DIY LED meanwell current vs LED rated question. Pics.

[Jeff000]

Ok, so I changed out my old LED's for new ones.

I have XP-G cool whites and XT-E royal blues.
All I know is they are both rated for 1.5amps.

I have meanwell eln's rated for 1.3A

I am running between 10 and 12 LED's per string. I have 8 drivers, 8 strings.

This new array is WAY brighter than my old one.


Now my question, I can turn the internal pots up to give 1.5a, but being set over rated I'm just going to burn them out quickly right? But I could add a couple more to the array till I get 1.3a with the internal pot maxed out?

I also have optics for them, but how needed are they? Visually this array is far brighter, and my corals were doing fine before, do the optics make a big difference? Should I put them on just some of the LEDs?

And while I have you reading, I used the solderless from rapid led, and I have one string not working. What is the best way to trouble shoot that? The exposed pads seems to have a film on them so I can just use the battery or wire jumper trick to see if one of the emitters is bad, and those premade connectors hold on real tight.

 

[oreo57]

Ok, so I changed out my old LED's for new ones.

I have XP-G cool whites and XT-E royal blues.
All I know is they are both rated for 1.5amps.

I have meanwell eln's rated for 1.3A

I am running between 10 and 12 LED's per string. I have 8 drivers, 8 strings.

This new array is WAY brighter than my old one.


Now my question, I can turn the internal pots up to give 1.5a, but being set over rated I'm just going to burn them out quickly right? But I could add a couple more to the array till I get 1.3a with the internal pot maxed out?

I also have optics for them, but how needed are they? Visually this array is far brighter, and my corals were doing fine before, do the optics make a big difference? Should I put them on just some of the LEDs?

And while I have you reading, I used the solderless from rapid led, and I have one string not working. What is the best way to trouble shoot that? The exposed pads seems to have a film on them so I can just use the battery or wire jumper trick to see if one of the emitters is bad, and those premade connectors hold on real tight.

That 1.5 A is max.. they go down to 350mA..... better have good heat sinks..

As to testing, I found DVOM set to ohms produce enough V to light most single LED's.. easy way to test ind ones..
I've also used 9v battery w/ the "clip" to troubleshoot 3 in a row..
Taping wires to Li button cells works ok too......

 

[Jeff000]

That 1.5 A is max.. they go down to 350mA..... better have good heat sinks..

As to testing, I found DVOM set to ohms produce enough V to light most single LED's.. easy way to test ind ones..
I've also used 9v battery w/ the "clip" to troubleshoot 3 in a row..
Taping wires to Li button cells works ok too......

Right now I am running them at 85% ish and about 900mA and the heatsink is hardly warm.

 

[reefermad619]

If the setup is brighter than before, why max out the drivers? Your currently running 85% @ 1.3A which puts you at a little over an amp. I say stay where you are. LEDs will live at lot longer the cooler they stay.

I've seen optics increase par by >3x Vs. no optics. But again, if your fine the way it is, I say leave it.

 

[Jeff000]

If the setup is brighter than before, why max out the drivers? Your currently running 85% @ 1.3A which puts you at a little over an amp. I say stay where you are. LEDs will live at lot longer the cooler they stay.

I've seen optics increase par by >3x Vs. no optics. But again, if your fine the way it is, I say leave it.

Just thinking I could add more LED's to the strings.

 

[oreo57]

Just thinking I could add more LED's to the strings.

Doesn't affect the amps.. only the V(f)........ but w/ them you can decrease the drive current (by pot) and increase light levels..allowing for "cooler" running.. which doesn't seem to be a problem for you anyways..
What is the max V out of those meanwells..??
@12 LED's your up to 43V.. approx..

 

[zachts]

You probably can either add more leds to the strings OR up the current. those drivers are rated to deliver a set amount of watts at a wide range of voltage and current. 1.3 amps is the highest that should be used at the rated voltage of 48 volts. At lower voltage though you can get away with higher current with good air flow around the driver. it will shut down if you try to push it too hard and at that point you would need to reduce current to not damage the driver long run. But if it stays on it should be working fine.

More LEDs is a function of total forward voltage of the string so you can keep adding up to around 48v. (up to 54v if you run less current around 1 amp or less)

Optics could be very beneficial with an array like that, especially on the royal blues as you could then turn them down a lot and still maintain adequate PAR and coral growth, thus saving power. But are they needed, No, not if the coral is doing well and you are happy with the look and performance. Optics can reduce glare a lot though if your not using a canopy. If you add optics just be sure to turn things way down and re-acclimate slowly or you could burn corals.

 

[Jeff000]

You probably can either add more leds to the strings OR up the current. those drivers are rated to deliver a set amount of watts at a wide range of voltage and current. 1.3 amps is the highest that should be used at the rated voltage of 48 volts. At lower voltage though you can get away with higher current with good air flow around the driver. it will shut down if you try to push it too hard and at that point you would need to reduce current to not damage the driver long run. But if it stays on it should be working fine.

More LEDs is a function of total forward voltage of the string so you can keep adding up to around 48v. (up to 54v if you run less current around 1 amp or less)

Optics could be very beneficial with an array like that, especially on the royal blues as you could then turn them down a lot and still maintain adequate PAR and coral growth, thus saving power. But are they needed, No, not if the coral is doing well and you are happy with the look and performance. Optics can reduce glare a lot though if your not using a canopy. If you add optics just be sure to turn things way down and re-acclimate slowly or you could burn corals.

Oh right, I forgot about the voltage supplying limits on the meanwells, for some reason I was thinking it was all current supply limited.

I'm a little uneasy about glueing the optics on, so I will probably just leave them, lol. Maybe add a couple above my Magnifica. Right now it's not as blue as I would like it, these whites are far brighter than my last ones.

 

[zachts]

Oh right, I forgot about the voltage supplying limits on the meanwells, for some reason I was thinking it was all current supply limited.

I'm a little uneasy about glueing the optics on, so I will probably just leave them, lol. Maybe add a couple above my Magnifica. Right now it's not as blue as I would like it, these whites are far brighter than my last ones.

Turn the whites down and blues up

 

[Jeff000]

Turn the whites down and blues up

But then I end up with my old array, and I'm wanting more light.

 

[oreo57]

Oh right, I forgot about the voltage supplying limits on the meanwells, for some reason I was thinking it was all current supply limited.

I'm a little uneasy about glueing the optics on, so I will probably just leave them, lol. Maybe add a couple above my Magnifica. Right now it's not as blue as I would like it, these whites are far brighter than my last ones.

Well you don't HAVE TO have all blue and all white per string ("usually" bl/wh have similar or same characteristics).. mix one or 2 w/ blue/whites till you get the color you want.

As to popt8ics a bit of silicone holds them on and is easy to remove..
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2114163