LED Wiring / Build Help needed

[CMJones]

So, i got a Meanwell HLG-60H-20B and some Solderless Cree XM-L2 lights from RapidLED.com

The problem i have is, with the Solderless LEDs they just click in. However, with the Meanwell HLG, the leads don't have a connection for me to plug and play. So, i have to splice the wires (which is fine), but i don't know which wire to splice with which? The V+ and V- on the Meanwell i know are Hot and Ground. The problem is, because the Solderless LED's have 2 leads on each side (plug into + side, then on - side plug directly into + side of next). Both hot and ground wires go in each one and they aren't labeled. So, i don't know which is ground and which is hot wire to connect the Driver to.

 

[sleepydoc]

Do you have an ohm meter and/or diode tester? You can use that to test which lead is +/- on the LED. IIRC, RapidLED's solderless setup has one side of each connecter shorted through as a ground return path. I think the bottom right is LED +, bottom left LED - and the top connectors are the return path, but check to be sure. Have you tried contacting tech support at RapidLED? They also carry a color-labeled driver jumper. (at least they used to?)

 

[oreo57]

Like this.. LAST diode needs a cap to connect (neg) to return path..

The first diode will then be pos (up in photo (red)) and neg (bottom (green)

http://www.rapidled.com/solderless-xm-l-led-plug/

Does that make sense??

 

[oreo57]

Do you have an ohm meter and/or diode tester? You can use that to test which lead is +/- on the LED. IIRC, RapidLED's solderless setup has one side of each connecter shorted through as a ground return path. I think the bottom right is LED +, bottom left LED - and the top connectors are the return path, but check to be sure. Have you tried contacting tech support at RapidLED? They also carry a color-labeled driver jumper. (at least they used to?)

good advice for testing but you have the paths reversed, easy to spot the plus from the photo..

Except for the final connection, it is pretty fool proof. Worst w/ a bunch of LED's, if wrong, they won't light. Then just reverse it..
not enough voltage to drive them "backwards" generally speaking..

 

[CMJones]

Yep, that works... Now my problem is... Last one is dead... So, gonna have to reduce to 5 Diodes... Would this driver be too much to run 5 instead of 3?

 

[oreo57]

Yep, that works... Now my problem is... Last one is dead... So, gonna have to reduce to 5 Diodes... Would this driver be too much to run 5 instead of 3?

HEY your running 3A constant current.. WHY? That's not going to work.. Your going to probably blow the diodes..

your pumping 3A into them..

OPP's they can (theoretically) take the 3A.. not sure you will be able to control the heat though

3.3V @3000mA

20/3.3 =6.06 theoretically. not a lot of wiggle room for v(f) variation and system losses..

After the heart attack you almost gave me it "might" be that the traces are dropping too many volts by the time you get to the 6th..or it's bad..

theory and reality sometimes don't mix..

as a constant current driver, it will give you 3A no matter how many diodes are in series..

 

[CMJones]

Oh i know the last one is bad... I screwed up with it and tried to fix it... fix didn't work *lol*. One of the caps came off of it when i tried to unplug while putting the heatsinks on. I tried to epoxy / resolder it back on and it didn't go very well...

So, think that i can run with 5 of them for now?

 

[oreo57]

Oh i know the last one is bad... I screwed up with it and tried to fix it... fix didn't work *lol*. One of the caps came off of it when i tried to unplug while putting the heatsinks on. I tried to epoxy / resolder it back on and it didn't go very well...

So, think that i can run with 5 of them for now?

Yes.
I still need to mention the heating at 3A though.
If you find it too much you can just "cut"the current w/ a resistor across the "dim" line or a 100kOhm potentiometer..
not sure it actually cuts the current or just "pulses' it.. but either way, it will reduce the heat..
Check the aluminum pucks after a few minutes.. See if you can keep your finger on it..

 

[CMJones]

I've got a 50K potentiometer on it atm. As well, i had it full blast for several minutes. Probably a good 20-30. I could smell like something was burning (electrical in our house is utter crap and getting replaced soon. However, i haven't gotten around to it) i think it was pulling too much amperage for our housing wiring to handle anymore... However, the heatsink was absolutely cool to the touch. Not nearly as bright as i expected... Might not be getting full power. Otherwise, it's all good. And even if it did start getting warm, i've got fans attached to each heatsink. The math says i should be able to run each diode on each one of those heatsinks without any fans though just fine.

Those aren't just aluminum pucks, they're copper based aluminum heatsink CPU radiators.

 

[oreo57]

After the initial surge (1/2 sec) the driver only pulls 1/2A from the wall..
I know see the "2 layers" .. The bottom design is the typical al "pucks" for some I used w/ 10W LED's..
AT 50k (one driver) you "effective" amps are 1.5..

 

[CMJones]

Interesting. Still might be too much. I was concerned about adding anything at all the electrical demands of this house. Just may have been the straw that broke the camels back. Can't think of anything else that would cause that slight "burning" smell when i upped the temp. Nothing appears to be burning on the setup. All diodes are fine and wires. I didn't want to risk so unplugged immediately and was unable to identify the location of said smell... So, gonna get to work on everything house wise ASAP and see if i can get this resolved. That or rewire and make sure i have solid connections.

 

[oreo57]

Interesting. Still might be too much. I was concerned about adding anything at all the electrical demands of this house. Just may have been the straw that broke the camels back. Can't think of anything else that would cause that slight "burning" smell when i upped the temp. Nothing appears to be burning on the setup. All diodes are fine and wires. I didn't want to risk so unplugged immediately and was unable to identify the location of said smell... So, gonna get to work on everything house wise ASAP and see if i can get this resolved. That or rewire and make sure i have solid connections.

Well if you look at the spec sheet it lists 55 AMP SURGE at start up for some fractional milliseconds..
Cold start 55A (twidth = 265 micro seconds measured at 50% lpeak) @230VAC..greek to me.. All I see is a big number..

but for 265/1000000 sec..