Need help troubleshooting diy cob build

B

Bleheri

Member
Hi, been lurking the forums a while and decided to build my self a cob light, but having issues with getting it to turn on properly.
I have 2 circuits ( a and b )of 4 cobs ( citi 1212) running on a meanwell hlg-185h-C14000B each.
18 awg wire running between the cobs, all connections are soldered, and evreything is mounted in an aluminium frame.
As of righ now circuit B does not light up at all, wich does not worry me as much as circuit A.
Ciruit A lights up very dim ( can see straight into them), cobs are flickering and when ever i pull the powercord/switch the cobs keep being lit for 4-5 seconds after wich they slowly dim out and stop emitting light.
I`ve tried switching ac polarity on the driver, but it changes nothing.
Ive tried wirering the other driver onto the other circuit and nothing changed ( circuit B still wont light up, circuit A does the same aswell)
1 known issue is that the ground wire (green/yellow) is not connected. None of my AC outlets have gruond wired too them, and dont really know what to do with the wire.

Any ideas on what going on ?
 
nogod_

nogod_

Well-Known Member
Circuit A sounds like its overvoltage. The Vmax of that driver is 143v. 4x36v cobs is 144v. Also test current is less than 1400ma so they are probably running at more like 37-38v(i think)

Circuit B sounds like one of the cobs was installed backwards or improperly. Check to make sure they are all wired positive to negative. Also check all the connections and make sure there is contact.

Once you have ensured that everything in string B is as it should be, wire both strings in parallel and hook them up to one of the drivers. To wire in parallel take the + leads of both strings and connect them together and to the + lead coming off the driver. Do the same with the - leads.

This will split the current between the 2 strings so youre running at 700mA, but more importantly it will hopefully lower your cumulative voltage under the 143v limit. If all the strings light up in the configuration but youre dead set on pushing 1400ma through your chips, then youre going to have to sell those drivers and buy the hlg-240h-c1400b which has a higher voltage cap (179v).

Bleheri said:
Hi, been lurking the forums a while and decided to build my self a cob light, but having issues with getting it to turn on properly.
I have 2 circuits ( a and b )of 4 cobs ( citi 1212) running on a meanwell hlg-185h-C14000B each.
18 awg wire running between the cobs, all connections are soldered, and evreything is mounted in an aluminium frame.
As of righ now circuit B does not light up at all, wich does not worry me as much as circuit A.
Ciruit A lights up very dim ( can see straight into them), cobs are flickering and when ever i pull the powercord/switch the cobs keep being lit for 4-5 seconds after wich they slowly dim out and stop emitting light.
I`ve tried switching ac polarity on the driver, but it changes nothing.
Ive tried wirering the other driver onto the other circuit and nothing changed ( circuit B still wont light up, circuit A does the same aswell)
1 known issue is that the ground wire (green/yellow) is not connected. None of my AC outlets have gruond wired too them, and dont really know what to do with the wire.

Any ideas on what going on ?
Click to expand...
 
B

Bleheri

Member
I`ve been looking at circuit B and i had reveresed the polarity on the dc( leads to the cob string) side, and the circuit is lighting up bright and stable.

Gonna try what you suggested with wirering in parallel, and report back in a few.

I`ve did some research before buying and was under the impression that i could run the theese drivers with citi cl48 1212 ? I`ve made a mistake then ?
 
B

Bleheri

Member
Ok, I`ve tried wiring both circuits in parallel to 1 driver, and circuit B lighht up bright and stable (and powers off immidietely), while circuit A still has all the symptoms from before. Dodgy wiring?
Gonna recheck the circuit
 
nogod_

nogod_

Well-Known Member
Per the datasheet those chips can go up to 37.5v at 1050ma. If you got a couple chips in that higher voltage range, could be causing the problem. Also could be the wiring but it doesnt sound like it. I would doublecheck the wiring anyway.

If that doesnt work try bypassing one of the cobs in the string and running 3 in series instead of 4. If they light up normally I think youve found your culprit.

Edit: if you bypass the cob and run 3 instead of 4, take it out of parallel and run it alone on the driver

Bleheri said:
Ok, I`ve tried wiring both circuits in parallel to 1 driver, and circuit B lighht up bright and stable (and powers off immidietely), while circuit A still has all the symptoms from before. Dodgy wiring?
Gonna recheck the circuit
Click to expand...
 
B

Bleheri

Member
i ran through the wiring again on circuit A and found a bad solder joint on one cob.... i feel supid now lol
Everything lights up, is stable and light cuts out immidietely after power off.
Thanks for your time and help nogod_ !
Would it be safty issue running my configuration or is it a less effecient setup in regards to the drivers ?
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
nogod_ said:
Circuit A sounds like its overvoltage. The Vmax of that driver is 143v. 4x36v cobs is 144v. Also test current is less than 1400ma so they are probably running at more like 37-38v(i think)

Circuit B sounds like one of the cobs was installed backwards or improperly. Check to make sure they are all wired positive to negative. Also check all the connections and make sure there is contact.

Once you have ensured that everything in string B is as it should be, wire both strings in parallel and hook them up to one of the drivers. To wire in parallel take the + leads of both strings and connect them together and to the + lead coming off the driver. Do the same with the - leads.

This will split the current between the 2 strings so youre running at 700mA, but more importantly it will hopefully lower your cumulative voltage under the 143v limit. If all the strings light up in the configuration but youre dead set on pushing 1400ma through your chips, then youre going to have to sell those drivers and buy the hlg-240h-c1400b which has a higher voltage cap (179v).
Click to expand...
Nah I run 4 cxb3070's just fine on that exact driver.
 
nogod_

nogod_

Well-Known Member
If they startup cold i would run as is, but im no expert. Some folks advise not to run close to max but i have had my drivers maxed for almost 3 years without issue.

What you have now is actually a more efficient setup than bigger drivers as efficiency goes up hand in hand with %load.

I did nothing, you fixed everything yourself sometimes you just need to say things out loud to figure out where you went wrong. ;)

Bleheri said:
i ran through the wiring again on circuit A and found a bad solder joint on one cob.... i feel supid now lol
Everything lights up, is stable and light cuts out immidietely after power off.
Thanks for your time and help nogod_ !
Would it be safty issue running my configuration or is it a less effecient setup in regards to the drivers ?
Click to expand...
 
M

Mrherbal

Member
Could someone tell me if meanwell hlg185h-c1050a can run 5 CLL040-1218 in series
And would this produced a suficiant amount of light for 2x2x3 area
First build and only ever used the big cfl bulbs so hoping this will do better
Any info apriciated
Thanks
 
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