Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > General Interest Forums > Do It Yourself
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 07/18/2011, 01:25 PM   #1726
Names Brucey
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Middle River, MD
Posts: 272
Yeah, I reversed it going from the driver to the boards. Looks like I have a lot of work to do!!!


Names Brucey is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/18/2011, 01:32 PM   #1727
Names Brucey
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Middle River, MD
Posts: 272
Anyway to tell for sure I fried them?


Names Brucey is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/18/2011, 02:03 PM   #1728
TheFishMan65
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 4,618
Replace 1 and see if that string lights up.


__________________
Click my home page for Thread Summaries

Current Tank Info: 75 gallon lps and fish
TheFishMan65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/19/2011, 05:45 PM   #1729
pazhope
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: California
Posts: 28
Well, I screw my lamp, I was playing with a wire from the fan and sudently just 2/3s of my lamp stop working.

I have 4 boards with 3 CATs each, on 2 board I see there is a short between GND and 5V, the other 2 boards only turn on a string

Will do some troubleshooting tonight, anyone had that problem before? (5V and GND in short)

thks


pazhope is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/19/2011, 06:46 PM   #1730
pazhope
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: California
Posts: 28
I just hope the problem is the capacitor instead of a cat chip, but I dont think I am that lucky


pazhope is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/20/2011, 12:22 AM   #1731
pazhope
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: California
Posts: 28
well, did some test, cat4101's are fry, only 3 out of 12 make it, will order some tomorrow..


pazhope is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/20/2011, 02:00 AM   #1732
kcress
Registered Member
 
kcress's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Central California Coast.
Posts: 5,383
Quote:
Originally Posted by terahz View Post




So terahz, have you fired one of these up yet?


kcress is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/20/2011, 06:15 AM   #1733
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
FWIW, at a user's request via PM, I did another version of the CAT4101 triple board with the PWM signals separated out for each chip. If there is any more interest in this let me know and I will post the files.


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/20/2011, 10:02 AM   #1734
rye_84
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht View Post
FWIW, at a user's request via PM, I did another version of the CAT4101 triple board with the PWM signals separated out for each chip. If there is any more interest in this let me know and I will post the files.
I would be interested in this.


rye_84 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/20/2011, 10:26 AM   #1735
inky
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: South West London, UK
Posts: 35
As above, I'm interested in the layouts being made public. I have cheated though and drilled 2 extra holes for a 6-way connector instead of the 4 and cut tracks to have 3 independent PWM signals


inky is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/20/2011, 12:09 PM   #1736
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
Files are up. Direct link:

http://code.google.com/p/hpled/downl...M.zip&can=2&q=


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/20/2011, 06:24 PM   #1737
terahz
1x10^12 Hz
 
terahz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Stamford, CT
Posts: 1,185
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcress View Post
So terahz, have you fired one of these up yet?
Nope, waiting for PCBs from seeed. I'm hoping sometime next week they'll be here.


__________________
Аз съм българче!

Current Tank Info: DIY 40 Breeder with LEDs
terahz is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/21/2011, 01:34 PM   #1738
ndh78
Registered Member
 
ndh78's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: OK
Posts: 85
Wow...great read...I got through most of it...lol.

I have a BC14 and want to use it for a test mule before I invest in lights on a larger scale. I would like to try the CAT board but only need 2 to run 18 leds on the little tank.

Does anyone have two I can buy or where can I get them...sorry if this is a dumb question and I should probably know the answer but I'm exhausted from reading.


__________________
Tank Info

Current Tank Info: 150g cube, 2x250 MH, 300 watts vho, neptune acIII, lifereef skimmer and calc reactor, 75g sump w/fuge
ndh78 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/21/2011, 05:16 PM   #1739
Tesla
Registered Member
 
Tesla's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht View Post
DWZM,

Do you have Seeedstudio Gerber files for this new version of the seperate PWM CAT4101 board.

I downloaded Eagle yesterday but the current CAM file on Seeed for some reason has errors in the latest Eagle.

Great board BTW

Thanks
-Phillip



Last edited by Tesla; 07/21/2011 at 05:43 PM.
Tesla is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/22/2011, 06:16 PM   #1740
jcgd
Registered Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 74
4 channel, PWM controlled driver

A friend of mine has been helping me out with my LED build. He built me four boards using info he found here and modified them for his own use. Each board is around $55 to build. You need an external power supply. I'm using 24v/13A Meanwell power supplies.

