My Low budget build - Chanzon 100w Full Spectrum / Meanwell SE-600 36v power supply
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:01 am
I had first noticed that people were using buck converters with random power supplies while I was researching cob LED's on Amazon. There was at least one horror story about how a buck converter would fail and destroy strings of COB leds. It kinda soured the idea for me, until I read a thread in the General forum about using non-conventional power supplies. User bvolt linked to a DROK adjustable voltage regulator that once again peaked my interest.
After reviewing what Meanwell has to offer, I found a voltage adjustable power supply for over 50% less than their dedicated LED driver. The Meanwell SE-600 watt 36 volt power supply offers almost all of the same specs as its HLG 600 counterpart. The functionality of the DROK made me feel safe enough to pull the trigger on buying parts.
My objective was to try and figure out the cheapest LED light build out that I could expand upon in the future. Here is a list of the parts that I used:
1.) Meanwell SE-600 36 volt power supply
$80.83
2.) DROK NC adjustable voltage regulator
$46.69
3.) Two - Chanzon - 100W - Full Spectrum (380nm-840nm / 3000mA / DC 30V-34V / 100 Watt)
$17.38
4.) Wagos
$6.35
5.) Adjustable light hangers
$5
6.) Artic silver thermal paste
$9
7.) Flat screen tv mount panel
$0
8.) Zip ties
$0
9.) 12 gauge wire
$0
10.) Two - 100 watt CPU heatsink w/ 12v fan
$0
11.) Connection block
$0
12.) Velcro
$0
I cobbled a quick and dirty version of this on my kitchen table for testing. WARNING! People aren't kidding when they say COB leds are bright. I wasn't paying attention, flashed one on to test, and was seeing a neon greenish-yellow square in both of my eyes. I wandered around my house for about 5 minutes muttering under my breath about how much of an idiot I was for doing that.
After running them for about an hour at 75 watts, they averaged about 88 degree F temperature. I used a laser thermometer and zapped it directly at the center of the chip. This is almost half the recommended maximum heat for the chips.
I'll probably keep them at 75 watts, but could potentially take then up to 100 watts due to the active cooling. There aren't really any reviews, tests, or usable specs for these LEDs and I have no idea how efficient these things are. They were high powered and cheap though. Cheap being the key here. If I destroy them with this experiment, I'm not going to cry. My low voltage tests at least showed that all of the leds light up.
It took me awhile to scavenge parts for the build. I really didn't want to build out a frame, so I happened upon a decommissioned flat screen tv mount in my garage. It was perfect. I drilled holes into the random cpu heatsinks I had laying around and screwed in the chips. This was after breaking four drill bits, due to not having a drill press. The leds/heatsinks are zip tied to random pieces metal that I scavenged from discarded parts at my print shop. I scavenged a barrel plug out of a Centurylink Modem I had laying around and used its 12v/1a power supply for the fans.
The end result is hopefully enough power to keep the starts that I had under two fluorescent light banks happy. Right now my main concerns are heat sink fan failure, voltage regulator failure, and cheap COB led failure. So far, it is about a $182.63 experiment.
If this whole thing doesn't melt down, I can potentially add about six more cobs to the system @ 75 watts each. I don't want to max the system out, so I'll most likely add 4 more. I have two more heatsinks with glass lens coming from China from LED world that were about $15 a piece. I may order two different COB chips to test. I'll report back here with more results.
After reviewing what Meanwell has to offer, I found a voltage adjustable power supply for over 50% less than their dedicated LED driver. The Meanwell SE-600 watt 36 volt power supply offers almost all of the same specs as its HLG 600 counterpart. The functionality of the DROK made me feel safe enough to pull the trigger on buying parts.
My objective was to try and figure out the cheapest LED light build out that I could expand upon in the future. Here is a list of the parts that I used:
1.) Meanwell SE-600 36 volt power supply
$80.83
2.) DROK NC adjustable voltage regulator
$46.69
3.) Two - Chanzon - 100W - Full Spectrum (380nm-840nm / 3000mA / DC 30V-34V / 100 Watt)
$17.38
4.) Wagos
$6.35
5.) Adjustable light hangers
$5
6.) Artic silver thermal paste
$9
7.) Flat screen tv mount panel
$0
8.) Zip ties
$0
9.) 12 gauge wire
$0
10.) Two - 100 watt CPU heatsink w/ 12v fan
$0
11.) Connection block
$0
12.) Velcro
$0
I cobbled a quick and dirty version of this on my kitchen table for testing. WARNING! People aren't kidding when they say COB leds are bright. I wasn't paying attention, flashed one on to test, and was seeing a neon greenish-yellow square in both of my eyes. I wandered around my house for about 5 minutes muttering under my breath about how much of an idiot I was for doing that.
After running them for about an hour at 75 watts, they averaged about 88 degree F temperature. I used a laser thermometer and zapped it directly at the center of the chip. This is almost half the recommended maximum heat for the chips.
I'll probably keep them at 75 watts, but could potentially take then up to 100 watts due to the active cooling. There aren't really any reviews, tests, or usable specs for these LEDs and I have no idea how efficient these things are. They were high powered and cheap though. Cheap being the key here. If I destroy them with this experiment, I'm not going to cry. My low voltage tests at least showed that all of the leds light up.
It took me awhile to scavenge parts for the build. I really didn't want to build out a frame, so I happened upon a decommissioned flat screen tv mount in my garage. It was perfect. I drilled holes into the random cpu heatsinks I had laying around and screwed in the chips. This was after breaking four drill bits, due to not having a drill press. The leds/heatsinks are zip tied to random pieces metal that I scavenged from discarded parts at my print shop. I scavenged a barrel plug out of a Centurylink Modem I had laying around and used its 12v/1a power supply for the fans.
The end result is hopefully enough power to keep the starts that I had under two fluorescent light banks happy. Right now my main concerns are heat sink fan failure, voltage regulator failure, and cheap COB led failure. So far, it is about a $182.63 experiment.
If this whole thing doesn't melt down, I can potentially add about six more cobs to the system @ 75 watts each. I don't want to max the system out, so I'll most likely add 4 more. I have two more heatsinks with glass lens coming from China from LED world that were about $15 a piece. I may order two different COB chips to test. I'll report back here with more results.