hi evil i know your busy, but any updates on the circuit for the ALC?

thanks

what's up with the manual 555/556 timer! just joking i know you will get to it eventually

I have been thinking more about this (now that I have an RKE, w00t!), but haven't gotten any further on a circuit. It's not hard, but it's finding the time.


I'll get it done, I promise. I'd say I'd do it this weekend, but I'm helping install my carpet (still doing storm/insurance repairs )

Lots of different manufacturers offer led power supplies these days. Meanwell seems to be a low end manufacturer, similar to Altech. If you are willing to spend some more money on better quality products go with Sola or ABB.

http://www.clrwtr.com/Power-Supplies.html

Different strokes for different folks. Those are regulated constant voltage supplies though. These are specifically LED constant current drivers. Completely different animal. Anyway, while a nice DIN rail power supply is great, 90% of us can't afford one as they would be almost equivalent in cost to our entire LED array.

Bump for the ALC circuit

(j/k )

hey did u try hooking up the ALC to the drivers? did it work?

Patient is virture buddy, these things does take times ......

i know i just wanted to know if anybody tried it without the circuit...

I tried it with the buck pucks but my RKL-ALC is not working correctly, I have it set to 50% intensity but it ramps up to 10V regardless of the intensity I set and I burnt out one of my pucks. Gonna try and switch to meanwells, would be nice to use this damn ALC that's been sitting around for almost a year.

Oh, dude. You can't just hook it up like that. It's no surprise you killed a Buckpuck. You need to use a voltage divider before the Buckpuck to drop the voltage. I though I had posted this somewhere before, but here it is again.



Use 100K ohm 1/4W resistors.

oh yeah!!!! i was going to ask but you beat me to it. now im going to have to get a rkl and alc for the bc14.

Ah that makes sense, I figured if I only set it to 50% intensity that I shouldn't have a problem

Depends on how the ALC does the 0-10v. If it's a true analog output, your assumption would have been correct. If it's a 10v pwm (more likely), then you would have cooked it at any level. I'll have to find out how DA does it.

would there be any issues running 12 LED's, 6 CW and 6 RB on one ELN-60-48D ?

I was hoping the serial port was pwm and the 0-10vdc ports were true analog, please let us know when you get a chance, I am really wanting one of these for my ELN-60-48Ds.

Thanks

A tech at DA said that the 0-10v outputs are true analog. I'm not 100% sure I believe them. I'll pass final judgement when I get my hands on my own and hook it up to my scope.

so i just read the last few pages again but i seem to have confused myself some. i have the "p" drivers and i just recieved the ALC. is there a circuit that goes inbetween the "p" model and the ALC or i'm i better off getting the "d" model for the ALC. i know Opy01 has the "d" models and his is working (without dimming for now) with the ALC. just incase i have 4 "d" models on the way.

hey D. did you get all 4 of the d's for 20 bucks?

yep sure did! if you don't beieve me...ask my wife!

Keep in mind I am not to savy with electronics and have been picking things up as I mess around with my Arduino but....

Based on what you're saying... would the diagram attached would work running a P on the Arduino. The DIM+ and DIM - would simply replace the Load RL.

So I would need a 10v power supply, Transistor, and Resistor?

Pretty much. You can even get self biased transistors and can skip the bias resistor between the micro and the transistor.

I was planning on trying to adapt this fan-control circuit, but this looks just a little bit simpler .

Could either of you (Aussie or evil) recommend a part number for the transistor?

-Margrave

Most any NPN transistor will work. Doesn't have to be anything fancy.

Is it possible to hook up the Arduino with a "D" model for lighting control or it only runs with "P" ?

Yet to be seen. We don't know how well a "D" will react to pwm input.

I have 3 of the D's on the way. What are people using to dim them? Can I hook two of the 3 up to the same dimmer?

i think the d's people are adjusting the voltage to dim it correct? 10v being full power and less voltage dimming to a point.

i have no experence with these just from what i understand from reading all the posts in this thread.

I appologize if these questions have already been asked but this thread is massive and I just don't have the time to go back through it.

Will the "D" models work at 100% with out a 10V source hooked up to the DIM? Much like a buck puck w/o a Pot?

Also, I see most people running 13 LEDs, but the spec sheet on ELN-60-48 shows a max of 52.8V, theoretically allowing us to "safely" push that up to 14 (14*3.7=51.8V). Is anyone doing this?

We've been playing with one over here.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry2509044

Tagging along

No input voltage = no output (minimal light anyway)

Is this a response to the first of my two questions?

Nanotuners-
Thanks. See the questions/comments I've posted on that thread.

the meanwells are the opposite of the buckpucks. a buckpuck will give you full power with no input. the meanwell will give you very little if no power without the 10v source. i will have to verify the with the data sheet on 14 LEDs but from what i know and like you said, 13 is max. unless you have a reef controller with a 10v source, you will need to go through the thread and find the 317lm circuit to reduce a 12v source down to 10v as well as give you the dimming option with a pot. there should be 2 on this thread. one is with a 555 timer specifically for the "p" models and another one with just for the "d" models. strt from pg 13. i think you will find it quicker.

hey Evil, you are still real quick!

Thanks Deep.
I was hoping to get the "D" version and hoped to run in on full until I got controller. But it looks like I'll need to tie work the 10V into it as you alluded to. Thanks for the pg number.

As for 13 vs. 14 LEDs. Check out what the nanotuners are doing with the meanwells....I spare you the suspense...14 LEDs per.


Thank again, Nick

The current draw on the control circuit is so small that I think you could get away with a 10v wall wart or put a pot into the mix.

do you guys offer the 10v walwart. most that i have found is either 12v or 9v.

no, we have a variable voltage one from 3-12v (3, 5, 6.4, 9,12) only.

I would try looking online. Im sure evils got a suggestion.

Chris

If you look at the video, that power supply reports the current draw/voltage in real time. The current is stuck at 0.00.

If i didnt see it myself, i would think its an open circuit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BRAND-NEW-10V-2A-AC-DC...=item4145d1d699

I'm already going to have a 12v PS in my fixture for my fan, so I could easily run another // line and trim that down to 10V with the ciruit deep referred to.
Or, worst case senario, I do a $4 wallwart.

Thanks gents!

Sorry for the short reply earlier. I have been in a meeting all day and was replying on my phone.

Using the 12v supply actually is better. You can use an LM317 voltage regulator to set the voltage limit to 10v. If you build it with a 10K pot as R2 (look here) and a 1K and 470 ohm resistor in series for R1, you can adjust your voltage very accurately from 1.25-10v.

Reason I say it's better is that many 10v power supplies will output up to 14v with little to no load on them. The cheaper the power supply, the more likely this is the case.

That was my fear. I was afraid of the no load voltage.

Thanks. Just to clarify, this is for the ELN-60-45 "D"? Right?

Yes

Hey evil, did you ever finish that 556 timer build?

Hehehe, no. Soon I promise.

Hello,

I want to use an Arduino to dim the "P" drivers. One Arduino is enough for 2 drivers right ? Also, how many transistors would I need ? One per driver or just one for both ? What type of transistor do I need ? Do you have an example or even a model ?

Thanks a lot in advance !

yeah yeah, we have heard that before! just kidding aroung with you sir!

One Arduino for two drivers is fine. You can connect a lot more to that controller if need be. I would use one transistor (2n2222, plus a 1K ohm biasing resistor) per driver. How you end up connecting it to the controller is up to you. You have the option of connecting both transistors to one output so both drivers are controlled together, or connect each transistor to different outputs so you have individual control over them. Connect like this:



Make sure you connect DIM- on the driver to ground on the Arduino.