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Author Topic: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate  (Read 9493 times)

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signdude

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how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« on: July 06, 2017, 05:20:23 pm »
hello all...
am having a problem lighting my single color leds. i wll try my best to explain what ihave tried so far.
i have wired each single wire from the button to the ipac ultimate using one of the 4 gang pin connectors. i only put 3 seperate button wires into each of the 4 way connectors and leave the ground wire out.
i then daisy chain on ground wire from a ground to each of the buttons.
the crazy thing is that this is working for 1 four way connector on one of the LED blocks located on the ipac.
and then another 4 way connector on the other LED block on the ipac.
however if i try to add another 4 way connector to either of the 2 LED blocks then the new buttons do not light up...i hope this all made some sense...
thanks for any help or insight on this....

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2017, 05:45:52 pm »
Sadly made no sense to me! Post some pics?

PL1

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2017, 09:04:08 pm »
i only put 3 seperate button wires into each of the 4 way connectors and leave the ground wire out.
i then daisy chain on ground wire from a ground to each of the buttons.
The 4th wire/daisy chain isn't ground.

Most LED controllers are designed to use common anode RGB LEDs (daisy chain "LED +"), not common cathode LEDs.  (daisy chain ground)

 

Take a closer look at the markings on the board.



Upper left you see pin rows labeled "1-3", 4-6", "7-9",  etc.

Bottom left you see pin columns labeled "+  R  G  B"

The anode (LED +) daisy chain connects to the "+" pin that provides the operating voltage and the cathode (LED -) connects to the "R" (1, 4, 7 . . . ), "G" (2, 5, 8 . . .), or "B" (3, 6, 9 . . .) pins that provide ground.


Scott

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2017, 09:21:15 pm »
MAN...... i sure do appreciate your help, but for some reason i just cant fully understand what i am doing wrong. i think i am overworked and underslept....lol
can you possibly have a look at this and tell me exactly where i am going wrong? thanks again so much for your help and patience :banghead:

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2017, 09:30:38 pm »
Ok, For single colour LEDs you should only have 2 wires, a + and a -.

So in the instance of conecting single leds you would connect them between + and R, G OR B.

When you connect all 4 is when using RGB LED's RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue.

the other 2 wires should not be connected to your LED but to your switch and therefore should be conected to your input terminals.

Hope I have understood this right, its 2:30am and ime tired...

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2017, 09:48:34 pm »
thanks for trying to straighten me out....
but i think i am doing what you are saying... i am attaching the orange wire to one button, then a iam attaching the gray wire to a different button, and the yellow wire to a different button.
and then the red(ground) wire is daisy chained to all the buttons.
when i wire it like this on #1-3 it works and the leds turn on. but when i try to do it again on 4-7 the leds do not light up. im sure the answer is right in front of me but i just cant seem to see it.......thanks again

PL1

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2017, 12:20:19 am »
Sounds like you have:
1. The LEDs installed backward from the way they should be (common cathode configuration)
2. Ground on the daisy chain that should have 5v

With those two errors, an LED could *possibly* light when the Ultimate I/O has the R/G/B channels set to "off" (5v on the R/G/B pins) giving the false appearance that it is working properly.

thanks for trying to straighten me out....
but i think i am doing what you are saying... i am attaching the orange wire to one button, then a iam attaching the gray wire to a different button, and the yellow wire to a different button.
and then the red(ground) wire is daisy chained to all the buttons.
when i wire it like this on #1-3 it works and the leds turn on. but when i try to do it again on 4-7 the leds do not light up. im sure the answer is right in front of me but i just cant seem to see it.......thanks again
You keep saying "button".

You aren't connecting the LED wires to the microswitch, are you?  :banghead:

There should be no electrical connections between the microswitch and LED wiring.

The LED wiring goes to the 0.250" "stirrup" tabs. (pointing up in this pic)



One stirrup connects to the LED anode, the other to the LED cathode.

