Best LED's For The Money

Randomblame

Well-Known Member
So I am looking to use these terminal blocks and plan to mount them in a waterproof box:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01J6ZLIS2/ref=ya_st_dp_summary
There only rated for 15A, 600V, am I going to run into trouble because the driver is rated for 16.7 amps max? Looks like WAGO's are rated for 20A but only 300V. Is that the better option?

Hopefully I can finish up next week and flip to flower!
Also if you wired 16pcs 1212 in parallel your voltage is still around 36v, so Wago's should be fine. But like I said, there are other high amperage solutions.
 

Hurdbird

Member
I'm going to go with WAGO's in a nice box. Still not sure what to do with the RC wires. I was planning to just connect a toggle switch and mount the toggle switch in a box with the POT. Can I do that?
 

Hurdbird

Member
I'm going to go with WAGO's in a nice box. Still not sure what to do with the RC wires. I was planning to just connect a toggle switch and mount the toggle switch in a box with the POT. Can I do that?
Never mind. Random already answered that haha.
 

visajoe1

Well-Known Member
Thank you for correcting my stupidness Boatguy! You saved me an awful lot of wasted effort tonight. Adjusted the game plan a little bit and wired them all out in parallel today. See pictures below and let me know what you think.

Questions:
1. I now need to figure out which way to make DC connections: 10 port terminal blocks (really need 9) x 4 mounted inside junction boxes, marine terminal blocks, twist and solder or something else? Best terminal blocks?
2. Can I wire in a toggle switch to the RC +/-on / off wires for an on / off switch? See driver picture.
3. I need to install some quick disconnects to the AC power wires to allow driver to be separated from fixture. What type do you recommend?

Thanks!
TIG welds! Nice touch. I dig it
 

Hurdbird

Member
Most toggle switches I've found only list AC voltage / amperage ratings and are only rated for 15A but I need 36V, 16.7A min rating. Any ideas or just use a light switch?

I will be installing this light into a 5' x 5' flower room. With the lights at 12" OC, what do you think I will have to run for height above plants and intensity? I'm only able to run at 37.5W max so I would imagine, I'm going to have it full up most of the time.
 

Randomblame

Well-Known Member
Datasheet says "<0,5w at remote off" so I think it's more a "stand-by mode" like when you dim down to "0". A switch would connect the two wires, so easy to test.
 

Hurdbird

Member
Datasheet says "<0,5w at remote off" so I think it's more a "stand-by mode" like when you dim down to "0". A switch would connect the two wires, so easy to test.
What do you mean by stand by? I should be able to leave dimmer at the level I want but turn lights off with this remote off switch correct? Thanks!
 

Randomblame

Well-Known Member
Yepp!
Should have no effect to the dimmer circuit.

"Stand-by" means not totally off like when you switch your TV off via remote control and it's wall-plug is still plugged-in.
Therefor the HLG-600 use less than 0,5w.

Perhaps a manual switch is enough and short-circuit the two RC wires turns off the light. Would be easy to test...,
but we do not know if it is designed for analog or digital circuitry.
I've never used this RC+/- wires, my biggest HLG drivers till now was HLG-240's and they don't own RC wires.

I'm really sure there is a user manual from Meanwell which explains more. Maybe contact your seller for more info's, they have usually more datails on how to use them.
 
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Hurdbird

Member
It's been a while and a lot of wiring work but the light is alive and in testing. Very happy how it came out! Power box has WAGO connector connections and the other box houses the POT and remote switch.

-How far should I expect to keep the light above during flower?
-PAR level I'm shooting for? I'll have to pick up a meter.
-Best way for introducing plants to new lighting at start of flowering?

Thanks for all of the help guys! I'd buy you all beer if I could haha.
 

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Randomblame

Well-Known Member
It's been a while and a lot of wiring work but the light is alive and in testing. Very happy how it came out! Power box has WAGO connector connections and the other box houses the POT and remote switch.

-How far should I expect to keep the light above during flower?
-PAR level I'm shooting for? I'll have to pick up a meter.
-Best way for introducing plants to new lighting at start of flowering?

Thanks for all of the help guys! I'd buy you all beer if I could haha.

NICE! Clean and functional!
Seems we can simple use an analog switch on these RC+/- wires. Good to know!
And to your question,
I would start @2-3' because some strains are more sensitve to intense COB lights.
Also when moving plants from fluoros to LED they usually need some time to fully adapt.
If you get yellow strips on upper leaves rise the light up a few more inches.

