Meanwell LDD driver: for those who want to dim to 0 using Arduino

[zachts]

That's good to know. Then I guess it comes down to,...do you need 16 channels, or will 6 work ok. I don't know how big of a difference there is in cost between the two.

$30 difference. I was just debating whether to be lazy and buy a second one, or be cheap and build a hacked together version for my basement tanks.

The programming gets better and better also. Ben at Coralux has been busy. I've been going back and forth with him over the last few months and he's now freed up a lot of spare room on the sketch and added moon light cycle and fan controls to the interface. There is enough memory free on the Storm X now to actually make use of the extra pins on the arduino!

Only thing still lacking IMHO, is the ability to use the temp sensor to control the fans out of the box, and the ability to read multiple temperature sensors (reading the highest value or averaging, or just having more than one readout), but I bet that'll happen in the next month or so. If not there's room to add it now.

 

[007Bond]

Zachts, thanks! That's what I'm thinking about also,...my basement sump/tank area. I built a Jarduino for my DT. And yes Ben is quick to answer a question if asked.---Rick

 

[hawker1]

storm-x

storm-x

Thanks everyone for the replies. It looks like either the storm or storm-x would be a good choice. For an extra thirty bucks you get more things to play with in the future. I've blown thirty bucks on a lousy meal at more than one restaurant so Storm-x it is. Um, that sounds like false equivalency. Oh well I'll just have to stay away from Olive Garden.
Thanks again,
Clif

 

[007Bond]

LoL

 

[nemosworld]

thanks everyone for the replies. It looks like either the storm or storm-x would be a good choice. For an extra thirty bucks you get more things to play with in the future. I've blown thirty bucks on a lousy meal at more than one restaurant so storm-x it is. Um, that sounds like false equivalency. Oh well i'll just have to stay away from olive garden.
Thanks again,
clif

lmao!

 

[rmgaspar]

Hello all,

I have a friend with a dreamchip instalation. He has one regulated driver per LED channel. The question is that the driver is not dimmable.

Now he wants to PWM with Arduino and I need to build a circuit based on IRFZ44N, 10k Ohm and 100 Ohm to be able to do dimming.

The question is that I know nothing about designing PCB.

Can some one help designing one like this for 5x MOSFET?

Preferably with SMD resistors.

The objective is to have one thing like this:

Just to thank also my friend Fernando Garcia for the drawings.

All the best,
Rui

 

[rmgaspar]

Hello,

Fernando Garcia build this for me.

Thank you so much Fernando.

If any one are interested in the gerber files please see attached.

All the best,
Rui

 

[marspeed]

that is a nice looking board it was very nice of fernando to do that for you

 

[pwreef]

So the issue with my LEDs burning out was engineer error after all. I cut the boards and inserted them into makers not thinking that the copper pour is now exposed. It sent 48v to my custom led assemblies. Steve's LEDs fixed them up for me nicely and real inexpensive too. They are super guys. Finally after 1 year in the making my light is up!

 

[pwreef]

Put electrical tape to isolate edges:

 

[007Bond]

What part of your project did he repair for you?---Rick

 

[shark boy]

Put electrical tape to isolate edges:

I use fingernail polish.
sb

 

[Synodontis]

Has anyone looked into DMX dimming their LDD's?
For a large LED build they would offer so much more control ability.
DMX would give the option of 512 channels lol, of which 95% would not be used.
Programmable on PC, option to add wireless to light another tank or twelve or even cabinet lighting, all on the one controller.
I am currently setting up an Enttec USB DMX Pro Mk2 which can run up to 1024 channels. Just need some more bits & pieces.

 

[pwreef]

What part of your project did he repair for you?---Rick

Two white leds on one board burned out. Steve's reflowed new Philips LEDs on my 12-up board.

 

[007Bond]

Has anyone looked into DMX dimming their LDD's?
For a large LED build they would offer so much more control ability.
DMX would give the option of 512 channels lol, of which 95% would not be used.
Programmable on PC, option to add wireless to light another tank or twelve or even cabinet lighting, all on the one controller.
I am currently setting up an Enttec USB DMX Pro Mk2 which can run up to 1024 channels. Just need some more bits & pieces.

