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

If you turned on the power to the LDD's without the LEDs hooked up then you probably fried them. They must have a load connected to the output when they are powered on or they burn up almost instantly. I would bet they are dead. Krazie :jester:
 
Sorry for double posting this, but I'm trying to get this thing fired up and it's one of the last things I've got to do and after today, I'm busy with work again and won't be able to get to it for a while. I seen a couple of you are on line so I thought I'd put this in here too..

I'm totally brain farting. I built my controller based on the Jarduino sketch. All my strings are running on LDD boards but 1 of my LED strings are hooked onto a HLG-185H-42B and one to a HLG-185H-36B. Those are the ones I'm screwed up on.
The LED's are in series hooked onto the V- and V+
For the life of me I'm second guessing where the Dim+ and Dim- wires go. I thought the Dim+ went to my PWM control pin on the Arduino but nothing comes to mind for the Dim-. Does it get hooked to the ground plane of the Arduino board?

ARGH! I think I'm losing my mind...
 
jedimasterben said:
Also, the HLG are 10v, not 5v, so you'll need to convert the output from the Arduino.
Click to expand...


Krazie4Acans said:
Yup, What ^^ he said. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks guys!

Will it work at all on 5V or will it just not run at full power? I also read somewhere that the PWM on an Arduino runs from 0-255 or off to 100% but some Meanwells are backwards? So off is 255 or 0% and full on 100% is 0. Does that make sense?
Hmmm, now I have to figure that out, lol. Sometimes the internet is the enemy of useful knowledge... so much seemingly contradictory info if you don't have a working knowledge of something :(
 
O2Surplus said:
I'm posting the Gerber files for my SCW to LDD-H adapter PcB. I spent some time redesigning it a bit to make it easier to configure for different power needs. This version will allow the SCW to provide power output "full time" (assuming the SCW has power on it's input) or "part time" by triggering a transistor that takes the SCW negative output to ground. All that's needed to change it's behavior is blob of solder on the SMD jumper's solder pads. No solder= Full PWM or On/Off control using the PWM pin. Solder= "Full time" power.

This design is panelized to include two adapters per 45mm X 32mm PcB. Use the 50mm X 50mm size option when ordering and you'll get two adapters for the price of one. I recommend using Seeedstudios, since their PcB ordering system is very user friendly.http://www.seeedstudio.com/service/index.php?r=pcb
:beer:

SCW%20to%20LDD-H%20adapterV2_zpsoppj2hdk.png
Click to expand...

Does this allow PWM fan control when using the fans connected to the SCW with a compatible controller?
 
daplatapus said:
Sorry for double posting this, but I'm trying to get this thing fired up and it's one of the last things I've got to do and after today, I'm busy with work again and won't be able to get to it for a while. I seen a couple of you are on line so I thought I'd put this in here too..

I'm totally brain farting. I built my controller based on the Jarduino sketch. All my strings are running on LDD boards but 1 of my LED strings are hooked onto a HLG-185H-42B and one to a HLG-185H-36B. Those are the ones I'm screwed up on.
The LED's are in series hooked onto the V- and V+
For the life of me I'm second guessing where the Dim+ and Dim- wires go. I thought the Dim+ went to my PWM control pin on the Arduino but nothing comes to mind for the Dim-. Does it get hooked to the ground plane of the Arduino board?

ARGH! I think I'm losing my mind...
Click to expand...

Just to be clear are the two strings on the HLG drivers also running off of LDD drivers? If so the Dim+ and Dim- are left un-used and just capped off.

Otherwise if using the HLG to run and dim the strings (No LDD drivers on those two) then as others said you will need to convert the arduino 5v pwm into a 0-10v PWM signal.
 
daplatapus said:
Thanks guys!

