It is not recommended to wire 6x strips in this manner, it forces the first strip to carry the full current load. The specs specify maximum of two strips when wired like this.
Instead, do this:IMG_20210225_184141.jpg
I am making a 3 feet long light fixture.. I have 3D-designed it and am gearing up to get ready to 3D print it. Redesigning this light fixture has already happened many times & I have made my 1st batches of prototypes... I don't mean to sound annoying but I seriously do not wish to fully redesign the Light fixtures just based on that strip's limit.
Can I go with the original plan of a 2ft strip + a 1ft strip? The whole idea is to have x2 3foot bars of lights spaced out to allow the potential for sunlight to easily pass through & spread the diodes as much as possible.
Is there another light strip that you'd recommend? I really want to try working with the Samsung LM301H & LM301H-one series
You could extrapolate that the 1ft strip "Max parallel" would actually be 4 bars not 2, the equivalent of two (2) 2ft bars or 4 linear ft. The assumption is that the electrical traces (characteristics) are the same for 1ft and 2ft bars. So parallel wired you could possibly daisy chain three (3) 1ft bars, but not six (6).
The other option as mentioned is Series Wired (the Datasheet info shows eight (8) linear ft wired can be wired in Series), but it exceeds the SELV (low voltage) rating of the LED Strip; the mix of 1ft and 2ft strips or six (6) 1ft strips wired in series requiring a "Series Driver" with ~ 155 watts, ~ 129.2 Vf and ~ 1200 mA.
So, if they are wired, from strip to strip all together then the very last one is attached directly to the power supply. That makes 6 wired in series, correct? Which is less than the 8 series max
Do these drivers work for the LED configurations of my drawings?
So, if they are wired, from strip to strip all together then the very last one is attached directly to the power supply. That makes 6 wired in series, correct? Which is less than the 8 series max
Do these drivers work for the LED configurations of my drawings?
No, wiring from "strip to strip" is still Parallel Wiring.
You are actually using the PCB traces as the "DC Power Wiring" which is the problem, causes excessive current at the 1st powered strip and excessive Voltage drop due to "wire" (PCB trace) resistance at the last few strips, furthest from the LED Driver (power supply) in the chain aka Daisy Chain...
Yes, 24 Volt Drivers are adequate for the 1ft strips and 48 Volt Drivers are adequate for 2ft strips (or two 1ft strips wired in 2-Series / Parallel circuits).
So, if they are wired, from strip to strip all together then the very last one is attached directly to the power supply. That makes 6 wired in series, correct? Which is less than the 8 series max
Do these drivers work for the LED configurations of my drawings?
No, wiring from "strip to strip" is still Parallel Wiring.
You are actually using the PCB traces as the "DC Power Wiring" which is the problem, causes excessive current at the 1st powered strip and excessive Voltage drop due to "wire" (PCB trace) resistance at the last few strips, furthest from the LED Driver (power supply) in the chain aka Daisy Chain...
Yes, 24 Volt Drivers are adequate for the 1ft strips and 48 Volt Drivers are adequate for 2ft strips (or two 1ft strips wired in 2-Series / Parallel circuits).
Neat! Thanks for letting me know about the drivers & would the top image method be an alright method? Looks much cleaner for my project
Neat! Thanks for letting me know about the drivers & would the top image method be an alright method? Looks much cleaner for my project
You're welcome.
The top Diagram is Series wired and would require Series type / "Constant Current" LED Drivers as previously mentioned;
For the 2' LED: 2 - 2ft strips (4 linear feet) wired in Series; ~ 103.4 Watts, 86.2 Vf and 1200 mA.
For the 3' LED: 2 - 2ft and 2 - 1ft Strips (6 linear ft) wired in Series; ~ 155 Watts, 129.2 Vf and 1200 mA.
And as mentioned the Voltage would exceed the Maximum working insulation voltage rating, but is within the Specified "Max series" quantity of eight (8) linear feet...
BTW, I woud never recommend exceeding the 60 Vdc SELV Ratings.
Neat! Thanks for letting me know about the drivers & would the top image method be an alright method? Looks much cleaner for my project
You're welcome.
The top Diagram is Series wired and would require Series type / "Constant Current" LED Drivers as previously mentioned;
For the 2' LED: 2 - 2ft strips (4 linear feet) wired in Series; ~ 103.4 Watts, 86.2 Vf and 1200 mA.
For the 3' LED: 2 - 2ft and 2 - 1ft Strips (6 linear ft) wired in Series; ~ 155 Watts, 129.2 Vf and 1200 mA.
And as mentioned the Voltage would exceed the Maximum working insulation voltage rating, but is within the Specified "Max series" quantity of eight (8) linear feet...