You can test which is which using the diode setting on your multimeter.
(LED will light dimly when the red lead is on the anode and the black lead is on the cathode)

You can pull the LED out of the socket and turn it 180 degrees if desired -- I always orient the LED so the cathode (-) is on the same side as the big black plastic tab that holds the microswitch.   ;D

Based on your pic:

Connect the red wire daisy chain to the anode (+) stirrup tabs for "common anode" configuration.
*** THE "RED WIRE" DAISY CHAIN NEEDS TO BE CONNECTED TO 5V (+), NOT GROUND. (-) ***
Ideally, the + pin (black line) would be daisy chained to the anodes of the three LEDs connected to the orange, gray, and yellow wires.

The orange (blue channel), gray (green channel) and yellow (red channel) wires go to the cathode (-) stirrup tab of three LEDs.
- Orange wire LED will light when RGB pins 49-51 are set to "blue".
- Gray wire LED will light when RGB pins 49-51 are set to "green".
- Yellow wire LED will light when RGB pins 49-51 are set to "red".
- Orange and yellow wire LEDs will both light when RGB pins 49-51 are set to "purple". (red and blue)

The Ultimate I/O lights the LEDs by applying ground to the R/G/B pins and turns them off by applying 5v to the pins.

It works like a spring-loaded, one-way plumbing valve.

If the voltage (water pressure) difference between the anode and cathode is enough to cause the LED (valve) to "forward bias", current will flow (water flows through the valve) and the LED will light.

If you install the LED (valve) backward, the voltage (water pressure) will "reverse bias" the LED. (push the valve closed)


Scott

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2017, 04:19:57 pm »
well....thanks again for the replies.... i feel like an idiot here but i have tried just as you are saying but NO JOY...
please have a look at this and tell me if this is not what you are instructing me to do.
thanks again for all your help

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2017, 04:23:11 pm »
also, i have tried daisy chaining from the (+) pin on the end of any of the numbered rows but still no happiness....

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2017, 04:31:50 pm »
Nope.

Dont use the terminals (top left and right) that you have.
Instead take it to the + terminal next to your "yellow" wire, the one you have listed as no wire attached.

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2017, 04:40:55 pm »
hmmmm, i tried that Titch. but still nothing. i will try again in a bit.
thanks

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2017, 04:59:17 pm »
If that does not work I can only assume your polarity is wrong, in which case swap the 2 wires around.

Also dont daisy chain to many at once. The board is designed to do 3 at once on one of those plugs so I would do 3 at a time.

Also just a stupid one to check, you are powering up the board with the dc power supply right?

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #12 on: July 07, 2017, 06:36:58 pm »
titch, i think you are probably right with the (no daisy chain longer than 3 leds).....i am going to try that next and see what happens...
thanks again

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #13 on: July 07, 2017, 07:00:06 pm »
ok so i tried shortening the daisy chain to only 3 leds per chain and still nothing. so maybe it is a power issue, and this is where i know very little about what is needed.
what i have done is taken the molex connector that came with the ipac board and hooked it up to a random free molex connector inside my pc. the molex connector that came with the ipac had 2 prongs. does this sound correct?
thanks again for your patience...

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #14 on: July 07, 2017, 09:05:16 pm »
Yes the molex connectors in a pc carry 2 different voltages 5v and 12v so you would only need 2 of the wires.

Did you try changing the polarity by switching the wires?

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #15 on: July 07, 2017, 09:09:12 pm »
Also can you take a picture of your LED's and switches for us? Will make life much easier :)

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #16 on: July 07, 2017, 10:47:10 pm »
thanks Titch, here is a pic of one of the buttons. the black ground wire is going to the (-). and the orange input wire is going to the (+). i know that is the opposite of what it should be but that is the only way i could get anything to light up. so the problem is still that no more than 3 lights can be turned on whether i use 1 solid ground wire daisy chain to he 5A inlet or i use a ground wire for each 3 lights on any given RGB+ block.
and now i just noticed that the 3 lights that i get to work are actually staying lit even after i turn the pc off.
what the hell can that mean???
thanks once more buddy....

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #17 on: July 08, 2017, 05:03:36 am »
Ok this is progress kind of lol

So going off what you have told me what should work is this:

Link 3 of the orange wires in a daisy chain, i am assuming all the LED's have the same coloured wires.

The black wires should then go to R,G and B respectively.

Dont worry about them being on after power off, they are still receiving power because they have not been sent the off signal from the pc software they will be stuck in the program till you take the power off the board.

