LEDgardener

Hi fellow led enthousiasts.

I builded a new rig with 26 bridgelux 1120mm led strips powered by HLG-480H-42A.

now after my first grow which went fantastic, i decided to do some measurements on the power consumption.

When the driver is maxed out both Vo 100% and Io 100% the power consumption from the wall socket is 2.2A @ 220V.

Now the problem is the output its only giving 38V output @ only 9.1A which totals only 345 watts.


Hopefully someone knows and wants to share his knowledge on this subject.


Greetz

Vlaario.

Or is there an error in measuring the DC side of the driver? ( Fluke calibrated multimeter)

on the 220V side its pulling 2.2A ....


Vlaario

Is the 2.2A on the AC side a results of actually measuring that current, or assumed from the fact that 480/220~=2.2?

vlaario wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:42 pm

... I builded a new rig with 26 bridgelux 1120mm led strips powered by HLG-480H-42A.
now after my first grow which went fantastic, i decided to do some measurements on the power consumption.

When the driver is maxed out both Vo 100% and Io 100% the power consumption from the wall socket is 2.2A @ 220V.

Now the problem is the output its only giving 38V output @ only 9.1A which totals only 345 watts.
Hopefully someone knows and wants to share his knowledge on this subject....

If your measurements are correct, the next check would be the actual wiring and wire gauge (AWG), typically it Should be 18 AWG Minimum at the Strips with all strips wired Parallel, not wired / powered through the PCB traces of another LED strip (which causes Voltage drop). Attached is typical diagram of Parallel Wiring...




Note;
Bridgelux 1120mm EB Gen 2 strips are rated 39 - 42 Vf.
HLG-480H-42A is rated 21 - 42 Vdc CC region (478 W) with a Vo adj of 37 - 44.1 Vdc...

Its actual measurement putting fluke multimeter in series with phase on amp measurement.

I did wire the strips from one side only but will that cause such a voltage drop ? at the moment the driver cant push out more than 38 volts. all wire is 0,75mm2 with maximum 35cm lenghts to a teminal block from there with 4mm2 40 cm to the driver.

The strange thing to me is that the output is only 38 volts max with 9.1A only 350 watts.

when it consumes 480 watts the output should be equal?

Driver should be able to push 44 volts.

greets,

Vlaario

vlaario wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:12 pm

I did wire the strips from one side only but will that cause such a voltage drop ? at the moment the driver cant push out more than 38 volts.
The strange thing to me is that the output is only 38 volts max with 9.1A only 350 watts.
when it consumes 480 watts the output should be equal?
Driver should be able to push 44 volts.
greets,
Vlaario

It doesn’t matter which side of the strip the wires are terminated. But the wire gauge does matter. It should be at least 16 AWG from the driver to the “Wagos” and at least 18 AWG to the LED strip connectors. Also double check the Vo and Io adjustments...

Btw, when operating properly output is 480W and input is 500W (480 / 0.96) at 96% Efficiency.