LED driver help... O2surplus?

[Hogester79]

This was meant for O2surplus but I can't send PM's yet so maybe he will find it here.

I am looking at building some individual "PODS" (heat sinks)that will contain 3 pucks (thinking reefll.com) that contain roughly 12 LEDs in each puck. I think they run something like 7 or 9 channels in their supplied pucks.

What I am looking to do is essentially build radion/ hydra type pods that will contain 3 pucks rather than 2 on a radion. I am gong to build 4 in total that will cover 6 to 7 foot tank (2x2 pods covering the whole tank)

What my issue is, is that I'd like to be able to connect them to each other in order to control each channel via wifi but I don't want masses of cables. I wanted to be able to seperate each "pod" if needs be and run connector cables Between them and then into a wifi controller to manage the settings.

Essentially I'm looking to build radion/ hydra control or add more pods if I need more in the future. I'll build a connector on each pod that will connect into the driver (or connect multiple drivers to each other).

So now you have my life story does anyone know if what I'm trying to do possible? I'll power each pod separately. I'll set up the connection to the driver separately and then I'd like to wire the controllers together. You can do it with the 5up makers led driver if that helps explain what I'm trying to do.

thx for help!!

 

[theatrus]

What controller are you using? Depending on its output driver specs, it should be able to drive multiple output enable/dim pins on various drivers (which driver?)

This still means you are bussing #channels+1-2 grounds between the drivers, unless you also want to wire the pucks in series.

 

[Hogester79]

Thanks for the reply.

At the moment I am not sure. Perhaps the Bluefish Mini as that should provide enough channels and it has the wifi that I am looking for.

As for driver - I don't have clarity there yet either. I think I've narrowed down the LED's I plan on using and part of my question relates to exactly that (Driver/PCB).

"What driver/ PCB do I need", What is available where I can build individual pods and then inter connect them as Slaves to a Master unit and does a Driver like that exist?

I can see the MakersLED Driver (5UP Pro) has the ability to connect multiple drivers together, so I could buy those, but they make their own controller so I am not sure if its possible to connect their driver to a 3rd Party controller?

Hope that helps a little more?

 

[theatrus]

There are two strategies here:

connect multiple pods in series to one driver and controller. There is a limit based on the voltage you will be running at.

Or

Use multiple drivers and connect all of the dimmer inputs to the same controller.

 

[Hogester79]

Just to clarify - I started learning about this literally two days ago! so some of the terms etc I am still learning and teaching myself.

I will be looking at the multiple drivers option. The idea is to build up to 6 heatsink/ pods that will contain 2 clusters of roughly 14 leds. So I know that I will probably need 1-2 drivers per heat sink, run individual power cords (or the ability to plug each heat sink into another and have a total of 3 power cords.

Its the drivers bit that I am still working on (or understanding as the case maybe). Do most drivers have the ability to connect to other drivers in order to ultimately have a single controller? I have PM'd O2surplus to see what he makes or get some suggestions.

I think from an understanding point of view I know what I now need to do, its a matter of what driver is available or best suits my needs and where do I buy it from.

 

[Hogester79]

Theatrus,

I just found your driver build thread forgive me for not knowing the extent of your knowledge in regards to drivers!

What are the capability of the boards you designed? Can they be "multi connected"? Fan control etc?

Any pointers or direction is appreciated.

 

[theatrus]

The drivers, from the controllability standpoint, just want an electrical input per channel telling them to be on or off.

In your case, using a single controller, and then daisy chaining those control wires to the multiple drivers would be best. Its not an in/out system electrically, it's really just multiple taps along a wire. It's a wire per channel, plus a common ground shared between all drivers and the controller.

 

[Hogester79]

Yup that's what I was figuring... I was just hoping for a prettier outcome as I was planning on having them on display rather than tucked up into a hood.

Looks like I'll need to practice my wiring skills!

 

[Hogester79]

What about fan control? Is there an over the counter board that has fan pins on them? Could I get say a 6 Channel driver and put the fan on the 6th channel? Does it even work that way? Or do I need a driver With dedicated fan pins?

If so- can you recommend something?

Thx again

 

[Reef Mortician]

I'd like to know as well if you can run pwm fans off a ldd driver that matches the current of the fan.

 

[theatrus]

No, that's not going to work.

Supply the fan a steady 12V, and use any spare logic level (3.3 or 5V) PWM signal to the fan's PWM pin.

If it's a non PWM fan you can chop the power using an NFET with the gate using the same PWM signal - results are not as good as a 4 wire fan.