DIY LED light wiring question...

[NanoReefWanabe]

i am building a pico (2gal) and want to light it with about 10 1 Watt white LEDS and about 8 Blues or vise versa...what ever colour and amount dont matter at this point...

well the number may but i dont know enough about the loads yet..

i wish to run/power the two colours separately so i can have the actinic effect...

i am sure there is a device out there i can buy that will allow me to ramp up the intensity of the LEDS, what is it called?

i want to have say 3 blue LEDS on at all times, i can wire those to a separate plug no biggy...but i want the remainder of the blues to come on dim and gradually work their way up to full intensity, once that is reached say over and hour i would like the same process to start with the white, and vise versa at night...to do this i will need to buy two of these mystery units...pretty sure all the LEDS will need to be wired in series with each other of the corresponding colours...

once i get the parts i will have someone walk me through the wiring...which from what i understand is fairly basic...

i was looking at a couple of these to power them up...will it work? and can my "Rheostat" device control the lights after this device?

LED driver (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=260306424107)

this is how i imagine it in my head..

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l46/crazyoldcougar/LEDdriver.jpg

[redbj]

I am not going to pretend that I know anything about LEDS.......but are they normally wired in series? I pictured that they would be wired in parallel, so if one breaks you dont lose the whole bunch.

[NanoReefWanabe]

personally dont know either...last couple threads i have read about LEDs say they were wired in series...i think wiring them in parallel cuts the power to them...i honestly have no idea though... the actual wiring of them is not important to me right now...just if i can find some sort of device to control the power to them...or a DIY way around it? i have seen people build controllers for power heads just wondering if the same principle works with the lights...

[Harry_Fish]

It has been a while since I played withdimming LEDs

If I rember right you want to drive them with a PWM signal

Varing the on/off to vary the intensity.

[NanoReefWanabe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13823194#post13823194 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Harry_Fish
It has been a while since I played withdimming LEDs

If I rember right you want to drive them with a PWM signal

Varing the on/off to vary the intensity.

that sounds like it is going to take more then this retarded landscaper's brain to figure out...LOL

[Harry_Fish]

Don't feel bad I've been into electronics for over 30
years and I still dumb as a stump on this sometimes.

I know there are kits etc out there that you may be able to use.

[NanoReefWanabe]

okay so i googled PWM....is there some way this can be put to a timer? from what i read the PWM is capable of dimming the lights etc..but i dont know if it will soft start them...then power them up over a given period of time and then 10 or 12 hours later power them back down automatically...

everything i have read so far says i can use a potentiometer to control the up and down of intensity...is there programmable ones out there?

Okay i just googled programmable potentiometer...and well, now my brain hurts...

is this something that is really going to be a as hard as i think it is going to be to put together?

[Harry_Fish]

I would look into a kit or a prebuilt unit.

It is something that can be put together but to be honest
Even thought I could do it for myself I would buy one pre-made.

(I actually have this feature in my aquarium controller)

In the end it would be less frustration, unless of course
you were doing it for the fun of DIY.

I have done a few DIYs that cost more just for the fun factor :)

I just did a google search for "dimmable moonlights timer"
and it came up with some products

[NanoReefWanabe]

cheers

[Soundwave]

It seems that the DIY postings get deleted too fast. The search function doesn't work cuz it's too busy. Anyway, I posted this a while back and I think this is what you are looking for. I apologize for the repeated post but it will help you.

OK, here goes…

What you will need:

1 Aluminum “angle iron” 1 inch by whatever length you need. (I used a 3 ft section for a 4 ft tank)
This can be found at Farm and Fleet, Lowe’s or Menard’s. ~ $6-$10

1 Small tube of heatsink compound. Found this on Ebay for $2 shipped. I’m sure you can get it locally at a place like Computer Deli.

1 Buckpuck. Depending on what kind of LEDs you use, the buckpuck will differ. (I’ll explain later)
This can be purchased from LEDsupply.com. ~ $19 shipped

1 AC/DC Power supply. Depending on the buckpuck chosen, the power supply will differ. ~ 10 on Ebay.

LEDs – The buckpuck will handle up to 32V DC. Each LED requires 3.5 to 4V to run. On Ebay, you can get packages of 5 LEDs. 1W or 3W or even 5W. 5 LEDs will require about 20V of power to run. You can buy 10 but would have a few left over after your project. Each set of 5 will run anywhere from $15 to $45. The 5 watt LEDs aren’t cheap. I would stay away from the 5 watt models. The 3 Watt is the easiest to use in this situation as it’s the one I used. To find these, search on Ebay for “5x watt LED” This will bring up any 5x LED auction with either 1,3 or 5 watt LEDs.

You’ll also need some speaker wire or any other low gauge copper wire for connecting the LEDs to the power supply.

Some 1-minute epoxy will also be helpful for mounting the buckpuck and securing wires.

A soldering iron is a must.

BEGINNING

Figure out how many LEDs you want. Remember that each buckpuck can only handle 32V. That means each string of LEDs that come from each power supply will max out at 8 LEDs. You don’t want to under-drive the LEDs. I chose 4 LEDs for my 4 foot strip and it looks just fine. I used a 24V power supply for this.

