Update on 132's in series with 18 gauge

[DocBrownsGreenThumb]

Well I replaced the 22 gauge wire with 18 on my 4 132's wired in series to a Meanwell HLG-250H-1750A. The results were pretty much the same. I am only getting 1.58A. When I removed one of the boards and ran 3 boards ( I removed first board, ran that, then added it back and removed the third. Same results) I am getting 1.9A. I am stumped. It seems that this driver should be able to pump more than 1.58A to these boards.

Not sure what to do next. Should I contact HLG? Meanwell? I really want to figure this out. Buying a new HLG driver is out of the question. This is why I am looking at the Meanwell LRS 350-36V 9.5 AMP.

[J.R.R.Toking]

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=823&start=10

[LEDG]

Yeah it looks like the driver voltage is still maxed so you’re losing a little bit of current. The next thing I’d try would be to hook up one board and set the current to 1.75A. Then measure that board’s voltage. Then take it out, put the next board in, and measure its voltage, and repeat until I had measured and recorded all 4 voltages individually without moving the current after intially setting it.

[DocBrownsGreenThumb]

Yeah it looks like the driver voltage is still maxed so you’re losing a little bit of current. The next thing I’d try would be to hook up one board and set the current to 1.75A. Then measure that board’s voltage. Then take it out, put the next board in, and measure its voltage, and repeat until I had measured and recorded all 4 voltages individually without moving the current after intially setting it.

When hooked up individually and set to 1750 mA and allowed to run for 30 minutes each - 3 of the boards read 35.6V, 1 board reads 35.9V.

I then connected them all together and allowed them to run for an hour and 3 of the boards read 35.7, 1 board read 36. I rearranged the order of the boards a few times and found the same results. The highest I could get the current was 1.59 MA.

Do the different readings from this one board tell us something about what might be going on?

[FlippyNips]

There is a row of lights out on one of your boards.

I suspect there is nothing wrong with the driver.

[sdfoster22]

There is a row of lights out on one of your boards.

I suspect there is nothing wrong with the driver.

Good catch.

[LEDG]

There is a row of lights out on one of your boards.

I suspect there is nothing wrong with the driver.

What a catch!

One line out would mean more current to the rest of the strings which would drive the voltage up on that board , as OP observed. The extra voltage of this board would probably be enough to exceed the max of the drivers range and drag the whole circuit current down.

[DocBrownsGreenThumb]

There is a row of lights out on one of your boards.

I suspect there is nothing wrong with the driver.

Wow! Thank you so much! Seems I missed the forest for the trees.

I hope they're under warranty!

[bvolt]

Is it an issue with the V(f)?

The 240H-C1750 accepts 71 to 143V... 4 x 36 = 144.

When these are in series, does the voltage go above 36 or below? I've never used the 132s.

[DocBrownsGreenThumb]

Is it an issue with the V(f)?

The 240H-C1750 accepts 71 to 143V... 4 x 36 = 144.

When these are in series, does the voltage go above 36 or below? I've never used the 132s.

3 boards run at 35.7 V. The one with the dark row runs at 36 V.

This is along the lines of what I was thinking when I couldn't get the mA up to 1750, but LEDG demonstrated it was possible with the B version of this driver, which also maxes at 143 V,