Did I burn up my meanwell driver?

Nexenn · 04/05/2012, 01:21 PM

I had 12 exotic 660nm LEDs on a meanwell and realized that I was on the low end of the forward voltage range so I added 8 red/orange @ 617nm. The 660s have a forward voltage of 2.3@700 and the mistake I made was thinking I could run 20 of those so I added 8 of the 617nm and just now realized they have a forward voltage of 3.6@700 and not 2.3.

I have the current set to 550mA and not 700. They all ran fine for 2 days but now they wont come on. I checked each individual LED and connection and they are all good. They kind of flicker VERY dimly at times but wont turn on. Did I burn up my driver running 20 LEDs with a total forward voltage of ~55@700mA?

How can I further trouble shoot this problem?

Nexenn · 04/05/2012, 03:40 PM

I also never ran the string over 70% on my apex so they should have been running around 385mA

tomservo · 04/05/2012, 08:53 PM

It would be helpful to know which meanwell you are referring to, as they all have different voltage specs. I believe all of the meanwell stuff has overvoltage protection; it would shut itself down / not power up if the voltage went too high. I know on my ELN60-48 you can adjust the voltage/current limits past the rating and with this model only i think you could *possibly* kill it this way.

der_wille_zur_macht · 04/06/2012, 07:48 AM

It won't shut down if you put too many LEDs on it, it'll just vastly underdrive them.

Let us know the exact model number and we can help. The solution is probably to remove some LEDs. Depending on the model, you may want to switch drivers if you're only planning on operating at 385mA as using the most common ELNs at that current level is not really appropriate.

kcress · 04/06/2012, 02:10 PM

Do the normal full pre-commissioning checks. LED to LED, LED to sink, LED function with a diode test. If that all checks out. Short across a couple of LEDs to reduce your string to somewhere correct for the driver and see if the remaining LEDs come on.

04/05/2012, 01:21 PM	#1
Nexenn Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 575	Did I burn up my meanwell driver? I had 12 exotic 660nm LEDs on a meanwell and realized that I was on the low end of the forward voltage range so I added 8 red/orange @ 617nm. The 660s have a forward voltage of 2.3@700 and the mistake I made was thinking I could run 20 of those so I added 8 of the 617nm and just now realized they have a forward voltage of 3.6@700 and not 2.3. I have the current set to 550mA and not 700. They all ran fine for 2 days but now they wont come on. I checked each individual LED and connection and they are all good. They kind of flicker VERY dimly at times but wont turn on. Did I burn up my driver running 20 LEDs with a total forward voltage of ~55@700mA? How can I further trouble shoot this problem?

04/06/2012, 07:48 AM	#4
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	It won't shut down if you put too many LEDs on it, it'll just vastly underdrive them. Let us know the exact model number and we can help. The solution is probably to remove some LEDs. Depending on the model, you may want to switch drivers if you're only planning on operating at 385mA as using the most common ELNs at that current level is not really appropriate. __________________ 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)

04/05/2012, 03:40 PM	#2
Nexenn Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 575	I also never ran the string over 70% on my apex so they should have been running around 385mA

04/05/2012, 08:53 PM	#3
tomservo Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Manitoba, Canada Posts: 332	It would be helpful to know which meanwell you are referring to, as they all have different voltage specs. I believe all of the meanwell stuff has overvoltage protection; it would shut itself down / not power up if the voltage went too high. I know on my ELN60-48 you can adjust the voltage/current limits past the rating and with this model only i think you could possibly kill it this way.

04/06/2012, 02:10 PM	#5
kcress Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Central California Coast. Posts: 5,383	Do the normal full pre-commissioning checks. LED to LED, LED to sink, LED function with a diode test. If that all checks out. Short across a couple of LEDs to reduce your string to somewhere correct for the driver and see if the remaining LEDs come on.