Multimeter Setup To Check/Set Current In 6-Strip Build

[J.R.R.]

Hi,

I swear I've watched several videos multiple times, but I'm still unsure how to wire my multimeter (clips/probes) to check amps to my new light, so I can set and cap it.

LEDG mentions "home-running" the strips, but goes into no further detail, at lease on that video. About electrical stuff, think like you're explaining this answer to a small child...lol. Alright, I'm not that bad, but a detailed response would be AWESOME, as this needs to go into service yesterday! HLG-480H-48A and Parallel Wiring, HinFlux L09 48v x 6

[TEKNIK]

Can you take a photo of your multimeter they are not all the same.

[J.R.R.]

It's quite high-theque. And yes, there's no DC clamp. :/

Thanks!

[TEKNIK]

First plug the black cable into the center and the red cable on the right into the red port.

Switch the dial to 200 VDC
Probe your + and - wiring to determine forward voltage which should appear on the screen

After you have checked your forward voltage then unplug the red cable and plug it into the opposite side

Disconnect the + from your Led driver and attach one of the leads to it. Then attach the other lead to your + wiring that runs to your fixture
Turn your dial to 10amp it looks like its grey in the picture and then power up the light to check your current draw

[gvbz]

It's quite high-theque. And yes, there's no DC clamp. :/

Thanks!

Being someone new to this as well, this helped me out a lot:

Current = Through the wires (series)
Voltage = Across the wires (parallel)

[J.R.R.]

Disconnect the + from your Led driver and attach one of the leads to it. Then attach the other lead to your + wiring that runs to your fixture
Turn your dial to 10amp it looks like its grey in the picture and then power up the light to check your current draw

That's easier than I thought. I must have the definition of a "parallel, daisy-chained system" wrong, which is a definite possibility.
In LEDG's LED Multimeter Basics, 13:10 minute mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c7v7hl1qrc , he talks about how, "Measuring current on a parallel, daisy-chained system can be a PITA..." He describes a much more involved process to measure current in this system than just putting the multimeter inline with leads off the driver. Is my light NOT a parallel, daisy-chained system? (6 strips, 1 circuit, parallel wiring). He did mention he has "Two runs" off that driver, and it's a 600...are the 600's wired differently somehow?

I'm finishing-up mounting my strips tonight, and I'll be using the info here to help set my driver up...thanks.

[Shimbob]

Just be careful when you find yourself alternating between measuring voltage and current. When the meter is set to measure current, it is essentially a continuous wire, and sparks can fly if you were to measure a voltage while still set up to measure current.

[TEKNIK]

Just took a quick look at that video, I didn't know he had done one on multi meters.
With a parallel build its important to use the same batch of strips or boards because forward voltages can be different between batches.
Forward voltage binning is much better than it used to be so things are pretty much the same between boards and strips of the same batch.
This generally means that if you check your forward voltage from the driver then all strips and boards will receive the same forward voltage and the same amount of current. This makes it easy to determine the power consumption of each strip or board.

Cheap Chinese boards and strips often have problems with forward voltage because they mix up voltage bins because its cheaper and they dont really care as its a price driven market. I have seen plenty of the quantum board knock off products have issues because of this.
This is just one reason to purchase from a decent manufacturer as they ensure they dont mix up batches of voltage bins. Matching voltage bins does come at an extra expense to the manufacturer but it's important that it is done correctly.

[J.R.R.]

Just took a quick look at that video, I didn't know he had done one on multi meters...

Did you check out the 13:10 mark, where he's talking about how parallel, daisy-chained systems are a PITA to get current measured? Where did I go wrong in my thinking?

I got these HinFlux strips from Digikey the first few weeks they were out, but just now getting around to hooking them up. Hopefully, they're all good.

[TEKNIK]

Genuine samsung strips should be fine.

He over complicated the video a little, I know the reason why he did it and that was because he was using a driver with 2 outputs and he wanted to check the voltage and current on each board. Also because voltsge bins were an issue not so long ago.

For your set up just check it the way I described.