1. The driver adjsut the voltage automatically. There is nothing that you have to do to make that work. You can run anywhere from 1-13 LEDs in series at 1A (after the max current adjustment is turned down).

2. There is no easy way to control two colors from one driver. If you want independant color control, you need two drivers.

That answers a huge question haha. I was wondering how the spec sheet said 3-48v. Thats awesome! makes things so much easier!


second one... i thought so. was just throwing out ideas.

Thanks once again evil!

oh and i went to RS today and total cost for 1 complete LM317 circuit minus the ps:
(1) 5k ohm potentiometer(250vdc/1/4w or 500vdc/1/2w???) - $3.59
(1) 4 pack of 680 ohm resistors - $1.19
(1) LM314 regulator $2.79
(1) 2 pack of small breadboards - $2.39

Total: $9.96 plus tax

Make sure the pot is a linear pot, and not an audio taper one. The audio taper one makes for a very twitchy adjustment curve. Your prices are higher too than in my area.

After digging around a little more, I have found another way for guys looking to interface this to the Arduino or similar, just in case this version does not accept a pwm input. It's a voltage follower using an opamp with a 2:1 gain. Takes the 0-5v TTL signal to 0-10v. I'll make a little diagram later and post it.

Evil, sure you know your stuff......thanks for the wonderful hits and tips..

Perhaps a dumb question...

But could we perhaps use something like... http://www.phidgets.com/documentation/Phidgets/1060.pdf to handle the PWM for the dimmer? Yes it requires a PC interface - but, that's not out of the question these days

Andy

Provided you put a 10v power supply to it, yes you can use it. $50 is a little steep though.

All right, I'm convinced. I'm going to go for two Meanwells each with two parallel strands of 8 LEDs. Can you recommend places online for components or parts to purchase? Also, what sort of suggestions might you have for a rusty solderer?

Thanks!

^^^^ Take advantage of evil's group buy currently going on for the LEDs, drivers, and optics. The prices that have been achieved are a hell of a lot lower than if you were to buy on your own from a retailer. Heatsinkusa . com seems to be where everyone is getting their heatsinks.

Evil, have you had a chance to turn up the pwm frequency to see if the drivers are dimmable that way?

Like iMaGin3 said, you can purchase through my group buy.

If you are going to run LEDs in parallel, you will need a little additional circuitry called a current mirror to keep things safe in the even of an LED failure. There are links earlier in this thread to a good article on it. They aren't hard to build and only require a few parts, but will save you a lot of money in replacement parts if something fails.



Not yet. Maybe tonight.

ok quick questions and this might have been answered but I am at work:

Are these better the puckbucks?
These can run 12 LED is seires and all I need to do is wire them up with no additional circuity, and they will run at 1A right? As I won't need dimming


I think I might want a couple now that there pretty cheap in the group buy

These will require an input voltage to get full brightness. With the dimming signal removed, it goes to it's lowest setting.

These drivers will support up to 13 LEDs in series.

A question regarding the version of the meanwell in the GB. Evil, you found that the "P" model works with analog dimming. i.e. 0-10v DC. And it requires 10v on the dimming wires to be at full brightness. However, from the datasheet the "P" model dims by PWM.

Can you speculate whether the datasheet is wrong, we misunderstood it and the "P" model is dimmable by either method, etc? Is it likely by dimming it analog we are going to burn out the meanwell faster? Or, is it possible the units purchased through the GB will be more standard then the one you have?

Lastly, what's the best place online to buy parts for out circuits?

Thanks!

Meanwell USA was very unclear on the multiple phone calls I had with them about which suffix denoted digital or analog dimming. The "P" model has been more responsive so far to 1-10v input than the pwm. All the pwm circuit does is looks at averaged voltages over time that end up looking like analog voltages anyway. There is no way to burn up the driver from supplying it an analog signal. I'm still trying to get the pwm working to see which is better. Either way, I will have a circuit that will be able to easily dim the driver.

For buying parts, I have always used Digikey and Mouser.

How about something like this?

