Replacement driver for steves led single channel

[hpad06]

I bought steves led biocube 14 kit

However one of the driver does not adjust output voltage , it is only outputting 17v instead of 19-23v

The other driver and both adjust knobs work fine.

Now 7 led are on one driver

The other 7 LEDs connect to power directly, and I set the power voltage to 20.7v

Now this array of led appears much brighter than the other array on the driver

I have 2 questions

1. Is it safe to connect 7 led to power 20.7 v, does it shorten led life?
2. Where do I get a driver to replace the bad one, I prefer a board like driver and allows me using my current knobs to adjust brightness

The drivers I found online only has one pwm , but I need a two wire dim connector

I live in Canada so just order another one from steves led is a little expensive due to shipping plus no idea if their driver is reliable or not

 

[oreo57]

I bought steves led biocube 14 kit

However one of the driver does not adjust output voltage , it is only outputting 17v instead of 19-23v

The other driver and both adjust knobs work fine.

Now 7 led are on one driver

The other 7 LEDs connect to power directly, and I set the power voltage to 20.7v

Now this array of led appears much brighter than the other array on the driver

I have 2 questions

1. Is it safe to connect 7 led to power 20.7 v, does it shorten led life?
2. Where do I get a driver to replace the bad one, I prefer a board like driver and allows me using my current knobs to adjust brightness

The drivers I found online only has one pwm , but I need a two wire dim connector

I live in Canada so just order another one from steves led is a little expensive due to shipping plus no idea if their driver is reliable or not

Retrofitting it w/ flea bay parts or using newer Meanwell drivers is not really recommended due to 1)quality of the drivers and 2)amount of rework and cost of parts.

I'd contact Steves for advice. Connecting th LEd's directly to the constant voltage power supply, and not using a current limiting resistor is asking for trouble..In other words .. don't bypass the driver..

Theoretically you could rebuild the bad driver..
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/323661-diy-steves-leds-driver-circuit/

further note:Not crazy about this driver:
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/303391-a-word-of-caution-regarding-steves-leds-led-drivers/

 

[hpad06]

Thanks

I don't think I can fix the board myself as there are a few chips in the board , no idea which chip is the source of the problem

So I should buy a few boards from steves led and make them as back up?

 

[oreo57]

Thanks

I don't think I can fix the board myself as there are a few chips in the board , no idea which chip is the source of the problem

So I should buy a few boards from steves led and make them as back up?

Again, from my point of view, their drivers are too "finneky" for my taste. And I prefer PWM over "pot" dimming as well..

What your leaning to is logical..if shipping costs are exceedingly expensive..and it isn't definitely determined as driver issue, though likely.

How old is this thing anyways? Steves hypes a lot about "longetivity"..

Personally buying 2 Ldd-hw's (wired for ease) drivers, running on full w/ timer till you upgrade to a PWM controller (like the Typhon) would be my thought IF the fixture has aged..

2 LDD's are like $14,,,,

 

[hpad06]

My tank is over 6 years old

Led lights are 2 days old

Which ldd hw do I use? Ldd hw I googled all show pwm so can not use on my kit

Also I think I do not need something fancy , able to adjust light is already way better than stock biocube lights

 

[DaveMorris]

Stevesleds drivers are PWM drivers. The pot is just to set a maximum level. I have had stevesleds drivers on a tank for over two years with zero problems. They are very simple easy drivers and I haven't found them to be finicky at all. It sounds to me like you got a bad driver. I would contact them and ask about what can be done. I have always had excellent service from them any time I have ordered stuff or just had a question.

 

[hpad06]

Stevesleds drivers are PWM drivers. The pot is just to set a maximum level. I have had stevesleds drivers on a tank for over two years with zero problems. They are very simple easy drivers and I haven't found them to be finicky at all. It sounds to me like you got a bad driver. I would contact them and ask about what can be done. I have always had excellent service from them any time I have ordered stuff or just had a question.

Thanks Dave !

I am not using any controller as I only want a simple LED lighting, adding PWM controller and driver will easily double my cost.

It seems I cannot find a replacement driver for stevesleds' simple driver board from other sources.

So far I have not received any response from Jeff for over 2.5 days, since shipping to Canada costs over $30, should I just buy a few more drivers or a few extra LEDs as backup?

If one of my LED burns out, would all the LEDs on the string quit, does it still work with 1-2 burns out ?

As I understand the power is 24 V, so I have to get 14 LEDs in total,otherwise they won't light at all, correct ?

 

[oreo57]

They are very simple easy drivers and I haven't found them to be finicky at all. It sounds to me like you got a bad driver. I would contact them and ask about what can be done. I have always had excellent service from them any time I have ordered stuff or just had a question.

not sure what you call this but I've never had to jump through these hoops w/ LDD's..
.

WITH THE LED DRIVERS UNPLUGGED FROM THE POWER SUPPLY PROCEED TO STEP 4.
5.Read voltage from multimeter.
6.The voltage should read an absolute maximum of 25.0V
7.If not, adjust the trimmer pot on the main power supply (not the LED driver!), until the voltage reads 25.0V
8.Now is the challenging part.
9.Wire up the LEDS and turn the entire system on. Get some polarized sunglasses and put them on.
10.With your small screwdriver in the trimmer pot on the power supply, look at the LED light that is being reflected off of the nearest surface in your peripheral vision.
Remember that looking directly at the LEDs can cause permanent retina damage even
WITH sunglasses! Look off to the side.
11.LOWER the voltage as slowly as possible (approximately 1/64 of a turn at a time) until you see the LED's light intensity reduce ever so slightly. You may then bring the pot back
up ¼ turn to increase voltage to the moment before the LED light intensity decreased.
12. The idea is to get the LEDs on the verge of the proper voltage that results in maximum light with no excess voltage. Any excess voltage will be
partially turned into heat, which is directed through the LED driver, reducing its lifespan and wasting energy.
13.Verify on the multimeter that the voltage across the main power supply's DC output
terminals (-V and +V) read 25.0 or less. Anything over 25.0V WILL cause permanent damage to the drivers!

