300 LED Build

[ThatCollegeReefer]

+1Intently following and giggling like a school girl the entire time.

[DaveFason]

Easier to mount. This is going in between two walls. For me mounting one large unit was going to be easier than two smaller ones. I know it sounds odd

 

-Dave

 

Why did you decide on 1 - 8ft fixture instead of maybe 2 - 4ft fixtures.

 

Again just curious. I am building a fixture for my 75 with a somewhat similar design.

[blasterman]

Yes, when this is done you will be required to set it on your porch, at night, and illuminate the water-tower on the other side of town. Or, if somebody knows somebody who works on the international space station..... :-)

[DaveFason]

I'll replace it with 8 degree optics Then go to my local airport and shuttle planes through.

 

-Dave

[d9hp]

this is the coolest thing ever.

[Zeadon]

why did you cluster them like that? instead of spreading them out more so they reached the edge of each heat sink, so that there would be less gap between the heat sinks

[sammy113]

why did you cluster them like that? instead of spreading them out more so they reached the edge of each heat sink, so that there would be less gap between the heat sinks

read post #46

[imagex]

wow people definitely dont read at all..

 

 

also if your using 300 leds and each driver does 99 leds according to your config then hows that work?? so it would be 198 for blues and 99 for whites.. or you going to try to stretch it?

[bitts]

Dave it's fantastic to see things working out for you like this. I'm continusly impressed by your builds, both for their quality & scope.

[DaveFason]

I am adding 3 extra on a small buckpuck. Just so it's 300

 

Bitts- thanks bud. Im hoping to have it finished today. That's if jury duty doesn't take all day! Ugh!

[redfishsc]

I am adding 3 extra on a small buckpuck. Just so it's 300

 

Bitts- thanks bud. Im hoping to have it finished today. That's if jury duty doesn't take all day! Ugh!

 

 

Moonlights?

[DaveFason]

Clive, Blaster, Matt, someone . Need a little help.

 

I went to test one section of the build out. The unit turned on for a bit, at first flickering and then all 99 lit up ( It was sweet ). I went to adjust the 10K pot and it was working and then I left it on for 10-15 seconds and turned it self off. No fuses were blown, no LEDs were blown.

 

Ok I'm stumped. I wanted to make sure nothing was fried from last night. So I de-soldered the leads to the LED strings I was testing. Hooked a LPC-700 up to each string and they all fire fine. I go back, check my wiring on the HLG and the 9v wall wart and everything looks good to go.

 

A few questions. The LED wiring from the unit to the driver is around 15-20'. Could this be a factor? Should I place the drivers on top of the unit and run a long AC cord to the driver? I know pucks dont do well when they are far away from the LED's them selves. What I dont understand is that the first time I fired them up it worked, and then suddenly turned off. No fuses blew, nothing.

 

Here is the data sheet

http://www.cdiweb.com/datasheets/mea...-240H-spec.pdf

 

I am running a regulated 9v wall wart ( right on 9.16 ) and the normal 10k pot.

 

Any help would be great. I'm ready to test away

[Genj]

Dave,

 

Did the 10k work on any of the other banks of lights? I had one of my 10k pots from sparkfun exhibit the same behavior, except with 90 less LEDs.

[Hans Dorn]

Your link doesn't work, it's got a string of dots in it.

[d9hp]

Does the driver have any indicator lights? It sounds to me like it was getting a reference voltage for DIM+ (or whatever you're using that 10k pot to dim for) and then it cut off. Did you try turning it all back on? No blown fuses does sound funky. The fact that they all turned on also makes me think all the wiring is set.

 

It's unlikely that the pot is faulty but have you checked it? Also, have you measured the voltage from the wall wart to confirm it is indeed ~9V?

[Hans Dorn]

Found the data sheet.

 

If I'm reading it correctly, you're supposed to connect a resistor (betwen 0 and about 1 KOhm) and NOT a voltage to the ADJ inputs. You won't need a 9V DC supply, just a 1K pot for each driver. You probably shouldn't connect the ADJ inputs of the 4 drivers together...

[DaveFason]

I checked the voltage from the wall wart and its dead on 9.14.

 

I have a few 5w 1ohm resistors from the terminals I could try but why would they have on the data sheet that you can adjust from ~ =2A to 5A? Each driver will have its on 10K pot along with its on 9v power supply.

 

Hans can you give me an example of how to hook it up? I willing to try anything!

 

Blaster - I'll try a new POT.