- Each board has four channels at 1000mA each, independently controlled by PWM.
- Four trim pots to manually set the max current each driver puts out to <1000mA
- PMW override jumper to bypass the PWM in case you don't want a controller. It just sends 5v to the chip for you so they always run full on.
- 12v outputs for your Arduino power so you don't need another adapter.

Here's a picture of the board and the eagle files, parts list, etc. are in the zip folder. There are links to the parts at Digikey in the parts list.


Attached Images
File Type: png 4upcatver5.0.png (21.1 KB, 174 views)
Attached Files
File Type: zip O2Surplus driver.zip (78.1 KB, 147 views)

Last edited by jcgd; 07/22/2011 at 06:46 PM.
jcgd is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/22/2011, 08:39 PM   #1741
Names Brucey
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Middle River, MD
Posts: 272
Hey guys, still need some help. A couple posts back I mentioned that I moved my fixture and inadvertanly hooked my power supply up backwards (postive going to the negative) to the driver. Now none of my lights work. I used Fishman's boards and he had done the same thing and determined he fried his CAT's. So I ordered all new CAT's, most are on backorder, but I got 13 in and re-soldered them onto my boards and nothing. Same exact thing. Any other ideas where to start. It appears as though I am getting my PWM ok and power is getting to the board OK but no power to the led's. I am at a loss (not an electrical guy). My corals are now about a week without light and I need help quick. I appreciate any thoughts or ideas.


Names Brucey is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/24/2011, 01:18 PM   #1742
kcress
Registered Member
 
kcress's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Central California Coast.
Posts: 5,383
Names Brucey; Turn everything off and use your DMM in diode test mode to confirm every single LED is still functional. Then get back to us.


kcress is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/24/2011, 02:16 PM   #1743
Names Brucey
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Middle River, MD
Posts: 272
Already did. All work fine. I did determine that the on-board 5v was not working either. Replaced that on one of the boards (had an extra) and now I get limited strings lighting up (barely) with varying voltage to the strings and some strings nothing. Checked for shorts on the board etc, nothing. The only thing I don't know about is whether I could have fried the potentiometers doing this so that they are screwing with something maybe?


Names Brucey is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/24/2011, 05:43 PM   #1744
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
Can you isolate one board or one driver for testing? Can you bypass the pot and your pwm source to rule them out?

Where is your pwm coming from? Was that device connected when power was reversed? At one point I had an arduino connected to a driver and reversed power to the driver. The output pin on the 'duino's AVR was fried as a result.

Linear regs are easy to troubleshoot. What are your Vin and Vout?


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/24/2011, 06:41 PM   #1745
Names Brucey
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Middle River, MD
Posts: 272
Don't know if I can bypass POT. My PWM is from the typhoon board. Output from that is a little low. Shows something like 4.8 to 4.93 volts. I guess I could take my 5v output on the driver and just wire it to the PWM to make sure that isn't it. Input voltage is somewhere around 15 something which is where I need it but when I check voltage at the LED's connections to the board it is all over the place, from 10 something down to 9 something.


Names Brucey is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/25/2011, 12:48 AM   #1746
Bryan
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 1,750
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcgd View Post
- Four trim pots to manually set the max current each driver puts out to <1000mA
Shouldn't the pots to control the current be 5k instead of 10k. According to the datasheet Rset ohms is 5K for 100ma.

Cheers


__________________
-=Bryan=-

Current Tank Info: 10g nano reef
Bryan is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/25/2011, 06:36 AM   #1747
TheFishMan65
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 4,618
Brucey,

See PM, but you can bypass the trimpot. Jumper the 2 out pins of the pot together with a short wire (you can take it out later). Use the 5 volt output to supply the PWM (this is my standard test configuration). Does this light the LEDs at about 900 ma?


__________________
Click my home page for Thread Summaries

Current Tank Info: 75 gallon lps and fish
TheFishMan65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/25/2011, 06:55 AM   #1748
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
Anything on the board getting hot?


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/25/2011, 07:14 AM   #1749
Names Brucey
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Middle River, MD
Posts: 272
Nothing getting hot. Fishman, when you say jumper the 2 outpins you have me a little confused. Do you want me to remove the pot from the board and then jumper? Which 2 are the out pins?


Names Brucey is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/25/2011, 07:41 AM   #1750
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
The two outer pins of the three pins on the pot. That will effectively remove the pot from the circuit.

I really don't see how the pots could be damaged though. Do you have any bare PCBs to build a new driver from scratch? That would eliminate the driver, vs. there being a problem in the LED array or wiring.


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:34 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.