sounds like theres corrosion or build up on the carbon strip in the variable resistor (dimmer knob)
id recommend contact cleaner into the potentiometer.
The biggest danger in these voltage ranges is a boo boo on the finger lol. You will also see smoke and smell very obnoxious unwanted smells long before it causes a fire at these kinds of amperages.
I strongly recommend every living soul obtain, and learn to properly use a multimeter, and good luck finding an electronic repair technician in todays world even willing to work on something like an LED driver, theyll recommend replacement od the driver, or contact cleaner on the potentiometer in a retail environment on a repair job for something thats technically a disposable chinese made electronic lol.
If its flickering with knob turning, and there arent noises or smells coming from the driver, and there are no dulled or dead diodes..... youre going to take that to a repair technician to get told exactly what im telling you now because their bench fee is probably going to save you as much as that light is worth new. Thats not an antique tube radio or something.
Source: Electronic repairs on the side, and before LED panels got beefy and cheap enough i made my own from single diodes on aluminum bars with scratch made linear power supplies to supplement my HPS setups lol.
If that light was sold in the USA legally, it has no less then half a dozen safety features built into the driver as well. If the flickering isnt consistent, as in 1 second on, 1 second off, and stay consistent, the driver is not trying to tell you anything is wrong, the problem is somewhere in the signal path beyond the driver, and if all diodes are lighting properly when signal i flowing consistent, then the issue before the panel circuit. Meaning its very likely the potentiometer. Back to try contact cleaner lol. If you got it wet, theres probably corrosion or build up on its carbon strip. Pretty much all decent grow light drivers are sealed watertight, but the housing for the Pot usually isnt, and its a problem ive rectified before. Assuming its the same problem.. with contact cleaner lol.
Seriously, when i said you're in my wheelhouse on this i wasnt just cracking a funny. Theres not going to be any caps in that driver storing voltage longer then a couple seconds after powering it off. The voltages at work are pain level, not deliver lethal amperage to your heart level. Its barely above what is even considered "potentially hazardous" in the right contexts... like standing barefoot in a pool of water on the cement or bare dirt with a source that wont immediately shut off if amperage goes over 4a lol
The only actual risk comes from tinkering between the transformer and the 120v in. And theres never a reason to do that with these things. Ever, dont ever play with an open driver plugged into the wall, but thats common sense.
using a multimeter on the 35-60v 3a or whatever comes from the output of the driver is a little different. you dont even have to get into a driver to do that
, and most panels have two exposed solder joints specifically for this purpose in QC lines at manufacturing plants. And most panels can have drivers replaced toolessly. But people arent aware because they never look into it and treat it like alien technology.
My singular purpose for running my trap on the internet right now about this is to get ya up and running as quickly, and as cheaply as possible and in a way maybe someone will learn how simple this actually is in the process lol.
Some truth: In real-world life, if your electronic device makes it to my solder bench, and past all my mouth running and arm flailing, you already owe me a $50 bench fee because im doing technician work for you at that point, even if its not fixed in the end or i just end up cleaning a potentiometer or two. I have been payed $50 to spray and wipe contact and carbon cleaner on many occasions in many electronics and give the nugget right back with nothing else to be done. If its a modern chinese made nugget like a full system led grow light, and its not covered by warranty, ya gotta figure the thing out yourself or fork up probably most of the cost of replacing the whole light to get it fixed. In most cases.
