Splumph Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 That wiring is still wrong, you want to go from the + on your power supply, to the + on the led, then - to + on the leds, then the last - goes back to the - on the power supply. Like this... (mind the ascii drawing, i dont feel like uploading a pic ) ┌─┐ │┼├─ +☼- ─ +☼- ─┐ │─├─ -☼+ ─ -☼+ ─┘ └─┘ Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 That's what I was trying to portray in my feeble diagram sorry about that..... Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Still waiting on the LED's and power supply so I took some down time to drill and tap the HS and mount the splash shield. Link to comment
Marteen Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Wow looks very nice. I would imagine a nice wood or sheet metal enclosure painted black would look great on that. Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 The wires running up to the LED's are going to be about 12" from the buckpuck. I am putting everything in a project box and running the leads up to the LED's. I saw something in the spec sheet about the length if the wires. Will this have any effect? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 No. The only length issue they have is if you run the power supply more than 18" from the Buckpuck. They recommend adding a capacitor across the input wires, but it's not a requirement. Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 Sweet... Thanx Evil Waiting on pins an needles for the parts also is 18G wire ok? What range of wire sizes can I use? Link to comment
yardboy Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 By using a dimmable driver, is there a way to have the rise and fall of the light levels emulate the dawn/dusk cycle automatically? Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 You would need a controller and I think Evil and a few others are working on this. Once they get it figured out I am adding it to mine. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 18awg wire will work, but it's a little bulky. I normally use 26awg. For the automated dimming, yeah you will need a controller (not reefkeeper or aquacontroller). With some of the developement boards available, it's not too hard for those that want to try their hand at programming. Cheap too. Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 Hey evil I am interested in the boards. where should I start? I am a web developer so I'm sure I will take quickly to learning the code Is there a thread on this subject yet to catch me up to speed? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Easiest unit to start on is the Arduino, and it's many variants. Uses a simplified version of C to program, and has a huge support community. You can buy preassembled boards for about $35. We don't have a thread on here about this kind of thing, but I can help you out if you need. It's been fun for me learning it. I have it currently running a 2x16 LCD, real time clock, and one of my LED drivers. Didn't take long to get started, but it will take me a little more time to make it into something useful. Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 I will check into it, cause all I need is another hobby... Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 Got the LED's in and the buckpuck Here's some pictures How should I mount these little guys? The white is the one with the yellow middle. A or B I'm thinking A but what do you guy's think? Just waiting on the Power supply now. It was shipped from Vermont on Tuesday so it may not get here until Monday Link to comment
Marteen Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I like A I think it will be a more even distribution of light. Link to comment
Splumph Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Neither, put the white in the middle, and form a triangle with the blues. B W B B Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 C Put the white dead nuts in the middle of the heatsink and put the blues around it in a triangle as tight as you can. EDIT: ^^^ SOB beat me to it Link to comment
Splumph Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 C Put the white dead nuts in the middle of the heatsink and put the blues around it in a triangle as tight as you can. EDIT: ^^^ SOB beat me to it Lol, that never happens Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 gotcha.... Hey Evil I went to register for my classes today for this semester and guess what....... C+ programing was on there. Has very little to do with web design and development but I guess I will be able to program the hell out of that micro controller. You did say it used C+ right? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 It's a modified version of C. C++ is a superset of C that adds things like object oriented programming. It's not used much for microcontrollers as it can be a little bloated, but the same principles apply. Honestly, if you know java, you can handle this without much difficulty. The programming structure is the same. Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 I'm soldering the LED's today so all I have to do is connect the power and glue them down to the HS. I'm using a 2 part adhesive thermal paste. That sound ok? I didn't look into it to far yet but you can get nice LCD controller boards and stuff for it right? Link to comment
seagul Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 may i recomend using raptor, its about as easy as it gets to make a simple program. its a flowcharting application that allows you to make and use your application, then convert it to C, C+, C++. (visually easier for anyone, especially if you dont know the structure of laying out a program on C.) also another program i use alot is python 2.5 (or 2.0? i dunno) visual basics is also very cool, mostly deals with the GUI part of your program.(visual parts, buttons, pop up windows, ect..) im a systems networking major haha. are you looking to make up a program to controll your LED's? like the solaris? lmk if i can help. im in the proccess of trying to layout something like a "reefkeeper" but completely dependent on your computer instead of a seperate interface. Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 It's the electronics part that kills me.. given enough time I can figure out the coding. I get lost when it comes to the resistor capacitor voltage stuff Then I will just bug Evil..... Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 There is actually almost nothing you have to do to interface to the Buckpuck with the Arduino. It's really easy. Link to comment
cdelicath Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Ok please tell me this is right!!!! Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.