LEDgardener

Running in parallel what voltage are you seeing? I have 12 on hlg 600 48b and seeing 40.3 from both driver dc wires. That's at the driver not at the end of my lights. Thanks

welcome to the forum,

I haven't played with these yet... but checking out the stat sheets even running at 50w each they should be right around that 48v...

a few questions..

how do you have them wired?? 6 on each wire set from the driver? or did you wago split so you have 4 sets of 3 in a chain??

another thought that crossed my mind... are you running a remote driver with long leads into the fixture?? that could be the simplest explanation for a big voltage drop.. long remote leads in small wire diameter..

any other info about wiring, wire size, whether your running on 120/220 etc... it all could help pin point the problem easier...

again welcome.

Have 4 on one set and 8 on the other due to bars with 4 each. I have minimized the length of wire as it is remote around 2 ft then 4ft for the furthest bar. Using 16awg runs then t in with 18awg solid to the pucks at around 4 inch. This is 110v ac.

At the driver its 40.3 volts and at the end of the bar its 39.8. I will be upgrading my wire to 12 awg but cant see me gaining yo 45v.

For the b version do the pucks tell the driver how much voltage to send?

Thanks for the warm welcome

Upgraded the runs to solid 12 awg with the 4 inch of solid 18 awg to the pucks. 40.3 volts at the driver and 40 at the ends of the runs so slightly better but still only 545 watts and 4.6 amps on 120v. Rapid potentiometer open but did try with it removed.

Unsure what to do. No way to change the voltage from the b version.

from how it's sounding thru reading your posts, the driver is stuck on minimum voltage. ( 40.3v - 50.8v was on the datasheets) it was even at that 40.3v before hooking up the pucks... I'm assuming it's a defect internally.. something telling/ turning the voltage to minimum aloud.. one wire just not right inside... or something..

or for some reason it's telling itself to run in CV mode with all the pucks hooked up.. but it's still wrong because they should still be around 48v... not 40.3v I'm leaning towards the first answer.

I would contact mean well and or wherever you bought it from.. and ask why it's stuck on minimum voltage range.. if they don't know why.. ask for a replacement...

Sounds good. Thanks for reading through my posts.

So I have been in contact with rapidled about the driver. Sent them info about my build and pictures of the driver only sending out 40v. Sent it back to them and they hooked it up to multimeter with no led connected and getting 47.8 volts. How can my setup lower the voltage so much? I am at a loss and wish I bought multiple constant current drivers ha.

that is odd.. did you by chance contact GM5/ ChilLED Tech also? I just wonder what they think about 8v drop...

at least we now know

I did email him and he wasnt sure either.

Growmau was able to answer the problem of the lost wattage. It was a great explanation and feel it could help others. This is an email from him. Luckily rapidled is an awesome company and swapped for constant current drivers.

I am not certain of how deep your background with leds goes, so I will overexplain, rather than under.

The Samsungs come in difference flux bins, this determines their output per watt. Here is an abstract example:
Flux bin A : puts out 1 photon per watt
Flux bin B : puts out 1.1 photon per watt
Flux bin C : puts out 1.2 photons per watt. (Flux bin C is the most efficient).

Inside of flux bin C, there are many specifications & variants based on Samsung's testing at the factory. (chromaticity, voltage, etc)
They ship the led reels with a printed specification. The "voltage bin" specification is the relevant one here.
Flux bin C has (3) voltage bins
C1= 2.9 volts
C2= 2.8 volts
C3= 2.7 volts

All put out the same "flux" or amount of photons since they are all 'C' flux bin.
C3 only needs 2.7v to do the job, so it is the best voltage bin & the best of the best of the best in terms of electrical efficiency.

When we make these boards, we get a million led chips in boxes of these variants. We match & segregate the voltage bins with like boxes.
When we do a run, this ensures common voltage within that run, but doesn't necessarily guarantee perfect consistency across the entire product line.
Samsung's manufacturing tolerances are very good, some of the best, but this 0.1v can add up, especially over 220 chip boards.

The net net for you is: you happened to get a batch of boards that were all top flux, and top voltage bin (aka lowest volts needed to guarantee the flux).
. I tested this yesterday with (8) boards on HLG-600-48a and got 580w. So these do the job of a 620w higher voltage setup while using less watts. to many , this is a good thing.

This is the explanantion for what you are experiencing. If this is unsatisfactory for your build, please tell me how I can make it right.

Or , if you are now back on the hunt for drivers, a series wired setup would be a solution to getting more watts out of the pucks.
I am happy to advise or help further.
Cheers