LED drivers with Sonoff as timer reliability

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goofy81

Well-Known Member
Hi.
I'm planning to use 4 x hlg 600h 48ab drivers and was wondering if the sonoff 4ch would be adequate.
I understand that those heavy duty times using contactors are essential for magnetic ballasts. However the 600h has an inrush current of 70a. The sonoff devices use relays rated at 10a for my voltage.
Has anyone used the sonoffs as timers with 480 or 600w led drivers had any problems?
Thx
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
goofy81 said:
Hi.
I'm planning to use 4 x hlg 600h 48ab drivers and was wondering if the sonoff 4ch would be adequate.
I understand that those heavy duty times using contactors are essential for magnetic ballasts. However the 600h has an inrush current of 70a. The sonoff devices use relays rated at 10a for my voltage.
Has anyone used the sonoffs as timers with 480 or 600w led drivers had any problems?
Thx
Click to expand...
dont do it, like you say the inrush current is to much for the sonoff's.
i have had channels "hang" ie stay on after a timer event was set to off with a 320 watt driver so with 4 600 watt drivers you are asking for trouble.
i use my 4 channel sonoffs with N/O conntactors now for piece of mind, i wouldnt feel comfortable switching any more than say 100 watts of driver load per channel with the sonoffs without using conntactors.
 
S

sethimus

Well-Known Member
goofy81 said:
Hi.
I'm planning to use 4 x hlg 600h 48ab drivers and was wondering if the sonoff 4ch would be adequate.
I understand that those heavy duty times using contactors are essential for magnetic ballasts. However the 600h has an inrush current of 70a. The sonoff devices use relays rated at 10a for my voltage.
Has anyone used the sonoffs as timers with 480 or 600w led drivers had any problems?
Thx
Click to expand...
2 hlg 480 on a 4 ch sonoff for about a year. only thing to report was that the timer once didn’t turn off the lights. was programmed that the 2nd timer turned on 1min after the 1st
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Op: if you got the chops to work this out (I've never looked to deep into it):
I'm pretty sure the HLG600 has a function so that you can turn it on thru some kind of electrical signal, check their data sheet cause you might not even need a relay, just a timer and some gear
 
LowRange

LowRange

Well-Known Member
Just curious what's wrong with using regular dumb timers for switching the lights? Any reason you want to use Sonoff?
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
Op: if you got the chops to work this out (I've never looked to deep into it):
I'm pretty sure the HLG600 has a function so that you can turn it on thru some kind of electrical signal, check their data sheet cause you might not even need a relay, just a timer and some gear
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the AB version i have here has the 5v remote on cable.
 

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LowRange

LowRange

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
Sonoff are quite nice in that they give access to your timers online, as well as many other control options (temp/rh based)
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For simple things like lights IMHO better off just running old school timers, one wifi outage and it can fuck up your light cycle. I love smart home tech, i've got hundreds of sensors and devices, run SmartThings and have a shit load of automations. I can ask Alexa what the temp of my tents are, send alerts when outside a temp or humidity threshold etc but wouldn't do the lights by wifi especially in flower.

But anyway i wired up a Sonoff to boost my solar hot water heater which is 240v @ 4600w and used the Sonoff to switch a contactor to turn the load off and on.
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
LowRange said:
For simple things like lights IMHO better off just running old school timers, one wifi outage and it can fuck up your light cycle. I love smart home tech, i've got hundreds of sensors and devices, run SmartThings and have a shit load of automations. I can ask Alexa what the temp of my tents are, send alerts when outside a temp or humidity threshold etc but wouldn't do the lights by wifi especially in flower.

But anyway i wired up a Sonoff to boost my solar hot water heater which is 240v @ 4600w and used the Sonoff to switch a contactor to turn the load off and on.
Click to expand...
the sonoffs only use wifi for setup and direct app control, once timers are set the info is stored locally and ran from the sonoff.
having your wifi take a dump wont effect your timer.
 
LowRange

LowRange

Well-Known Member
grotbags said:
the sonoffs only use wifi for setup and direct app control, once timers are set the info is stored locally and ran from the sonoff.
having your wifi take a dump wont effect your timer.
Click to expand...
Depends on the device and the firmware, but for a light that turns off and on once a day on a set schedule making it smart serves no real purpose.
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
LowRange said:
Depends on the device and the firmware, but for a light that turns off and on once a day on a set schedule making it smart serves no real purpose.
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im talking directly about the OP's 4 channel sonoff...
but yer i agree for single channel timing control they certainly arent a necessity but they are pretty cheap (compareable to an old mechanical timer) and when your wifi works which to be fair is 99.999999% of the time (for me anyway) you get the extra features so nothing really lost...
 
G

goofy81

Well-Known Member
Thanks. Will def not be using them. The drivers are in transit so I'll defintely look into the remote wires. I said 4 to make things easier but I'll be using about 20. If the remote wire can be utilised. That'd save me hundreds.
When you lose wifi, the sonoffs do stick to the schedule you set.
 
nogod_

nogod_

Well-Known Member
I have a bunch of Sonoff's and I found them to be pretty finicky when I was trying to set them up. For a new veg cab I bought some Kasa smart plugs and they were braindead easy and can handle 15a.

