightness according to the plant life cycle

Thank you all in advance !

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Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
1 either hlg240-36A or xlg240-h-ab would be a good fit, but a little bit underpowered for more than a 2x4.
2 parallel, less voltage is safer. The 36A is 36V but can be adjusted to cover 39V. The xlg-h does any voltage between 27 and 60V iirc.
3 as soft as you can but 700mA is pretty good.
4 A version drivers have dimming onboard.

Id go for the 4000k strips: 90 cri, and not slim version (slims are very flimsy)
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
meanwell drivers. and I would drive those strips at 500ma more efficient,less heat and more than enough light 36000lumens
 
G

Ganjedi

Active Member
Rocket Soul said:
1 either hlg240-36A or xlg240-h-ab would be a good fit, but a little bit underpowered for more than a 2x4.
2 parallel, less voltage is safer. The 36A is 36V but can be adjusted to cover 39V. The xlg-h does any voltage between 27 and 60V iirc.
3 as soft as you can but 700mA is pretty good.
4 A version drivers have dimming onboard.

Id go for the 4000k strips: 90 cri, and not slim version (slims are very flimsy)
Click to expand...
hey thx for the quick reply , I have no electrical knowledge so the driver you suggested be able to run 10 of those 4 feet strips ? I dont need 320 or 480 version drivers ?
Also are 4000k 90cri strips overall better than 3000k 90cri strips for full cycle ?
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
those are all meanwell drivers. if you wanna run them at 500ma youll need more strips and with a bigger driver a lot more. id suggest 12-15 strips to a 240 driver. Either of those spectrums will work well, 3000k 90cri will flower better. Id go for that one and if you later feel you have problems in vegg you could allways buy a few more cold white strips to mix in during vegg.
 
G

Ganjedi

Active Member
Rocket Soul said:
those are all meanwell drivers. if you wanna run them at 500ma youll need more strips and with a bigger driver a lot more. id suggest 12-15 strips to a 240 driver. Either of those spectrums will work well, 3000k 90cri will flower better. Id go for that one and if you later feel you have problems in vegg you could allways buy a few more cold white strips to mix in during vegg.
Click to expand...
So since my budget only allows me to buy 10 strips , its best to run them on the 240 driver ? Also at how many mA will those 10 strips run on that 240 driver ? Or what would be the most efficient way to run those 10 strips on the driver ?

Sorry to prick your brain , but I feel pretty lost with all the math and no electrical knowledge ... would be best if someone could guide me (for those 10 strips go and buy this particular driver and connect them in this way and run them at this much power or whatever :p)
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
at 700ma 10 strips will produce 50000lumens (6250lumens 16 watt radient power per sqft) that should be more than enough I am using 324watts of T5 in a 2ft by 4 ft tent and getting good results so 273 watts of LEDS should be more than enough.this driver should handle 10 strips https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/MEAN-WELL/HLG-320H-C700B?qs=uP22XH7NdCsKebIVHyn21w== running strips in parallel at a lower voltage risk current hogging causing some strips to run hot
 
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cobshopgrow

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member

consider their different lenghs, slim 1190mm 37,xV at 500mA, regular 1120mm 37,xV at 500mA.
38,xV at 600-700mA.
see what fits your space the best (think of that you need some room for cables, mounting etc.).
basically both will do the job, the slims need a screw on their outer edges otherwise they tend to bend, a 4 feet will need screws in the middle too.
slims use a smaller type connector, be gentle and take solid core wire below AWG18 (for short connections and low ampere i would recommend AWG20-22)

a 240W driver should be enough for a 2x4 if youre budget orientated.
all above suggestions will work, all in parallel will be the most wiring, all in series the least.
all in series means that only the plus and minus from the driver will have a high voltage, all your strips still work at their normal forward voltages.
saying that, all ten in series would mean 380V and the connectors arent rated that high.
also on a HLG 320 700B you would be stuck to 270W max.
if its a HLG 240 36, choose a A or AB type as the B type wont be able to go over 36V much and you need 37-38,xV.

only the H is a real option for 10 strips here, which would mean all in parallel.
240W divided through 38V = 6.3A the driver is adjustable in between 2400~6660mA , that should work with a beefy wiring.
driver is rated for 250W so it could be 6.6A.
you are at about 630- 660mA each strip then, that will be fine.