$45 and it will run 24 x 3 watt LEDs at 700mA
========
Super Compact 3 Channel DMX512 Power LED Driver


Item #: BL-LD700



Tipical Applications:


1) RGB Color mixing;
2) Architectural lighting;
3) Signage;
4) Cove lighting;
5) Flood lighting;
6) Landscape lighting.







Features:

1) 3 output channels;
2) Constant-current output: 700mA;
3) Wide input voltage range from DC 12V to 40V;
4) Can driver 2 - 12pcs of 1W LED in series, or 1 - 8pcs of 3W LED in series;
5) 0 - 100 % dimming output through PWM;
6) Compatible to international standard DMX512 input port, or RS485 port available;
7) External manual-control connector;
8) Auto running mode available through DIP switch;
9) Working current: 700mA per channel;
10) High efficiency up to 90%;
11) Compact design, easy for installation ;
12) Dimension (mm): 70 * 50 * 15 (L * W * H)






·Technological parameter：
Input voltage range: 12 - 40V DC
Input current: MAX 2A (depends on the model, the input voltage and the load configuration)
Output channels: 3
Output current: 700mA per channel
Control protocol: DMX 512
Address range: 1 - 506 through DIP switch
Special address: 511 = Auto-running color change
510 = All channels full on
509 = Channels 3 full on, channels 1 & 2 off
508 = Channels 2 full on, channels 1 & 3 off
507 = Channels 1 full on, channels 2 & 3 off

DMX terminator: Built-in, accessible through DIP switch position 10
Dimming method: PWM
PWM frequency: 160 Hz
Operating ambient temperature: - 10 + 40 deg.
Storage ambient temperature: - 20 + 70 deg.
Dimension: 50 x 70 x 16mm (PCB size)







Example:

12pcs 1W LED connection in series per channel
Total power = 41.1 W

It would be nice if the output was 1A and not 700mA. Also, the DMX control is a bit of a kick in the ass. Makes life a little harder.

Well, the test is going to have to wait until tomorrow. I need a scope and a few new capacitors to change the frequency.

"These will require an input voltage to get full brightness."


What does that mean?

You could also buy them in 1A too.......same price.....adjustable.....May need to code Ardnio to do all the dimming functions.

Still thinking, shell I design my own PCB or go with LEDsupply's 700mA/1A wired dimmable buckpuck with extl. pot. 50/50 can't make my mind up..... I am looking to 150 x 3W LEDs in project.

Tagging along nicely and learning loads....thanks Evil.....

0v = lowest output. 10v = brightest output. This is the opposite of the Buckpucks that will go to full brightness with no dimming input voltage.



Arduino is possible. I think DMX is RS485, so there will be additional cicuitry required.

Giga, It means that since this group buy driver is dimmable, it has an input for this ability. This input is to control the dimming amount. If you give it 10 volts it will be at it's maximum and if you give it 0 then it will be at it's lowest dimming, which might be off, I don't know. So, to use it, you'll need an external power supply hooked up to this part of the driver. Hope this helps, hope I'm right.

That too

So whether I want dimmeing or not I still need aditional circuit?

Yes, you will still need to supply it with voltage, so you might as well make it adjustable and get all the benefits possible.

how much current does the dimming input on the driver sink?

Don't know exactly what the current is, but it's small. In the milliamp range.

Evil,
Can you describe how the three parts for the dimming control circuit go together? Thanks!
- E

If the current is really low it might be possible to just plug a 9v battery in there, just to avoid the extra wiring of supplying a 10v line somewhere. Possibly a 9v + 1.5v in series.

Just throwing it out there. Might be useful for some that don't feel like getting a 10v power supply just yet or something like that.

http://www.electronics-lab.com/articles/LM317/

ignore the capacitors and you have your circuit.

Thanks! When you say "ignore the capacitors" do you mean short circuit over them or remove them and their connections entirely?

remove them.

This is what I am going to use to control these drivers.

The basic model Profilux has 2 ports.
Thats 2 analog outs 1-10v for each port, a total of 4 analog outs.