Will it work at all on 5V or will it just not run at full power? I also read somewhere that the PWM on an Arduino runs from 0-255 or off to 100% but some Meanwells are backwards? So off is 255 or 0% and full on 100% is 0. Does that make sense?
Hmmm, now I have to figure that out, lol. Sometimes the internet is the enemy of useful knowledge... so much seemingly contradictory info if you don't have a working knowledge of something :(
Click to expand...

Hmm might as well throw my 2 cents into this..
AFAICT Meanwells aren't "backwards" Drivers like buckpucks are backwards.. 10-0V dimming..

Yes you have 0-10V or 10V PWM
You need to do like the Typhon (but maybe better..)
You need to convert the 5V PWM to 10V PWM.
@5V it will either not work or just go to 50% at 100% duty cycle..

10pwm.jpg

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/5v-pwm-to-10v-pwm.69870/
OR convert the 5V PWM to 0-10V out..

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/218115-arduino-0-10v/?hl=arduino+0-10v
your mixing of dimming types (and drivers) is a bit problematic..
O2 may have some conversion boards laying around to stick on the 5V pins you want to use for the 2 oddball (in the LDD sense) drivers..
OR just update your power supply and drivers to match..

NOTE: Ideas of "concept" not actual use...
 
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gus6464 said:
Does this allow PWM fan control when using the fans connected to the SCW with a compatible controller?
Click to expand...



Yep! :beer:
Just make sure the controller's PWM frequency is 25khz or so to eliminate that annoying buzzing noise that comes with using PWM on conventional cooling fans.
 
zachts said:
Just to be clear are the two strings on the HLG drivers also running off of LDD drivers? If so the Dim+ and Dim- are left un-used and just capped off.

Otherwise if using the HLG to run and dim the strings (No LDD drivers on those two) then as others said you will need to convert the arduino 5v pwm into a 0-10v PWM signal.
Click to expand...

No, the HLG drivers are the only ones driving the 2 strings. What I've done is I've got my Exotic TV, XT-E RB's, Exotic OCW's, XT-E moon lights and XT-E NW's all running off of LDD 700's and 1000's.
But another set of NW and CW I got XM-L's that run at a fV of 3.35 @ 3000mA so I went with the HLG's to drive them. With all I got going on, that might be total overkill and only being able to run them at 50% may not be a bad thing IF that will work. My tank is a 210 - so 30" deep and I was originally worried I might not have enough punch to get to the bottom with the XT-E's on the 3up stars.


oreo57 said:
Hmm might as well throw my 2 cents into this..
AFAICT Meanwells aren't "backwards" Drivers like buckpucks are backwards.. 10-0V dimming..
Click to expand...

Ok, good!


oreo57 said:
Yes you have 0-10V or 10V PWM
You need to do like the Typhon (but maybe better..)
You need to convert the 5V PWM to 10V PWM.
@5V it will either not work or just go to 50% at 100% duty cycle..
Click to expand...

As long as I don't fry anything, I don't mind hooking it up with the Dim- to the common ground and finding out :D

oreo57 said:
your mixing of dimming types (and drivers) is a bit problematic..
O2 may have some conversion boards laying around to stick on the 5V pins you want to use for the 2 oddball (in the LDD sense) drivers..
OR just update your power supply and drivers to match..

NOTE: Ideas of "concept" not actual use...
Click to expand...

I'm beginning to see that, lol. Thanks for those wiring schematics, I'll try and make sense of what's going on there.

O2, I'll PM ya just in case this misses ya, but have you made some conversion boards that you have extra of? I am using your boards already for my LDD drivers that I got made when I first started this project back a couple years a go I think it was.

Thanks guys for the help, I REALLY appreciate it.
 
daplatapus said:
No, the HLG drivers are the only ones driving the 2 strings. What I've done is I've got my Exotic TV, XT-E RB's, Exotic OCW's, XT-E moon lights and XT-E NW's all running off of LDD 700's and 1000's.
But another set of NW and CW I got XM-L's that run at a fV of 3.35 @ 3000mA so I went with the HLG's to drive them. With all I got going on, that might be total overkill and only being able to run them at 50% may not be a bad thing IF that will work. My tank is a 210 - so 30" deep and I was originally worried I might not have enough punch to get to the bottom with the XT-E's on the 3up stars.