 

Thanks for all your help guys. I cant tell you how bright it was!

 

-Dave

[Hans Dorn]

Check page 3 of the datasheet for a resistor table.

 

I copied the relevant part for the 42V model:

 

Slightly > 100% - Open

75% - 680Ohm

50% - 82Ohm

Slightly < 50% - Short

 

Connecting a 680Ohm resistor to the 2 ADJ wires should give you 75% output.

Shorting them together should give 50%. I'd try that first.

[d9hp]

Found the data sheet.

 

If I'm reading it correctly, you're supposed to connect a resistor (betwen 0 and about 1 KOhm) and NOT a voltage to the ADJ inputs. You won't need a 9V DC supply, just a 1K pot for each driver. You probably shouldn't connect the ADJ inputs of the 4 drivers together...

 

I think you're correct but the thing about 'NOT a voltage' is a bit off. It's still a voltage but I think it supplies a voltage at those pins and uses the current through that input circuit to adjust the current through the LEDs. You do NOT need to supply a voltage, which I believe is what you meant. Also, I don't think you should connect the inputs either because they're supplying their own voltage and aren't going to be identical, which can cause some funk.

 

 

I checked the voltage from the wall wart and its dead on 9.14.

 

I have a few 5w 1ohm resistors from the terminals I could try but why would they have on the data sheet that you can adjust from ~ =2A to 5A? Each driver will have its on 10K pot along with its on 9v power supply.

 

Hans can you give me an example of how to hook it up? I willing to try anything!

 

Blaster - I'll try a new POT.

 

Thanks for all your help guys. I cant tell you how bright it was!

 

-Dave

 

I imagine you won't need a 5W resistor. That circuit most likely has a pretty beefy resistance internally, but who knows!

 

What I would do is fire the thing up with NOTHING attached to the ADJ inputs. Then measure the voltage. This will have the system running at full blast. Then hook up a meter using the AMP connections, which will short the terminals. According to this datasheet:

http://www.meanwell.com/search/hlg-240h/hlg-240h-spec.pdf

That should have them run at 50%. Measure the current.

 

You CAN adjust them you'll just need a much finer potentiometer. (10k won't really do much good in this application).

 

You can find 0-1k multiturns, which will give you plenty of control.

 

 

Check page 3 of the datasheet for a resistor table.

 

I copied the relevant part for the 42V model:

 

Slightly > 100% - Open

75% - 680Ohm

50% - 82Ohm

Slightly < 50% - Short

 

Connecting a 680Ohm resistor to the 2 ADJ wires should give you 75% output.

Shorting them together should give 50%. I'd try that first.

 

 

This is also relevant:

 

Output constant current level can be adjusted through output cable by connecting a resistor between ADJ1 and ADJ2. Reference resistance value for output current adjustment (Typical)

[Hans Dorn]

I think you're correct but the thing about 'NOT a voltage' is a bit off. It's still a voltage but I think it supplies a voltage at those pins and uses the current through that input circuit to adjust the current through the LEDs.

I have the nagging suspicion that the resistor will get connected to some internal points of the current sensing circuitry. You'll probably only see a very low voltage there.

[d9hp]

I have the nagging suspicion that the resistor will get connected to some internal points of the current sensing circuitry. You'll probably only see a very low voltage there.

 

Most likely, as well as a low current. Regardless, you'll see a change in current (edited). Most cheap meters can measure down to 1mV, some .1mV. I honestly doubt it's anywhere near that low. Either way, you should be able to measure a voltage without ANYTHING attached to the ADJ pins and it should be operating at full blast (5A?)

[DaveFason]

Can I try the 5w 1% 1 ohm resistor on the adj. cables?

 

Or should I try without anything on the cables and it would be at full blast?

 

Ieeeeeee!

 

Thanks again for help guys. Being the first to use this driver and a build this large I cant thank you enough for the help!

 

-Dave

 

EDIT : You are looking at the HLG-240-42-B correct?

[Hans Dorn]

You can short them to check the minimum output. A 1Ohm would basically do the same. Wear those:

[DaveFason]

Short them by connecting them together?

 

How to max them if shorting works

 

-Dave

[d9hp]

Yes, this is the B model we're referring to.

 

You can short them to check the minimum output. A 1Ohm would basically do the same. Wear those:

 

Exactly.

 

I say leave them open (no resistor, not touching) and 'wear those: '!!!! MAXIMUM POWER!

 

This build is awesome I can't wait to see pictures of it working!