BTW, I woud never recommend exceeding the 60 Vdc SELV Ratings.
Right on, could you please link the drivers that would be better suited for wiring in series. If the ones that I've chosen (driver wise) can be improved with a different selection, I'd be glad to check them out I'd like to use the B type HLG series to attach a potentiometer
& as for the 3' LED, I believe I am going to use (x3) of the 1ft Samsung Horticulture Linear LED strips per bar (instead of a 2 foot + a 1 foot)
Cheers, thank you & hope you have a wonderful weekend
-Lg
Right on, could you please link the drivers that would be better suited for wiring in series. If the ones that I've chosen (driver wise) can be improved with a different selection, I'd be glad to check them out I'd like to use the B type HLG series to attach a potentiometer
& as for the 3' LED, I believe I am going to use (x3) of the 1ft Samsung Horticulture Linear LED strips per bar (instead of a 2 foot + a 1 foot)
Cheers, thank you & hope you have a wonderful weekend
-Lg
The Series Drivers have high DC Voltage and is not my recommendation. I recommend Parallel Wiring, the 24 and 48 Vdc Drivers and SELV below 60 Vdc... Thanks, have a great weekend.
The Series Drivers have high DC Voltage and is not my recommendation. I recommend Parallel Wiring, the 24 and 48 Vdc Drivers and SELV below 60 Vdc... Thanks, have a great weekend.
Not sure I really understand, are you saying that wiring in a series/parallel (the bottom pic in your drawing) is the best way to go? But the top part of the picture that just says wiring in a series, is that better than my original drawing? & how do I calculate the SELV?
I am checking your link to digikey now. Sorry I last did my first batch of light fixtures months ago, & watched hours of vids online for making them. I was thinking for the power supplies that since the strips are 24V (for the 1 foot) and 48V (for the 2 foot) that I need to get a 24V & 48V power supply. But if I wire it differently I need to add up the Volts per additional strip... kind of confused by that part
Not sure I really understand, are you saying that wiring in a series/parallel (the bottom pic in your drawing) is the best way to go? But the top part of the picture that just says wiring in a series, is that better than my original drawing? & how do I calculate the SELV?
I am checking your link to digikey now. Sorry I last did my first batch of light fixtures months ago, & watched hours of vids online for making them. I was thinking for the power supplies that since the strips are 24V (for the 1 foot) and 48V (for the 2 foot) that I need to get a 24V & 48V power supply. But if I wire it differently I need to add up the Volts per additional strip... kind of confused by that part
60 Vdc max for LED Strips and 54 Vdc max for MeanWell Drivers is their "Safety Extra-Low Voltage" (SELV) Rating... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra-low_voltage
Yes you should get the 24 Vdc and 48 Vdc Drivers for the 1ft and 2ft strips (respectively)... Its usually much easier to modify the quantity of strips (add or delete) with Parallel Wired Circuits.
Adding up the Voltage (Vf) is necessary only for (actual) Series Wiring.
Your diagram is of a Parallel Circuit that is daisy chained out to six (6) LED Strips and is not a recommended wiring procedure, too many strips. It is possible that it may work better with only three (3) daisy chained, but it should be tested (move your right side "jumpers" to the left side).
If all the LED Strips are 24 Vf in the Diagrams then the Circuits are as follows;
Parallel = 24 Vdc
Series = 240 Vdc (Not Recommended by me)
Series/Parallel = 48 Vdc
Parallel/Daisy Chain = 24 Vdc
Not sure I really understand, are you saying that wiring in a series/parallel (the bottom pic in your drawing) is the best way to go? But the top part of the picture that just says wiring in a series, is that better than my original drawing? & how do I calculate the SELV?
I am checking your link to digikey now. Sorry I last did my first batch of light fixtures months ago, & watched hours of vids online for making them. I was thinking for the power supplies that since the strips are 24V (for the 1 foot) and 48V (for the 2 foot) that I need to get a 24V & 48V power supply. But if I wire it differently I need to add up the Volts per additional strip... kind of confused by that part
60 Vdc max for LED Strips and 54 Vdc max for MeanWell Drivers is their "Safety Extra-Low Voltage" (SELV) Rating... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra-low_voltage
Yes you should get the 24 Vdc and 48 Vdc Drivers for the 1ft and 2ft strips (respectively)... Its usually much easier to modify the quantity of strips (add or delete) with Parallel Wired Circuits.
Adding up the Voltage (Vf) is necessary only for (actual) Series Wiring.
Your diagram is of a Parallel Circuit that is daisy chained out to six (6) LED Strips and is not a recommended wiring procedure, too many strips. It is possible that it may work better with only three (3) daisy chained, but it should be tested (move your right side "jumpers" to the left side).