Ok, good!




As long as I don't fry anything, I don't mind hooking it up with the Dim- to the common ground and finding out :D



I'm beginning to see that, lol. Thanks for those wiring schematics, I'll try and make sense of what's going on there.

O2, I'll PM ya just in case this misses ya, but have you made some conversion boards that you have extra of? I am using your boards already for my LDD drivers that I got made when I first started this project back a couple years a go I think it was.

Thanks guys for the help, I REALLY appreciate it.
Click to expand...

One small warning , many Meanwells really don't like MORE than 10V on that 10V line..

another fun way is to just hook a 9V battery to the 10V line.. NO shared grounds w/ that and full on.. well 9V on.. ;)


Hmm a small lithium button cell could run at 40% for a long time I believe

Just for fun..again don't ground the battery to anything..
Manual on/off of course.. A 5V ps hooked directy to the dim circuit on a timer would give you 50% as well
There are numerous ways to bypass the Adruino w/ those 2 drivers..
A commercial converter:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...gclid=CMyV88uRwMQCFYVqfgodZzAAAg&gclsrc=aw.ds

A5FB_1_2014091832671538.jpg
 
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If I plug the terminal strip straight into the Arduino board, yea, it will convert all, but I'll just mount it somewhere in my project box and run jumpers to the 2 PWM pins on the board to the converter.
I ended up getting the 10V PWM - for some reason I thought I remember reading way back when that PWM is the only way I'll get it to dim to 0. Although I'll only have them coming on for 3-4 hours a day max, so for these 2 strings dimming to 0 isn't as big a deal as say the RB's.
 
daplatapus said:
If I plug the terminal strip straight into the Arduino board, yea, it will convert all, but I'll just mount it somewhere in my project box and run jumpers to the 2 PWM pins on the board to the converter.
I ended up getting the 10V PWM - for some reason I thought I remember reading way back when that PWM is the only way I'll get it to dim to 0. Although I'll only have them coming on for 3-4 hours a day max, so for these 2 strings dimming to 0 isn't as big a deal as say the RB's.
Click to expand...

My "doh"... ;)
and thanks, I didn't know they had that board..
 
oreo57 said:
My "doh"... ;)
and thanks, I didn't know they had that board..
Click to expand...

Neither did I, but thanks to O2surplus, he pointed me in the right direction.

So I got it all hooked up, but something unexpected came up. Everything seems to work to a point. All the LDD stuff works except the TV, so I have to chase that and see what's up. And I've got a bit of voltage bleed on one of my fixtures so 2 of the 3 OCW's on it run dim all the time.
The XML NW's running off the HLG-185H-36B driver runs fine (although probably nowhere near as bright - I'm assuming its the 5V PWM issues) but the XML CW's on the HLG-185H-42B run backwards. On the test screen of the arduino I can run each LED channel individually. When I ramp up the CW's they dim and when dial them down they brighten. Then never turn off... Hmmmm.
I may just wait until that converter comes and see what happens then, although I can't help but think it won't solve that issue. I'll have to look through the sketch to see if something is up there.

Here's a couple shots of my rig:





 
Holy cow! Does the power company know you cut the lines in front of your house, painted them red and ran them to each or our light fixtures? Those things are huge! :)
 
Krazie4Acans said:
Holy cow! Does the power company know you cut the lines in front of your house, painted them red and ran them to each or our light fixtures? Those things are huge! :)
Click to expand...

ROFL, ya they are a bit big. I ran an 18/25 (18ga wire/25 wires) for all the channels and fan control wires in an amphenol connector. I'm actually really pleased with how it turned out.

Here's the wires soldered in


Plugged into the fixture


Just the connector

 
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