if you can buy 12 and want more power.
HLG-320H-C2100 should drive 4 in series at about 153V and then 3 groups in parallel makes 700mA on the strips.
this is 1v over the specified 152V, but 1V is less then a percent of 152V so it will work reliable (use it myself that way, while only using 525mA max, so lil lower voltage, more like 37,2V then and like 16 strips on this driver).
in reality the blux strips need a slight lower voltage then specified to my observation, it should be below 152V in real.
this config almost max out the driver at 321W.

or for 12 strips and a 240W driver.
XLG-240 -M, 4 in series, 153V, and 3 groups at 4 strips, the driver can do 1400~2100mA , so its 640 to 660mA each strip., its

its 525mA, 2100mA max divided by 4.
 
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G

Ganjedi

Active Member
mauricem00 said:
at 700ma 10 strips will produce 50000lumens (6250lumens 16 watt radient power per sqft) that should be more than enough I am using 324watts of T5 in a 2ft by 4 ft tent and getting good results so 273 watts of LEDS should be more than enough.this driver should handle 10 strips https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/MEAN-WELL/HLG-320H-C700B?qs=uP22XH7NdCsKebIVHyn21w== running strips in parallel at a lower voltage risk current hogging causing some strips to run hot
Click to expand...
Glad that at least I wont be running low on the light department hehe.
cobshopgrow said:

consider their different lenghs, slim 1190mm 37,xV at 500mA, regular 1120mm 37,xV at 500mA.
38,xV at 600-700mA.
see what fits your space the best (think of that you need some room for cables, mounting etc.).
basically both will do the job, the slims need a screw on their outer edges otherwise they tend to bend, a 4 feet will need screws in the middle too.
slims use a smaller type connector, be gentle and take solid core wire below AWG18 (for short connections and low ampere i would recommend AWG20-22)

a 240W driver should be enough for a 2x4 if youre budget orientated.
all above suggestions will work, all in parallel will be the most wiring, all in series the least.
all in series means that only the plus and minus from the driver will have a high voltage, all your strips still work at their normal forward voltages.
saying that, all ten in series would mean 380V and the connectors arent rated that high.
also on a HLG 320 700B you would be stuck to 270W max.
if its a HLG 240 36, choose a A or AB type as the B type wont be able to go over 36V much and you need 37-38,xV.

only the H is a real option for 10 strips here, which would mean all in parallel.
240W divided through 38V = 6.3A the driver is adjustable in between 2400~6660mA , that should work with a beefy wiring.
driver is rated for 250W so it could be 6.6A.
you are at about 630- 660mA each strip then, that will be fine.

if you can buy 12 and want more power.
HLG-320H-C2100 should drive 4 in series at about 153V and then 3 groups in parallel makes 700mA on the strips.
this is 1v over the specified 152V, but 1V is less then a percent of 152V so it will work reliable (use it myself that way, while only using 525mA max, so lil lower voltage, more like 37,2V then and like 16 strips on this driver).
in reality the blux strips need a slight lower voltage then specified to my observation, it should be below 152V in real.
this config almost max out the driver at 321W.

or for 12 strips and a 240W driver.
XLG-240 -M, 4 in series, 153V, and 3 groups at 4 strips, the driver can do 1400~2100mA , so its 640 to 660mA each strip.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info brother , another thing I started considering is what do you think about going for 2 fixtures and 2 drivers instead of 1fixture with 1 driver ? I mean if 1 driver was to stop working or had some problems my whole grow will come to a halt and since I will be ordering the driver from overseas the shipping times are really long for a new purchase.
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
With two drivers you could go with xlg-150-h-ab, gives you a bit more juice if you need it.

Why are you ordering the driver from overseas ?

Be aware there are some dodgy sites in china that sell meanwell drivers at low prices but are not legit sites and you wont get your product.
Always google the site name if the price is much cheaper, it will show 100s or people who were ripped off if its a dodgy site.
 
cobshopgrow

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
2 drivers can be done, sure.
1 driver is often a tad more efficient, but the xlg 150 is looking good.
digikey and arrow often deliver within 48h, often next day by UPS express.

for 10 strips above mentioned type.
for 12 strips you could consider the XLG-150 -M also, there 2 in sereis each, 6 groups.
 
