Calling all DIY LED "Junkies" - Your opinions wanted!

[O2surplus]

Originally Posted by skanderson

ok starting to wire up my build and have a few questions. firstly i have 3 meanwell power supplies that i got cheap a while ago and was wondering if i could use one to power the chip. i have a s-320-24 meanwell. i puts out 24 volts at 12.5 amps. next i see that there are 2 power inputs on the driver. do i need to supply power to one or both. my ftdi to usb adaptor is on the way so im sure i will have questions on programming when i get that going. i will be running 3 lines of 6 cree xmls at around 2 amps ea. i am a little confused about the pwm part of the driver. wont i be able to dim it based on programming the driver and if not what do i need to wire to where to get this thing to auto dim up and down. thanks for all the help, i will post pics of the build on here as well as par numbers once the unit is up and running.

The Power supply you have will work just fine. Here's photo (pardon my Paint skills) of how you should hook it all up. All it really comes down to is "doubling up" on the negative connections from each string of leds to the CAT4101"s and the PWM connections. Your setup only requires a 3 channel control code if the board is wired up like I've shown, since two CAT4101's will be connected to the same PWM signal. You can use the same six channel code that I posted earlier. You'll just have to adjust the variables for the 3 pwm pins that you're using, instead of all 6.

[Mcg177]

does any body have a video of this in action? with storm effects? o2 going to be ordering at least one of these in the coming weeks(gotta wait to get paid)

[skanderson]

thanks for the quick reply. will probably get the wiring done one wednesday, and then i only need to wait on the ftdi to usb to get the coding correct. thanks again, steve

[skanderson]

one quick question about your drawing. i plan on wiring the red wires to the positive side of the led emitters and the black to the negative side at the end of the string. is this correct? also will the drive work at all without the programming. i would like to see if it will come on even if the dimming doesnt work. i am still waiting on my usb adaptor so i can input the programming.

[O2surplus]

Originally Posted by skanderson

one quick question about your drawing. i plan on wiring the red wires to the positive side of the led emitters and the black to the negative side at the end of the string. is this correct? also will the drive work at all without the programming. i would like to see if it will come on even if the dimming doesnt work. i am still waiting on my usb adaptor so i can input the programming.

Yes, RED = Positive, BLACK = Negative. You can turn on the individual driver chips by connecting their respective PWM connection to the 5V OUTPUT screw terminal.

[skanderson]

ok all hooked up but no light so i obviously have a short or bad connection somewhere. will try to get it up and lit this weekend. will play with my meter and see where ive gone wrong. hopefully will be able to show pics of it lit up and over the viv soon. thanks again for getting back to me so quickly.

[fab]

Hello,

I am françai to sadden for my anglai

Would be it possible d utilser this card(map) just for 240 led 3w piloted by a signal pwm and the whole fed by an alim atx 480w any controlé by the arduino?
I just want to feed led 3w 700ma the rest is deja piloted by the arduino

Thank you in advance for your reponce

[O2surplus]

Well Guys, I was messing around with my tank today and had to remove the lighting to gain access. When got everything back together and reconnected the power I noticed something weird. Two out of the three SmartyCats would not turn the leds back on. I rechecked all my connections and could find nothing wrong, so I figured the problem had to be internal to the SmartyCats themselves. I connected them to my PC and soon found that the System time had been reset to an earlier time? I did some further checks and found that the DS1307 RTC's weren't keeping time with the power interrupted. After another hour or so of trouble shooting, this is what I found- There's a defect in the PCB at the DS1307 RTC. Pin #7(SQW), which should have been left "floating" according to the schematic and PCB design files, is in reality grounded . This defect was not caught at the PCB factory and may be present in some of the SmartyCat's that some of you are using. I found the same defect in 2 more of the units that I haven't even built yet.
If any of you guys notice the same problem with the clock, here's the fix- Remove Pin#7 from the DS1307 and the problem will be fixed. I used a fine point soldering iron to heat the pin and a small jeweler's screw driver to lift the pin from it's pad. Here's a photo-



If your unit suffers from this defect and you can't tackle the repair yourself, send me a PM and we'll make other arrangements.

[skanderson]

ok i have gotten all 3 strings to light up using the 5 volt as the dimming input so the wiring on the strings is now correct. this is the first time i have ever used and ardino and i am confused. i have placed the following files into the libraray file on the ardino, ds1307 cpp file, ds1307 o file, ds1307.h, timer1, but i dont know how to get them to compile. i read the part about restarting the ardino IDE but i dont know how to do that. my red blink button is blinking so there is something going on in there. also i dont know where to go into to do the setting of the timers on the dimmers. thanks in advance, hopefully i will get this thing up and running within the week so i can post some pics.

