Need LED driver boards from O2surplus

[mcgyvr]

Does anyone know if this is even possible? If so, any ideas about how to go at it?

Disclaimer.. I have never used nor seen said bluefish in person.. But I'm familiar with "similar" work and don't have the name mcgyvr because I like the show..

So to put you at ease...
Its absolutely possible and quite easy...
The manual for the bluefish gives the ribbon cable pinout... Its simply a matter of connecting the PWM and GND wires of each output channel to the dimming inputs on the LDD devices...

Should be drop dead simple stuff... and you could get by using the existing power supply you have and discrete LDD modules.. You don't even need a N-up LDD board if you don't want to...

 

[LQT]

I would imagine that you use this...

https://aquarium-led-controller.com/product/bluefish-mini-ribbon-cable-breakout/

 

[oreo57]

Well - I guess it's about time that I byte the bullet and try some other way of restoring my lights.





Notice (at the bottom right of the PCB) there is a BlueFish Mini attached. It is only on the first board. The rest of the boards are daisy chained to the first, thus giving BlueFish control to all PCBs.

I'm wondering if it's possible to replace the PCBs with 6-up LDD driver boards. My problem would then be attaching the Bluefish Mini controller to the multiple boards in a daisy chain - so to speak. Does anyone know if this is even possible? If so, any ideas about how to go at it?

Yea piece of cake but what does the white network cord go to?

hooking a BF mini to LDD's is easy
Only outputs the PWM signal..and multiple LDD's PWM wires can be parallel attached to a channel..

Replace UNO w/ BF

Need a separate circuit for fans though...

 

[DFason]

I hope I do not get in trouble posting on here but I figured you need help.

Aaron is battling cancer. I talked to him once a month but have not heard back in three months. Praying for the best.

You will not be able to find this driver board as I think it was the last one he made and did not share the open files.

The board I have is very close to this. Fan control, Bluefish plug, etc. Contact me like the above guy stated. It maybe the only part close.

-Dave

 

[GlassReef]

mcgyvr & LQT - thanks. You're making me feel better already. At this point, however, I'll have to show quite a bit of my newbie side. I understand how to hook up one 5-up (5 LDDs on a board - 1 for each controlled channel) driver board to the BlueFish but, how do I attach 5 more 5-up boards? Is my question making making any sense?

 

[Rio1969]

I hope I do not get in trouble posting on here but I figured you need help.

Aaron is battling cancer. I talked to him once a month but have not heard back in three months. Praying for the best.

You will not be able to find this driver board as I think it was the last one he made and did not share the open files.

The board I have is very close to this. Fan control, Bluefish plug, etc. Contact me like the above guy stated. It maybe the only part close.

-Dave

Can your boards be daisy chained like Aaron's?

 

[mcgyvr]

mcgyvr & LQT - thanks. You're making me feel better already. At this point, however, I'll have to show quite a bit of my newbie side. I understand how to hook up one 5-up (5 LDDs on a board - 1 for each controlled channel) driver board to the BlueFish but, how do I attach 5 more 5-up boards? Is my question making making any sense?

See diagram from Oreo..
For 6 LDDs you would simply need to run 6 wires (6 black and 6 red) from the + and - VDC outputs on the meanwell power supply instead of the one set he shows there..

 

[GlassReef]

Yea piece of cake but what does the white network cord go to?

hooking a BF mini to LDD's is easy
Only outputs the PWM signal..and multiple LDD's PWM wires can be parallel attached to a channel..

Replace UNO w/ BF

Need a separate circuit for fans though...

Each board has an INPUT and OUTPUT cat5? network receptacle. My setup uses 6 boards. The BlueFish is on the 1st board. A network cable goes from the OUTPUT on board #1 to the INPUT on board #2, and so on. The cables carry the PWM data from the BlueFish to each board, on after another.

 

[mcgyvr]

Each board has an INPUT and OUTPUT cat5? network receptacle. My setup uses 6 boards. The BlueFish is on the 1st board. A network cable goes from the OUTPUT on board #1 to the INPUT on board #2, and so on. The cables carry the PWM data from the BlueFish to each board, on after another.

Ok.. so you just need to do a bunch of jumper wires..
Correct me if I'm wrong but you have..
1 bluefish mini..
6 of the o2 boards which have 6 LDDs on each right for a total of 36 LDD modules?

So you have 6 different lighting channels with 6 LDDs on each channel?

AFAIK the in/output cat 5 are just jumper wires allowing one bluefish to control multiple boards by simply jumpering the PWM from the one board to others.. (again.. I have not used nor done any studying of o2's stuff beyond a 4 second glance)

 

[GlassReef]

I hope I do not get in trouble posting on here but I figured you need help.

Aaron is battling cancer. I talked to him once a month but have not heard back in three months. Praying for the best.

You will not be able to find this driver board as I think it was the last one he made and did not share the open files.

The board I have is very close to this. Fan control, Bluefish plug, etc. Contact me like the above guy stated. It maybe the only part close.

