New Jarduino build gets started - Page 23

daplatapus · #**221** 03-11-2015, 05:45 AM

Haha, that's how I felt when I first embarked on this little adventure.

Ya, that's the plan. 3 - 18" full spectrum fixtures,

daplatapus · #**222** 03-11-2015, 04:50 PM

WOOHOO!!! Got it fixed. Now everything that I have hooked up is working as it should... only thing is that's 1 out of 3, lol
Hopefully it's just a matter of repeating what got done right on the first

daplatapus · #**223** 03-23-2015, 07:10 PM

Well, started cleaning things up a bit now that most everything is figured out. But now that I unhooked a couple things, I can't remember how they go back together.

Here's where I'm at now. I took the HLG drivers out of the box. I was originally going to put it all in the left upper cabinet of the tank stand, but that put it in the same compartment as the overflow. I eventually thought that would give me moisture issues with the electronics so I mounted everything to a piece of plywood which will sit in the roof of the cabinet. I'm still looking to extend the TFT screen and mount it somewhere where I can reach it, but honestly, even if it just sits up top, not visible, it's not that big a deal. It's not very often I'll be changing anything with it regularly anyway.

This is what it looks like now:

Now I just need to remember how the heck to hook up the HLG drivers.
I've got the LED's in series hooked up to the V- and V+. But the Dim- and Dim+ are the wires that have me stumped. I think the Dim+ goes to the PWM pin on the Arduino... And the Dim- to the ground plane of the Arduino..????
I think I may be losing my brain cells...

Anyone???

Ron99 · #**224** 03-23-2015, 09:34 PM

Yup, Dim+ to the PWM signal and Dim- to ground

daplatapus · #**225** 03-24-2015, 04:11 AM

Cool, thanks! I've run into another potential problem, lol. I guess the HLG drivers need a 10V pwm signal but he Arduino only delivers 5V.
So now I need to see if the drivers will work at all (just at 50%) or how to convert the signal...

Ron99 · #**226** 03-24-2015, 05:26 AM

I did something similar with an Arduino years ago. IIRC you need a PNP transistor or a MOSFET and a 10V power supply. The 5V PWM switches the 10V via the transistor.

daplatapus · #**227** 03-25-2015, 01:02 AM

So I ended up buying a converter from Coralux. We'll see if that works.
I've got everything hooked up and fired it up today. First time I did that with all 3 fixtures. I have run into a couple problems:
1) The TV string doesn't work at all

2) I have some voltage bleed on one fixture so 2 of the 3 OCW stars are always on dimly
3) The XML NW string comes on but it's not anywhere as bright as it should be - no doubt because of the 5V PWM signal instead of the necessary 10V PWM
4) The XML CW string runs backwards - turn it up, it dims - turn it down, it gets brighter - so it never shuts off - I have no idea

BUT, on the positive side, the cooling fans work flawlessly - something that's been wrong for a while but now seems fixed.

Here's a shot before I fired it up - I figured if it blew up and burned to the ground, at least I'd have proof of what I built, lol

And lo and behold, it actually working

daplatapus · #**228** 04-01-2015, 01:52 PM

I got my converter in from Coralux and I think I have it all figured out how to wire it. But I'm now looking for some of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100pcs-2-6-1...3D191107646877

Anyone know where I can get some locally (Island or mainland)?

daplatapus · #**229** 05-09-2015, 11:55 PM

Well, dog gone it, I wasn't able to do things how I wanted. Turns out these HLG drivers cannot dim to zero, and if I wanted to use them I'd have to relay the power to the driver to turn them off. Needless to say I'm a bit disappointed, but I have only myself to blame for either not remembering that, or not doing enough research on them in the first place. The dimmest they get is almost 50%
If I knew a bit more about arduino programming language I think I could do it, but I'm not there. I have an extra Arduino Mega board, I'll probably keep the drivers and play with it over the next year or two and see if I can get it working, but for now I scrapped the idea, removed them from the system and built another LDD board for the XML LED's. They're going to be severely underpowered but I still think I'm going to have a lot of light. A total of 156 Cree and Exotic LED's.

Everything works fine now, but I am going to tweek some of the proto boards over the summer and swap them in for what there's now, so no real down time for the lighting.

Hopefully get some pics up of the finished product here in the next few days.

Vancouver Reefer · #**230** 05-10-2015, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daplatapus

I got my converter in from Coralux and I think I have it all figured out how to wire it. But I'm now looking for some of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100pcs-2-6-1...3D191107646877

Anyone know where I can get some locally (Island or mainland)?

Try Lee's Electronics on Main St. Great little store for all sorts. Cheap too.