Too much current for sockets

[lednoob]

Hey guys,

I posted here a couple months ago and some people helped me confirm that my parts were all good and offered some advice on heatsinking. I ended up going with 32 bridgelux 2 footer strips based on the 4x4 build that was on here but with an increase in amount of strips so I could run them low enough I wouldn't need heatsinks, since strips are cheaper than aluminum where I'm from, and a HLG-600H-24-A driver because that's what the parallel tool said I would need.

I also worked out that the 32 strips ran at 700ma would be 22 amps, and made sure that all my wire was good enough, but foolishly didn't think about how my power sockets are only 10 amps until now. So now I feel really dumb and I'm wondering if 1. I am right about the 10 amp sockets not being good due to driver needing to supply 22 amps to the strips, and 2. if so is there any suggestions you guys might have on how I could make my build work?

I figure I'll most likely have to sell my driver and get 2 320's or something, but I should check with the experts to make sure there's nothing I can do first. Thanks heaps in advance, any help is greatly appreciated and I'm sorry for the wall of text.

[Hydrofood]

I’m not sure about the socket amperage question.

If your using Eb series Gen2 strips, your going to want the 20v driver instead of the 24v driver.

[Jolly Green Giant]

Hey guys,

I posted here a couple months ago and some people helped me confirm that my parts were all good and offered some advice on heatsinking. I ended up going with 32 bridgelux 2 footer strips based on the 4x4 build that was on here but with an increase in amount of strips so I could run them low enough I wouldn't need heatsinks, since strips are cheaper than aluminum where I'm from, and a HLG-600H-24-A driver because that's what the parallel tool said I would need.

I also worked out that the 32 strips ran at 700ma would be 22 amps, and made sure that all my wire was good enough, but foolishly didn't think about how my power sockets are only 10 amps until now. So now I feel really dumb and I'm wondering if 1. I am right about the 10 amp sockets not being good due to driver needing to supply 22 amps to the strips, and 2. if so is there any suggestions you guys might have on how I could make my build work?

I figure I'll most likely have to sell my driver and get 2 320's or something, but I should check with the experts to make sure there's nothing I can do first. Thanks heaps in advance, any help is greatly appreciated and I'm sorry for the wall of text.

welcome back

just under where it says "hlg-600h-24a" there are input currents for each voltage range I.e. 115v /230v/277 v ( 3phase) if your on 115v ( normal 120v in NA) it will pull up to 7 amps when wide open.. if your on 220v it pulls 3.3 amps from the wall... 2.9 a for 3 phase..

so if it is by itself.. no problem on a 10 amp breaker.. if you have fans,dehumidifier, etc or anything else on that breaker, make sure it's combined under 3 amp... ( should have input amperage on sticker/info plate...)

now as for 20 or 24
technically the hlg-600h-24a has a range of 20.4 to 25.4 and 25 amps.. the EB gen 2's at test 700ma current only pull 19.5v.. with the driver on full blast each of the 32 strips should get roughly 780-800ma each.. that might be enough current over 700 to bump the voltage into the 20.4+ range... but when you dimmed, they could fall back under the drivers voltage range.

(go figure) after I started replying to this, I noticed something... the EB strips on the site's calculator are gen 1.. ( hence the 22.1v at 700ma..) I looked at digikey, they have the same BXEB-L0560 designation as the gen2's.. that's why I was confused at first when I looked at the calculator..

so yes.. technically you want to change over to a -20a or b for running the gen 2 strips.. dual hlg-240h-20a/b would give you 24 amps dc.. the 600 has 25a dc.. so your right there with just over 700ma each I looked for hlg-480h-20.. but didn't see it on digikey.. that would be same as the 2 240's..

sorry that we didn't realize the calculator tool was gen 1 not gen 2.. I probably linked the calculator tool also

again welcome back

[Jolly Green Giant]

I’m not sure about the socket amperage question.

If your using Eb series Gen2 strips, your going to want the 20v driver instead of the 24v driver.

yeah I didn't realize the calculator here is gen 1 strips

[ATPinMotion]

What voltage do your sockets provide?

I'm guessing you are asking about the socket supplying the driver? Is it a 230v 10a socket?

Running a HLG600 will be perfectly fine on a 10a wall socket.

600w/230v= 2.6A

At 120v it's still only 5a going INTO the driver

COMING OUT of the driver, on the other hand - what size of wire did you use? 20a is a fair amount of juice. How did you determine your wiring was 'good enough'?

Here is a wire sizing chart (for 12v, but close enough).

[lednoob]

Hydrofood and Jolly Green Giant,

Ah damn it, I didn't even think of that, I just went with the driver the tool said I needed, and figured since I confirmed here that all my parts were good everything would be fine. Obviously I should have double checked everything myself instead of leaving it up to others to notice my mistakes. Thank you for the information

So you think best course of action is selling the driver and getting either a HLG-600h-20A or 2 HLG-240H-20A? There's no way I can just run the strips higher/add more strips right? Replacing the driver will be the most expensive part, so if there's anything else I could do to make it work, I'd rather do that, but I don't think there's anyway I could make the 24V work with the strips since they have a max voltage of 21.6V right? Fingers crossed I can sell it somewhere or that mouser might take a return since it's only about 3 weeks old and was just sitting in the box whilst I was waiting for everything else.


ATPinMotion Yes I am, and it's a 250V 10 amp socket. That is really good to know, thank you. I determined that I was good by working out that if my system current is 22 amps, and I use the dual outputs on the 600h, then I would have 11 amps through each output. I went with 18gauge wire from wago to strip, and 14 between wagos because that's what I kept seeing suggested, and because my googling has lead me to believe that the current between the strips and wagos only have to carry the current of the strip it's coming from, so 18g should be good, and then 14g between wago's because I've read that's enough for 15 amps which is more than the 11 amps I'll need. If there's anything wrong with my calculations or thinking here, input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much everyone, I would have made a lot more mistakes if it weren't for you guys

[ATPinMotion]

You are golden as far as I can tell!

[Hydrofood]

I’m not sure about the socket amperage question.

If your using Eb series Gen2 strips, your going to want the 20v driver instead of the 24v driver.

yeah I didn't realize the calculator here is gen 1 strips

The designation between gen1 and gen2 is the letter at the end of the part number.
Gen1=A3
Gen2=B3

Is that what you meant by you couldn’t distinguish the two?

[Shimbob]

I went with 18gauge wire from wago to strip, and 14 between wagos because that's what I kept seeing suggested, and because my googling has lead me to believe that the current between the strips and wagos only have to carry the current of the strip it's coming from, so 18g should be good, and then 14g between wago's because I've read that's enough for 15 amps which is more than the 11 amps I'll need. If there's anything wrong with my calculations or thinking here, input would be greatly appreciated.

Keep in mind voltage losses due to wires. It's one thing to use a wire size because it can "handle" it, but it's another to pick a wire size to minimize the losses in the system. 10 feet of 14AWG on a 20V 11amp circuit will cause a drop of 0.56volts, not an insignificant amount, especially when you're running 20v strips on a 20v driver. Sure the driver can compensate for it but at the cost of overall system efficiency.

Ain't nothing wrong with using 10AWG, a few extra pennies per foot of wire?

[lednoob]

I never thought of that either Shimbob, I just went with what everyone said and what sounded like it would work, but if you think going with 10AWG will have an impact, I don’t mind spending a bit more. So 10AWG for all the wiring, or just the Wago-Wago?