LEDgardener

Hey guys,

I wanted to reuse a driver I have for a strip build, and I think I found a way to do it, but have some questions.

The driver is a constant current driver:

HLG-120H-C1400B

It has a current of 1.4a and a constant current region of 54-108v.

I am looking at the one foot bridgelux strips that have a voltage drop of 20v and a max current of .7a.

The strips are BXEB-L0280Z-35E1000-C-B3.

I want to take 2 sets of 5 strips in series, and wire the 2 sets to the driver in parallel.

5 strips is 100v which is within the constant current region.

Putting 2 sets in parallel should halve the current down to .7a which is the max for the strips.

I would run the whole thing at 100 watts from the wall which should put the current at .5 amps across the strips.

Questions:

Is my math and theoretical wiring layout solid?

Is there an issue using strips in parallel on a constant current driver? Will they get power unevenly?

Thanks so much for looking through my build and good luck in your gardens!

Without doing all the math myself to double check it seems like you are doing it right. There is no issue running strips in parallel and series.

Check the forward voltage rating of your strips though as you may exceed the maximum

Hi,

Everything checks out, except wiring 5 in series. Bridgelux eb Gen 2's maximum voltage rating is 60v (datasheet page 4 note 3) so the maximum series wiring I would go with would be 3. But to get a driver to match up with that and your desired wattage might be tough. I'd instead look for an hlg cc/cv driver running hlg-xxxx-24x and run every thing in parallel and probably wire it in such a way to run at 100w 70-75% of max 0.700a (if possible).

Source: I used to run 14 eb gen 2's in 7s2p on a hlg-185-1400b. No shocks ever, but not worth the risk.

TEKNIK wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:42 pm

Without doing all the math myself to double check it seems like you are doing it right. There is no issue running strips in parallel and series.

Check the forward voltage rating of your strips though as you may exceed the maximum

Thanks for taking a look!

When you say I might exceed the maximum, do you mean of the driver?

Or since I am wiring so many strips, I might need to look at the specs of the strips themselves because there may be a limit of the number I could do in series/parallel?

You may exceed the maximum voltage of the strips by running them in series. Driving around and don't have time to check the data sheets while at the lights

HomerPepsi wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:32 pm

Hi,

Everything checks out, except wiring 5 in series. Bridgelux eb Gen 2's maximum voltage rating is 60v (datasheet page 4 note 3) so the maximum series wiring I would go with would be 3. But to get a driver to mat h up with that and your desired wattage might be tough. I'd instead look for an hlg cc/cv driver running hlg-xxxx-24x and run every thing in parallel and probably wire it in such a way to run at 100w 70-75% of max 0.700a (if possible).

Source: I used to run 14 eb gen 2's in 7s2p on a hlg-185-1400b. No shocks ever, but not worth the risk.

Thank you for clarifying what Teknik was telling me, I appreciate that you guys know to look at this stuff....

I'm going to continue to explore options with my driver, but I think you're right and I'll probably have to get a new driver if I want to run strips.

I can run 4 of the 1 foot f-series-gen-3 in series on my driver but no one sells them in small quantities. I have emails out to a couple component companies, but not expecting much there.

Thanks again!

HomerPepsi wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:32 pm

Hi,

Everything checks out, except wiring 5 in series. Bridgelux eb Gen 2's maximum voltage rating is 60v (datasheet page 4 note 3) so the maximum series wiring I would go with would be 3. But to get a driver to mat h up with that and your desired wattage might be tough. I'd instead look for an hlg cc/cv driver running hlg-xxxx-24x and run every thing in parallel and probably wire it in such a way to run at 100w 70-75% of max 0.700a (if possible).

Source: I used to run 14 eb gen 2's in 7s2p on a hlg-185-1400b. No shocks ever, but not worth the risk.

I didn't see your post before writing mine, good job

@TEKNIK
@HomerPepsi

Hey fellas,

My new plan is using another driver. If you would take a look and let me know if I missed any limits I wasn't aware of etc. I'd really appreciate it.

I want to put 10 series 2 EB strips on an XLG-100-24A all in parallel.

Here is the driver:

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ME ... axOQ%3D%3D

And here is the data sheet:

https://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product ... =XLG-100#1

It's a constant power driver that has a constant current region of 16.8-24 volts.

It puts out 4 amps.

Here are the strips:

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/7907665

They are ~20v and have a max current of .7a


So 4000 milli amps from the driver over 10 strips in parallel is .4 amps through each strip.

So I'd be running the strips about half of max current.

Am I missing anything here?

Since the strips are all in parallel, I think I no longer need to worry about exceeding their working voltage.

Also, since I'm running them close to half of max current, I'm not planning on heat sinks. Is that an ok decision, or will it cause issues?

Thanks again for looking you guys and saving me from putting together my last faulty build...

That will work fine
XLG drivers are dirt cheap and get the job done. You can not dim the XLG 100-24 that's the only thing you may want in the future

TEKNIK wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 21, 2020 9:10 pm

That will work fine
XLG drivers are dirt cheap and get the job done. You can not dim the XLG 100-24 that's the only thing you may want in the future

Thanks for taking a look (again)!

Do you think I'll need heatsinks for those strips at that amperage?

I was planning to skip them...