Interesting,...can you put up a link with more details. Dose it hook to the pwm of the ldd's? how is it interfaced?---Rick

 

[rott]

Two white leds on one board burned out. Steve's reflowed new Philips LEDs on my 12-up board.

do you have pics of the 12 up boards? would like to see what they look like

 

[pwreef]

These 12-up boards are designed by one of the guys who wrote this article:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/aafeature
He feels that it is important to provide a lot of light in the 400-430 nm range hence there are 5 of the top performing violet LEDs in the world on this board. You also have to look at relative power of each emitter to understand why there are so many. It is equally important to use a very good PCB, so he has worked directly with Sinkpad to design the boards. My fixture contains 5 of these boards over a 36" Deep Blue rimless tank. Its only been up for 1.5 weeks, but so far corals and everything else is doing fine. Love the color.

 

[nemosworld]

These 12-up boards are designed by one of the guys who wrote this article:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/aafeature
He feels that it is important to provide a lot of light in the 400-430 nm range hence there are 5 of the top performing violet LEDs in the world on this board. You also have to look at relative power of each emitter to understand why there are so many. It is equally important to use a very good PCB, so he has worked directly with Sinkpad to design the boards. My fixture contains 5 of these boards over a 36" Deep Blue rimless tank. Its only been up for 1.5 weeks, but so far corals and everything else is doing fine. Love the color.

that's an awesome looking board!

 

[Synodontis]

Interesting,...can you put up a link with more details. Dose it hook to the pwm of the ldd's? how is it interfaced?---Rick

This may not be the cheapest system to build, but with what options are around with interfaces there is also alot more you can control. Just need to get your head around the software lol. :headwally:

Some lite reading to get the basic's sorted in the DMX512 Wiki

There are many free software programs & for what I plan to do they are all that is needed. On, ramp up, ramp down, off. Perhaps a true "cloud" from one side of the tank to the other, you could even have a sound track of thunder control the LEDs lol. I'm playing around with...
Freestyler
DMXControl
ShowXpress - from Chauvet

The DMX controller I'm using is from Enttec, well know brand name in the lighting world. I ordered a DMX USB Pro Mk2 on Sunday afternoon & delivered yesterday. Had a play last night but without a light hooked up wasn't much point lol. Just search DMX controller & there are hundreds to choose from. DJ forums might also be a good idea. Most have a "stand alone" option so you can program anywhere, then plug it into your tank & it will start the "show". I have a PC running Windows7 by the tank that is a slave to my main PC, this looks after the fans in the cabinet & LEDs so this will just live there.

The tricky part is getting the DMX signal to hook straight to the dimming pins on the LDD. Most converters have LED drivers built in but nowhere near the power I need. I have found a DMX/PWM dimmer control board that may work but only has 4 channels, of course you can always hook a few together. They also do a DMX/1-10v board for dimming. I have also stumbled across boards that will control AC/DC motors/pumps/solenoids.
I have been playing E-mail ping-pong (I hate time zones!) with a clever man in California that has a 32ch board that accepts +48v, just need to modify it a little. Then I will have 1x DMX in & individual addressable 32ch out. 16 boards can be linked together to form up to 512 individual addressable channels. If we can get the board sorted out it would be the link between the DMX & LDD's so could be retro fitted in to any build using them. They should also work with the ELN driver's, but of course will only dim to 10% before turning off. I'm using the 5UP LDD boards (anyone do a 10UP board?) so will have to go straight to the pins on the LDD for each one instead of using the screw terminals.

That's what I'm up to so far. Just thought others may have looked in to DMX also.

 

[zachts]

These 12-up boards are designed by one of the guys who wrote this article:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/aafeature
He feels that it is important to provide a lot of light in the 400-430 nm range hence there are 5 of the top performing violet LEDs in the world on this board. You also have to look at relative power of each emitter to understand why there are so many. It is equally important to use a very good PCB, so he has worked directly with Sinkpad to design the boards. My fixture contains 5 of these boards over a 36" Deep Blue rimless tank. Its only been up for 1.5 weeks, but so far corals and everything else is doing fine. Love the color.

I like those PCBs. Are they being sold anywhere? and What do they cost?