LEDgardener

Hi wonderful ppl ,
I'm kinda confused about eb gen2 series wiring:
With the help of this forum I made my first build, used it for 2 grow cycles and was happy with it, and with results.
My build:
HLG-60H-C350A
10x BXEB-L0280Z-35E1000-C-B3 (added 2 more, from 8 to 10)
In series wiring, so about 200v across the board.

Now, I saw in a few recent threads that the max rated voltage for eb gen2 is 60v
What should I do?
Can I still use this driver (in different way of wiring) and get the same results (power wise)?
Should I buy a new driver? if so, which one do you guys recommend, to get the same results (give or take)?
Thanks, have a good one..

That's 60V across each strip. Using anything close to that for more than a few milliseconds would burn out the LEDs. With 10 in series at 200V, each strip gets about 20V. 60V is probably the spec they used for designing PCB trace (pour, more aptly - what look like traces are the gaps in the copper) spacing on the board.

Thank you very much @The_Mouse_Police
Can you please check out this thread,
Comment #3, can you understand my confusion?

The voltage drops at each led when in series. An example would be a quantity of 5 strips each with a 20 volt drop. The first strip is subjected to the total of 5x20 = 100 volts, the next 80, 60, 40, 20. That's why they state in their datasheet the following, (e.g. is from the vestas):

"This product has passed dielectric withstand voltage testing at 1240 V. The working voltage designated for the insulation is 120V d.c. The maximum allowable voltage across the array must be determined in the end product application."

Don't let the 1240 volt fool you, this is usually only for a period of 60 seconds. The continuous operating voltage the company lists in the vesta case is 120 volts and is what they are comfortable with. It accounts for risk assessment, product defects, safety factors etc. At least that is the way I understand it.

Each strip only sees 20V. The same amount of current passes through all the LEDs in series, and the voltage per emitter balances out (within Vf variations). The 60V could be the max voltage for the diodes, multiplied to account for series wiring, with a little headroom removed for Vf differences (after thinking about it a bit, that makes the most sense to me, not having the emitter datasheet s handy). Using a good driver, like the Mean Wells, that stuff, from the PSU will be a non-issue.

I like to keep voltages lower, all the same, as 200V is getting into the range where it could arc at visible distances in a humid space. But, the strips will be alright.

I'm starting to wonder if the max voltage spec only really applies if you use a driver that did not automatically adjust to match what the led runs at. All "normal" led drivers by meanwell, inventronics, Harvard, etc match voltage. You'd have to have an oddball power supply, like a bench power supply, that puts out higher voltages.

Proper co stant voltage drivers do not drop voltage, meanwell HLG range are constant current drivers that are voltage limited

If you put 10 LT-FB22B strips on an hlg-480h-48, and then measure the voltage at the driver, what do you get, 45.6V or 48V?

That driver will drop voltage to suit the strips but will not exceed voltage past 48V.

The HLG480H-48 is a constant current driver that has it's voltage limited to 48V.

If the strips operate at 45.6V than that will be the output voltage and it will supply full current.

On the other hand, my hlg-600h-42 ran at 45.6V (and 15.3A, whew) just fine. They can go over, it's not a hard limit. But we're getting off topic. Why does blux rate their connections at max 60V if, when using a normal led driver, they will never see that voltage in their lives?