LED build

[evilc66]

Looks like the old Current USA hanging kits.

 

What I would do is remove the gripper from the bottom of the cable and loop it back up and crimp it in place. You will have to decide on a height then and there, as it will be hard to change the height after this (u-bolt style clamps will work also, but aren't as slim and stealthy as a crimped connection). You can either do a loose loop, or use an insert to keep the shape. Most hardware stores carry all these parts. This is effectively the same as the cable gripper in the Ecotech kit, but not as slick.

 

On the fixture end, create two straight cable lengths with eyelets on each end big enough to fit over the top plate screws. Loop those through the loop you created on the vertical cable (assuming there are two) and fasten it to the fixture.

 

There are parts for hanging kits like this available on the web, but this method will get you going pronto with parts from the hardware store.

[Halo_003]

Looks like the old Current USA hanging kits.

 

What I would do is remove the gripper from the bottom of the cable and loop it back up and crimp it in place. You will have to decide on a height then and there, as it will be hard to change the height after this (u-bolt style clamps will work also, but aren't as slim and stealthy as a crimped connection). You can either do a loose loop, or use an insert to keep the shape. Most hardware stores carry all these parts. This is effectively the same as the cable gripper in the Ecotech kit, but not as slick.

 

On the fixture end, create two straight cable lengths with eyelets on each end big enough to fit over the top plate screws. Loop those through the loop you created on the vertical cable (assuming there are two) and fasten it to the fixture.

 

There are parts for hanging kits like this available on the web, but this method will get you going pronto with parts from the hardware store.

I'm still waiting on a couple odds and ends actually so I'm okay with waiting on it. McMaster Carr has the double end eyelet pieces, so I'm planning to order one for each end. Do you by chance know where to get the sleek gripper thing the Ecotech kit has? I didn't see it on McMaster, and I'd like to have the ability to adjust if needed.

[Halo_003]

So while working out the details of the hanging, I made the driver enclosure in Sketchup.

 

 

 

 

The top 6 holes are for plugs so that I can plug/unplug each channel and the fixture fan individually. the bottom two are 48V in (From the HLG 240) and 12V in for fans. There's also a fan located in the driver box.

 

 

 

Edit: I found the part needed, but can't find where to purchase just 2 of them. http://www.griplocksystems.com/artsuspension/detail.cfm?Griplock-Premium-Gripper&id=518&cat=1

[evilc66]

Try here

 

http://www.hang-ups.com/TABSTYLE/Itemdesc.asp?ic=CG-XL&eq=&Tp=

 

Cable grippers are surprisingly hard to find to buy online, without going through a quote system. Even Amazon doesn't have anything obvious, and they have everything! Well, almost.

[Halo_003]

Try here

 

http://www.hang-ups.com/TABSTYLE/Itemdesc.asp?ic=CG-XL&eq=&Tp=

 

Cable grippers are surprisingly hard to find to buy online, without going through a quote system. Even Amazon doesn't have anything obvious, and they have everything! Well, almost.

 

You sir are the bomb. I gotta say it took me like 15 minutes to figure my way around that site to actually put my order in, it's archaic haha. How on earth did you find it?

 

Amazing that those things cost me about $10, the double end eyelets cost $1.76 each, and Ecotech sells these for $45 lol. Thank you again!

[evilc66]

My Google-fu is strong

[ajmckay]

Haven't checked in for a while - congrats on working the kinks out!

 

The hanging kit looks pretty awesome!

 

Are you 3D printing the PSU enclosure then?

[Halo_003]

Haven't checked in for a while - congrats on working the kinks out!

 

The hanging kit looks pretty awesome!

 

Are you 3D printing the PSU enclosure then?

That's the plan, I thought about doing it with acrylic but it will be a lot easier to just 3D print it. Originally I was going to just use a small rubbermaid tub and poke some holes in it but I may as well do it all out the first time, so the 3D printed enclosure will hold the LDD board, a 40mm fan, and the BF mini.

[Halo_003]

Well the cable grippers weren't matching, one was missing the slots it should have had to grab the cross cable. So I'm just waiting on that piece which I should have sometime next week, so potentially it may be up and running then, I took tonight to do some detail work. Pics incoming tomorrow.

[Halo_003]

So let me just make sure I'm thinking about this correctly. My driver box fan is 12A .1A, and the fixture fan is 12V .15A. I want them to both run at about half speed so that they're silent, so am I correct in thinking I need either a 6V or 7V, .250A to run both of them at roughly half speed? I have a 6V .65A, and a 12V, .5A.

 

I'll edit pics onto this post in a few. I got a little OCD and decided to sleeve the wires in the fixture.

[jedimasterben]

You sure that you are able to run them at half speed and still get adequate airflow?

[Halo_003]

You sure that you are able to run them at half speed and still get adequate airflow?

