just a side note but I often will solder odd sized crimp connections just for good measure. Not really needed by I also don't have all the proper crimping tools for pins so it doesn't hurt. Just have to be sure that the solder joint isn't in the way of the connector housing......which takes some practice for a nice clean minimal crimp/solder connection.
DIY LEDs with Radion Pro G2 pucks?
- Thread starter rcmike
- Start date
just a side note but I often will solder odd sized crimp connections just for good measure. Not really needed by I also don't have all the proper crimping tools for pins so it doesn't hurt. Just have to be sure that the solder joint isn't in the way of the connector housing......which takes some practice for a nice clean minimal crimp/solder connection.
Sorry which model puck were those for? looked back and must have missed that somewhere.
Thanks
:beer:
Hm maybe I should've used thicker wire, mine I had to crimp it down a bunch to get it tight and then it would still slip out. Kinda lazy to re-wire the whole thing though..since it'll be mounted in a fixture not too worried about them pulling out.
How did you solder the female crimp for the puck connectors without it being too fat to fit in the plug? I tried it on one, failed and then started crimping them by hand.
I think Gen 2/3 but I'm sure he can confirm.
kentuckyclowns
Member
I would think you would solder it after you crimped it. Similar to yours except using solder instead of super glue. Have you fired yours up yet? I would be concerned about the potential of melting the glue and for the glue to impead on the electrical connection since it's probably not a conductor of electricity.
kentuckyclowns
Member
Need some confirmation before I fire these things up. I bought the storm x controller and I'm using a coralux 5UP LDD board. The Storm controller has a PWM pin and a ground pin. I also purchased the jumper cables that have the molex connectors pre wired so they just snap on the pins of the storm controller and then the same connectors for the side that would connect to the board. My question is, since the LDD drivers and the boards only have 1 lead that says "PWM", I should take the molex connector off the one end of the jumper cable, connect the PWM wire from the storm to the PWM of the board, and then connect all the ground wires together in one (or two separate) connectors on the board?
djmx2002
Premium Member
Gen3/2
They sent the package last night. Should arrive in couple of days.
Each channel has its own color wire so it will be easier to hook it up.
kentuckyclowns
Member
And I'm stuck...I have the power supply connected to the PWM board (red wire to VSS lead and black wire to one of the GND leads). I tested the connectivity of the wires and the screws and the power supply is getting 42V DC to the board. I then have the storm x connected to the board (PWM from storm x to the corresponding input on board, the negative pin from the storm x to the GND pin on board, and storm is cranked all the way up to the max). When I then try to test the output voltage of #5 I get 0volts. I never saw smoke from the board but my soldering wasn't all that great. Could I have used too much heat and melted the board...???
Ohh after you crimp that makes sense, I think I'd need a much smaller iron tip though. I didn't add super glue yet was just a thought, I'd have to look at the temp rating on the glue but I don't think it would get hot enough to melt it. I've fired mine up yes, picture is a page or two back.
Sorry for some reason I recall reading someone saying 'yup' or something along those lines to your question so I didn't reply. You are correct each of your (+) PWM signals from the stom will go to one of the LDD PWM inputs. Then the grounds can be combined. If I'm remembering correctly, at least on the Storm, you only need one ground for the controller so you don't even need to tie the grounds together.
Can you take a clear picture of your wiring so we can help troubleshoot. It sounds right but picture would be easier.
Update on the wiring harness, just got the harnesses. They ended up using 22awg wires and everything works great.
I'll send to the people that showed interest with my paypal info and will most likely ship them out on Thursday or Friday
pesky tapatalk......I can never see the pics on my PC until re-posting.......
Nice!
Update on the wiring harness, just got the harnesses. They ended up using 22awg wires and everything works great.
I'll send to the people that showed interest with my paypal info and will most likely ship them out on Thursday or Friday
Put me inline for one if you have any extra.
kentuckyclowns
Member
I haven't had the chance because I'm so dang frustrated with this project. I can't believe how tiny these drivers are and I just don't have the skills to solder such a small item.
I guess I can flip the board over and see what Voltage is getting to the LDDs themselves. I guess I just don't understand how the LDD can adjust the voltage to each string..since we have different strings with different voltages, how do we control the volts going to each so no to overdrive the LeD strings?
kentuckyclowns
Member
I'm thinking my problems are from cold joints between the LDD drivers and the soldering pads on the board. It looks like I have some build up around those pads now. I'm going to try to de-solder the joints to remove the LDD drivers so I can check the pads on the board. Anything I can use to clean off those pads so I can salvage the LDD board?
Desoldering braid and or a solder sucker. The solder sucker would probably work best.
kentuckyclowns
Member
Finalllly!! Got the voltage to and through the LDDs. Thanks for all the help!
_shorty_
New member
Been on Jury duty all week... so I got a little extra time to work on my fixture this week. I got most of the main programming and stuff for the controller worked out this week. It has a 16x2 LCD display and is remote control.
Something that may be of interest to others is a problem I've had with my PWM channels conflicting with the IR remote library. It took a while to figure out, but I finally realized that there are internal timers used in the Arduino controllers for each PWM port. Different timers exist for different purposes and at least 2 PWM ports belong to each timer depending on which board you use. The IR Library uses 'Timer 2' for its interupt functions somehow... which causes it basically to lock up your program when this conflict happens. When these conflict, specific PWM ports don't output, and the code basically stops looping as far as I can tell.
Initially I bought an UNO expecting I'd have enough PWM ports for my lights.. but the IR Library basically rendered two of the ports un-usable for analog outputs. SO, I had to revert to pulling out my spare/backup mega board and using it instead. I believe the ports correlating to Timer 2 on the UNO are ports 3 & 11. In the mega, it's ports 9 & 10.
After installing the mega and figuring out which ports not to use, the code is working beautifully, and I'll be ready to install the light over the tank soon.
Something that may be of interest to others is a problem I've had with my PWM channels conflicting with the IR remote library. It took a while to figure out, but I finally realized that there are internal timers used in the Arduino controllers for each PWM port. Different timers exist for different purposes and at least 2 PWM ports belong to each timer depending on which board you use. The IR Library uses 'Timer 2' for its interupt functions somehow... which causes it basically to lock up your program when this conflict happens. When these conflict, specific PWM ports don't output, and the code basically stops looping as far as I can tell.
Initially I bought an UNO expecting I'd have enough PWM ports for my lights.. but the IR Library basically rendered two of the ports un-usable for analog outputs. SO, I had to revert to pulling out my spare/backup mega board and using it instead. I believe the ports correlating to Timer 2 on the UNO are ports 3 & 11. In the mega, it's ports 9 & 10.
After installing the mega and figuring out which ports not to use, the code is working beautifully, and I'll be ready to install the light over the tank soon.
djmx2002
Premium Member
Hi shorty, I ran into the same issues where uno would freeze up on me. I no longer run into those issues with the mega tho.
In regards to the PWM channels. I really recommend the PWM expander chip from adafruit. It has 12bit resolution which mean you could have 4095 dimming steps vs just 255
In regards to the PWM channels. I really recommend the PWM expander chip from adafruit. It has 12bit resolution which mean you could have 4095 dimming steps vs just 255
_shorty_
New member
really... I'll have to check that out. Thanks!
