najluni15 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Hi all I just finished a DIY LED aquastyle kit. I noticed that many people use a multimeter to determine the right current for the lights with the Drivers SR2 adjustment knob thing. Is this necessary? I plugged in my lights and they work and are very bright (which is good) but am not sure if I should check the current in the parallel line. Should I do this, how do I do this, and what should the current be at if I have 2 drivers, each with 2 parallel strands of 12 3W Bridgelux LEDs? Thanks Link to comment
ajmckay Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 As far as I know the SR2 adjustment is only necessary for certain meanwell drivers which are normally set to an output current of 1300mA. If this were the case when you pluggued in your aquastyle (epiled) setup you could have killed LEDs since I think those are only rated to 700mA. If you got the maxwellan drivers from aquastyle then you shouldn't have any adjustments that I know of unless they specify something in the instructions. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 As far as I know the SR2 adjustment is only necessary for certain meanwell drivers which are normally set to an output current of 1300mA. If this were the case when you pluggued in your aquastyle (epiled) setup you could have killed LEDs since I think those are only rated to 700mA. If you got the maxwellan drivers from aquastyle then you shouldn't have any adjustments that I know of unless they specify something in the instructions. The kit that the OP is talking about has two Meanwell drivers, and he's running each with two strings in parallel, which cuts the amperage in half, so it'd be ~650mA to each string. OP, I would check the strings and make sure that each are 700mA or less, the Meanwells are known for not being set at a particular amperage. Also, get some fast-blow fuses rated for 700mA so that in the case one string goes dead, the other string isn't instantly blown from receiving the full current from the driver. Link to comment
najluni15 Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thank you. I appreciate the help. I have two meanwell lpf 60d- 48 drivers. How do I connect the quick blow fuses? And would radio shack sell them? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thank you. I appreciate the help. I have two meanwell lpf 60d- 48 drivers. How do I connect the quick blow fuses? And would radio shack sell them? You'd have to ask them if they have them You can get them on Amazon for pretty cheap, but you have to make sure they are 700ma! Otherwise they'll let current right past to your LEDs! You wire them onto each string before the first LED, so you will need four of them. Link to comment
najluni15 Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 So how do they connect? Are they little glass fuses and do they just soder on? Link to comment
godfathernikki Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 So how do they connect? Are they little glass fuses and do they just soder on? You'll need a fuse holder. http://www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp...egoryId=2032302 Link to comment
najluni15 Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thanks. So if the driver is rated at 1300 ma I need a fuse with a max current of 700ma since I have two strands? Could I use a lower or higher rates fuse such as 1 amp or 600 ma and lower the current of the drivers safely? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thanks. So if the driver is rated at 1300 ma I need a fuse with a max current of 700ma since I have two strands? Could I use a lower or higher rates fuse such as 1 amp or 600 ma and lower the current of the drivers safely? No. The fuse is a fail-safe. If a single LED on any string blows, the driver will send the entire 1300ma into the remaining string, destroying all the LEDs. If you have 700ma fuses on the strings, if something happens to one LED on any string and the driver sends all current to one string, the fuse will blow before it can reach any of the LEDs, preventing catastrophic failure. The fuses MUST be 700ma each, any more and your LEDs will blow before the fuse does, and any less and the fuse may blow because it got just a bit too much current (even though the LEDs can withstand more). Link to comment
najluni15 Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 No. The fuse is a fail-safe. If a single LED on any string blows, the driver will send the entire 1300ma into the remaining string, destroying all the LEDs. If you have 700ma fuses on the strings, if something happens to one LED on any string and the driver sends all current to one string, the fuse will blow before it can reach any of the LEDs, preventing catastrophic failure. The fuses MUST be 700ma each, any more and your LEDs will blow before the fuse does, and any less and the fuse may blow because it got just a bit too much current (even though the LEDs can withstand more). Thank you. I'm pretty new to electrical work. Much appreciated Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thank you. I'm pretty new to electrical work. Much appreciated Not a problem. Always happy to help another hobbyist. Link to comment
najluni15 Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 So I got my multimeter and tested the LEDs. They are runnin at 550 ma. Is this normal and a good amount? It might be my pots or my drivers. I have 48 3w led over a 57 gallon Link to comment
najluni15 Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 Bump? Lights are DONE. Just need to hang and figure out if 550ma is normal for bridgelux 10k 45k and rb. Anyone know? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Has to be less than 700ma, so you're golden! Link to comment
najluni15 Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 Great! Thank you soooo much. Can't wait to get this thing hung today. Will post pics ASAP. Link to comment
najluni15 Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 Hopefully this is my last question. Do I need a wall wart on my setup? It didn't include one and to be honest I don't even know what they do? Link to comment
godfathernikki Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Hopefully this is my last question. Do I need a wall wart on my setup? It didn't include one and to be honest I don't even know what they do? They alter the power coming from the outlet. Converting ac to dc, the amount of mA etc to whatever the situation calls for. It's the reason your cellphone doesn't (always)catch fire when you plug it into the wall to charge it I am somewhat confused though, on how you were able to get your lights working with out one. I was under the impression that it was required for the meanwell drivers. I have the gold color drivers from aquastyle, they connect directly to a regular ac plug. Link to comment
najluni15 Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 I have the meanwells and they came with regular ac plugs that I connected per the directions and they work. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.