Meanwell driver wiring configuration question?

subpg · 03/17/2010, 03:06 PM

Hello from over the pond, been reading for a while and I'm going to embark on a DIY LED build. I'm an ex-electronics service engineer so I have some knowledge (the bits that I haven't soaked in beer).

While researching the Meanwell drivers I came across this recommended application, now I haven't seen this type of array before (each led in a string linked to the next string), but it strikes me that it limits the problems associated with parallel wiring and enables you to run more leds per driver. Therefore reducing costs.

What do you think?

Steve

der_wille_zur_macht · 03/17/2010, 03:29 PM

It does LIMIT some of the problems, but doesn't completely address them. You're still going to have current splitting unequally among each column of LEDs, so you're still going to get some brighter than you want and some dimmer than you want.

The one advantage is that the risk of failure is slightly less, since if an LED fails it's affecting a smaller number of other LEDs.

And it still boils down to this - each meanwell driver has a limited number of watts, and there's no way around that.

These matrix configurations will let you exploit those watts in a different way (more LEDs at less current each) that's a little more efficient, but you're not going to magically get more power out of a driver.

PS - dig back a few pages in the big LED thread, we've had a few really good discussions about this.

subpg · 03/18/2010, 12:11 AM

Thanks,

Thought I'd read the thread end to end, but must have missed it.

03/17/2010, 03:06 PM	#1
subpg Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: UK Posts: 4	Meanwell driver wiring configuration question? Hello from over the pond, been reading for a while and I'm going to embark on a DIY LED build. I'm an ex-electronics service engineer so I have some knowledge (the bits that I haven't soaked in beer). While researching the Meanwell drivers I came across this recommended application, now I haven't seen this type of array before (each led in a string linked to the next string), but it strikes me that it limits the problems associated with parallel wiring and enables you to run more leds per driver. Therefore reducing costs. What do you think? Steve

03/17/2010, 03:29 PM	#2
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	It does LIMIT some of the problems, but doesn't completely address them. You're still going to have current splitting unequally among each column of LEDs, so you're still going to get some brighter than you want and some dimmer than you want. The one advantage is that the risk of failure is slightly less, since if an LED fails it's affecting a smaller number of other LEDs. And it still boils down to this - each meanwell driver has a limited number of watts, and there's no way around that. These matrix configurations will let you exploit those watts in a different way (more LEDs at less current each) that's a little more efficient, but you're not going to magically get more power out of a driver. PS - dig back a few pages in the big LED thread, we've had a few really good discussions about this. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

03/18/2010, 12:11 AM	#3
subpg Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: UK Posts: 4	Thanks, Thought I'd read the thread end to end, but must have missed it.