Black Box LED Drivers

DSmithZ28 · Sep 4, 2022

I have a lot of black BOX LED lights that have lost PAR. One has a blown-out channel so I know I need a new driver there. Does anyone know where to get drivers in the USA? I have been searching and cannot locate anything that matches. The MFG has them but they are in China and I need them a lot quicker.

Also, I was told that WIFI-controlled black boxes require different drivers. Is this correct? Called FMA?

Lastly, if a black box led loses par and visible blue spectrum, for example, is it always the drivers or could it be diodes degrading in intensity?

oreo54 · Sep 4, 2022

Couple of things, yes led diodes lose intensity over time. Rapidly if not cooled well.
A "blown channel" can just be a open diode on the string.. You have 27 or 28 diodes in series (55 total). One "open" can cause an entire string to die. Depends on the design though.

Not sure about the wifi thing and different drivers. Probably also model/year dependent.

There are some substitute drivers you can find but with err "issues" mA may not match but close. May not have the 12V for the fans and/or different dimming protocol.
Actually the dimming thing may cause the wifi vs non-wifi driver difference.

Overall sounds in your case possible multiple issues and a lot of diode replacements.
Simplest thing is to swap the drivers and see if the channels respond the same or differently.
Like if you swap the driver running the "dead" channel to the dim channel and the dim channel isn't dead, it is not the driver..

Now there is one place that carried drivers (and sbreef does for their lights (generally same drivers)) but off hand my memory failed me. Besides it still could be for a different "black box"

70-100v 480mA That is the led driver.And driver w/ those specs (or close) will work.
More mA brighter diodes, less err less.
Does need the high end voltage.. Too little upper end either string won't light or it will be dimmer.

You have a power supply in there (12v ps) for the fans.
The other driver (15-19v 300mA???) not sure what that is for.

Now doing some guesstimates here
28 diodes @ 3.2v = 89.6V
Soo replacement driver really needs to fit the upper end (100v) Lower end is of little concern.

Honestly, it doesn't seem worthwhile really over buying a new one.

As an example:
LCM-40U:
Matches the upper end voltage but current reduced to 350mA which, at best leaves you w/ a 35watt channel.

LCM-60U:
Less upper end voltage and it would (should?) light the string but not guaranteed to run it at it's 100%. Depends on the V(f) of the diodes. Next it overdrives the diodes from the orig. driver at 500mA. 500w at max voltage.
Close enough though.

LCM-U Series Mean Well 40~60W Multi-Output CC LED Drivers

Dimming is 0-10v dc. Probably best on a wall timer as well.
It's a little complicated doing substutions.

Why your orig driver states 70 Watts is an ?? to me
W = VxA so at best .480A X 100V (max) is 48W

Your MODEL/Brand would possibly help.

DSmithZ28 · Sep 28, 2022

Thanks for the reply. I will need to tear these apart and see what is going on. I understand your comments about the Diodes being an issue. I suspect that is the culprit perhaps. But where I am stuck is understanding the drivers or power supplies. Is it accurate to say if you have a channel "on" then the driver is working? Can a driver's power output degrade over time where the LEDs lose par, but are still all active? I have a blue channel where all of the LEDs are lit up, so no break in the string, but the par and visible output are way down. My first assumption is the LED diodes have degraded. But if they are on at all is it safe to assume the driver is functioning as it should?

My hope here is to make these LED lights repairable with over-the-counter so to speak AVAILABLE parts that can be purchased in the USA. The SB Reef PCB board is a proven winner. Mike did a really nice job laying out the spectrum and I have had MANY years of success with them. I don't see the need for whistles and bells on my lights. I know ramping is important to many people but in light of how ridiculously expensive high-end lights have become, I think a two-channel, on or off power supply could be controlled with an APEX or Hydros. There is no need for built-in controllers in these lights. A dimmer would be easy to install and cheap to control par so you don't cook your corals. I see this as an extremely effective lighting solution that is completely rebuildable with COMMON parts here in the USA. All anyone would have to do is buy a PCB board from SB if they didn't want to rebuild the diodes.