Space the LEDs out on the aluminum strip and trace them so you know where they will end up. A sharpie works great here. Each LED will need to be mounted to the strip via screws. I used two 6/32 machine screws per LED to secure them to the Aluminum. You will need to drill and tap the aluminum strip for this to work. Place a tiny tiny tiny amount of heatsink compound to the back of the LED and screw it to the aluminum. LEDs get pretty warm and the aluminum strip acts as a heatsink. I used a small cutout of a paper plate with a hole in the center to insulate the screw from contacting any of the metal contacts on the LED. I don’t know if this is required but it appears that the screw will touch the contacts if you don’t.

THE BUCKPUCK. This little thing can get confusing. I’ll explain it the best I can. You will want to get the wired version of the buckpuck found here - http://www.ledsupply.com/wired-buckpuck.php - You most likely will not need a dimmer so just pay attention to the top 3023-D-N-XXXX models. When purchasing your LEDs, there should be a place that describes the current needed for the LEDs to operate. 3 watt LEDs are usually 700mA. 1 Watt models are usually 350mA. You’ll notice that the buckpucks very in respect to their current output. If you choose the 3 watt LEDs, odds are you’ll need the 700mA model and so on. I purchased the 3023-D-N-700 for the 3 watters.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s282/soundwave2thousand/03023-D-N-700_Medium.jpg

WIRING
The LEDs should be wired in series. This means that each LED is connected to the other like this…

Positive from the buckpuck to the positive of the first LED. The negative of that LED to the positive of the next and repeat until the last negative goes back to the negative on the buckpuck.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s282/soundwave2thousand/1W.jpg

Make sure you solder each connection well and wiggle it once the connection is made. If the connection is not secure, it could fall off. DUH. Each LED has 4 contacts but it would seem that you can’t quite solder anything to them. If you look at how the LED is mounted to the little board it comes on, it looks like the LED, itself, is soldered to the board. I soldered my connections to the previously soldered points. This makes for a nice, strong, worry-free connection.

Once this is all wired up, you are ready to connect the whole deal to the power supply. Look at the power supply you get and figure out which wire is positive and which is negative. There is a diagram on every power supply that describes whether the inside or the outside of the plug is positive or negative. Generally, the wires inside the supply are red for positive and black for negative. Test with a voltmeter if you are still unsure. Cut any tips off the power supply and solder one wire to each the positive and negative of the buckpuck. You may need to extend the wiring depending on where it will plug in.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s282/soundwave2thousand/0605.jpg

You’re all done with the wiring. Now make it look pretty. Use the 1-minute epoxy to stick the buckpuck to the aluminum. Use it to stick the wires to the aluminum as well. It would be a good idea to use liquid electrical tape to cover all the soldered connections on the LEDs, as well. (I didn’t do this, though) Find a way to mount this whole unit inside your canopy or where ever else you want. I used a section of PVC with Ts on the ends to set my unit inside my canopy .

Good luck and if you have any questions, just ask.

[A.T.T.R]

pwm is rather easy
look into pic micro controllers
i maybe able to help ya out a bit when i have more time

[tetra-tag]

"It seems that the DIY postings get deleted too fast. The search function doesn't work cuz it's too busy. "

The threads weren't deleted, just pushed down the stack as new posts are made. To look up your (or anyones) old threads without using the search function, click on the 'profile' icon, then the 'search for all posts by this user' link on the upper right hand side. You can also access the 'profile' panel by clicking on your user name where it is displayed at the top whenever you are browsing any forum.

[NanoReefWanabe]

Soundwave thanx for that...i now how to wire them but i want them to automatically dim up and down over the course of the day...but thanx for the links that will help for ordering...

ATTR...i will have to take you up on that when you have time....

[NanoReefWanabe]

WOW...i googled PIC micro controllers...now i am even more lost, and thinking i will just have them turn on and off abruptly with regular timers....the numbers and codes look well over my threshold of understanding...albeit i am more hands on and with the do-dad in front of me it would a fair bit easier for me to understand...i know i can wire it up correctly but doing the computer language thing will certainly cause me to go on a rampage...LOL

[stugray]

I have built a LED dimming controller.

I used a Rabbit Micro RCM4010 ( Dev. Kit used to be $100 on sale, but its now back to $239 ) in place of a PIC although either will work.

The RABBIT has PWM built in in hardware, so all you have to do is enable it. Mine also has ENET, so I can contol it over my network.

I used a POWER MOSFET ( IRF510 or equivalent ) to pulse a 12V power supply in to the LEDs in series. It can also control DC fan speeds.

You cannot use one of those constant current drivers in a PWM circuit though. When the MOSFET opens to turn OFF the LED briefly, the CC PS will ramp up in voltage trying to keep the current constant, but it cant, so the Voltage goes to Max.

When the MOSFET turns back on, the voltage from the CC PS will be too high & will stress the LEDs.

I blew up two of my $10 CREEs trying that.

Stu

[NanoReefWanabe]

Okay then...

what is my shopping list going to look like if i want to use 6 1Watt blue and 6 1Watt white LEDs...i will leave three of the blues on at all times and the other three i would like controlled and i would like all 6 whites controlled..

so i need:

6 white led's
6 blue led's
a wall wart for the 3 constant blues
some wire...
2 PWM's
2 power sources to drive the PWM's
and?