G

Ganjedi

Active Member
coreywebster said:
With two drivers you could go with xlg-150-h-ab, gives you a bit more juice if you need it.

Why are you ordering the driver from overseas ?

Be aware there are some dodgy sites in china that sell meanwell drivers at low prices but are not legit sites and you wont get your product.
Always google the site name if the price is much cheaper, it will show 100s or people who were ripped off if its a dodgy site.
Click to expand...
I'm from Asia and ofc I'm not gonna order from China for that specific reason , I dont trust their products (quality issues and most of the time straight up fake products) ... So I'm going to order from Digikey.
cobshopgrow said:
2 drivers can be done, sure.
1 driver is often a tad more efficient, but the xlg 150 is looking good.
digikey and arrow often deliver within 48h, often next day by UPS express.

for 10 strips above mentioned type.
for 12 strips you could consider the XLG-150 -M also, there 2 in sereis each, 6 groups.
Click to expand...
for 2 driver setup in a 2x4feet spacee how many strips am I looking at on each driver ?
 
cobshopgrow

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
5 or 6 each driver then,

the HLG 120 700b is a nice option too, but the XLG-150 -L is very similar while does a wider ampere range and is cheaper.
that would mean all in series, which is pretty straight forward to wire once you got behind it.
XLG-150 -L
5x38,3V = 191Vx0.7A = 134W

or the metioned HLG-150-H for all in parallel, there you are free with the numbers, 5,6,7 and use a low voltage.

the HLG-150-M is a option as long you use a number which is dividable by 2, would be a mix of series and parallel.

plenty of options, some are for sure not even mentioned.
given the pricing i would prob choose a XLG driver for this usecase, simply the XLG-150 -L (up to 5 strips) as i am ok with the higher voltage for me.
 
G

Ganjedi

Active Member
cobshopgrow said:
5 or 6 each driver then,

the HLG 120 700b is a nice option too, but the XLG-150 -L is very similar while does a wider ampere range and is cheaper.
that would mean all in series, which is pretty straight forward to wire once you got behind it.
XLG-150 -L
5x38,3V = 191Vx0.7A = 134W

or the metioned HLG-150-H for all in parallel, there you are free with the numbers, 5,6,7 and use a low voltage.

the HLG-150-M is a option as long you use a number which is dividable by 2, would be a mix of series and parallel.

plenty of options, some are for sure not even mentioned.
given the pricing i would prob choose a XLG driver for this usecase, simply the XLG-150 -L (up to 5 strips) as i am ok with the higher voltage for me.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for brother for the detailed explanation !
 
G

Ganjedi

Active Member
This will be my first grow and first DIY lights so I dont have any experience/knowledge , so can someone link me other parts apart from the led strips and driver that I will need to make this light like the dimmer parts , wago connectors or anything else that I will need to get this setup done.
I can order the drivers from Arrow or digikey so links from those sites will be good so I can order everything together , thx a lot for helping out so much already <3
 
cobshopgrow

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
get a AB type driver.
get some 100k linear potentiometers for dimming.
or one 50K if you want to dimm both lights at once.... simply order 100k, one for each, simpler.

wagos, cables, n stuff, ebay,amazon, local hardwarestore.
 
G

Ganjedi

Active Member
cobshopgrow said:
get a AB type driver.
get some 100k linear potentiometers for dimming.
or one 50K if you want to dimm both lights at once.... simply order 100k, one for each, simpler.

wagos, cables, n stuff, ebay,amazon, local hardwarestore.
Click to expand...
The AB type drivers seems to be out of stock everywhere so I guess I have to go with the B type ones , also do I need heatsinks for the strips ?
I need to buy a knob for the potentiometer as well right ? (anything else I need apart from the knob if at all ?)
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
Ganjedi said:
The AB type drivers seems to be out of stock everywhere so I guess I have to go with the B type ones , also do I need heatsinks for the strips ?
I need to buy a knob for the potentiometer as well right ? (anything else I need apart from the knob if at all ?)
Click to expand...
those strips can be run up to 700ma without a heatsink however it would not hurt to attach each strip to a 2 inch by 4 foot strip of aluminum
 
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