Weatherproof Status LED's

[jimswinder]

JBullard wrote:

If I understand the point on the board you are refering to, it should only be about a two volt logic voltage, not 12 volts.

(or did you leave out the original LED dropping resistor also?)

YIKES!! Dropping Resistor??? I don't know!!! :shock:

All I know is that there is a place on the LOR Board to put the Red Status LED. Instead of soldering the LED there, I soldered two wires and ran them to a LED so I could put them on the front panel of my enclosure so I could see the status LED without having to open up my enclosures (and they are working).

For some reason (I think someone on this forum told me) I was under the understanding all LED's were 12 volt, becasue I had asked what voltage LED I needed to buy...

EDIT:

OK..I am an idiot...I see Max-Paul TOLD me at the start of this post that they are NOT 12 volt but around 2 volts!! God...I hate growing old!!

I better mark the calendar now on when to hang my lights or I must just FORGET!!!

[JBullard]

most LEDs are either 2.1 volts or 3.5 volts (nominal) DC. To my knowledge, no LED is 12 volts.

However, an LED can be made to work with 12 volts by using a dropping resistor resistor on the cathode side of the LED. The Radio Shack item mentioned has a built in dropping resistor.

A quick calculation shows with 12 volts DC, a 560 ohm 1/2 watt resistor should be used for a red LED with a forward voltage of 2.1 volts and dropping 20 ma of current. The resistor would dissipate 224 mW and the LED would dissipate 42 mW.

Most circuits using LEDs are calculated starting with the current level for the LED, then the supply voltage then the rated forward voltage of the LED resulting in the value of the dropping resistor to be used in that particular circuit.

[jimswinder]

JBullard wrote:

most LEDs are either 2.1 volts or 3.5 volts (nominal) DC. To my knowledge, no LED is 12 volts.

However, an LED can be made to work with 12 volts by using a dropping resistor resistor on the cathode side of the LED. The Radio Shack item mentioned has a built in dropping resistor.

A quick calculation shows with 12 volts DC, a 560 ohm 1/2 watt resistor should be used for a red LED with a forward voltage of 2.1 volts and dropping 20 ma of current. The resistor would dissipate 224 mW and the LED would dissipate 42 mW.

Most circuits using LEDs are calculated starting with the current level for the LED, then the supply voltage then the rated forward voltage of the LED resulting in the value of the dropping resistor to be used in that particular circuit.

LOL....This is why I never passed the French or German classes in school...becasue I just don't understand foreign languages...like the one you just spoke in!!! :shock:

I'm just smart enough (barely) to ask the the guys, like you, who know!! :cool:

[JBullard]

lol, I understand. I had zero luck with Spanish, French and German. Barely passed English!

LEDs are just an entirely different animal, they are not a light bulb where we usually think of voltage. They are a diode, that happens to emit light. The most important spec of the LED is its forward current rating - everything else can be adjusted.

[Darryl Lambert]

Jim in the helpful hints section on http://www.oznium.com/led they state.

"Depending on how you plan to install your LEDs, you might want to consider the option of using resistors. LEDs are designed to work with roughly 2 to 4 volts of power, which your 12 volt car battery will burn through pretty quickly. If you run too much voltage through LEDs, they will either burn out quickly, or in extreme cases they would stop working altogether"

Just thought you should know and maybe consider putting in a resistor.

[JBullard]

If Jim just bought a single bare LED and the holders from Ozium, and ran his extension wires to the place on the LOR board where the LED would normally be mounted, then the dropping resistor is probably already installed on the LOR board, and he should be OK. (still a little concerned how much current is being pushed through the replacement LED since he said they were bright!)

[jimswinder]

JBullard wrote:

If Jim just bought a single bare LED and the holders from Ozium, and ran his extension wires to the place on the LOR board where the LED would normally be mounted, then the dropping resistor is probably already installed on the LOR board, and he should be OK. (still a little concerned how much current is being pushed through the replacement LED since he said they were bright!)

I guess "bright" is relative...I don't think they are any brighter than the LED's that came with the kit. It all depends if you are looking at them dead on too, as opposed to the side.

I just assumed the other poster thought his were dimmer than the LOR LED's...

They have been working while testing my Weber tree for several hours and no problems yet.

EDIT:

And yes, I bought the 5mm bare legged LED's...just like the ones that came with the kits.

[Max-Paul]

JBullard wrote:

However, an LED can be made to work with 12 volts by using a dropping resistor resistor on the cathode side of the LED. The Radio Shack item mentioned has a built in dropping resistor.

Actually current dont give a darn what side of the LED the resistor is installed. So just make sure that you install the resistor and it dont matter if it is at the cathode or anode side.

[Max-Paul]

ny_yankee,

Thanks for the write up on how you did it.

[jimswinder]

Hey Mr. Bullard (or anyone else who might know)...

I asked this before, but never got an answer...

Why is it (for example) do 50 ct LED strings of Green, Blue and White have one more resistor (in the middle) than the Red strings (one at each end)?

I noticed my 100 ct also have one more than the Red strings do.

[JBullard]

jimswinder wrote:

Why is it (for example) do 50 ct LED strings of Green, Blue and White have one more resistor (in the middle) than the Red strings (one at each end)?

I noticed my 100 ct also have one more than the Red strings do.

Well, that is not necessarily an always true statement.

I have strings of 50 and 100 count FWR LEDs of Red, Green and White that only have the ones at the ends, none in the middle.

It depends on how the manufacter designed and made the strings.

Sometimes the "blob" might only contain a resisitor only, or other times it might contain a bridge rectifier and resistors. Or in some horrible designs (in my opinion) also may have a capacitor included in the blob.

So the answer is, it is because that is the way the engineer that designed them thought was best for the LEDs used in that particular string that you own.

