@dbrn32. 30 Amps total, 240 volt 60 hz output I believe.
@dbrn32 Yea itās around 750 or so with shipping and a few connectors and chords at trc. Arrow doesnāt have that many in stock.
If youāre 240v output and sheās rated for 30 amps should be golden. At 240v theyāre like 1.3 amps per driver. So youād be barely over 50% loaded on that controller. Assuming it has 4 outputs anyway.
As far as connectors, cords, and plugs. Just make sure youāre getting stuff thatās rated for and compatible for the voltage. Some of those connectors are not rated for anything over 150v.
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@dbrn32 okay will do, thanks for heads up on controller I thought I needed 50 amp rated controller. Yea the controller I currently have has 4 plugs, thats 15 Amps split between two plugs. I will double check the rating on all the connections and plugs before I order. Thanks a million, will be in touch.
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@dbrn32 Hi I am considering some options for wiring the drivers outside of tent. I am doing what we said, 6 qb 288 per fixture. Question is, can I use 16/6 cord and 7 pin waterproof plugs to extend the power from the driver to the panels? I donāt want 12 wires running across my tent 4 would be nice. I found 7 pin plugs rated at 500v, the 6 pin plugs are rated at 250v and 16/6 cord rated at 300v. I want the plugs to keep it clean, and seems to be a good option. Any input or suggestions, will this work? Thanks for your time.
Sure, if you can get multiple cables into the plugs. A multi conductor cord works on one side, but not the other. I feel like youād be better off just going with 12/3 and using the 5 port wagos on each fixture as terminal strips if you want one cord per fixture.
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@dbrn32 Sorry im littlte confused. Let me see if i understood, I can join the outputs of each driver into the two wires from the 12/3 ? That would be 3 +, and 3 - using the wago connectors then split it up again once I get the the qb? Thatās even easier, I didnāt know I could do that, if I understood correctly.
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The drivers have an ac voltage side, and a dc voltage side. The dc side will go to the qbās, and each driver circuit needs to be independent.
On the ac side, you can essentially combine as many as the circuit is designed to hold. The wagos are nothing more than a fancy wire nut. So on something like a 240v circuit with two āhotā wires, youād take the acl wire from each driver and connect it to one hot, and the acn wires from each driver and connect it to the other hot. Then connect the ground wire from each driver to the ground wire on plug.
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@dbrn32 Yea I misunderstood you. I already had the ac power running to one plug from three drivers from earlier conversationā¦ My objective is to mount the driver outside tent and for that I want to extend the dc side for three drivers using the 16/6 wire and 7 pin waterproof plug for convenience. I thought we were both talking about the dc side going to the quantum boards, sorry about that. So my best bet may be to use the 7 pin female/male plugs and the 16/6 cord? Each driver on its own two wires for a total of 6 dc wires from three drivers to the six qb. 2 wires per driver. It just gets really hot in my area and want to eliminate heat sources.
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I got ya. Iāll go back to your not going to get 3 different driver cables into a single connector then. I donāt think so anyway.
I would think you can use the cable as long itās rated for the voltage and current. But Iām not sure how youāll get the three drivers cables into the connector.
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@dbrn32 hey, thanks a lot for pointing me in the right direction, just got my boards and drivers in. Just waiting on the angle iron, had to pre-order, but will probably mount drivers on light. Seems to be a little too involved at the moment and Iām on a schedule. Will update progress, thanks for all your helpā¦
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No problem! Iāll be around if you need anything.
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@dbrn32 Hello once again. I want to install power switch to each light to turn off and on and 33k potentiometer to dim. Any suggestions on sources? I find some power switches rated at 125v and 20 Amps. Would these work? Also the poteniometer are linear taper but have more then three tabsā¦please help clarify, or any suggestions on part numbers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks againā¦
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If youāre going to run them at 240 volts a 120volt switch wonāt work. If youāre going to run at 120 volt that would be fine. You just need to make sure that whatever youāre doing is in line from start to finish.
Dimming 3 drivers from single pot Iāve never done. 33k pot sounds right, but I would verify with one of the suppliers first. Iāve seen conflicting info on what it takes to dim more than two. If thatās what you need, all of the electrical suppliers should have something that works. Jameco, mouser, or places like that.
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A 33k pot is what you need for 3 drivers. The formula for 100% dimming is 100k ohm/n n=number of drivers.
So 50k for 2 33k for 3 ect. If you cant fimd a 33k potentiameter,m that works for you, you can always get a 25k linear and an 8k resistor and wire it in series to reach the 33k
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I think thereās an issue with that formula specifically at 3 and 6 drivers. Havenāt done it, so donāt know for sure.
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Could be, I was reading of a cob kit set up like that. And some of the timbers are running 3 to a pot, I wonder if maybe they would be using PWM?
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I donāt think so. I just donāt think a 33k pot is the right one.
This from stardust sailor.
Iāve seen other type posts too, but I donāt remember what they were saying.
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@dbrn32 @Aolelon Thank you for the reply, yea Iām stick with 240 volt, is there any power switches that would work for this? If I understood, I would require a 47k pot and 3.6k resistor? What is the 15mW? Im barely finishing the frames and heatsinks.
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I would stick with 240v too. Iām sure thereās something, but I donāt really know off the top of my head. Can I ask why youāre looking for the switches? Your timer/controller should act as switch. And with the dimming function, there shouldnāt really be any need to turn them off. You can just dim for reduced light requirements right?
As far as the pots go, Iām just plugging info from others. Iāve seen conflicting info too. Iāve done 1,2,and 4 but never 3 drivers. So I donāt exactly feel comfortable telling you what will and wonāt work never having done it. You could probably try checking with trc or arrow tech support. Or maybe drop an email to hlg, or even a placement rapid led. Iām sure one or all of them can get you going in the right direction.
The 15mW is resistor rating. They put them in line with the pot to protect from shorting the dimming leads. Most of the meanwell drivers are not rated for dim to off. So even with the pots all the way down, the resistor acts as a fail safe and holds the leds at around 10%. You really do need them for the dimmer to operate. You just need to make sure your pot clears the 100% output resistance to the best of my knowledge. The higher you are over that will just put some dead band in dimmer. But if youāre lower, the drivers wonāt make 100% output.
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