Also included in those ports is 1 relay out for each analog out, a total of 4 relay outs.

Those relays are use to shut off the dimming device, because 1-10v never completely shuts off the lights, you will need those outputs to completely shutoff the unit.

I am ordering LEDs from that group buy, about 100 of them.

Going use 1 port, 2 analog outs for the whites and blues dimming.
Then using the relay outs to switch the power off.

This what your going to need. Scroll down to see the English version.

http://www.aquariumcomputer.com/Download/M...VG-AP2_V400.pdf

EVG-AP2 is rated at 16 amps at 250 (8 amps at 125v). Its a dual output port.

If you want clouds, storm and lunar cycles, this controller will do this like the AI LED system does.
I hope this helps anyone thinking buying a controller. I have one and love it.



They have these controllers on sale.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...hreadid=1628284

For those of us that don't make circuit boards every day, would this work? May only be $5 more than making it. http://www.dimensionengineering.com/DE-SWADJ.htm

The only problem could be that the max output voltage is as high as 13v. This will be dependant of input voltage. Find out from them what the voltage drop from input voltage to max output voltage is. Chances are it's about 1.25v, which would put you at 10.75v output with a 12v input. This may be sufficient.

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on Nano-Reef. I am in the planning stages of a 15 gallon and I have become really interested in LEDs.

I am not sure if anyone has addressed this issue in the thread, but can the meanwells be connected to a wall outlet? The data sheet says the meanwell has an input of 90-265 VAC and in the US we have electrical outlets of 110-220 VAC. So to connect, we'd just need to buy a power cord and then connect the power cord to the meanwell, right?

I didn't call (Sunday) but the site says "1.3V typical dropout voltage at full load" I think is what you were referring to.

Yes.

Sorry about bring this up again, but I've been offline for some time (work has had me working crazy hours, but thats over now - whew).
As for the above statement. I'm of this same (mis)conception too.
According to the data sheet for these (eln-60-48) the output voltage range is 43.2-52.8V (adjustable with SVR1), or ~13 LEDs at ~3.7V.

Evil, I don't understand then how we can run only 1 LED?!? Wouldn't doing this overpower the LED? Can you please explain?

Nick

P.S. Thanks for all your work exploring these.

43.2-52.8V is the range you can set the max voltage output in a constant voltage mode (using SVR1 if I remember). The LED operation range is 3-48V (constant current mode).

Cool. Thanks for clearing that up.
These may be dumb questions, but can you switch between CCM and CVM? Do we need to switch between either of these?

The driver automatically changes it's state based on the load it sees. There is no "switch" needed, and we don't need to worry about it.

So has anyone actually done a build with these drivers yet?

I build this panel of 44 star PCB leds drive by one meanwell driver and 2 others driver



This is when it light up

So, I'm confused. this is a power supply and driver in one unit?

The left side of the tank is light up by the above panel.The right side is light up 8 tubes of 24 watt T5 HO

A driver is a power supply in a sense. An LED driver like this is a constant current power supply. The main reason it's called a power supply is because it takes wall voltage and converts it into usable DC voltage.

hey evil,
did you ever try this circuit with the 556 timer?
Also just to be sure, on your pictured post with the 555timer, the red lines are the points to solder together correct? just making sure
i'm going to pick up the parts in the next day or so and get them ready for the drivers.

A 556 is just two 555s in the same package. It will make for a lightly more compact setup if you are in need of two dimming circuits.

You are right on the diagram. The red lines show the connections between components.

well i do need two dimming circuits. will need to try it!

Sorry for being a PITA but i'm trying to learn how to do this circuit. i cant read the picture (page 3) as well as i thought i could. i really cant tell what gets connected to what. can someone help me out? or at least post another pic without the writing/labels. this way i can match it up exactly and position everything the same way. then once i learn this i'm going to give the 556 timer a shot. i already purchased both the 555 and the 556 and i noticed the pins are the same just in a different order. once i learn to do the 555 timer i think i can just map out the 556 with the 555.
thank you