Thomas Research dimmable drivers

cali9dub

Member
Anyone running Thomas dimmable drivers with the apex? I am looking to run 4 dimmable drivers off my apex and was wondering if anyone is also running 4 banks of LEDs and what their programming is for daily lighting as well as some storm or cloud cover programming. Would love to see some functionality in the apex that would tie into the year long lunar cycle that drove the intensity of DIY moonlights as well !!
 
Also so you know These drivers come from one manufacture and everyone just changes the sticker to match their business. If you read the thread you will see who the manufacture is. Right now everyone in the USA are out of stock and should be getting some more within a month or so.
 
Also so you know These drivers come from one manufacture and everyone just changes the sticker to match their business. If you read the thread you will see who the manufacture is. Right now everyone in the USA are out of stock and should be getting some more within a month or so.

Hmmmm. Looks like meanwells will be in my future...damn!
 
Well nano tuners says there is a significant wait on the Thomas drivers. Unless you know someone that has 4 for sale. I'm not waiting several more months in the hopes that they will actually be available.
 
Don't listen to him, buy the TRP drivers - they are different drivers and are much better!

The TRC, excel systems, and another company (i forgot their name) drivers all come from Inventronics Company which is the manufacture of them. If you look at the part numbers of the drivers you will see they are the same but the first three letters.

Example:
TRC driver part number
TRC-200S070DT

Inventronics part number
EUC-200S070DT

If you read the spec sheet on all of them, they are exactly the same.
We had both a TRC and a Inventronics driver, opened them up and everything was exactly the same. Same wires including color, Same Components, and same case. The only difference was the sticker on the top middle of the driver.

I personally emailed Inventronics and they confirmed they manufacture all of these drivers and only change the sticker on them to fit the company's order.

I just emailed the local contact yesterday for both TRC and Inventronics, asked them for a stock count on some drivers. I got this reply "We do have these products on order and they should arrive by the end of May." from both companies.

I would encourage you to wait until these drivers are here, and also order a spare since they seem hit and miss to get them some times depending on the model number you are using.

But you don't need to take my word for it, I encourage you to do your own research to confirm the above. You can also read in the DIY forums since there is a lot of other people that have figured this out already.

As for me I am using the Intventronics because they are the same and easier to get than the TRC drivers. I would rather have 1 driver to power 80 LED's than 6 meanwell drivers. Also if you use the EUC or the TRC driver they are much easier to work with than the meanwells.

You can also talk to Bill at http://www.reefledlights.com he sells the EUC drivers also since they are the same. He is just out of stock also.
 
What driver are you looking for?

How many LED's are you trying to push?

Do you want dimming?
 
The TRC, excel systems, and another company (i forgot their name) drivers all come from Inventronics Company which is the manufacture of them. If you look at the part numbers of the drivers you will see they are the same but the first three letters.

Example:
TRC driver part number
TRC-200S070DT

Inventronics part number
EUC-200S070DT

If you read the spec sheet on all of them, they are exactly the same.
We had both a TRC and a Inventronics driver, opened them up and everything was exactly the same. Same wires including color, Same Components, and same case. The only difference was the sticker on the top middle of the driver.

I personally emailed Inventronics and they confirmed they manufacture all of these drivers and only change the sticker on them to fit the company's order.

I just emailed the local contact yesterday for both TRC and Inventronics, asked them for a stock count on some drivers. I got this reply "We do have these products on order and they should arrive by the end of May." from both companies.

I would encourage you to wait until these drivers are here, and also order a spare since they seem hit and miss to get them some times depending on the model number you are using.

But you don't need to take my word for it, I encourage you to do your own research to confirm the above. You can also read in the DIY forums since there is a lot of other people that have figured this out already.

As for me I am using the Intventronics because they are the same and easier to get than the TRC drivers. I would rather have 1 driver to power 80 LED's than 6 meanwell drivers. Also if you use the EUC or the TRC driver they are much easier to work with than the meanwells.

You can also talk to Bill at http://www.reefledlights.com he sells the EUC drivers also since they are the same. He is just out of stock also.

I think he thought (and I thought the same) that you were saying the meanwells and TRP are the same (which we both know they aren't :))

I see what you're saying there :)
 
I would rather have 1 driver to power 80 LED's than 6 meanwell drivers. Also if you use the EUC or the TRC driver they are much easier to work with than the meanwells.
Honestly I think it's a little irresponsible to be encouraging mass adoption of these without even mentioning the whole high voltage issue. People need to be aware of the dangers. That danger is exactly why I am specifically planning to use 6 meanwell's on my build. I don't want to risk it.
 
I'm using 4 meanwells so I can control cloud cover etc. It's is only for a 34g Solana. I don't want to drive 60 LEDs with one driver. I'd still be using 4 Thomas so no big deal to me.
 
Honestly I think it's a little irresponsible to be encouraging mass adoption of these without even mentioning the whole high voltage issue. People need to be aware of the dangers. That danger is exactly why I am specifically planning to use 6 meanwell's on my build. I don't want to risk it.

Elaborate please.
 
Russ,

I can't speak to the dangers, but the issue is that a single driver running 80 LEDs in series would require a voltage of around 280 VDC. On the other hand, the MWs are usually set up in multiple strings at 48VDC. I am in the planning stage right now myself. The ideal situation would be a single driver running multiple parallel strings at the lower voltage.

Todd
 
Thanks Todd. Frankly, I'd be less concerned about the higher voltage and more concerned about the total current involved with such a heavy load on a driver.
 
Also so you know These drivers come from one manufacture and everyone just changes the sticker to match their business. If you read the thread you will see who the manufacture is. Right now everyone in the USA are out of stock and should be getting some more within a month or so.

There are other retailers that carry these drivers and have them in stock! I just received 5- 40W 700mA drivers in the mail!
 
Thanks Todd. Frankly, I'd be less concerned about the higher voltage and more concerned about the total current involved with such a heavy load on a driver.
Hmm yeah this is sort of making my point.

These are constant current drivers. And 700mA for example can do a lot of damage. 48V is sort of on the upper edge of "zap! ouch!" territory. You want to do 700mA or more at hundreds of volts? Touch that with a wet hand and you're in serious trouble!

Here's an excellent thread on an HV build by someone who really knew what they were doing:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1975251
 
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