DIY modular led with arduino controller

[that0neguy1126]

Curious if you know the wavelength on the 3 different blue LED's you have. I was only aware of 2 different blue wavelengths available for LED's which is 420nm and 475nm. And then cyan of course.

Which driver did you end up going with? I wouldn't suggest splitting the input power since the input current can be quite high on these things, especially the inrush current when you turn them on. Would need to know which one you were using though, and what the breaker was on the circuit you are plugging them into.

For resistor's it does not matter where you put them. They are just an easy way to measure the strands. Some people use them to balance the strands, but i wouldn't suggest it, as you are just wasting power that way.

I would set it up just like the diagram mike posted. Mine is almost the same except the fuse/resistor's are swapped.

I also wouldn't take the dimming circuit off of your main input circuit. I would purchase a 9v wall wort, and then you could split that into 3 for each dimmer.

 

[KhensuRa]

Turquoise - 495nm

 

[Metalsniper]

Sorry I've been a little busy so I haven't posted back in response to a couple questions. For the final build I will be using two eln-60-48 but for this little tester I am running to buckblocks at 1400 and 1000mA. KhensuRa already answered with the led wavelength, it ends up being essentially the same as cyan I think in terms of how it acts.

As far as I can tell I don't need external power to dim the buckblocks?

Thatoneguy1126, what does it matter if I split the current inside the unit or outside the unit, either way won't it be drawing power from the same circuit. Don't most people end up plugging them all into one power strip anyway?

In terms of testing, I cant really move on until my royal blues show up so that sucks.

 

[that0neguy1126]

Ah oh. that explains the wavelength question.

Here are the spec's to the ELN-60's http://www.meanwell.com/search/eln-60/eln-60-spec.pdf

You can see the input current is. 1.2A. You could split a standard outlet (usually 15A in a house) up a lot of times. I wouldn't suggest doing more than 8 because the ELN's have no PFC, and you would create harmonics on the lines which would cause them to be heat up and cause a fire hazard.
Some of the other drivers have larger input currents. Mine for instance draws 4.9A. If I were to put all 4 of them on one 15A circuit, it would just trip. So I have 2 on a 20A circuit.
But for your build, you could easily do a power strip and plug all 3 into the same strip.

Which ELN did you get exactly. P model for the PWM dimming? If so, you don't need to power the dimmer circuit at all, all the power is supplied by the arduino. You could potentially break the dimmer circuit if you hooked up a regular 10vDC to it.
If it is the D model, the reason you can't tap off the input for the drivers, is that is AC. The dimmer needs DC. unless I am mis understanding what you are trying to do with the dimmer circuit.

 

[KhensuRa]

Logan where did you get you heat sinks?

 

[Metalsniper]

Which heat sinks? The two little heat sinks for the trial are just leftover computer heat sinks that I had lying around. If I recall correctly they are Coolmaster brand.
For the build I think I'll be using a 10 inch profile from heatsinkusa cut at 5 inches or the 5 inch profile cut at 10 inches depending on which way I want the fins to be going. I am thinking of going with the fins perpendicular to the length of the heat sink so I can run my wires back and forth across it and to help cool the drivers that will be hidden next to it.

thatOneguy1126, thanks for the input. I think I've probably been confusing everyone with my switching back and forth between the actual build and the demo build. For the demo build the supply is coming from an 18VDC 6.5A computer charger cable so I need to figure out if I need to supply power to the buckblock dimming circuit or if that just runs off the dim + and dim -. All of the schematics on the spec sheet make it seem like the linear 5k pot should be enough without anything else. Does this seem right?

Then on the completely other end of the spectrum is the final build. That will be using the eln-60-48P probably, but it depends. I want to be able to set up a manual dimming circuit for before I get the controller up and I'm not sure what the major differences would be between the 10V and the PWM would be in terms of a manual circuit. If I need a 10V source for the dimming circuit with the controller this is where I was thinking of splitting the input. I would split the input to the arduino (10V) in order to run the circuit. I don't quite understand a fair amount of what I'll need to do, I need to get in there with my own hands before it'll make complete sense.

 

[cdrewferd]

Metalsniper, I need to get with you and talk LEDs and everything that goes with them. I can do all the reading in the world, but actually talking to somebody about it is what I really need in order to understand all this stuff before doing the upgrade on my Biocube.

