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

So quick question. I wired all my leds, wired them to the driver, wired the driver to the power supply, plugged the power supply in and nothing. Power supply turns on but the leds dont. Now my question is, I have pwm dimmer for these but, for the sake of just testing the leds I left the white wire going to nothing. Would me leaving the white dim wire unwired to anything cause the leds to turn on?
 
So quick question. I wired all my leds, wired them to the driver, wired the driver to the power supply, plugged the power supply in and nothing. Power supply turns on but the leds dont. Now my question is, I have pwm dimmer for these but, for the sake of just testing the leds I left the white wire going to nothing. Would me leaving the white dim wire unwired to anything cause the leds to turn on?

Which version of the PCB are you running? If you're running 3.0 iwth jumpers connected, or you've soldered a resistor between the PWM and -Vin pins, then yes, it won't work without the PWM signal. Removing the jumper or the resistor should solve that problem if I'm understanding your problem correctly.
 
These aren't aren't being run on a pcb, using the HW versions. I think I figured it out. I think I just wired the first LED incorrectly.
 
I think that I've got the software side sorted out. I'm waiting for the first batch of PcB's to arrive, before I can begin testing. If it all works as planned, I'll post the build files and software on the Forum.

Here's a photo of the 10V/5VPWM convertor-

10Vto5V_PWM_zpsec465ae4.png

This is really cool. I've been looking into how to accomplish this. Tagging along to see how this turns out. I'd love to do a DIY build with PWM control from Apex. Thanks O2Surplus!
 
I know there has been a lot of talk about it, but is anyone running multichips with these? I'm going to start planning a re-build of my fixtures to make them smaller and want to use less emitters. Just curious what people are using.
 
I know there has been a lot of talk about it, but is anyone running multichips with these? I'm going to start planning a re-build of my fixtures to make them smaller and want to use less emitters. Just curious what people are using.


I'm using 3 LDD-700H to drive a couple "50 watt" RGB Led arrays right now. The LDD's are controlled by an arduino, so I'm able to shift the color temp rather easily. I may throw a few RGB's over the tank or just use them for a "RainBow" lamp in my kids bedroom. LOL
 
This is really cool. I've been looking into how to accomplish this. Tagging along to see how this turns out. I'd love to do a DIY build with PWM control from Apex. Thanks O2Surplus!


I'm still waiting for the PcB's to arrive. I re-worked the design a bit to make it smaller. It's now 5cm x 5cm. Now I'm just crossing my fingers...... with the hope that it actually works. LOL

10V-5VPWMconverter_zps3bc4c2dd.png
 
Hey guys, Got my boards and LDD's yesterday. I'm going to control my led's from Arduino.
I hooked everything up, the chip lit up, but I don't have dim control. I have my PS hooked to the boards v in + & - and the boards out + & - to the chip.... I have the boards PWM to my Arduino PWM control pin. I know it has something to do with sharing the ground. I have a ground wire on the Arduino but not sure what to do? I read in a eariler post that the driver and the LDD's need to share the same ground. I'm powering the Arduino from my laptop right now. Soooooo what is my dimming problem? :confused: Thanks in advance.---Rick
 
Hey guys, Got my boards and LDD's yesterday. I'm going to control my led's from Arduino.
I hooked everything up, the chip lit up, but I don't have dim control. I have my PS hooked to the boards v in + & - and the boards out + & - to the chip.... I have the boards PWM to my Arduino PWM control pin. I know it has something to do with sharing the ground. I have a ground wire on the Arduino but not sure what to do? I read in a eariler post that the driver and the LDD's need to share the same ground. I'm powering the Arduino from my laptop right now. Soooooo what is my dimming problem? :confused: Thanks in advance.---Rick

The drivers are the LDDs. You need to use one of the GND pins on the Arduino and connect it to -VIN on the driver board.
 
Hey guys, Got my boards and LDD's yesterday. I'm going to control my led's from Arduino.
I hooked everything up, the chip lit up, but I don't have dim control. I have my PS hooked to the boards v in + & - and the boards out + & - to the chip.... I have the boards PWM to my Arduino PWM control pin. I know it has something to do with sharing the ground. I have a ground wire on the Arduino but not sure what to do? I read in a eariler post that the driver and the LDD's need to share the same ground. I'm powering the Arduino from my laptop right now. Soooooo what is my dimming problem? :confused: Thanks in advance.---Rick

You need to "ground" the Arduino to the LDD driver Pcb. Simple as that. Connect the "GND" pin on the Arduino to the VIn- or "Gnd" at the LDD Pcb.
As it sits -your lap top USB connection to the arduino does not share a common ground with the LDD's
Think of it this way all "signals" need a return route to where they came from. The 5V PWM "signal" coming from the Arduino needs another route to get back home(Aruino GND pin) after it finishes it's job at the LDD.
 
Last edited:
007

What kind of dimming "sketch" are you using? i.e. are you using 255 steps or 1023?

I put together one of those Jarduino's. I it dose a lot of cool things. I'm going to use 100W multichips so it can bring my fan coolers up and down @ 18B20's as needed, it will also run feeders, heaters, coolers, make my Tunze 6105's do some tricks ect. and mix the heck out of 5 led colors, even more if you reassign some pins.
Its fun to play with (learning as I go)---Rick
 
Awesome thread and great example of the RC community getting things done! If anyone has 2 extra 5-ups with pull downs please pm me....getting very excited about this build!
 
Hey O2, Question for you. On my 5 up boards I got,... I get a reading on my ohm meter, that All the + LED outputs are tied together? The - out, read separate to each LDD? Is this correct? Thanks---Rick
 
Hey O2, Question for you. On my 5 up boards I got,... I get a reading on my ohm meter, that All the + LED outputs are tied together? The - out, read separate to each LDD? Is this correct? Thanks---Rick


007

Are you taking these measurements with the LDD's plugged into the PcB?
of so, it would be normal to see some random readings between the LDD's.

Try taking your measurements again, without the LDD's in place. There should be no continuity between any of the LED output pins.
The VIn+ pins should show continuity between themselves. The same goes for all the VIn- pins.
 
Ya O2, had all the LDD's plugged in. I'll pull them and try again in the morning. Put all my toys away for the night. Thanks!
 
Back
Top