[theblondskeleton]

This code is confusing to a newbie!! (That's me, too.) I was finally programming my moonlights and it took me three tries to correctly input the start time. Now it's in there and all is well. I reduced my moonlights to 2 emitters and cranked it waaaay down. Still looks good, and hopefully won't kick up the algae. Last time I had 6 emitters at 700mA. You could see everything but it was really bad for algae.

I'm getting some "stepping" on the dimming, and at the end it doesn't just fade out, it clicks off. Normal? It still looks awesome and it is much more tidy and easy to handle than all the other stuff!

PS- Sorry!I haven't forgotten, O2! Holidays and all, you know. Friday!

[O2surplus]

Originally Posted by skanderson

ok i have gotten all 3 strings to light up using the 5 volt as the dimming input so the wiring on the strings is now correct. this is the first time i have ever used and ardino and i am confused. i have placed the following files into the libraray file on the ardino, ds1307 cpp file, ds1307 o file, ds1307.h, timer1, but i dont know how to get them to compile. i read the part about restarting the ardino IDE but i dont know how to do that. my red blink button is blinking so there is something going on in there. also i dont know where to go into to do the setting of the timers on the dimmers. thanks in advance, hopefully i will get this thing up and running within the week so i can post some pics.

The Libraries don't need to be compiled Per Se. Just insert them into the "Libraries" folder first and then restart the Arduino IDE. The actual program"Sketch" that you're using will reference the needed libraries during the compiling process and pull in the needed information.
Since you're just getting started with Arduino programming, Try some of the simpler programs first, like "blink" ( that's the code that I left running on the unit that you have) The red led is tied to digital pin 13 and that pin is currently programmed to "blink". You can always edit the "Blink" code to add more pins like I've done here. Try this code-

/*
  Blink
  Turns on an LED on for one second, then off for one second, repeatedly.
 
  This example code is in the public domain. This copy has been modified to test all 6 PWM output pins.
 */

void setup() {                
  // initialize the digital pin as an output.
  // Pin 13 has an LED connected on most Arduino boards:
  pinMode(3, OUTPUT);     
  pinMode(5, OUTPUT); 
  pinMode(6, OUTPUT); 
  pinMode(9, OUTPUT); 
  pinMode(10, OUTPUT); 
  pinMode(11, OUTPUT); 
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(3, HIGH);   // set the LED on
  digitalWrite(5, HIGH);   // set the LED on
  digitalWrite(6, HIGH);   // set the LED on  
  digitalWrite(9, HIGH);   // set the LED on 
  digitalWrite(10, HIGH);   // set the LED on 
  digitalWrite(11, HIGH);   // set the LED on
  
  delay(1000);              // wait for a second
  digitalWrite(3, LOW);    // set the LED off
  digitalWrite(5, LOW);    // set the LED off 
  digitalWrite(6, LOW);    // set the LED off 
  digitalWrite(9, LOW);    // set the LED off
  digitalWrite(10, LOW);    // set the LED off 
  digitalWrite(11, LOW);    // set the LED off
  
  delay(1000);              // wait for a second
}

When you've conquered this- try some of the "fading" code.

Like this-

/*
 Fade
 
 This example shows how to fade an LED on pin 9
 using the analogWrite() function.
 
 This example code is in the public domain. This copy has been modified to test all 6 PWM output pins.
 
 */
int brightness = 0;    // how bright the LED is
int fadeAmount = 5;    // how many points to fade the LED by

void setup()  { 
  // declare pin 9 to be an output:
  pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(6, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(9, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(11, OUTPUT);

} 

void loop()  { 
  // set the brightness of pin 9:
  analogWrite(3, brightness);    
  analogWrite(5, brightness);
  analogWrite(6, brightness); 
  analogWrite(9, brightness); 
  analogWrite(10, brightness); 
  analogWrite(11, brightness); 
  // change the brightness for next time through the loop:
  brightness = brightness + fadeAmount;

  // reverse the direction of the fading at the ends of the fade: 
  if (brightness == 0 || brightness == 255) {
    fadeAmount = -fadeAmount ; 
  }     
  // wait for 30 milliseconds to see the dimming effect    
  delay(30);                            
}

Let me know if you have any trouble with the codes and If needed, I'll custom edit some, with the variables you want, to get your system up and running.
At times it's easier to learn when you already have something working to use as an example.

[O2surplus]

Originally Posted by theblondskeleton

This code is confusing to a newbie!! (That's me, too.) I was finally programming my moonlights and it took me three tries to correctly input the start time. Now it's in there and all is well. I reduced my moonlights to 2 emitters and cranked it waaaay down. Still looks good, and hopefully won't kick up the algae. Last time I had 6 emitters at 700mA. You could see everything but it was really bad for algae.