[jimswinder]

JBullard wrote:

So the answer is, it is because that is the way the engineer that designed them thought was best for the LEDs used in that particular string that you own.

All mine are from the same manufacturer (I presume, they came from CDI).

So it has nothing to do with that Red LED's are a different voltage (which is what I thought) than the Blue, Green and White?

[JBullard]

jimswinder wrote:

JBullard wrote:

So the answer is, it is because that is the way the engineer that designed them thought was best for the LEDs used in that particular string that you own.

All mine are from the same manufacturer (I presume, they came from CDI).

So it has nothing to do with that Red LED's are a different voltage (which is what I thought) than the Blue, Green and White?

Not necessary a true statement. But it could. Depending on what the engineer for those strings designed, with the LEDs he was using.

I have 743 strings of full wave LEDs. 70% of them are from Paul at CDI and are like what you described.

BUT I also have 196 strings of 50 and 100 count full wave LEDs in Red, Green and White with the rectifier packs ONLY at the ends, none mid-string, because that is the way the engineer designed them.

Quite often an answer can be "yes" or "no", other times the answer is a "maybe" or an "it depends". Just because one mfg does something one way, doesn't mean that all mfgs have to do it the same way.

[jimswinder]

JBullard wrote:

Quite often an answer can be "yes" or "no", other times the answer is a "maybe" or an "it depends".

LOL..

I am usually a "Black or White" sort of guy...expect everything to have a "Yes or No" answer....

Slowly learning (and I mean SLOWLY!!) that there is a lot of gray in the world :shock:

[Steven]

jimswinder wrote:

Why is it (for example) do 50 ct LED strings of Green, Blue and White have one more resistor (in the middle) than the Red strings (one at each end)?

Red LED bulbs light at about 2 volts. Green, Blue, and White light at about 3.6 volts.

It is possible to design a red string such that 50 bulbs are in series, because 50 * 2 = 100 V, so when it's plugged into a 120V supply, the resistor drops about 20 V.

However, a green, blue, or white string of 50 bulbs would take 3.6 * 50 = 180V to light, which is not available from a 120V supply. Therefore, a 50-bulb string of green, blue, or white must be either 2 strings of 25, or a string of 25 pairs of LEDs. (The latter is commonly done in GE strings that use a patent to make a LED string more reliable.)

As others have said, this doesn't mean that all 50-bulb strings are designed the same way, just that it's possible to make a string of 50 red bulbs in series with a single resistor, but it is not possible to make a string of 50 green, blue, or white bulbs in series with a single resistor.

A 50-bulb red string could be designed as 2 25-bulb strings with 2 resistors, or it could be a single 50-bulb string with 2 resistors in series, to split the heat.

But based on your description of your strings, I would bet that if 1 red LED failed open (unplugged, if removable bulbs) that the whole string would go dark, but at most half of the other color strings would go dark if this happened.

[aaron]

where did you get the enclosure at?

[rgardner518]

aaron wrote:

where did you get the enclosure at?

What enclosure are you talking about? There are a couple of different ones shown on here.

[jimswinder]

ny_yankee_25 wrote:

aaron wrote:

where did you get the enclosure at?

What enclosure are you talking about? There are a couple of different ones shown on here.

The enclosure with the 4 Controllers in it was purchased at Lowes.

A 12x12x6 box with screw on Front Panel for $33, though mine look a little different than this one.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_103392-223-E989RL_0_?newSearch=true&catalogId=10051&productId=3127503&Ntt=103392&N=0&langId=-1&y=8&x=16&Ns=&storeId=10151&Ntk=i_products&ddkey=http:SearchCatalogDisplay

The 1/2" Spacers (4 each board) to lift it away from the sides/bottom were purchased from Mouser:

http://mouser.com/ProductDetail/Keystone-Electronics/2210/?qs=zfzUrXoPZmjq9oDWDhbAHQ%3d%3d

Then you also need the hardware (screws and washers) to secure the spacers to the board and the board to the enclosure. I used neoprene (attached to metal) washers on the outside of the panel (to make it more watertight) to attach the board to the enclosure.




Attached files

[aaron]

jimswinder wrote:

ny_yankee_25 wrote:

aaron wrote:

where did you get the enclosure at?

What enclosure are you talking about? There are a couple of different ones shown on here.

The enclosure with the 4 Controllers in it was purchased at Lowes.

A 12x12x6 box with screw on Front Panel for $33, though mine look a little different than this one.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_103392-223-E989RL_0_?newSearch=true&catalogId=10051&productId=3127503&Ntt=103392&N=0&langId=-1&y=8&x=16&Ns=&storeId=10151&Ntk=i_products&ddkey=http:SearchCatalogDisplay

The 1/2" Spacers (4 each board) to lift it away from the sides/bottom were purchased from Mouser:

http://mouser.com/ProductDetail/Keystone-Electronics/2210/?qs=zfzUrXoPZmjq9oDWDhbAHQ%3d%3d

Then you also need the hardware (screws and washers) to secure the spacers to the board and the board to the enclosure. I used neoprene (attached to metal) washers on the outside of the panel (to make it more watertight) to attach the board to the enclosure.

jimswinder.....i am loving your ideas with the enclosure, got any more pics of your boxes and how you run your wires?

thanks for the info. i am really new to this.

[jimswinder]

jimswinder.....i am loving your ideas with the enclosure, got any more pics of your boxes and how you run your wires?

thanks for the info. i am really new to this.

Duke did a much neater job than I did, though he only had 3 controllers.

See them here:

http://lightorama.mywowbb.com/forum84/16378.html

I only have a picture of my first one but hopefully the next 8 will be a LOT neater!!

Go to the first page of this post and you will see the enclosure with the wires.

If there is something specific you need to know, feel free to ask.