Meanwell LDD driver: for those who want to dim to 0 using Arduino
- Thread starter pwreef
- Start date
nemosworld
Active member
most, if not all current exotic leds (color leds) will run under 700ma
your blues and whites will run over or at 1000ma
these are Cree and Phillips Luxeon ES leds.
stevesleds does sell a hyper violet that runs at 1000ma, have not seen anyone use them yet though.
Sacohen
New member
Thanks Felix. jasonlawless pointed them out to me a couple pages back.
So I guess I need to re-think this a bit.
If the my whites and blues are going to be on 3 different channels then I need 3 LDD-1000H and the other 3 700's or less depending on the led's I use.
My build is going to be 72 LED's
Six channels broken down like this...
12 = Blue
12 = Royal Blue
6 = 10K
6 = 6500
8 = Violet
6 = Ultra Violet
6 = Green
6 = Cyan
6 = Pink
4 = Red
So I guess I need to re-think this a bit.
If the my whites and blues are going to be on 3 different channels then I need 3 LDD-1000H and the other 3 700's or less depending on the led's I use.
My build is going to be 72 LED's
Six channels broken down like this...
12 = Blue
12 = Royal Blue
6 = 10K
6 = 6500
8 = Violet
6 = Ultra Violet
6 = Green
6 = Cyan
6 = Pink
4 = Red
Last edited:
nemosworld
Active member
I remember that post, you still have the warm white and cool white temps backwards, actually both the temps you poseted are cool whites, but I knew what you meant. which brings me to this question, where are you getting 10k white from, all of the 10k white I have seen are the bridgelux leds (china) which runs at a max current of 700ma. luxeon cool white over at steves are 6300k. just something to think about, if you have not done so already. it's also my understanding that if you go with true warm whites, 5k and below, then you won't need the reds and pinks. double check me on that.
I have 72 leds over my 90 gallon using all Chinese leds (bridgelux) and I only have
10k whites, 6500k whites, royal blues, 2 reds and 2 UV.
210 gallon usage
and now over my 90:
I have 72 leds over my 90 gallon using all Chinese leds (bridgelux) and I only have
10k whites, 6500k whites, royal blues, 2 reds and 2 UV.
210 gallon usage
and now over my 90:
Sacohen
New member
I copied that from my earlier post and forgot to switch the warm and cool whites.
All these LED's are bridgelux, that I was going to get from Aqua Style Online, but I'm open to other suggestions.
I have nothing set in stone as far as the light yet, getting the drivers and boards was my first step, maybe I'm working backwards, but I came across these at a good price and figured I'd get them from the guy.
I was going to lay the light out like this in 2 pods or sections each over 1/2 the 55 gallon tank.
RB C V B 10 G 65 B 10 V C RB
P UV R B RB UV RB P B R UV P
RB G V 65 B C 10 B 65 V G RB
I was also thinking of supplementing them with T5's, but I would like to stay away from that so I don't have to replace bulbs every year.
All these LED's are bridgelux, that I was going to get from Aqua Style Online, but I'm open to other suggestions.
I have nothing set in stone as far as the light yet, getting the drivers and boards was my first step, maybe I'm working backwards, but I came across these at a good price and figured I'd get them from the guy.
I was going to lay the light out like this in 2 pods or sections each over 1/2 the 55 gallon tank.
RB C V B 10 G 65 B 10 V C RB
P UV R B RB UV RB P B R UV P
RB G V 65 B C 10 B 65 V G RB
I was also thinking of supplementing them with T5's, but I would like to stay away from that so I don't have to replace bulbs every year.
Does anyone have extra 4 up boards laying around and/or the tiny one for the atmega analog to pwm conversion? I am about to start ordering parts for my build and if no one has these then I guess I will be the one with extras after the boat gets here.Thanks.
I don't have any 4up's on hand, but I've got plenty of the 10V/5V PWM convertor PcB's laying around. Send me a PM for more info.
Those converter boards work great, by the way. I'm running them now and had fun playing with the program to tweak it.
By the way, O2Surplus, you must have been right about the inductive kickback because when I added the diode between the + and - 12V coming from the 48V to 12V Converter it totally took away the red channel flicker and I can run my fans at whatever speed I want with nothing happening to the LEDs.
I was prepared to post that it did nothing when I tried it, but then I tested the IN4004 I had gotten, and it was bad. Got another and it worked.
Sacohen
New member
Does anyone have extra 4 up boards laying around and/or the tiny one for the atmega analog to pwm conversion? I am about to start ordering parts for my build and if no one has these then I guess I will be the one with extras after the boat gets here.
I may have some of the 4ups.
I'm getting them in on Friday and I'll see what I have to work with and what I need.
Sand me a PM and I'll let you know on Saturday if I have any I can spare.
How many do you need?
I read where you guys bought these atmega chips cheaper and flashed with the right boot loader, but if I only want one what boot loader would I be looking for pre-loaded so I can just plug into Arduino IDE and get going on it? This will be my first time messing with that, looking forward to tinkering.
S14Swap240sx
New member
Has anyone been able to integrate a 0-10v dimmer into the 4 or 6 up boards for people trying to use ldd drivers with the Neptune apex? Or is it better to just run a 4 port 0-10v dimmer with multiple pwm singals going into each channel? Ive spoken to o2 about the dimmers, but wanted to know if this has not been done because its simply not necessary since I am under the assumption you can run multiple pwm signals into each channel of a 4 channel 0-10v dimmer.
They would let out the magic smoke IF you ran them up to 100%.
If you run the LDDs at ~700ma max, you're fine. You just need to be aware of it.
You can over-drive LEDs, but they'll burn up if you aren't careful and keep them cool.
If you run the LDDs at ~700ma max, you're fine. You just need to be aware of it.
You can over-drive LEDs, but they'll burn up if you aren't careful and keep them cool.
nemosworld
Active member
if these were like the other meanwell drivers where you could turn the internal pot down to you reach your desired amperage, then I would agree however, with these, you get 1000ma no matter what current rating led you get, which means you have to know how high to dim before stopping.
this is a risk I would not take. like other stated, you would get the smoke.
size your ldd's to your leds.
what you can do is run two series strings in parallel and then you would be at 500ma, but you then have to remember to equalize your strings and add resisters.
nemosworld
Active member
this is what I mean, only thing missing in the image is the resisters:
Absolutely correct. i wouldn't necessarily do this from the start unless I was planning on an upgrade to 1000+ mA LEDs in the future. Since the parts are already there, it was more of a backward looking comment of "yes, it can work fine, just be extra careful".
I've used fast blow fuses + resistors on a 16 LED arrary. 4 strings of 4 LEDs on one large driver. Resistors to protect the other strings if one goes out (doesn't get over-amped) and the resistor to help measure current (via voltage) on each string.
I've used fast blow fuses + resistors on a 16 LED arrary. 4 strings of 4 LEDs on one large driver. Resistors to protect the other strings if one goes out (doesn't get over-amped) and the resistor to help measure current (via voltage) on each string.
