How Many Led Drivers Do I Need

msebar

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For my main setup I be using 84 led's each led has the following properties.
Each led is 3 watts with 3.3 - 4.2 volts @ 750 ma.
My layout is 6 rows of 14.

I would like to know how many dimming drivers I will need to handle this and the best way to wire it?
I also would like some suggestions on which drivers I should purchase.

Thanks all
 
depends on the drivers, and what control you want.
 
You can get drivers that will drive the whole lot, or you can split the channels. Generally there's a sweet spot in both cost and practicality, with 3 or so drivers at a sensible price (they do seem to rise in price as they get bigger) that gives you a combination of easy wiring, sensible cost and the ability to turn them on in waves as well as control the dimming in groups.
 
I can't give you advice on particular drivers, as my DIY LED build has been driver inclusive, from my ongoing reading (still have plans for a diy rig for the big tank) meanwell's are a good starting point for drivers.
 
Emitting Color: White
Color Temperature: 6000 ~ 6500k
DC Forward Voltage (VF): 3.3 ~ 4.2Vdc
DC Forward Current (IF): 750 mA
Viewing Angle: 120 Degree
Luminous Intensity: 200 LM-220LM
 
My tanks size will be 72” x 24” and I will be using 78 of the above LED’s laid out in the picture below. Also I will be using 14 blue LED’s as my moonlight lights.
 
I need to know the best way to wire the picture below of my layout of lights?
 
I know I do want the two outside rows of 4 and 5 to be on one circuit and the moonlights to be on another circuit.
 
For the rest of them is my issue with wiring. For the drivers I am completely lost. I am told that series is the way to go with high power LED's. The other issues is the LED’s have a voltage of 3.3 to 4.2 what voltage should I use when looking for a driver?
 
I can really use some help in driver selection.
 
Does any one have a large setup like this that can give me direction.
 
post-115001-0-64848300-1380509837_thumb.jpg
 
Come on people I need a little love on this
 
Can someone tell me if this correct or incorrect

Star led
3w
700ma
3.8v

4 rows of 6 star led's in series. Each row of 6 is in parallel

Totals
24 x 3w = 72w
4 x .700ma = 2.8a
6 x 3.8v = 22.8v
 
Wow, that's allot of lighting. But again, with a nice driver to control it, better have more light and dim it than not enough light.
 
I assume you have 5 rows of white and 1 row of blue...
 
Anyways, driver is one thing, but you also need a nice power supply for this. I would put three of them in series, as that would let you drive them at 12 V. Of course, you would need some resistors, too, I believe... LED's are controlled by current, not voltage, so unless the driver controls actually the current, you would need some resistors. I'm not saying it won't work without resistors, but controlling them is not so easy.
 
Yes, your calculations are correct. You would need a 22.8V power supply that can deliver 2.8A.
If you go with a 24V power supply, and let's say a LED opens up at 3.8V, 6 LED's per row, that means all LED will open up (start emitting) at a total of 22.8V.
24V-22.8V = 1.2V
 
Those 1.2V will be the voltage drop over a resistor. So you have 1.2V, over a resistor that needs to let 700mA flow. That gives us approx. 1.7 ohms resistor in series with the 6 LED's, that can withstand 1W of power at least (1.2 x .700). It's complicated... take the LED's try one row of them on a 24V supply with a controller, and see what you get. If the results are good and LED's don't burn, you're good to go, forget the resistor (even if all electronics dyi-ers would probably kill you in a medieval way for stressing the LED's with pure voltage :D ).
 
Regarding drivers, I would probably look on ebay for something, eventually with a remote - it's a nice feature. I don't know what to recommend you at this point.
 
Well I decided to go with the following:
40*40*11mm Aluminum Heat sink
3W White High Power LED Light Emitter 6000-6500K with 20mm Star heat sink
Forward Voltage: 3.2-3.8V-700MA
Luminous flux: 200-230LM
Output power: 3w
Light Color: White 6000-6500K
View angle: 120-140
LED Driver Constant Current 700 ma 24.0 watt, 120 VAC
 
Each Driver will handle 7 without a problem maybe 8 but I will be using 6. If I have too much light I can always shut a row off
6 x 3 = 18watts
3.8 x 6 = 22.8volts
and the current stays the same.
 
One thing I did learn is 3w Leds are a name and not what the current consumption really is. I modified the drawing a bit, the new one is below.
 
Once I fire them up I will post my results.
 

 
 
 

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Hmmm... interesting driver. Outputs 700 mA no matter what. I see you don't actually need an intensity controller, just the power supply. I am curious about the outcome of the project, as I intend to use the same heatsinks and LED modules for a project on a smaller fish tank.
 

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