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #18 on: July 08, 2017, 05:23:39 am »
Just to add this is what you should be doing, The Red Green and Blue wires on the drawing will be your blacks.

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #19 on: July 08, 2017, 09:28:06 am »
Titch, apparently i am HOPELESS because i am doing just as you are saying but still nothing.... if i hook the red, green, and blue wires to the (-) of each LED, then hook the (+) wire to the (+) terminal of each LED i get nothing (and i have tried connecting the (+) wire to the (+)on the rgb block, i have also tried hooking it to the 5V, and i have also tried hooking it to the GRND terminal and still nothing.

still the only way to get them to light is by hooking red green and blue to the (+) of each LED. and the daisy chain wire to the (-) of each LED from the GRND on the board. but this method will only light 3 LEDs and no more....

like i said it may be HOPELESS ... :dunno

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #20 on: July 08, 2017, 09:33:37 am »
Take a pic of the ipac board in the config where you have 3 of them working.

Your description is confusing me somewhat :p

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #21 on: July 08, 2017, 09:57:08 am »
okay thanks agin buddy....
so in this pic the orange wire is going to the (+) on the first LED, the gray wire(which is hard to see in the pic) is going to the 2nd LED (+). then the white wire is going to the 3rd LED (+).
and the black wire that is pushed into the GND is daisy chaining to the (-) on all 3 of the LEDs.
with this configuration the 3 LEDS light up, however if i try to do this configuration again on the next terminal over(52-54) then they dont light up...

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #22 on: July 08, 2017, 10:11:21 am »
Ok well that black wire should not be in that ground for a start it should be next to the orage wire.

So just try this, put the black wire in next to the orange wire, If it does not light all 3 up turn the plug around and see if it lights just one of the LED's up.

If it does light one up your LED's polaritys are wrong so check they are in the holders correctly, I.E. + to + and - to -.
If they are the wrong way round they will not light.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2017, 10:33:56 am by Titchgamer »

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #23 on: July 08, 2017, 10:32:55 am »
LOL.....i know your staring to think i am out of my mind but tried it and still nothing.
question...since i am getting them to light up when i do that weird combination then that means i have the powered wire to the cp correct right? i mean should i look into the molex connector as a possible cause for the problem?

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #24 on: July 08, 2017, 10:37:10 am »
The molex connector is pre made so should not be giving you any problems.
But you can check it with a multi meter. With the meter set to DC volts push a probe inside the end of the barrel plug and one on the outside of the metal bit and you should get a reading of 5v.

Try just doing 1 LED at a time connecting between the + and R on the board, If nothing happends switch the wires around.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2017, 10:47:57 am by Titchgamer »

signdude

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #25 on: July 08, 2017, 12:00:41 pm »
okay so i tried hooking up just one LED at a time and yes the first one lights up but then no more after that.
i dont have a voltage meter but can it be possible that i am only getting enough power to light a few LEDs at a time which would explain why i cant hook up more than three?
this is driving me frigging nuts man......

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #26 on: July 08, 2017, 03:19:36 pm »
What if you hook each led up to a different row?

Atleast that proves the board works.

You could be underpowered but extremely unlikely!

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #27 on: July 08, 2017, 08:18:37 pm »
okay..... so after much experimenting i have found what works. and PLEASE forgive me it anyone has tried to tell me that this is the way so far and i just didnt understand them. thanks so much to everone who offered their thoughts on this (especially you Titch who kept offering advice even when i was ready to give up)....
now the only question is will software like LED blinky recognize each of these buttons as no wires are on the red, green, or blue?
thanks again

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #28 on: July 09, 2017, 04:39:33 pm »
Well, whatever works :p

Glad your sorted :)

Mike A

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #29 on: July 10, 2017, 09:18:07 am »
Buy a multimeter.

Titchgamer

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #30 on: July 10, 2017, 10:39:29 am »
Buy a multimeter.

Think that should be your quote Mike LOL

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Re: how to wire single color leds on ipac ultimate
« Reply #31 on: July 10, 2017, 10:42:54 am »
I was toying with that idea. A multimeter is such a basic and vital tool. I am pretty surprised at how many people try to troubleshoot electronic problems without one.