Canadian DIY COB material list and sources
My stuff came in the mail today!!!
if i remember correctly you're in canada as well and i had some more questions for sourcing materials for you!!
I started looking online for wiring for 18 gauge solid core as you suggest in your wiring post, but i dont seem to be able to find 18 gauge solid core at all, especially not in red and black. I haven't gone to home depot in person yet but figured i'd field you some questions.
Where do you get your wiring?
After watching a video about attaching a plug to the drivers it was brought up that i should attach an extension cord. Whats your position on this? do you attach the plug directly to the wire?
Finally is there a specific video you could recommend for all the wiring aspects of the build process or should i just look for whatever cob and such vids i can find?
Thanks again dude. You're a god.
if i remember correctly you're in canada as well and i had some more questions for sourcing materials for you!!
I started looking online for wiring for 18 gauge solid core as you suggest in your wiring post, but i dont seem to be able to find 18 gauge solid core at all, especially not in red and black. I haven't gone to home depot in person yet but figured i'd field you some questions.
Where do you get your wiring?
After watching a video about attaching a plug to the drivers it was brought up that i should attach an extension cord. Whats your position on this? do you attach the plug directly to the wire?
Finally is there a specific video you could recommend for all the wiring aspects of the build process or should i just look for whatever cob and such vids i can find?
Thanks again dude. You're a god.
Awesome!CBDseeker wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:09 amMy stuff came in the mail today!!!
if i remember correctly you're in canada as well and i had some more questions for sourcing materials for you!!
I started looking online for wiring for 18 gauge solid core as you suggest in your wiring post, but i dont seem to be able to find 18 gauge solid core at all, especially not in red and black. I haven't gone to home depot in person yet but figured i'd field you some questions.
Where do you get your wiring?
After watching a video about attaching a plug to the drivers it was brought up that i should attach an extension cord. Whats your position on this? do you attach the plug directly to the wire?
Finally is there a specific video you could recommend for all the wiring aspects of the build process or should i just look for whatever cob and such vids i can find?
Thanks again dude. You're a god.
Try searching for "hookup wire". Something like this. I'm sure you can find it cheaper if you scour amazon or ebay or even home depot maybe. The important specs are: 18 gauge, solid core, 300V rating.
Regarding power,, things have changed a bit since that video was made and now there are some more popular connectors to use to extend your power cable. The LLT-L20 that HLG uses for their QB kits is the best in my opinion. You can find them on ebay and alibaba pretty easily. Which aspects are you looking for in video form? Is it more about making the various driver connections or more about how to do parallel wiring for the strips?
We can help you directly here on the forum to make sure that you've got it all wired up properly and your driver is all set.
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thanks for the link on the hookup wire, Ill probably even just get that, but I'm going to go to home depot today to check it out.
In terms of what i was looking for, the ideal thing would be a parallel strip build like mine from start to finish, explaining the math and wiring techniques(like using the wagos) along the way as I am very much a visual learner and love watching those types of videos, though i don't think such a video exists, as most i see are for the regular cobs and also wired in series.
Next best thing would be a diagram of the wiring including the specifics of using the driver dimmer, various wires and such.
Other than this I can probably just try to plug in information from different videos and text/image posts like your quantum post to create a picture i can work from but having all the information in one video would make it much easier for me.
In terms of what i was looking for, the ideal thing would be a parallel strip build like mine from start to finish, explaining the math and wiring techniques(like using the wagos) along the way as I am very much a visual learner and love watching those types of videos, though i don't think such a video exists, as most i see are for the regular cobs and also wired in series.
Next best thing would be a diagram of the wiring including the specifics of using the driver dimmer, various wires and such.
Other than this I can probably just try to plug in information from different videos and text/image posts like your quantum post to create a picture i can work from but having all the information in one video would make it much easier for me.
I don’t have anything on parallel strip builds yet, nor do I know if such a video exists, unfortunately. A wiring diagram is easy to do though.
The LLT-L20 is for the AC connection of the driver. I use them in a few of my QB videos on YouTube like the HLG 550 build vid.
The LLT-L20 is for the AC connection of the driver. I use them in a few of my QB videos on YouTube like the HLG 550 build vid.
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Sweet. watching the HLG 550 video definitely cleared up most stuff for me.
I think the only stuff i need to grab that i don't have yet are the 18awg solid core wire, Ac power cable, the LLT-L20, and a stripper.
I guess the only 2 things i'm still wondering about are the exact wiring for the parallel system using 3 socket wagos, and looking at my driver there are more DC cables then I thought there would be. Most videos i see, the driver has a leads for the potentiometer and one sent for the light wiring. Mine has 3 though and none of the 3 are labeled dim(attached a photo of my driver).
I'm assuming i'm just going to be using one of the black and red leads but figured i'd ask just in case and to know what the others are for.
I think the only stuff i need to grab that i don't have yet are the 18awg solid core wire, Ac power cable, the LLT-L20, and a stripper.
I guess the only 2 things i'm still wondering about are the exact wiring for the parallel system using 3 socket wagos, and looking at my driver there are more DC cables then I thought there would be. Most videos i see, the driver has a leads for the potentiometer and one sent for the light wiring. Mine has 3 though and none of the 3 are labeled dim(attached a photo of my driver).
I'm assuming i'm just going to be using one of the black and red leads but figured i'd ask just in case and to know what the others are for.
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O and the last thing i was wondering was in terms of the AC power cable, are you buying it like it is in your HLG 550 video or are you buying a regular AC Power cord and cutting and stripping it yourself to get what you start the video with?
You'll want to use both sets of black and red DC output leads. The HLG-600H has 2 sets because of how much current flows with that driver. Run half your strips on one pair and the other half on the remaining pair.
The other wires you don't need to worry about. They are only there on the 600H. The RC pair is for remote control of the driver (turns it off when you short the RC pair) and the 5V is a 5V feed to power other stuff. Just cap them all off.
You can get the AC cable unterminated on one end. I'm not cutting and stripping cords - I start with them in that form. I've seen them at Home Depot before and you can find them online like this one
Attached is how you could wire this with 5 port wagos. Right click the pic and open in new tab for a closer look. I know it's tough to follow but there's a lot going on and i wanted to show it all.
If you use 3 port wagos, you just need more of them but they'll work just fine. The 3 ports will act sort of like a T-tap and you'll need one at almost every strip except the last one in the run. Power comes in on the left, middle goes down to strip, power goes out to the next wago on the right.
The other wires you don't need to worry about. They are only there on the 600H. The RC pair is for remote control of the driver (turns it off when you short the RC pair) and the 5V is a 5V feed to power other stuff. Just cap them all off.
You can get the AC cable unterminated on one end. I'm not cutting and stripping cords - I start with them in that form. I've seen them at Home Depot before and you can find them online like this one
Attached is how you could wire this with 5 port wagos. Right click the pic and open in new tab for a closer look. I know it's tough to follow but there's a lot going on and i wanted to show it all.
- Strip Parallel Wiring.png (161.1 KiB) Viewed 4235 times
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Ya i already bought a bunch of 3 socket wagos so ill be doing the second option you mentioned, so ya pretty much have everything i need either already here or waiting in the mail. I ordered the llt-l20s on alieexpress so just gotta hope they come sooner than later lol. The one thing i dont have yet or have ordered is the ac cord you linked in your last response. I looked online at all my local hardware stores and none have it, closest is niagara and i really don't feel like driving down there for one cable. lol. Ill have to look some more and see what i can find. If you think of a palce let me know. Im in the GTA. I should of got the ac cord when i ordered my driver from mouser! definitely what ill be doing next time i do a build