Good question. To be frank, nope. I don't think the drivers would need a ton of airflow though, and the fixture I would think should be fine since it's just 3 arrays on a 24" ASIS heatsink. I can just use my 12V .5A wall wart if need be though, except the fans draw .25A in total. Edit: oh yeah, the BF mini will also be on this 12V line.

[Halo_003]

So strange new problem... It isn't working.

 

After doing a bunch of troubleshooting, it seems like my LDD board is somehow shorted? This is a bit beyond me but the LEDs wouldn't light up, so I tested each channel by itself with a spare RapidLED Nano driver, all worked. Checked all of the solder points for continuity and shorts, nada. Plugged in the BF mini, LDD board, HLG 240, and it doesn't work. I checked the voltage at 20% for the white channel hooked up to the LDD board/HLG240, it was showing about 8.1V, and at 100% it showed like 8.9V. When I changed the BF mini settings the channel would flash and then go dark again.

 

I checked my cable to make sure all of the wires are correct, they are. I then came back to the LDD board, and tested the LED outputs for continuity, and they're showing between 1-150 at each of the different points. By that I mean ch1- and ch2- show 150, etc. So I took the LDDs out, and checked the LDD board LED output for continuity again, and zero on all of them.

 

Any ideas? Are my LDDs somehow dead or the 4up board? The only difference from this weekend when it was all working is it had a 2 hour car ride in the back seat.

 

This stuff is really a pain in the butt when it doesn't work out lol.

[jedimasterben]

It's pretty unlikely, but I've had an LDD board that was bad before, it was shorted somewhere internally, something was connected to the ground plane that it shouldn't have been, probably a manufacturing defect.

 

 

I assume that your power supply is putting out the correct voltage?

[Halo_003]

It's pretty unlikely, but I've had an LDD board that was bad before, it was shorted somewhere internally, something was connected to the ground plane that it shouldn't have been, probably a manufacturing defect.

 

 

I assume that your power supply is putting out the correct voltage?

Yeah the HLG was putting out 48v. I'm not sure if it is a manufacturing defect because it worked originally. I think this is the first time I check it for continuity though.

[Halo_003]

It's pretty unlikely, but I've had an LDD board that was bad before, it was shorted somewhere internally, something was connected to the ground plane that it shouldn't have been, probably a manufacturing defect.

 

 

I assume that your power supply is putting out the correct voltage?

I think maybe the LDD board shorted somehow, I'm really not sure though. I hooked it all up again and tested it, with just ch1 plugged in. When first applying a setting on the BF the voltage on ch1 would read 13V as they flashed, then drop to 7.3V as the LEDs went dark. I'm thinking I might get the 4up LDD board from RapidLED and see if that fixes it. If the LDDs and the 4up are both shot that is just a major PITA.

[evilc66]

Take the 4up board out and pull everything off it (power, LED connections, LDDs). Check the following:

• Measure resistance from Vin(+) to Vin(-). Should be an open circuit (infinite resistance)
• Measure resistance between each LED output pin to make sure there are no shorts on any output channel (e.g. check LED1(+) against LED1(-), LED2(+), LED2(-), etc...). Like above, should be an open circuit
• Measure the resistance from each DIM pin to ground. Should be 10K

 

If the board checks out ok, then the next thing to check is if the LDDs are working without the Bluefish. For this, you will have to remove the 10K pull down resistors. You can do this on just one channel if you don't feel like messing with the entire board and just swap out the LDDs as you check them. With the resistor removed, the LDD will default to full output.

[Halo_003]

Take the 4up board out and pull everything off it (power, LED connections, LDDs). Check the following:

• Measure resistance from Vin(+) to Vin(-). Should be an open circuit (infinite resistance)
• Measure resistance between each LED output pin to make sure there are no shorts on any output channel (e.g. check LED1(+) against LED1(-), LED2(+), LED2(-), etc...). Like above, should be an open circuit
• Measure the resistance from each DIM pin to ground. Should be 10K

 

If the board checks out ok, then the next thing to check is if the LDDs are working without the Bluefish. For this, you will have to remove the 10K pull down resistors. You can do this on just one channel if you don't feel like messing with the entire board and just swap out the LDDs as you check them. With the resistor removed, the LDD will default to full output.

 

1. yes, it is infinite.

 

2.

LED1(+): infinite to LED1(-), 153 to LED2(-), infinite to LED3(-), 153 to LED4(-)

LED2(+): infinite to LED1(-), 1 to LED2(-), infinite to LED3(-), 1 to LED4(-)

LED3(+): infinite to LED1(-), 153 to LED2(-), infinite to LED3(-), 153 to LED4(-)

LED4(+): infinite to LED1(-), 1 to LED2(-), infinite to LED3(-), 1 to LED4(-)

Edit: this was with the LDDs on the 4up, with them off they all read infinite.

