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led lights - Printable Version

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led lights - adammac1 - 06-21-2022

im using diy led fixtures with meanwell ldd 700 drivers, the problem im having is that channel 1 on the light board is always on. No matter what i do it never changes, the problem follows the channel. ive tried useing it on different drivers. None of the other channels will turn anything on. please help


RE: led lights - Rob F - 06-21-2022

Hi, those drivers should work well, you want to set the dip switches to 0-5v PWM. For channel 1 that is always 100%, I assume you have a separate power supply powering up the LDD's, if so you need to connect the DC ground from that power supply to a common ground on the controller, you can use one of those two ground pins on the equipment extension. For ch 2 - 8 not working do you have both RJ45's connected? Channel 1 goes though one cable and 2-7 goes through the other.


RE: led lights - adammac1 - 06-22-2022

I did not realize I needed both rj45s hooked up, easy fix. Thanks. Does that mean that I would need a separate board for the sensor?

I mean a separate board for DC controll.


RE: led lights - Rob F - 06-22-2022

The other 6 ports on the equipment extension are for DC devices such as small pumps. Here's a link pointing them out, check out the next page as well as it explains the backup ports. The other board you have is for sensors.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dxnPCJHKRIjO4ohuQoJKWSelCzAurt36/edit#heading=h.cnqv23derfc5


RE: led lights - adammac1 - 06-22-2022

i plugged the 2nd rj45 in, now none of my lights are on. if i unplug the 2nd rj45 the one channel comes back on. They flicker at random with the 2nd rj45 plugged in

i think my power supply isnt big enough. its 5 amps. What power supply do you reccomend?


RE: led lights - Rob F - 06-22-2022

Just to verify are the RJ45's connected DC ports to DC ports and LED ports to LED ports?

Are you using two power supplies, one for lights and another for controller? For controller 5 amps is plenty, for light it all depends on number of LEDs.

For the flickering did you change the DIP switches for the PWM ports to 0-5v PWM?


RE: led lights - adammac1 - 06-22-2022

The lights themselves are on a separate power supply. The main board and the separate light/DC control board are on the same power supply. The dip switches are in the correct places and the rj45's are as well.


RE: led lights - Rob F - 06-22-2022

Do you have a connection from the light power supply DC ground to the common ground on the equipment extension?

Can you unplug the drivers from the extension and check the voltage on the PWM pins? When turned to 100% should be 5v.

Also verify the connectors in reef-pi are using the correct pin numbers. At the bottom of this page is a table with the pin numbers.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dxnPCJHKRIjO4ohuQoJKWSelCzAurt36/edit#heading=h.scxb48y2ahhq

If you only have the "DC ports" RJ45 plugged in does channel 1 work as expected? If so what if you try the other cable?


RE: led lights - adammac1 - 06-23-2022

I'll try the ground when I get home. I used your script to get all of the pins. I tried swapping the rj45s around with no change. I can't unplug the drivers, their soldered in.


RE: led lights - Rob F - 06-23-2022

Sorry I meant unplug the drivers from the PWM ports on equipment extension.

I attached an image to check some voltages on the main controller, when doing this unplug the equipment extension. If you remove the lid and look above the two RJ45's you'll see a row of 16 resistors like the image. Check the voltage on each of those resistors with the correspondingĀ port turned on 100%, you should get 5v at each one. You can check either side of the resistor. I also circled a couple ground points you can use when checking.

[attachment=613]


RE: led lights - adammac1 - 06-23-2022

On the extension board, channel 1, I get 10v. Nothing on any of the other channels. Switch 1 is on switch 2 is off. I'll check the main board next.

(06-23-2022, 04:06 PM)adammac1 Wrote: On the extension board, channel 1, I get 10v. Nothing on any of the other channels. Switch 1 is on switch 2 is off. I'll check the main board next.
i figured it out, i had it set up incorrectly. thank you for your assistance


RE: led lights - Rob F - 06-23-2022

Awesome, glad you got it working.


RE: led lights - adammac1 - 06-23-2022

me too. its awesome