If all the LED Strips are 24 Vf in the Diagrams then the Circuits are as follows;
Parallel = 24 Vdc
Series = 240 Vdc (Not Recommended by me)
Series/Parallel = 48 Vdc
Parallel/Daisy Chain = 24 Vdc
Okay! WOW very clearly presented, thank you for the detailed reply. If I use those Wago Push-in wire connectors and wire the LEDs in a parallel manner, that looks like the best way to go for the 3 feet Light fixtures.
I'll quickly draw that out:
& I have 1 more question, as for the wattage of the power supplies. I have seen on videos, typically dealing with wiring light fixtures in general, that a LED should use 80% of the wattage output that the power supply is designed for. For instance, an 80 Watt Lighting should use a 100 Watt power supply. What is your take on that? Especially as pertained to my project, should I be aiming for higher Power Supply wattage than the LED light strips I've chosen?
My 3 prototypes are as follows:
- 1Ft LED: 50watts ,
- 2Ft LED: 100watts
& 3Ft LED 150watts
I often use a 1.25 multiplier (extra 25%) when sizing LED Drivers, but its only necessary if the required Max Output is uncertain, it adds some redundancy. The most efficient operating range for LED Drivers appears to be ~ 85 - 90%, so yes the LED Drivers could be slightly oversized, if desired.
A simple procedure to Size a Grow Light for any "Small" Grow Area is;
Grow Light Sizing; Imperial and Metric Preliminary: Part A
1. Get the Grow area in square feet or square meters (note1).
[2 ft x 4 ft = 8 sq ft]
[68 cm x 120 cm = 0.8 sq m]
2. Select the required Intensity (note2).
a. 20 PPF/sq ft or 200 PPF/sq m = Seedlings and Cuttings
b. 40 PPF/sq ft or 400 PPF/sq m = Vegetative
c. 60 PPF/sq ft or 600 PPF/sq m = Flowering and Late Vegetative
d. 80 PPF/sq ft or 800 PPF/sq m = Flowering, CO2 Enhanced
e. 100 PPF/sq ft or 1000 PPF/sq m = Flowering, CO2 Enhanced, Controlled Environment
3. Multiply Area by required Intensity to get required Fixture size;
[8 (sq ft) x 80 (PPF / sq ft) = 640 PPF fixture]
[0.8 (sq m) x 800 (PPFD) = 640 PPF Fixture]
4. Get an approximate Fixture Watts by dividing Fixture PPF by an "average" LED Strip PPE (note3)
[640 (Watts) / 2.5 (PPE) = 256 Watts]
Notes: 1. 10 sq ft = ~ 1 sq m ( = 0.93 m2) 2. PPF = umol/s and PPF/sq m = PPFD (umol/s/m2) 3. PPE = umol/s/W and 2.5 PPE is a nominally efficient LED.
Grow Light Sizing; LED Strip and Driver Selection: Part B
5. LED Strip Selection requires the Strip's; Lumens, Lm/W, Vf, Amps, Watts (Vf x Amps)
[1120mm BXEB Gen2 3500K; 4780 Lm, 175 Lm/W, 39 Vf, 0.700 A, 27.3 W]
6. The LED Strip's Lumens and Lumens/Watt can be converted to PPF and PPE (note4);
[4780 (Lm) x 0.015 (PPF/Lm) = 71.7 PPF (umol/s) each]
[175 (Lm/W) x 0.015 (PPF/Lm) = 2.625 PPE (PPF/W)]
7. Use the preliminary req'd PPF (from Part A) to Calculate the quantity of req'd Strips
[640 (PPF) / 71.7 (PPF/strip) = 8.92 Strips]
8. Use the req'd Strip quantity, Watts and Vf (Forward Volts) to Calculate the req'd LED Driver Specs
[9 (Strips) x 27.3 (Watts) = 245.7 Watts & 39 Vf]
9. Use the req'd Driver Watts and a reserve of ~ 25% (1.25 Factor) to Select an LED Driver(note5)
[245.7 (Watts) x 1.25 = 307 Watts & 39 Vf]
Notes: 1. 10 sq ft = ~ 1 sq m ( = 0.93 m2) 2. PPF = umol/s and PPF/sq m = PPFD (umol/s/m2) 3. PPE = umol/s/W and 2.5 PPE is a nominally efficient LED. 4. Conversion Factor = 0.015 PPF/Lm for 3000K to 5000K, 80CRI LED... https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv ... 0.full.pdf 5. The Reserve factor of ~ 25% allows for an increase of PPF, if required.
The push-in connectors work well but are "Permanent" and not designed to be removed / adjusted like the lever-lock types...
I'd like to use the B type HLG series to attach a potentiometer 