I am going to be doing a Bridgelux led light strip build, and I am going to be using 3 drivers. I was wondering what the best way to wire the ac connection on these drivers should be. I thought about connecting each one to a 3 wire grounding plug(https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-15-Amp-125-Volt-Double-Pole-3-Wire-Grounding-Plug-Black-R50-3W101-00E/205165472?MERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-301305041-_-205165472-_-N) and then connecting them to a power strip mounted somewhere on the frame. Is there a better way I could do this such as connecting all of them to a single plug?
Wiring Multiple Drivers
- Thread starter arzeo
- Start date
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
It's totally fine to connect them all together but you don't wanna have too much pulled through one plug too. How many fixtures for these 3 drivers? One single one or 3 separate ones? Also what drivers are they going to be? Wattage is important to keep in check through one cord.
But all of that aside, all you'd do is wore all 3 grounds, Lines, and Neutrals of the drivers to the corresponding wires on the plug. Only thing is you wanna use a fat cord 10-12awg
Using these drivers https://hubbellcdn.com/specsheet/LED-75W.pdf. The total output would be ~176 watts at 3 strips per driver 1000ma ea. They are all going to be on a single frame. All of those cords wouldn't fit in a single plug I don't think though.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
If you want them all to dim together with one potentiometer, you'll use a 33-35K ohm pot (100k/3) and a 3.3k is resistor. I say ish because it's hard to find that value sometimes. You can use any number of lower value resistors wired in series, one after another, to equal the 3.3k though.
The resistor(s) go on the POSITIVE+ dim lead which is connected to the MIDDLE POST of the 3 available on the potentiometer. The negative you simply connect to whichever side pole you want to turn towards for NEGATIVE-. Usually people use the left pole.
The resistor(s) go on the POSITIVE+ dim lead which is connected to the MIDDLE POST of the 3 available on the potentiometer. The negative you simply connect to whichever side pole you want to turn towards for NEGATIVE-. Usually people use the left pole.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
So ita going to be 176 watts total or 527?
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Bro, you don't need to fit anything anywhere. Just use a 5 lever WAGO connector for each of the 3 plug wires ground, hot and neutral.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Welp, you're not using meanWells or a driver that dims, so that Info I posted won't be needed. Just hook the wires all together and use a nice thick 10-12awg 3 prong and you're done .
These drivers do have dimming capability. There isn't too much data on the resistive dimming though. Most I could find was this thread https://ledgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=747&sid=f5c3df443ed4d5e6c1a6eb182e2fa761 From the looks of it a 40k would be good for one driver and use the same 40k/3 to get ~13k for 3 drivers. I really don't know what I should use though because I don't want to get a pot that is underrated and won't let me get all the way to 100% power. Saw this on amazon https://www.amazon.com/JANSANE-Potentiometer-Wirewound-Multiturn-Adjustable/dp/B07D8K8R8X/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3O1DKYWL9HLR1&dchild=1&keywords=20k+potentiometer&qid=1584605308&sprefix=20k+pote,aps,160&sr=8-8&th=1 seems a little expensive, but it is a 10 turn potentiometer so I figure ill be able to dial in the dimming pretty accurately.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
That's what a potentiometer is mate.
These are only 60watt drivers then huh?
I can't imagine you'd ever use a 40K ohm pot tho.. that I don't understand.
0-10v dimming is different from potentiometer dimming. It's hard to find any good explanations of what each one does though. For potentiometer dimming, the Meanwell drivers have a 100 microamp (typical) source current running through their dimming leads which is mostly constant, it says on their datasheet. Using ohms law 10v/.0001 amps = 100,000 ohms to get your whole 0-10v spectrum. The driver I am using does not have a typical current listed for their dimming source current. I don't know if that means other drivers have different source currents or if it isn't constant, because of that it is hard to find what ohm pot I need other than looking at other's experience with it. I think I am going to get that 20k pot just to be safe, I really don't mind having to turn it 10 times, it's not like I'll be adjusting it very often anyway.
Rocket Soul
Well-Known Member
Op: you dont wanna combine to many drivers on one timer, they have quite a bit of inrush current which can blow fuses. Switching them on and off individually or in pairs is recommended.
Also avoid putting your drivers on the frame/heatsink in order to keep the driver heat away from the led chips
Also avoid putting your drivers on the frame/heatsink in order to keep the driver heat away from the led chips
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
His drivers are 60watts each. 176 total all wired together. He'll have no issues.