got me a problem LED

[GR808]

Did about all I could to troubleshoot my problem.
I've got 2-30" heatsinks with 48 leds on each. I'm running 4 drivers for 24 leds each driver. Had built and had them for almost 2 years and love it. For the past few months a string of 12 of my leds hasn't been working well. In fact, it is barely on. I've replaced leds and checked the wiring, I had a couple of leds that was backwards but it still worked and since I've made it right. Funny thing is that the first 12 on that string of 24 is fine but the second half is barely on. I do have fuses on every 12 leds but I really can't figure it out. Replaced my driver, no luck. Switched my wiring around on working lights, no luck. Just can't put my finger on it.
Anyone got suggestions?

thank you in advance

 

[Mrfresh]

I wish I could help you out but electrical is not my thing.
The only thing I can say is best of luck to you and hopefully some one here is an electrician.
Maybe start back at square one and see if u missed something,
Don't think it's ok bc it easy or usual and not important.
The littlest things can cause the biggest problems

 

[Reefing Madness]

Whats the voltage forward on the string thats not fired up all the way?

 

[GR808]

Whats the voltage forward on the string thats not fired up all the way?

Tested the leads for that string coming out of the driver and the voltage is 48vdc. the other strings ran about 46 to 42 vdc

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Toss us some pics of the soldering. That may be an issue.

When running parallel strings I highly recommend using a 1 or .1 ohm 5 watt resistor on each string.

Using Ohms Law you can easily determine the current through each string simply by measuring the voltage drop across each resistor using third grade math...Well as long as its not Chicago public school math...

V=I/R

Bill

 

[Reefing Madness]

It sounds like its grounded somewhere.

 

[GR808]

It sounds like its grounded somewhere.

It could be. I'll need to check and get that picture for Bill.

 

[GR808]

gotta give this another go. seems to be getting worse on the same bunch of leds. I went through the two strings on that heatsink and I couldn't find any grounded leds.
Bill, I have the resistors, do I put them in-line per 24 string?

I didn't get any pictures but here's a link to my build:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/led-...led-build.html

If it doesn't work, I was considering rebuilding that whole heatsink with solderless leds???

 

[IBEW41]

is there a chance the solder joints or splices can get salt creep on them or is the whole unit encased ?

 

[GR808]

is there a chance the solder joints or splices can get salt creep on them or is the whole unit encased ?

That is a very good point. I was wondering if salt creep is conductive but wasn't sure. If anyone has any experience with leds grounding out or shorting due to salt creep, please chime in.

My lights are not encased and for the next mod, I will be putting an acrylic shield to protect the leds.

 

[rugerjr]

I just cleaned my circuit card in my light timer with a Q-tip and alcohol last week and got the timer to work again. Yes it is conductive enough to mess with electronics.

 

[GR808]

I'll try that for now thanks.