I'm getting some "stepping" on the dimming, and at the end it doesn't just fade out, it clicks off. Normal? It still looks awesome and it is much more tidy and easy to handle than all the other stuff!

PS- Sorry!I haven't forgotten, O2! Holidays and all, you know. Friday!

Well I'm glad to read that you've got it up and running. Unfortunately the "6 channel code" that I provided is very basic and does not provide for High resolution dimming ( Dimming "steps" occur once per minute). That's because not all of the PWM pins have the same performance capabilities. Digital pins "9 & 10" can be used for very high resolution dimming, but you'd be left with only 2 channels of control. Those two pins are what "Sinks" code takes advantage of and the dimming "steps" occur once per second. If you'd like to try his code, just reconfigure the jumper wires to provide the dimming signal from those two pins and upload his code. ( I wish "Sink" were around here, but he hasn't logged in in a long time)
Let me know if you need any additional help with your code and I'll do what I can to help.

[theblondskeleton]

Soooooo... Stop me if I'm wrong here... I could wire one string through two cats (as in your diagram for skanderson) to increase the output (for some reason the light seems dim, my glosso is reflecting that fact - need a bit more light) and use sink's code to control it, if I run them through 8 and 9? I certainly don't want to burn anything out, so no touchy for me until I understand this better. However, this would let me boost the WW a bit, too. It's looking a little cool for my taste. Oh, tinkering. I do believe I will never stop

[O2surplus]

Originally Posted by theblondskeleton

Soooooo... Stop me if I'm wrong here... I could wire one string through two cats (as in your diagram for skanderson) to increase the output (for some reason the light seems dim, my glosso is reflecting that fact - need a bit more light) and use sink's code to control it, if I run them through 8 and 9? I certainly don't want to burn anything out, so no touchy for me until I understand this better. However, this would let me boost the WW a bit, too. It's looking a little cool for my taste. Oh, tinkering. I do believe I will never stop

Whoa! Unless your running Cree XM-L's don't attempt to wire up your leds like Skanderson is doing. Your particular leds will not be able to handle the additional current. Have you checked the actual current consumed by your strings? The Cat4101's should be putting out 1000ma if the pots are maxed out. If they're not at 1000ma with the pots maxed then there's another possible reason. The "6 channel code" has the PWM value set at 100, which equates to about 300ma through the leds. Change the 100 to a max of 255 and recheck the current. It should now be at 1000ma and your leds should be a heck of a lot brighter. If you'd like to use "Sinks" code, connect the Cats to digital pins #9 & 10. His code uses PWM values between 0 - 1023. 1023 being Maximum.

Here's the section of the 6 channel code that needs to be modified-

int oneMax = 255;           // max intensity for this channel. Change if you want to limit max intensity.

int twoMax = 255;           // max intensity for this channel. Change if you want to limit max intensity. 

int threeMax = 255;         // max intensity for this channel. Change if you want to limit max intensity.

int fourMax = 255;          // max intensity for this channel. Change if you want to limit max intensity.

int fiveMax = 255;          // max intensity for this channel. Change if you want to limit max intensity.

int sixMax = 255;           // max intensity for this channel. Change if you want to limit max intensity.

Here's the section of "Sink's" code that has the variables for Max & Min led PWM values.

/*
 * Light "state" represents the PWM duty cycle for each channel This normally
 * dictates light intensity. It is an array { duty_chan_1, duty_chan_2 }.
 * Possible values for duty cycle are 0 - 1023.
 */
const int kDayState[] = { 1023,1023 }; // daytime LED state
const int kNightState[] = { 0, 0 }; // nighttime LED state

You can always lower the max value of one of the channels to alter the color mix of your lighting. E.g. Run your WW leds at max (1023) and the CW leds at a lower level, say (700). Your lighting will then appear "Warmer".(You can also get the same effect by adjusting the pots on the driver board, if you don't want to mess with the code.Just make sure that the code is set for the maximum PWM value first, so that you can override it with the pot adjustment.)
You can also adjust the KnightState value to a number above 0 to emulate moon lights. Remember 0 = Off, 1 = 1/10 of 1%, and 10= 1% duty cycle.

[theblondskeleton]

Originally Posted by O2surplus

"6 channel code" has the PWM value set at 100, which equates to about 300ma through the leds. Change the 100 to a max of 255 and recheck the current. It should now be at 1000ma and your leds should be a heck of a lot brighter.

And THAT'S why I asked, haha... This should be all I need to do. It's at 100 right now, so that explains why it seems so dim. I was thinking: "this is 1000 mA? No way!" Makes sense now: it WASN'T! Thanks for saving me again!

I may try sink's code, but that may wait until winter break.