Please Check My Proposed Driver/Strips

[HandroidSolo]

Hello all! Excited to be here.
Thanks for the great site!! I have been pondering an LED build for a while, your site helped motivate me. I love HPS results, but they're more high maintenance than my ex's!!

I have been having issues with my HPS 1000w, both heat (obviously) and condensation on my cool tube dripping onto my plants.

I decided I need to build an LED setup, before spring/summer, but the DIY kit builds didn't quite match exactly what I need. I need a rectangle and they are set up square.

What I thought I could do was use the 5x5 build guide, specifically for the Bridgelux strips (‎I picked out the BXEB-L1120Z-35E4000-C-B3‎ on DigiKey's site in 3500K Natural White color)

The thing is, I don't need all 18 strips, I have 3 HLG 100's (that I may build a seperate mount for or just suspend not sure) that can roughly replace the 6 strips and the one driver out of the 5x5 guide.

So I am going to just go with 12 - 4' Bridgelux strips mounted to a (roughly) 46-47" x 34-36" light fixture. Exact dimensions not important more worried about electrical.

The suggested driver for the 12 strips is the HLG-480H-42B.

I am not worried about having an external dimmer, so I was thinking of just getting the A model and saving some parts and wiring.

So, question 1 is:

I can still dim that driver down, but just on the driver itself, and with a screwdriver, correct?
I would probably mount the driver remotely on my tent somehow so I can access the dimmer slot easily, possibly outside the tent too.



OK, so I also used the strip driver selection tool, and it seems that the suggested driver (HLG- 480H-42) will only push that setup at 50%. If I want to step it up to 75%, it says I need the HLG-600H-48 series. Beyond 75% apparently requires multiple drivers. 75% is good enough. IIRC, it comes out to nearly 600W across the 12 strips. With my HLG 100's added, that puts me up at just under 900W spread nice and evenly over a roughly 48" x 48" grow area. Roughly 56 w/sq ft
Hopefully, enough.


Question 2 :

Is it correct that I need a HLG-600H-48 (A or B) to drive the 12 - 4' strips at 75% ? Just want to make sure I used that tool correctly, or that the strips I picked out are actually covered by the tool.

Question 3:

When it says 75%, does that mean I can only turn the dimmer up to 75%, or I risk burning out the strips, or is that value an internal value that has nothing to do with the dimmer and not to worry about it?

Question 4:

Is a 16AWG power cord heavy enough for that driver and strip setup, running at up to 75%?


Sorry if these are rookie questions, just don't want to burn my house down or grossly under/overpower the setup.

[Yodies]

Question 1: Drivers with A at the end have screw driver holes for voltage / max amperage adjustment if I remember correctly. Drivers with B at the end have wires to attach a pot for easy dimming. I highly recommend using the B drivers. In the case of my 480H-54B I simply run a 100k ohm pot to it and dim away. The A drivers are more of a set it once and leave it deal.

Question 4: Don't exceed 10.0 Amps on 16AWG and you should be fine.

[HandroidSolo]

Question 1: Drivers with A at the end have screw driver holes for voltage / max amperage adjustment if I remember correctly. Drivers with B at the end have wires to attach a pot for easy dimming. I highly recommend using the B drivers. In the case of my 480H-54B I simply run a 100k ohm pot to it and dim away. The A drivers are more of a set it once and leave it deal.

Question 4: Don't exceed 10.0 Amps on 16AWG and you should be fine.

Thanks for your response!

OK, I will just do that as far as the dimmer. I was mainly worried about mounting it. All the dimmer dials I found on DigiKey have open exposed terminals, and need mounting to something. I'm worried about exposed terminal points and electrical shocks/fires


Maybe I should go to 14AWG for the cord, that driver probably pulls a fair bit when turned up I imagine.

[Yodies]

You should be safe sticking to what the manufacture uses. I've attached a photo from the datasheet. 17 AWG on the AC side, 14 AWG on the DC side. Check the datasheets of the driver you settle on.

I mounted all my cable connections in waterproof boxes, even my dimmer is in a little box.

regarding your question 2 and 3 I won't answer because I'm not knowledgeable enough =) hopefully someone else will chime in.

-Dan

[Shimbob]

Q2: Max current for the strips is 1.4A. 12 strips on the hlg-600-48 would drive them at 12.5/12=1.04A.

1.04/1.4 = 74%. close enough

[Shimbob]

Q3: Running a strip at 75% means feeding it 75% of its' max current, in this case 1.04A. Which is what the hlg-600-48 will provide when you run the driver at full blast. If you set the driver's dimmer to 75%, then the driver would provide around 0.78A each to the strips, and it's now even less than 75% of what the strip can do.