LED-Wiz and LEDBlinky - Nothing lights up, need help.

[level42jeff]

Ok, so I just got my LED-Wiz in the mail today and decided to jump right in.

Below is a picture of how I have it wired (Currently the RGB led from my Electric Ice TrackBall)

I've configured my LEDBlinky exactly as described in this video (Except the +5v lead because my LEDs never came with that)



My Wiring:


Am I missing something here? I can't get the LED's to light up at all.

Thanks.

[AlienInferno]

From the looks of that picture you have the Red, Green, & Blue wires hooked up in ports 1, 2, & 3 correctly.  Your problem is the wire you have hooked up as your ground.  That wire is the +5 volt line for the LED's.  What you need to do is one of two things. 

1.)  You can use an external power source (such as the 5volt line from a PC power supply) and connect it to the Port that's labeled Bank Voltage Select 1-8.  Then run a ground to the port labeled GND.  Run the one wire (from your LED.  Not an actual grounding source) you  currently have going into the GND port to the Bank Voltage Select 1-8 port as well to supply the +5 volt source the the LEDs.

2.)  2nd would be to use the USB power as the power source (there are limits to using the USB as the power source.  I'm just not sure what they are.) for this all you have to do is run a wire from the port labeled USB +5v to port labeled Bank Voltage Select 1-8 and plug it in.

I have provided to quick drawings showing the two ways of wiring.

Hope this helps.

[level42jeff]

With regards to your first picture, why do I need to run the +5 to the 1-8 port? Can't I just connect the LED Ground directly to the +5?

Also, If I added a secondary power source, could I use the same +5v power source to power 3 Wiz's? or do they each need their own power source?

lastly, what would the disadvantages be to using the USB power, if any know.

Thanks so much for you help and your diagrams answer a lot.

[AlienInferno]

I might be misunderstanding your first question as the wording has me confused but the first picture is if you will be using the +5 volt supplied through the USB to power the LED's, the second picture is if you are going to be using an external power source.  The grounds for the trackball LED's are the ones with the R, G, & B stickers on them.  The +5 line for the LED wire is the wire that does not have any stickers on it (on mine this wire had some red marker on the end of it).  I would not hook up any of the LED's grounds to +5.  It probably wouldn't hurt the LED's but just in case I wouldn't do it.

The 1-8 ports are part of the Bank Voltage Select terminals.  They split the 32 inputs up into four groups of eight.  Thus the first port is 1-8, the second 9-16, third is 17-24, and finally the fourth at 25-32.  They are wired like this so you can more easily run two different voltages (5 volt and 12 volt) for things other then LED's.  You connect +5 to the 1-8 port to supply the first 8 ports on the LEDwiz with +5 volts.

You should be able to hook up 3 Wiz's to the same power source provided it can supply the correct amperage.

The disadvantages of using the USB power only is that you are limited to 500mA max.    LED's are 20mA each I think so with the way the Electric Ice Trackball is setup that's 60mA.  If that's all you're using the LEDwiz for then you can run it off the USB power like my first picture.

[level42jeff]

Sorry, I'm still new to all this, allow me to try and clarify.

Why does the +5v terminal need to be bridged over to the 1-8 bridge? Can't I just wire the LED's directly to the +5v?

Another question I'd like to add, if I have say (32) LED's, how do I get all 32 leads into the same terminal? Is there a proper way I should be splicing the wire to make it work?

When I think about how to wire this, this is what comes to mind. (I'm probably WAY! off but hopefully I can get some clarification )

Image:

*** Sorry I messed up the drawing, the Pink wire would go into the +5v not the ground ***

[AlienInferno]

OK.  I've been playing around with my LEDWiz and reading the directions again and realized I've been way overthinking things.     I do that often.  LOL.  But in the picture you first posted just move the wire that you have in the ground terminal to the +5v terminal next to it.  Should work fine after that.

I would use a terminal strip similiar to this one. 
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=69&products_id=201

You can hook up the +5v from the LEDWiz to it on one side and daisy chain it down that one side, then just hook the +5v lead from the LED's to the opposite side to supply it with 12 volts.  Will either need 3 of them for your 32 LED's or just put 3 LED's in each of the terminal strip ports.

Also 32 LED's will have you over 500mA if you are using the USB's power.  For single color LED's you are at 640mA (32LED's x 20mA).  If you are using all RGB LED's then you would be at 1920mA (32LED's x 60mA) as each LED is basically 3 LED's in one.

Took some pics that might help.
1st pic - Everything wired up.  All connected to the +5v off the LEDwiz.  Port 1 is Trackball Red, Port 2 is Trackball Green, Port 3 is Trackball Blue, and Ports 4,5,6,& 7 are single color blue LED's.

2nd pic - A closeup of the trackball RGB wires.  For clarification ?.  Not sure what I was thinking with this one.   

3rd pic - A closer view of the single color Blue LED's wires.

4th pic - Everything lit up and working.  I daisy chained the +5v from the LEDwiz to the LED's but since I don't have a terminal strip yet I just twisted the ends together and used a short wire with a clamp on the end to connect it to the LEDwiz.

I'll make a vid later today or tommorrow if you need one.

[level42jeff]

Ok, so, now I'm thinking of External power.

I have 3 LED-wiz's and, preferably, I'd like to have these all on 1 power supply. Is this possible?

If so, do I need a +15v power supply? (15 / 3 led-wiz = 5 each?) and what do I need to check to make sure that the mA is compatible?

P.S Thanks for your help! ... I've already picked up some terminal blocks its now just a matter of enough power.

[AlienInferno]

Ok, so, now I'm thinking of External power.

I have 3 LED-wiz's and, preferably, I'd like to have these all on 1 power supply. Is this possible?

Yes.  The same power supply can be used for all 3 LED-wiz's.

If so, do I need a +15v power supply? (15 / 3 led-wiz = 5 each?) and what do I need to check to make sure that the mA is compatible?

No.  Just use a +5v power supply.  Volts stay the same regardless of how many led-wizs you have hooked up.  You shouldn't have to worry about amperage too much if you're using an external source. 

[level42jeff]

This is wonderful thanks!

I've decided I'm just going to wire it up to my computer power supply That seems like the most logical solution.

[AlienInferno]

Awesome.  Did you finally get it to work?

[level42jeff]

Not yet, I'm still trying to finalize my control deck layout, once I do, wiring can commence

Thread here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=115792.0 (Control Panel Layout)

Thanks.