Interested to try out the Ilumi Meshtek controller that @Randomblame linked a year or so back if they ever come down in price.

goofy81 said:
Thanks. Will def not be using them. The drivers are in transit so I'll defintely look into the remote wires. I said 4 to make things easier but I'll be using about 20. If the remote wire can be utilised. That'd save me hundreds.
When you lose wifi, the sonoffs do stick to the schedule you set.
Click to expand...
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
salmonetin said:
...junk??....lol...

...not for my pov... its too inspirative hardware the Meshtek Controllers.... actually there are other posible updates....para los que sabemos buscar...
el chip de comunicacion es algo antiguo y en relojes RTC tambien se ha avanzado....en sensores no te cuento...
...y mezclado con Dev Boards ...ESP32....SMT32...Raspis...de los nuevos....ñam ñam

pero opinad como querais....dame hardware junk de illumi Meshtek...yo les doy una segunda vida....la basura de unos es un tesoro para otros.... hojala pudiera reciclar hardware asi....menudo dia de reyes...o santa claus.... ehhh Wilson...auuuuuuuu

esperando que bajen de precio?.... yo diria que ya son baratos... no he mirado en Mouser si han subido o bajado sus precios... y si esperara por bajada de precios seria por su Dev Board....algo mas cara que los controladores pero asumible ....pero me encantan las Dev Boards y mezclarlas....la union las hace mas poderosas...y hasta redundantes independientes y autonomas...si quiero...

...me da que muchos ni saben que se podria hacer con esos hardwares....alla ellos...
....si estas en el olimpo y todo te va ok...para que cambiar?...si no hay nada roto no cambies nada...
...pero en el cambio esta la evolucion.... yo me adapto a los nuevos cambios.... mi trabajo me cuesta...
...lo que opinen otros...me da otros pov.... enriquecen si estan bien enfocados...si estan mal enfocados simplemente los ignoro...y sigo mi camino...

e function actived
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hey man i would have loved the meshteks to work belive me i have 10 of them well 9 now one as went up in smoke.
they were central to a 6 channel light i am building but i just cant get them to work correctly, ie random channels powering up at full power on turn on that wont respond to the app ect, the scheduling is broken ie stuff doesnt turn on and off when it should, and zero response from emails to meshtek asking for support.
and its not just me i have spoken to a couple of people who have had similar issues and they to have been ghosted by meshtek.

i have had to completely redesign my new lights and buy all new drivers because i cant get the meshteks to work correctly.
so yer i recon they are junk and not fit for purpose, if you know of any success stories involving the meshteks im all ears... if you know of any compareable devices to the meshteks (that work) again im all ears...
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
salmonetin said:
actualmente veo otras opciones ...hay mejores chip de comunicacion...y puedo montar algo parecido pero mas actual y poderoso.... es una idea borrador base ...los meshtek controllers.... y es de hace unos años...luego tuneable a mejor...
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get building ill be your first customer ;-) make it 5 channel at say 8 amp a channel so it will handle a 600watt driver (dont forget the inrush current, which i think is the problem with the meshteks)...

salmonetin said:
...no es diy para novatos....y manejando AC y DC ....cuidadin si no sabes donde te metes....pero yo soy exelectricista...
...en electronica muchos componentes estan pensados para durar un tiempo.... unas 1000h... los que lo sabemos (lee sobre obsolescencia programada)...le ponemos nuestra solucion... al igual que con otras piezas electronicas.... para que nos duren mucho mas... pero somos pocos....el usar y tirar es la moda...yo no sigo modas....
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im not sure what your point is here? but i have built enough lights that i know its not a beginner error, the problem is with the meshteks...
salmonetin said:
hace poco puse info sobre un sitio australiano donde hablaban de temas de drivers... y vi que tenian un controlador bluetooth no he podido verlo bien o con tiempo....pero ya lo mirare.... no llevo nada de prisa...

y se de otras opciones actualmente.... pero prefiero primero ver vuestros POVs....
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do yo have a link to the australian site? ill have a read...

if you know of other options spill the beans...
i have seen a few multi channel pwm dimmers with app control on alibaba but they dont split the current like the meshteks so you need seperate drivers for each channel but i have seen nothing comparable to the meshteks anywhere.
 

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goofy81

Well-Known Member
If anyone is still interested I've found these

www.ebay.com

8 Channel SPST-NO 30Amp Power Relay Module Board, 12V Version, 30A. x1 6921407447073 | eBay

OMRON G8P-1A4P 30Amp Power Relays. Rated Load (Resistive load): 30A at 250VAC, 20A at 28VDC. LED indicator for each relay channel. BC517 Darlington transistor driving relay, Improve the reliability of action.
www.ebay.com

They can easily be made to work together with any other devices I guess but use a 30a relay. Can easily be made to be a dimmer too
 
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