 

[Metalsniper]

I would be up for a little discussion, probably with a little hands on work to make sure, I'm no where near ready for my actual build yet though. I have to finish my little test before I move on and then its pretty much dive in head first and figure it out as I go. So it might be better to get one under my belt before I try to help at all, so I actually know what I'm doing. The fortunate thing is I'm not really working on a timeline so if anything does go wrong I have the time to address the issue.

 

[that0neguy1126]

So the ELN-60-48P will ONLY take an input on the dim+ and dim- from a PWM signal (like the Arduino). So you can't use those drivers unless you have the controller set up.

I can't really speak for the Bucpucks since I didnt use any. if they take a 0-10vDC signal, you should be fine to tap off of the input from the Buc, since they also take DC input. I would think a 5k pot would be fine to reduce that.

 

[Metalsniper]

I can't really speak for the Bucpucks since I didnt use any. if they take a 0-10vDC signal, you should be fine to tap off of the input from the Buc, since they also take DC input. I would think a 5k pot would be fine to reduce that.

This is where I am having a bit of confusion, all of the example circuits on the buckblock spec sheet don't show any external power for the dimming circuit.
As for the meanwells I've been on the fence about this but I have seen a lot of discussion on nano-reef over the past few years saying the the D units can be dimmed with a modified pwm circuit, while the P units cannot ever be dimmed with 0-10V so the D seem like a better plan in general, even if the life is a little reduced.

BuckBlock spec

 

[KhensuRa]

I have a buckpuck with a dimmer and you need no external power source for it. But the meanwelss do need an external power source, just use an old cell phone charger.

 

[Metalsniper]

Okay, like I promised before I have a few photos from playing around and practicing with soldering/stripping/drilling etc. Man, gotta love these hobbies where you can strip things and then drill nice tight (tolerance) holes, I mean who wouldn't want to tap those?

yep, I decided to make a party of it. I'm actually still waiting on my 4-40 drill/tap set so I only got to drill my through hole for the wires.

Alfred, take me to the batcave. What do you mean you aren't that kind of driver.

The soldered setup so far, I need to get my royal blues before I can go any further. It seems like my strings should be easy enough to balance... I hope.

Heat sinks on cut aluminum with the drivers.

If you guys want photos of any particular part of the different builds just let me know and I'll make it happen.

 

[Metalsniper]

I have a buckpuck with a dimmer and you need no external power source for it. But the meanwelss do need an external power source, just use an old cell phone charger.

Thanks, I needed to hear that. with the controller setup that will come eventually I'll need the little wall wort anyway so no big deal there but I wanted to make sure I wan't missing something key for the buckblocks.

 

[KhensuRa]

You got buck blocks and not pucks. I have never used those before and need to read up on them a little, those might need an external power source to dim.

 

[Metalsniper]

I did a bit of reading into them before I got them and really the only difference I could find between the pucks and the blocks was the shape of the packaging and maybe the currents they are available in. I hope that was right.

 

[that0neguy1126]

There is another model of the Meanwell drivers that offers PFC and 3 way dimming. It's just a tad bit more, but I think its worth it. I wish I could find the model number though. I remember we talked about it in Daniels thread about building LEDs.

 

[Metalsniper]

There is another model of the Meanwell drivers that offers PFC and 3 way dimming. It's just a tad bit more, but I think its worth it. I wish I could find the model number though. I remember we talked about it in Daniels thread about building LEDs.

Is it the HLG because that's the only other one I know and I know it does both pwm and 0-10v.

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[Metalsniper]

anyone seen these before?
http://www.meanwell.com/search/hlp-60h/default.htm
or these?
http://www.meanwell.com/search/hln-60h/default.htm

 

[that0neguy1126]

The HLN is what I was thinking of. Its a better quality then the ELN's. The HLP looks like the exact same, except not in a case.

The HLG are the top of the line. They are mainly larger drivers. I drive 60 LED's per HLG on mine.

 

[Metalsniper]

I'm having a hard time finding anywhere that sells the hln models so that's a pain. In the meantime I've finished off my heat sink assembly but I still need my drill and tap kit to show up.

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