graying.geek
Well-Known Member
The "A" model of the Mean Well HLG drivers have a built-in potentiometer that can dial down the voltage to 50%. The "B" models come with leads to hook up an external pot.
Bridgelux EB Series Build
- Thread starter brahbbyB
- Start date
Any idea if you can dim a driver without dimming capabilities?
graying.geek
Well-Known Member
I'm still at a noob level as to how the drivers work, so best to leave this to one of the LED gurus. Not sure how the drivers would respond if the input voltage were to change, although, that may be all that the builtin dimmers do.
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Abiqua
Well-Known Member
Diodes are CC, constant current, and when vF, voltage forward, or the DC voltage in, will vary as a function of current. So voltage will go up and down as a product of staying on a certain current.....
Dimming adjusts voltage, so yes, thats about all they..... and usually a change in voltage will either improve efficiency [lower] and lower heat or will decrease efficiency and increase heat.....
HalfBee
Well-Known Member
Did the original Mars have dimming capability?
If not, then reusing the drivers would not give that ability.
(Don't worry about dimming at this point... get it lit up)
No they dont have dimming capabilities... Oh dont you worry mate, its lit up lol little bit too lit up almost... Im just thinking ahead for another build already
was thinkning of utilising more of the mars drivers, but I think i'll put them aside for a few more veg lights 
If I were to run 12 x 560mm strips, would it be better running off 2 x HLG 185's or 1 HLG 320? 700ma or 1050ma version? I would get the B version driver and add a dimmer
I'd like to run between 250 and 400w max.
rayuki
Well-Known Member
Im tossing up between using these or cobs in a 5x5 tent, however i only really use a 4x4 area in the middle of the tent on a table (plan on turning it into a flood and drain table eventually so may extend to use more of the tent)
How many strips would you recommend i use to cover that size of an area in a tent? (trying to replace my electricity hog 600w mh/hps)
I actually live somewhere ALU is easy to get (we actually smelt it here lol) so it's not too expensive, figure I'll mount it on L brackets with the aluminium sheet between. Would prefer to use 1 driver but 2 would be ok if I can add more strips later. Also I'm in Australia so price/stock for the strips is a consideration. Heat shouldn't be a problem as im in a sealed room with mini split aircon, also using c02 if that matters.
Any advice would be appreciated.
How many strips would you recommend i use to cover that size of an area in a tent? (trying to replace my electricity hog 600w mh/hps)
I actually live somewhere ALU is easy to get (we actually smelt it here lol) so it's not too expensive, figure I'll mount it on L brackets with the aluminium sheet between. Would prefer to use 1 driver but 2 would be ok if I can add more strips later. Also I'm in Australia so price/stock for the strips is a consideration. Heat shouldn't be a problem as im in a sealed room with mini split aircon, also using c02 if that matters.
Any advice would be appreciated.
graying.geek
Well-Known Member
16 of the 1120 mm EB strips over a 4x4 area ran at ~1 A each would just about max out a plants capacity to use the photons, *unless* you use CO2. I can't speak to how much you could increase the intensity with gas. Be aware, though, that 16 strips at 1 Amp ea and ~50 V will take you to 800 watts, obviously exceeding the power of your MH/HPS.
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sorry to be a pain while im learning, but how do you get these figures? Does that mean 8 strips in a 4x2 will be max?
Cheers
rayuki
Well-Known Member
Yeah fair enough I figured I'd go over wattage of what I'm using now but I figured it's going to be more effective and more efficient in the long run. I've been having a hard time finding info about them under c02 also I'll have to keep digging.
klx
Well-Known Member
Arrow.com - cheaper than Cutter for EB strips and drivers and free express international post to Oz. Cant go wrong.
klx
Well-Known Member
It does change a little bit but not much. You can get the exact voltage at different currents on the datasheet. It has a table listing the most commonly used currents and the voltage / wattage etc.
For example page 6 of this - http://www.bridgelux.com/sites/default/files/resource_media/DS130 EB Series Datasheet Rev A_0.pdf
rayuki
Well-Known Member
whats the difference between the F series and the H series that make the F so much more expensive?? just newer?You could get 10 x 4' Samsung F series strips for $560AU + 5 x ELG-240-C2100B $65AU each for a total of 966w @171 lm/w as another option
Edit; but I wouldn't use that advise as it looks too 666ish for me.
nogod_
Well-Known Member
Chip density and as a result overall horsepower.
The F series is much higher wattage with the same footprint as the H series
However, I am not convinced that chip density is the right thing to emphasize in our case. PCBs are relatively cheap and heatsinks are an added expense so the more we can spread the chips to make thermal management a literal breeze, the better.
Cramming everything together is great if you're selling components that require a heatsink that you also sell, but if you're building from scratch i would shoot for even spacing of chips over the canopy.
The F series is much higher wattage with the same footprint as the H series
However, I am not convinced that chip density is the right thing to emphasize in our case. PCBs are relatively cheap and heatsinks are an added expense so the more we can spread the chips to make thermal management a literal breeze, the better.
Cramming everything together is great if you're selling components that require a heatsink that you also sell, but if you're building from scratch i would shoot for even spacing of chips over the canopy.