Apex controlled LED accent lights

[Mebeknob]

I’m really trying to figure out how to use those sticky led strips for accent lights. (Inside the cabinet or as a backdrop behind the aquarium)

I know how to have them turn on and off with a reed switch. But I want to control the spectrum within apex fusion like you can with other lights. I want to simulate a sunrise behind my peninsula tank.

Any ideas?

 

[Ranjib]

you should be able to combine the 0-10 V output and I/O breakout box to get this done. I/O breakout box will control the overall light on/off, which the o-10v dimmable signale will let you control the spectrum/intensity of the light

 

[Mebeknob]

you should be able to combine the 0-10 V output and I/O breakout box to get this done. I/O breakout box will control the overall light on/off, which the o-10v dimmable signale will let you control the spectrum/intensity of the light

Agreed. Now to find appropriate dimmable drivers for the LEDS

 

[Ranjib]

Agreed. Now to find appropriate dimmable drivers for the LEDS

Meanwell ldd series .

 

[TheWalkman99]

No idea. But sounds like awesome idea.
You could use the Philips hues led strip since they have their own programmable timer but that would be an expensive option
Would like to know what you come up with.

 

[Devaji]

fallowing. I have use the small meanwell led drivers on a few projects there nice. prob. your best bet.

 

[DaneGer21]

you should be able to combine the 0-10 V output and I/O breakout box to get this done. I/O breakout box will control the overall light on/off, which the o-10v dimmable signale will let you control the spectrum/intensity of the light

I don’t think the BOB works like that. It doesn’t turn anything on or off. It only reads the ON/OFF status of a switch.

 

[Mebeknob]

Meanwell ldd series .

Do you have personal experience with these or seen someone else use these in a build with an apex?

From what I can tell these only take a 9~36VDC input and the apex only delivers a 1-10VDC.

I’m guessing I’d have to build some sort of amplifier for this?

 

[Ariel V Rosa]

IMO, pick up a dedicated controller meant for RGB, you are turning a mole hill into a mountain trying to have your APEx handle the three color channels.

regardless, here is what you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Dimming-Cont...ocphy=9003805&hvtargid=pla-350875853263&psc=1

That driver should work, ad its 5A 12 V, so that's 60 Watts per channel the typical LED strip consumed 4.3 watts per foot. it's also the best solution that works with minimal effort solution.

You can hack of the lead from any suitable 12V power adapter to provide it with the juice it needs and your Apex will natively control it.

(I actually use it to control my moon light that is RGB(true moonlight is really mostly red, just looks blue to us)

If you want to complicate things you can go for Meanwell PWM series drivers that are constant voltage with 3-in-1 dimming
https://www.ledsupply.com/power-supplies/mean-well-pwm-series the PWM-40-12 model should suffice, takes up a lot more space tough.

You are going to use up Three (3) of your VDM ports on your APEX, if you aren't using them for anything cool, if you are, you are going to have to purchase a separate VDM module to gain more ports.

How the ports are wired you can look up on the APEX forums it is on the top in their lighting section.

Seems like a lot of work to integrate this kind of thing in your APEx for something that is purely aesthetics when it comes to lighting.

APEX (VDM Port 1 (channel 1 Red, channel 2 Blue); VDM port 2 (Channel 1 Green, Channel 2 EMPTY (or perhaps it can activate a discoball)))

Remember on LED light strips the common is the positive and each channel is activated using the negative.

Cheers

-Grim

 

[Mebeknob]

IMO, pick up a dedicated controller meant for RGB, you are turning a mole hill into a mountain trying to have your APEx handle the three color channels.

regardless, here is what you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Dimming-Cont...ocphy=9003805&hvtargid=pla-350875853263&psc=1

That driver should work, ad its 5A 12 V, so that's 60 Watts per channel the typical LED strip consumed 4.3 watts per foot. it's also the best solution that works with minimal effort solution.

You can hack of the lead from any suitable 12V power adapter to provide it with the juice it needs and your Apex will natively control it.

(I actually use it to control my moon light that is RGB(true moonlight is really mostly red, just looks blue to us)

If you want to complicate things you can go for Meanwell PWM series drivers that are constant voltage with 3-in-1 dimming
https://www.ledsupply.com/power-supplies/mean-well-pwm-series the PWM-40-12 model should suffice, takes up a lot more space tough.

You are going to use up Three (3) of your VDM ports on your APEX, if you aren't using them for anything cool, if you are, you are going to have to purchase a separate VDM module to gain more ports.

How the ports are wired you can look up on the APEX forums it is on the top in their lighting section.

Seems like a lot of work to integrate this kind of thing in your APEx for something that is purely aesthetics when it comes to lighting.

APEX (VDM Port 1 (channel 1 Red, channel 2 Blue); VDM port 2 (Channel 1 Green, Channel 2 EMPTY (or perhaps it can activate a discoball)))

Remember on LED light strips the common is the positive and each channel is activated using the negative.

Cheers

-Grim

Seriously though.... it’s becoming a bit ridiculous.
I would use just a normal RGBW controller but I can’t find any that you can program a sunrise/sunset to occur at a specific time.

I’ll check out that driver because it looks exactly like what I’ll need. And I’ll end up using all 4 ports because of the White! So.... no disco ball [emoji17]

 

[Ariel V Rosa]

Seriously though.... it’s becoming a bit ridiculous.
I would use just a normal RGBW controller but I can’t find any that you can program a sunrise/sunset to occur at a specific time.

I’ll check out that driver because it looks exactly like what I’ll need. And I’ll end up using all 4 ports because of the White! So.... no disco ball [emoji17]

Then this might be more along your lines.

https://www.amazon.com/RGBSIGHT-Programmable-Time-Controller-Multi-function/dp/B0197U7R8Q

 

[Mebeknob]

IMO, pick up a dedicated controller meant for RGB, you are turning a mole hill into a mountain trying to have your APEx handle the three color channels.

regardless, here is what you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Dimming-Cont...ocphy=9003805&hvtargid=pla-350875853263&psc=1

That driver should work, ad its 5A 12 V, so that's 60 Watts per channel the typical LED strip consumed 4.3 watts per foot. it's also the best solution that works with minimal effort solution.

How did you search for this? I spent a lot of time on amazon trying to find drivers like this.
I’m trying to find this same thing but with 4 channels

 

[Mebeknob]

I don’t think the BOB works like that. It doesn’t turn anything on or off. It only reads the ON/OFF status of a switch.

Agreed. I could use the BOB with a reed switch to turn cabinet lights on

 

[Ariel V Rosa]

How did you search for this? I spent a lot of time on amazon trying to find drivers like this.
I’m trying to find this same thing but with 4 channels

You would be stepping out of the normal hardware range here and into the DMX side of things, more hardware and more cost. I could of course link that to you.

YOur best bet would be to just buy a second one and don't use all the channels on the second one. You would still be saving tons of money instead of going into DMX/DALI lighting solutions.

This one here is single channel

https://www.amazon.com/Analog-Dimmi...85892&sr=8-17&keywords=0-10v+4+channel+dimmer

 

[Mebeknob]

You would be stepping out of the normal hardware range here and into the DMX side of things, more hardware and more cost. I could of course link that to you.

YOur best bet would be to just buy a second one and don't use all the channels on the second one. You would still be saving tons of money instead of going into DMX/DALI lighting solutions.

This one here is single channel

https://www.amazon.com/Analog-Dimmi...85892&sr=8-17&keywords=0-10v+4+channel+dimmer

That’s a good point. I’ll try these or go with Steve’s Leds drivers and converter... about the same price