Buddy's Reef-Pi Build

[wykat]

For anyone interested, I used the solder wick method to solder the chip in place. I just have a cheap pointy tip soldering iron and didn't use any flux.
Just be careful not to use too much heat!

That was exactly I wanted to ask. I've not tried yet, but with a pointy tip you probably need a very high temperature to get the solder wick to work, probably better to have a broader tip. Used a small tip on my last board, but that was a little tricky as I wrote. Either-way, happy to see a board working in Australia, enjoyed my new year celebration in Sydney a couple of years ago

 

[buddy.]

That was exactly I wanted to ask. I've not tried yet, but with a pointy tip you probably need a very temperature to get the solder wick to work, probably better to have a broader tip. Used a small tip on my last board, but that was a little tricky as I wrote. Either-way, happy to see a board working in Australia, enjoyed my new year celebration in Sydney a couple of years ago

I had to put a blob of solder on the tip of the soldering iron to get the heat to transfer through the wick.

Thanks for all the help! I'll actually be visiting Sydney for new year's eve on the harbour with my American fiancee this year Never seen the fireworks there in person, should be awesome!

 

[buddy.]

Oh one other thing I wanted to ask. I am just using a 24v 3a power supply I had lying around. Will this be enough to power everything?

 

[Bigtrout]

Oh one other thing I wanted to ask. I am just using a 24v 3a power supply I had lying around. Will this be enough to power everything?

24V at 3A is 72 watts, I would hope so.
What all are you powering with the one supply?

 

[wykat]

Oh one other thing I wanted to ask. I am just using a 24v 3a power supply I had lying around. Will this be enough to power everything?

depends on what you want to connect, but for my boards it's an overkill

 

[Bigtrout]

When I do my build, I am thinking of using one power supply instead of 2 small ones and the 2 15v 4 amp wall ones that power my 2 led fixtures.
Im thinking of getting a 15v 10a supply and using 2 lm2596 modules, one to power the pi and hat at 5v and another for my 5v relay board.

 

[Diamond1]

Nice progress.

 

[buddy.]

@wykat I just wanted to check something else with you.
My current LED setup uses a "typhon" controller which is pretty much and old version of this controller.
This controls Meanwell LDD-H drivers. My controller sends a 0-5v PWM signal.

Here is the PWM section in the Meanwell PDF I linked.

Can I simply swap out my controller for your PWM board? I am just not sure about the 10v.

 

[wykat]

@wykat I just wanted to check something else with you.
My current LED setup uses a "typhon" controller which is pretty much and old version of this controller.
This controls Meanwell LDD-H drivers. My controller sends a 0-5v PWM signal.

Here is the PWM section in the Meanwell PDF I linked.

Can I simply swap out my controller for your PWM board? I am just not sure about the 10v.

to be honest I had a look into this out of curiosity but I couldn't find an answer for myself as the specification is a little strange (>2.5 ~ 6VDC or open circuit, it doesn't clearly state the max VDC). What I would propose is to test with an additional 1K resistor between the PWM output and GND, that should half the output voltage to 5V on the PWM pin. It then depends how much current the Meanwell module is taking but that you should then be able to measure at the PWM output pin. [Edit]Can you check the voltage level from the Meanwell input? That could give an indication of the max voltage (open circuit)[/Edit]
Another solution could be to take out the 7810 and make a 5V connection to the 7810 output pin but then all PWM outputs will have 5V max.

Sorry, can't give a clearer answer as I don't have a Meanwell module.

 

[buddy.]

Thanks @wykat that gives me some options.
I have a whole heap of these LDD drivers spare so I guess I could plug 10v in to one and see what happens.

 

[wykat]

Thanks @wykat that gives me some options.
I have a whole heap of these LDD drivers spare so I guess I could plug 10v in to one and see what happens.

Please measure the voltage level of the PWM input pin with only power to the module and nothing else connected. I think that should give a good indication.

 

[buddy.]

Please measure the voltage level of the PWM input pin with only power to the module and nothing else connected. I think that should give a good indication.

Ok with the drivers being powered with 48v and nothing else connected, I am getting about 5.3 - 5.5v when I test all of my drivers that are plugged in.

 

[wykat]

Ok with the drivers being powered with 48v and nothing else connected, I am getting about 5.3 - 5.5v when I test all of my drivers that are plugged in.

If you get max 5.5V with nothing connected to the PWM input pin then 10V is most likely too high and 6VDC may be the maximum.

 

[buddy.]

So it seems that the best option would be to swap out the 10v voltage regulator for 5v?
What if I used this instead? I can pick this up locally.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/7805-5v-1a-voltage-regulator-to-220-case/p/ZV1505

 

[wykat]

So it seems that the best option would be to swap out the 10v voltage regulator for 5v?
What if I used this instead? I can pick this up locally.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/7805-5v-1a-voltage-regulator-to-220-case/p/ZV1505

I wanted to propose that already I had a look at the LM7805 datasheet and it can handle up to 35VDC input, so should be no issue.

Oops, be careful, the component you listed appears to be 7.5V max input!

 

[buddy.]

I wanted to propose that already I had a look at the LM7805 datasheet and it can handle up to 35VDC input, so should be no issue.

Ill go pick up one today along with last minute xmas shopping and report back later!

 

[wykat]

Ill go pick up one today along with last minute xmas shopping and report back later!

Please refer to my last note. The component you listed is not an LM7805!

This one appears to be ok:
https://www.jaycar.com.au/lm2940ct-5-5v-1a-low-voltage-dropout-regulator/p/ZV1560
input voltage between 6,25-26V and same pin out. The recommended capacitors are a little different but I think it should be ok.

Had another look at your proposal and the datasheet is a little strange but looks like it is the LM7805 with 35V max input, so should be ok.

 

[buddy.]

Noted

 

[wykat]

Noted

As I just updated my post, your proposed component seems to be ok when I look at the datasheet.

 

[buddy.]

Put in the new voltage regulator and hooked it up to a couple of my LED drivers and it all works
The only one thing that I noticed is that my power supply for my LEDs is making a high pitch buzz now. It's not loud but definitely noticeable. Any idea why this might be happening?