Pretty non-simple..

Over the past 2 years I ran a 56V PS w/ ldd's outputting from 10-48v per channel and never lost an LED, driver , or PS..4 drivers a Typhon and the ps contained in an old computer PS carcass w/ no fan..

 

[hpad06]

not sure what you call this but I've never had to jump through these hoops w/ LDD's..
.


Pretty non-simple..

Over the past 2 years I ran a 56V PS w/ ldd's outputting from 10-48v per channel and never lost an LED, driver , or PS..4 drivers a Typhon and the ps contained in an old computer PS carcass w/ no fan..

Oreo57, yes not simple, but actually easy to follow above steps.

To use Typhon , it brings a few issues I have no idea how to handle

1. Typhon needs a driver, what driver do I use, to use LDD, where do I mount LDD? I like current steves led driver board screw on the heatsink, can't do that with LDD
2. Where to mount/hide Typhon, can't think of a clean way of doing it.
3. No idea how to set up with LDD+Typhon, does it need another power source?
4. Cost of Typhon will be another $140, considering I only paid $150 for the retrofit kit, this seems high to me as the features are not mandatory.

 

[oreo57]

Oreo57, yes not simple, but actually easy to follow above steps.

To use Typhon , it brings a few issues I have no idea how to handle

1. Typhon needs a driver, what driver do I use, to use LDD, where do I mount LDD? I like current steves led driver board screw on the heatsink, can't do that with LDD
2. Where to mount/hide Typhon, can't think of a clean way of doing it.
3. No idea how to set up with LDD+Typhon, does it need another power source?
4. Cost of Typhon will be another $140, considering I only paid $150 for the retrofit kit, this seems high to me as the features are not mandatory.

well first off If the light is only 2 days old why isn't Steves doing a warranty replacement? Maybe the so easy wasn't so easy..

Secondly LDD's ar tiny.. you could probably easily fit them in the fixture.. even thermal epoxy or "heatsink plaster" will do. Can't guarantee it though.

1/2in by 1 1/4" x .8" each driver

The Typhon was $50US last I looked and yes it comes w/ a power supply.

The major point was either replace the Steves driver w/ a Steves driver or get creative. I know it is not exactly easy nor cheap nor "clean"..

You can probably find cheap drivers that pot dim on fleabay.. but it will take some searching..Even then you may need to change the pot range (thus replacing them)..

 

[DaveMorris]

Not sure what you have against Stevesleds, but those steps are based on you using their power supply as well. I actually only made a simple adjustment to the output voltage of the power supply I had and left it there. Never needed to do anything else. So yes, it is very simple.

 

[oreo57]

Not sure what you have against Stevesleds, but those steps are based on you using their power supply as well. I actually only made a simple adjustment to the output voltage of the power supply I had and left it there. Never needed to do anything else. So yes, it is very simple.

first all sorts of tools work.. I'm not against Steves drivers per se..
First though, it seems that there is a bit of misconception regarding the chip used. Some think it is a linear /buck topology. This says different:
http://www.digikey.com/product-highlights/us/en/on-semiconductor-cat4101/2560

Since it is a linear-based LED driver, the CAT4101 does not require an inductor, eliminating noise, minimizing component count and simplifying design.

Or this (note diagram for cat4101, ignore rest except text , which is interesting)
http://www.edn.com/design/led/44045...bine--overcome-disadvantages-of-each-topology

Being a bit fresh in this area, and possibly even in error somewhere, this chip is really not the best for DIY's who have, sometimes limited skills.. and since you must dissipate any voltage imbalance between ps and LED's you either have to adjust the power supply or dissipate a lot of heat.... also a negative in "plug and play" which is why "I" prefer a more robust approach. Not to mention a 24v limit.. Taken all together, they may work fine for many, but the o/p already burnt one out (speculation)...well...

A real funny thing is when I started building LED lights, the first step was picking drivers.. Steve's fell off th map right away due to the 24V limit. Until this thread, I never even really looked back at them. doing some digging I found them, for lack of a better term, insufficient again but for a different reason.. YMMV..

 

[oreo57]

Linear drivers are simple solutions requiring few components and are essentially noise-free, but they dissipate heat proportionally to the difference between the supply voltage and the LED forward voltage. To protect against overheating, the driver package may require an additional heat-spreading area on the PCB, adding to the cost and amount of PCB real estate required and increasing the risk that the driver IC will enter thermal shutdown and turn off the LEDs. If the driver is located next to the LEDs, the additional heat can cause the LEDs to operate at an elevated temperature, shortening their lifetimes.

Step-down, or buck, converters are efficient and generate little heat, but switching solutions require an inductor and a Schottky diode. The solutions also create noise, especially when the supply voltage drops and approaches the LED forward voltage. In automotive applications, RFI (radio-frequency interference) is a major concern. EMI/RFI filters are recommended in front of the switching converters to prevent high-frequency-switching conducted noise from going back into the supply, as it may interfere with other equipment, such as the AM/FM-band radio.

Linear-driver operation is at its optimum when the buck converter behaves poorly, running out of headroom.

BTW: I havn't even touched on how it dims.. "IF" it actually cuts current rather than using a PWM output (not input) then it is another negative..

After a bit more thought.. how would you run 2 strings of say one is 6-3w LED's and another 2-3W leds??? To avoid heat , wouldn't you need 2 separate ps, one per driver??