-Dave

Thanks, I'll contact you.

-----------------------------------------

It's terrible having to hear about Aaron. I didn't really know him that well but, whenever I talked to him, he was always very helpful. Simply a nice and friendly human being.

I've had colon and liver cancer for 7 years. Seems like someone is on my side as I'm doing relatively well. My wife and I will be praying for him and his family.

 

[DFason]

Can your boards be daisy chained like Aaron's?

yes

 

[GlassReef]

Ok.. so you just need to do a bunch of jumper wires..
Correct me if I'm wrong but you have..
1 bluefish mini..
6 of the o2 boards which have 6 LDDs on each right for a total of 36 LDD modules?

So you have 6 different lighting channels with 6 LDDs on each channel?

AFAIK the in/output cat 5 are just jumper wires allowing one bluefish to control multiple boards by simply jumpering the PWM from the one board to others.. (again.. I have not used nor done any studying of o2's stuff beyond a 4 second glance)

So you have 6 different lighting channels with 6 LDDs on each channel?

The question confuses me. Maybe describing my setup will help:

The pic shows Top and Bottom of a single heat sink:

1. Six 2ft long heatsinks

2. Twelve Lumia 5.2 70W (5 channel) LED chips - 2 on each heat sink connected together in series. Then 5+ wires and 5- wires to the PCB (for the 5 channels)

3. Six O2Surplus 6 channel LDD boards - 1 on each heat sink, each holds 5 LDDs. The ONLY connection between these 6 boards is the cat5 (MWM) cable.

4. Three MW NES 350W 48V power supplies - Each of these powers 4 LED chips (280W) / the contents of 2 heat sinks

5. A BlueFish Mini controller - the controller is on the first (of 6) PCBs

 

[oreo57]

Yea AFAICT the Cat 5 only carries the 5v PWM signal. Believe the board has a 5V "boost" so as to not lose current down the line.
Depending on how far each is you may or may not be able to just parallel the LDD's

Then again, maybe not ...

From the Master, the Mini’s 6 channels of PWM signals are passed directly and unaltered to the 2 onboard Ethernet connections. Ethernet cables can then be used to connect multiple driver Pcbs in a daisy chained fashion. This design makes it possible to control multiple driver PcBs, each configured to operate independently from the first, as diodes are employed on all 6 PWM channels to prevent cross signaling between multiple boards.

Just need to hook your bluefish mini to the first ethernet cable.. and figure out the fan thing..

Err.. getting confusing the more I read about the jumpers..

AHHH.. now I found it...

Ethernet CAT5/6 cable is used to interconnect the boards. Each board now includes a 5v buffer on each of the 6 PWM signal channels, making it possible to daisy chain dozens of boards off one BF Mini

 

[GlassReef]

oreo - now I understand - I think. If there just wasn't a grey mist covering everything.

So, all I have to do is start with 6 normal 5up LDD boards, add 6 Zeners, 5V and 2 cat5 sockets. Then attach the BlueFish to the first board and connect the boards together with cat5.

Actually, I read somewhere the 7th and 8th conductors were 5V and ground. Somehow the ground was very important. Am I getting it at all?

 

[oreo57]

oreo - now I understand - I think. If there just wasn't a grey mist covering everything.

So, all I have to do is start with 6 normal 5up LDD boards, add 6 Zeners, 5V and 2 cat5 sockets. Then attach the BlueFish to the first board and connect the boards together with cat5.

Actually, I read somewhere the 7th and 8th conductors were 5V and ground. Somehow the ground was very important. Am I getting it at all?

Bluefish, power supply and LDD's (input side, not output side)) all need to have a common ground on the DC side.. just how it works.. and why there is only 1 PWM wire on the LDD's (+)

 

[GlassReef]

So, I'm gonna try and repair these boards... :hmm3:

This is an Eagle(?) image of the board:

I've stared and stared at the pic and think I see a way to repair the damage. I would like to ask you experts a couple of questions before I start.

Q1 - You'll notice that where each LDD fits on the board, there is a 10K SMD resister. The resister R2 where LDD-1 is was turned to dust. First, can I replace it with a normal 1/4W resister?

Q2 - Notice the thin red trace which goes through the resister; the trace looks like it only goes to one terminal of the SMD and then continues to the PWM pin on the LDD. If that is so, then the other end of the resister must be soldered to the base of the PCB?

If I measure resistance from the LDD PWM pin to the cat5 output pin (where the trace goes) I get 9940 Ohms. I get the same value if I measure from the LDD PWM pin to the base of the PCB.

If the traces go to one end of the SMD and continue from the other end, wouldn't the images of the traces be illustrated differently?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think I made a total mess of describing what I'm talking about... If it helps, here is a damaged board:

Any help would be helpful.

 

[slief]

So, I'm gonna try and repair these boards... :hmm3:

This is an Eagle(?) image of the board:

I've stared and stared at the pic and think I see a way to repair the damage. I would like to ask you experts a couple of questions before I start.

