I couldnt resist testing the 4 strips I got mounted today. I used a power supply and drove the lights at 46 volts and 3.15 amps for the 4 strips, maxing current of that power supply. Crazy how bright they are!
You can see here how the 4 strips over power everything. (shining at ceiling.) crazy thing is you couldn't even impede the light enough to cast a shadow up there.
Well all that is left now is for a few things to be delivered to the mailbox and I will have some new updates. My potentiometers and drivers as well as thermal tape should be here this week.
Something I am looking forward to seeing is the difference between the three different thermal mediums I'll have in the build with the thermal imaging camera
first two rails have arctic silver 5 the second two are from a random tube of thermal grease I found at work and the rest will be the heat strip adhesive. should be neat to see.
I am running 4 pots 1 for each driver. I also wired a little bit differently. I Wrote 1-2-3-4 four times for the sixteen lights. that way driver 1 controls all the number 1's. so on so on... What i am going to do is put the input power to each driver on 4 separate switches. This way I have multiple ways to adjust and keep even uniformity.
So if I run each driver to its max lets say... I can kill any switch and still have good coverage. Should turn out pretty neat I hope. I have more pictures but they aren't ready yet to post online. no time today
Well I got all 16 strips wired with all 4 drivers. On my B type drivers, all the drivers are adjusted by its own potentiometer. With the drivers turned all the way down, they pull very little current, very little. I was pleasantly surprised.
Well, to be honest, my calculations and expectations have been very off.
First off... I’m pulling less current than I expected.
Second.. I’m producing more power than expected.
I am pulling 11.7 amps measured with a fluke amp clamp. That’s at 110v. Well that means I should be pulling about 1287 watts total, measured on incoming ac supply. This is with the pots turned all the way up. That devides to about 322 watts per driver.
Each driver outputs 48 volts and seems to keep that voltage steady no matter where my pots are adjusted. I think I’m gonna do some more measuring tonight if I have time. I want to physically see how much current each strip pulls. I want to see if I actually am pulling 75% of strip max. I want to be sure I can safely leave this sucker turned all the way up.
I know one thing however... I ABSOLUTELY over built as far as the wiring goes. I put together a wiring schematic if anyone would want to see how I did it and all. Almost all my wiring can support more growth if I wanted, but I’m almost certain I will not need it.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to switch each driver individually, but from how I discovered these drivers adjust (amplitude) I certainly won’t need to. The fact that they pull so little current when turned down was a very pleasant surprise. I guess there is a reason the big dogs recommend these mean well drivers.
Stay tuned for more, my next post will be picture flooded!
Well man to be fair.. the lowest temperature strip was on the thickest piece of metal. I was rushed when I took those, so I don't believe its as fair of a test as it could be. But I will be getting some more temperature samples here soon probably mid week next week after it is hung.
About the brightness... its up there man for sure! The most notable thing I would mention first is how well I believe it will penetrate through dense plants. Using myself as a means to block light had little effect on what my eyes see as brightness. I'm very anxious to see how it goes.