 

I assume this is the problem.

 

3. shows about 1400 on all of them.

 

Edit: I missed you said to remove the LDDs and rechecked.

[evilc66]

1.4Kohm? Seems really low. That might be a problem. With too small of a resistor, the controller will have a harder time pulling the line up to turn the LEDs on. This should be a 10K or higher resistor. Did you check that value with the LDDs removed?

 

Can you see the markings on the resistors? A 10K should read 103 if it's surface mount, and brown, black, orange (and most likely gold) for a through hole resistor.

 

Also, I noticed you didn't measure the resistance to the LED(+) terminals. You should be measuring:

 

LED1(+) --> LED1(-)/LED2(+)/LED2(-)/LED3(+)/LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED1(-) --> LED2(+)/LED2(-)/LED3(+)/LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED2(+) --> LED2(-)/LED3(+)/LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED2(-) --> LED3(+)/LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED3(+) --> LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED3(-) --> LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED4(+) --> LED4(-)

 

It's probably not a big deal, as the resistor value seems to be a more likely culprit here, but this would have been what would be required for a full set of measurements on the LED outputs.

[Halo_003]

1.4Kohm? Seems really low. That might be a problem. With too small of a resistor, the controller will have a harder time pulling the line up to turn the LEDs on. This should be a 10K or higher resistor. Did you check that value with the LDDs removed?

 

Can you see the markings on the resistors? A 10K should read 103 if it's surface mount, and brown, black, orange (and most likely gold) for a through hole resistor.

 

Also, I noticed you didn't measure the resistance to the LED(+) terminals. You should be measuring:

 

LED1(+) --> LED1(-)/LED2(+)/LED2(-)/LED3(+)/LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED1(-) --> LED2(+)/LED2(-)/LED3(+)/LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED2(+) --> LED2(-)/LED3(+)/LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED2(-) --> LED3(+)/LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED3(+) --> LED3(-)/LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED3(-) --> LED4(+)/LED4(-)

LED4(+) --> LED4(-)

 

It's probably not a big deal, as the resistor value seems to be a more likely culprit here, but this would have been what would be required for a full set of measurements on the LED outputs.

I'll double check the LED output. The 1.4Kohm was with the LDDs removed, with the LDDs attached it was about 1000ohm. The resistors are surface mount and do say 103.

[evilc66]

If 1.4K measured is correct, then I'd say that's your problem. It may be time to contact whoever made your LDD board and ask them for some assistance. Changing the resistors is pretty easy and cheap, but why should you have to do that if it's due to a faulty product.

 

If you want to make 100% sure, take one resistor off (just alternately apply heat to each side of the resistor and it will slide right off) and hook everything up, but just to that one channel. The LEDs will go on full tilt without a controller, but you should be able to verify that the controller is also working. Taking the resistor off will not affect the operation of the LEDs in any negative way. The pull-down resistor is just there to make sure the dim pin is in a low state when there is no signal so the LEDs are off.

[Halo_003]

If 1.4K measured is correct, then I'd say that's your problem. It may be time to contact whoever made your LDD board and ask them for some assistance. Changing the resistors is pretty easy and cheap, but why should you have to do that if it's due to a faulty product.

 

If you want to make 100% sure, take one resistor off (just alternately apply heat to each side of the resistor and it will slide right off) and hook everything up, but just to that one channel. The LEDs will go on full tilt without a controller, but you should be able to verify that the controller is also working. Taking the resistor off will not affect the operation of the LEDs in any negative way. The pull-down resistor is just there to make sure the dim pin is in a low state when there is no signal so the LEDs are off.

So I rechecked the LED outputs, all register as infinite with the LDDs removed. As far as I know the 1.4Kohm is correct, I checked both from solder points on the back of the board and the pins on the LDD sockets.

 

I might give the resistor removal test a go if I have time, I ordered the RapidLED 4 up though because I need the light up and running soon. If I can fix the Coralux 4up, great, I have my first piece for another LED build.

 

Thanks for the help so far!

[Halo_003]

Forgot to add the pics I mentioned with all the drama about my lame 4up board lol.

 

Before OCD kicked in:

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

 

 

I went ahead and sleeved all of the wires in the fixture except the super short runs by the first array, those were too short to bother doing. I used black paracord and 3/16" heatshrink from McMaster which was super cheap, like $1.50 for 4 feet lol.

[Halo_003]

Good news, the RapidLED board just got here, was expecting it Monday but glad it's here. Should know if it was the Coralux board or the LDDs in a few.

[Marc.The.Shark]

Light that bad boy up! At the rate you're going, I'm gonna have my year in the making upgrade done! Lolol.