Q1 - You'll notice that where each LDD fits on the board, there is a 10K SMD resister. The resister R2 where LDD-1 is was turned to dust. First, can I replace it with a normal 1/4W resister?

Q2 - Notice the thin red trace which goes through the resister; the trace looks like it only goes to one terminal of the SMD and then continues to the PWM pin on the LDD. If that is so, then the other end of the resister must be soldered to the base of the PCB?

If I measure resistance from the LDD PWM pin to the cat5 output pin (where the trace goes) I get 9940 Ohms. I get the same value if I measure from the LDD PWM pin to the base of the PCB.

If the traces go to one end of the SMD and continue from the other end, wouldn't the images of the traces be illustrated differently?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think I made a total mess of describing what I'm talking about... If it helps, here is a damaged board:

Any help would be helpful.

Given my experience in PCB repairs (nearly 30 years worth) and looking at the burns on that board, I think you will likely be wasting your time. There is far too much damage to that board for it to be salvageable IMO. Not only is the board and it's traces damaged but as are many of the solder pads which will make it difficult if not impossible to attach the components to. Also, given the damage there, I'd speculate that there will be several components on that board that will be damaged beyond what the eyes can see. If it were me, I would either look into new lighting or get yourself some new meanwell drivers and power supplies unless the power supplies are still good. That or see what Dfason can do for you. Even if you got those boards working again, their reliability would be suspect and you risk not only addional failures but possibly fire. In all honesty, you couldn't pay me enough to run that board given the damage I see. It's just not worth the risk let alone headache because that is not going to be a simple repair.

 

[oreo57]

First I'll agrre w/ the above..

Then r2-7 are pull down resistors to turn the LDD's off in the event of controller failure (W/ out it the LDD's will just go to full)..

Technically they ar unnecessary, and in this case it will complicate things because until you get all control circuits working your LED will never light.. complicates troubleshooting.

HEF405ob is a non inverting buffer (sounds like I know something) so I assume that's what O2surplus used to "buffer" the PWM line output to the other boards..
https://assets.nexperia.com/documents/data-sheet/HEF4050B.pdf

Bottom right fried chip looks to be this:
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/uln2003a.pdf



Basically an amplified "switch block" (5v in fan current 12v out).. prob for the fans..?

What I'm not seeing is where both the bluefish and nano are getting their power from..
Corrected this section BF and nano can run off 12v.. brain burp..still wondering about those to chips.
Really shouldn't be too difficult to breadboard this.. as I said, mostly modules..

Thick blue is all the (+) and I assume the major (-) is on the board backplain and not shown here.
you didn't really use the Nano ie. had it programmed? Everything was through the Bluefish cloud right?

If that is the case going back to the new 5up LDD boards and a BF mini in a normal arrangement is pretty simple..
Once you get your light program up, and run the fans "manually" w/ timers and wall warts (or add a fan speed circuit from a PC add on ect.)

Only catch afaict is all the new wiring you will run to parallel 4 boards off one bf mini output and of course tying all board/ps grounds together..
That is whre hisnice cat5 arrangement came in..

aduino "circuit"
bluefish "circuit"
LDD "circuit"
and fan circuit..

There is like a billion of these to run your fans off the 48v "rail" on your ps's..

Or you can see if your scr's are still working ..

Sadly, one LDD short for your needs but would take care of a bunch of things

https://www.rapidled.com/ldd-h-4s-driver-board/

Personal rant: Nobody should design 4 up LDD boards.. Most BASIC config is R,G,B,WW,CW regardless of use..
all boards should jumper the pull down resistor..

Basic rough drawing:
http://www.qualiteitems.com/images/rebuild.JPG

 

[GlassReef]

slief - thanks. oreo agrees with you. You both have talked me down from making a big mistake. Although I did manage to get 2 boards working, as you mentioned, question is for how long.

oreo - thanks for all the work you put into your post. So much detail! I sent David (DFason) an email on Thursday about his driver boards but haven't heard back. I think I used an incorrect email address, so I sent another to a gmail account that he mentioned "on another board".

On the good side, 26 out of 30 LDDs are OK, all Lumina 5.2 chips are OK, the BlueFish Mini is OK, and all power supplies are OK. So 6 5up boards should do it. Won't give me what I had, but it'll have to do.

BTW: anyone know how Dave's boards daisy-chain with the BF Mini?

 

[slief]

slief - thanks. oreo agrees with you. You both have talked me down from making a big mistake. Although I did manage to get 2 boards working, as you mentioned, question is for how long.

oreo - thanks for all the work you put into your post. So much detail! I sent David (DFason) an email on Thursday about his driver boards but haven't heard back. I think I used an incorrect email address, so I sent another to a gmail account that he mentioned "on another board".

On the good side, 26 out of 30 LDDs are OK, all Lumina 5.2 chips are OK, the BlueFish Mini is OK, and all power supplies are OK. So 6 5up boards should do it. Won't give me what I had, but it'll have to do.

BTW: anyone know how Dave's boards daisy-chain with the BF Mini?

Did you try sending him a PM? That might be best.