My friend burned his first batch so hard they was not able to recover and he lost the whole batch, Lol.
350w of 55% eff. Cobs(CXB3590@1050mA) 12-18" above an 9sft closed area was not a good idea, lol!
And your COB's run with 1.16A even harder than mine.
Permanently above 40.000lx is hard to handle for the most plants(mj) in such an inviroment.
In terms of distance, it is better to have much than too little ...

And to avoid such issues when moving from other lights,
I would also veg with LED, maybe with some efficient Samsung H- or M-Series strips if you have a smaller veg tent?
They use the same chips like Quantumboards and they are easy to work with and relatively cheap.
Or simple start under this unit and dimm it down untill the plants gets bigger.
 

Hurdbird

Member
Thanks Random. What's the recommended PAR levels at top of plants and any suggested meters? I am currently vegging under (3) MARS Hydro 300's but will now be planning to build a COB set up for that tent. Veg LED will most likely be a small panel with a few COBs for mothers and a another larger panel for vegging clones / seedlings.
 

Danielson999

Well-Known Member
I'd definitely take the reflectors off inside that tent. No real need for them and they will just force you to keep the light up higher than necessary but each to their own. I have the same tent and same type of DIY light build but smaller. I'm sure you'll love it. I just threw some 10 day old plants under it with my potentiometer turned all the way down. Just over 24" away while they harden off a bit as I turn the power up a bit every day or two.
 

Randomblame

Well-Known Member
Thanks Random. What's the recommended PAR levels at top of plants and any suggested meters? I am currently vegging under (3) MARS Hydro 300's but will now be planning to build a COB set up for that tent. Veg LED will most likely be a small panel with a few COBs for mothers and a another larger panel for vegging clones / seedlings.

I would say, 700-800μMol/s PPFD is a good value to start with. More than that can easily cause bleaching on most strains and is wasted energy IMO.
And +1 for what Danielson999 said about the reflektors. You need higher distances in a reflective tents if you use reflectors or lenses.
I've only a cheap lux-meter(10 bucks) and found out the most strains are getting bleaching at levels above 40.000lx. I've to hook up my lights above 24" to avoid stress(28-30") at those levels but my tent is only 9sft(2,5' x 4')PPFDvs-growth.png
 

Hurdbird

Member
I would say, 700-800μMol/s PPFD is a good value to start with. More than that can easily cause bleaching on most strains and is wasted energy IMO.
And +1 for what Danielson999 said about the reflektors. You need higher distances in a reflective tents if you use reflectors or lenses.
I've only a cheap lux-meter(10 bucks) and found out the most strains are getting bleaching at levels above 40.000lx. I've to hook up my lights above 24" to avoid stress(28-30") at those levels but my tent is only 9sft(2,5' x 4')View attachment 3905740
I am onto my second day of flower and have the POT @ about 35-40%, 24" above with the reflectors still on and all look very happy. I downloaded an iPhone app that reads Lux / FC. Lux is approximately 750 at plant height but I'm not sure about all the different light levels. I'll have to read up on it and order a meter. Thinking about removing the reflectors and dropping the fixture slowly until I reach 18" and slowly work power up. What do you think? Thanks.
 

CobKits

Well-Known Member
Most toggle switches I've found only list AC voltage / amperage ratings and are only rated for 15A but I need 36V, 16.7A min rating. Any ideas or just use a light switch?

I will be installing this light into a 5' x 5' flower room. With the lights at 12" OC, what do you think I will have to run for height above plants and intensity? I'm only able to run at 37.5W max so I would imagine, I'm going to have it full up most of the time.
get the fatty 20A industrial light switches at home depot, theyre like $7-$10 but you can feel the build quality
 

sanjuan

Well-Known Member

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Randomblame

Well-Known Member
Seems to use same technic like a lux-meter with only other color filters to measure par instead of lux. But they are 10 times pricey and in my opinion wasted money because they are not as acurate as you maybe think. And the better ones are even more expensive!
I would go with a 10$ lux-meter and use conversion factors to determine par values. LED/COB's usually habe a conversion factor between 0,014 and 0,015, so 10.000lx x 0,014= ~140μMols. I got my lux-meter from ebay(the cheap red ones)
There is a thread with more acurate # somewhere in LED section but don't have the link, sorry.
 

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