Hello everyone,

Ive got a question about making a LED Light that i made for my aquarium dimmable.

Ive got two:
MW PLD-60-700B
Output Power (W) 60
Output Voltage (V) 50-86
Output Current (A) 0,7

That each power 22 LED's

These drivers themselves arent dimmable and i can also not connect a controller to them.
In order for me to connect a controller i would need new drivers. One of the more commonly used methods with these types of lights is using LDD's/LDH's that are dimmable for power. The LDH i was thinking of using is the:

LDH-45B-700

Output Power (W) 45
Output Voltage (V) 64
Output Current (A) 0,7
Input Voltage (V) 18-32V

While buying a new driver is of course an option i was wondering if i could use one of my existing drivers and connect 2x the LDH-45B-700 in series so the input voltage would drop to withing their parameters. I might be 200% wrong here if thats possible so thats why im asking.

Gr Jorrit

 

Item #: PLD-60-700B LED Driver, 700mA Dimmable with TRIAC Dimmer Manufacturer: MEAN WELL They do mention Dimmable with triac dimmer, I would contact a distributor for your location and ask about using a triac dimmer with the driver since you already have it and a simple triac dimmer is very inexpensive over the counter in just about any home improvement store.

While buying a new driver is ofcourse an option i was wondering if i could use one of my existing drivers and connect 2x the LDH-45B-700 in series so the input voltage would drop to withing their parameters. I might be 200% wrong here if thats possible so thats why im asking.

I don't see that as working. The LDH 45 Series allows either an analog or PWM dimming signal. So you will still need a source for the actual dimming signal. That according to this data sheet anyway.

Ron

 

That true, however if i can connect the LDH's like that ive got a 5 channel led controller made for aquariums that i can use to controle the dimming and timing of the lights.

So the main question is, would the LDH's work connected like that.

 

I'd use the analog control with that driver. Since you have to feed it DC, you can use 2 resistor and a potentiometer to produce the 0.25 - 1.3V control voltage. With a 12V input to the driver, a 10K on top, 235 ohm on the bottom and a 1K linear pot in the middle with the wiper going to the analog input (pin 4).

 

Sadly that wont work for me, i need to use a LDD or LDH so i can use a timer/controller thats programmable.

So i either have to make the LDH/LDD work on my existing drivers or get new drivers all together.

Someone told me on an aquarium forum that my drivers wont work with external drivers but i dont see why they wouldnt as they simply supply the power and as long as thats within its range it doesnt really care what you hook up to it.

So still the only question is wether or not i can connect 2 of the LDH in serie to one or my drivers. Perhaps i could use something else to drop the voltage comming out the driver and from there connect it to the LDH?