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LEDWIZ wiring question
RandyT:
--- Quote from: evh347 on April 10, 2012, 10:45:07 pm ---Do the white plastic spacer "standoffs" that came with each LEDWIZ go between the head of the mounting screws and the PCB board (on top) or between the PCB board and the object (my control panel) of which I'm mounting the PCB board to (underneath)?
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The latter.
--- Quote ---What is my "5vDC regulated source"? Is that the the "USB +5v" port on the PCB? <--that was my plan. I have all the red tipped +5 wires going into the Euro Terminal and then I daisy chained them with the intent of running them all into the "USB +5v" terminal port on the PCB. I probably made this job a lot harder on myself than it needed to be but I wired them together with what I had instead of going to Radio Shack.
Actually, when I look at the diagram in the documentation...it looks like this is exactly how this is supposed to be connected. Just wanna make sure Randy. ;)
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If you have 32 RGB LED's, that it the equivalent of 96 mono superbrights. This would be almost 2 amps of current, if all of them were on at one time, which is far more than the USB port can supply. You would need to tap into the 5v line of your PC power supply to power that many LED's.
--- Quote ---Nothing plugs into the "Ground" terminal port on the PCB for my situation, correct?
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No. With that much current, you should also connect the ground line from your supply to this terminal.
--- Quote ---Could I wire one of the colored wire leads into the "Ground" on the PCB to test the color?
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To test the color, you would only need to touch that wire to the metal housing of the USB socket on the LED-Wiz.
--- Quote ---If I'm only planning on wiring up 32 GGG RGB LEDs plus (eventually) the trackball upgrade across 4 LED WIZ PCB boards running all that into a powered USB hub...I'm thinking that since I'm not adding any outside bulbs and everything is pretty much easy peasy...none of that applies to my situation because I'm not using any additional lamps and relays, or a "large number of LEDs". I shouldn't need to utilize the "bank voltage select terminals" on the PCB, correct?
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That depends on the current available from the powered hub. If it's more than the load, you should be fine. Otherwise, you should tap into the PC power supply, as mentioned above. You probably don't need to worry about the "bank voltage select terminals". But it's usually a good idea to use them anyway.
RandyT
evh347:
Randy,
Tonight I got my first LED WIZ PCB board up and running with LED Blinky. I've got 10 buttons going into 30 "output" ports and everything looks GREAT!
However, if I catch what you're saying, you're saying that if I continue wiring up the 3 remaining PCB boards I'm gonna find out that I don't have enough power to run all of these...and I'm gonna find out this quickly especially if they are programmed to all go on at once, correct?
This is the USB hub I'm using now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051PGX2I/ref=oh_o01_s00_i02_details
The beginning of this thread is starting to make a lot more sense to me now.
Okay, so I probably have an insufficient power issue.
I need someone to walk me through tapping my PC Power Supply. I've got LEDs behind my coin door and illuminating my speakers via molar cables...same thing? I can't honestly remember how I did that, it's been so long. What exactly do I need to do?
GGG sells a "Switching Power Supply - 110/220v - 110 watt" (currently out of stock). <---Is this an alternative to "tapping the PC power supply", as in "easier way" to supply the needed current? Does Radio Shack sell these?
--- Quote ---You probably don't need to worry about the "bank voltage select terminals". But it's usually a good idea to use them anyway.
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I don't need to worry about them because all of the LEDs will be running at +5V...I'd only need to utilize the "bank voltage select terminals" if I were trying to run different batches of LEDs (4 max) on the same PCB, correct? Still, why do you say "it's usually a good idea to use them anyway"? If I were using the PC's power supply, wouldn't all of the +5v wires (currently going into the "+5v USB" on the PCB) just be connect to the PC's power supply?
Is there any danger in finishing wiring the 3 remaining PCB boards and configuring them in LED Blinky to see what happens when all 32 of the RGB LEDs (actually 96 mono super brights) ramp up? Worst case scenario, the USB powered Hub shuts off...no damage right?
I know I'm a total FNG and I should've more paid attention in electronics class...
Thanks!
evh347:
I think we can forget my last post, I answered almost all of my questions when I landed on a post elsewhere on this forum. The search function is my friend.
In that thread, a user posted a very good video on tapping the computer supply. The video jogged my memory as to how this was done as I've done it already by lighting up my coin doors and speakers. I used MOLEX (not molar, dummy) connectors. Red wire is +5v and the ground is the black wire. I just need find additional wire to get there and between all 4 PCB boards because I already have the majority of this connected.
I'm not convinced that I'll need to tap the computer +5v supply considering another user didn't require any additional power beyond his USB Hub and he was running 4 LED Wiz boards (32 RGB LEDs) and a U-Trak. He reported no performance degradation. I guess I'll wire it up and see what happens and add the PC power supply if necessary.
What the other post didn't mention that this one does is the suggestion of installing an in-line fuse. What is that for and how do you wire that?
Thanks.