(Topic ID: 99567)

DIY: How to add a GI circuit switch to an LED backbox

By lyonsden

9 years ago


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  • 58 posts
  • 11 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 years ago by Rensh
  • Topic is favorited by 25 Pinsiders

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    There are 58 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.
    #51 5 years ago
    Quoted from Rensh:

    You can make this much more easy
    Just take
    ebay.com link
    Put in front a bridge rectifier and connect the input of the rectifier to your GI circuit. The rectifier will make it more or less DC and the step up converter will make it 12VDC required to drive the led strips.

    Sure, if the GI circuit can handle the extra load of also driving the LED strips. Maybe if all the GI bulbs were replaced with LEDs there might be enough spare capacity. I'd measure the power consumption of the LED strips first before trying that approach.

    6 months later
    #52 5 years ago

    I tried this on a WPC (My STTNG machine) and it doesnt seem to work with the diagram in post #7. Somehow the rectifier part of it isn't working correctly so the LEDs light up whether the GI is on or not, and after a few seconds the diodes become so hot that they break. I am using a small AC -> DC rectifier board from eBay like this:

    ebay.com link: AC DC Converter 6 12 24V to 12V Full bridge Rectifier Filter Power Supply Module

    If i remove the rectifier board and just use a 9V battery instead it works as intended and i can trigger the LEDs to turn them on by connecting the positive side of the 9V battery to the base of my TIP120 transistor.

    But somehow i believe the AC circuitry is configured differently in my STTNG. If i check continuity from either of the AC / GI leads there is a connection to gnd, and i believe this is what is causing my problems. A friend of mine suggested that i tried removing D2, D3 and D4 brom the small rectifier board completely to see if that solved the problem (i believe that it was to try and stop the current from flowing backwards and causing the short / overheating), but unfortunately it did not work.

    So perhaps i will have to use a relay of some sort instead unleass someone like yaheath would know what the problem is

    #53 5 years ago

    Just pull 12V from J118. I’m betting that you aren’t getting 12VDC from the 6.3AC used for the GI. Have you measured the voltage with a multimeter?

    #54 5 years ago

    I actually already use J118 in my STTNG for the 12v supply for the Led strips. The ac from the GI is only used (after being rectified) to trigger the transistor.

    But along with a friend of mine we came to the conclusion after studying the WPC power board diagrams that the proposed solution in post number 7 would never work as long as they share the same ground.

    So instead we built a small circuit using an optocoupler to trigger a FET transistor (RIL540N). This way we canturn on the optocoupler with the rectified GI, and the FET transistor is then triggered sending the 12v from J118 to the led strips via the FET transistor.

    Doing it this way keeps both sides completely separated electrically and works like a charm.

    Hope the above makes sense My technical English isn't the best

    #55 5 years ago

    Here is what ended up working for me on my WPC machine for GI control of the LED's. Using the optocoupler completely separates the GI side from the LED side. I just used some components i already had lying around, but any FET transistor should do as long as it is wired correctly. The same goes for the optocoupler.

    I have the LED+ and LED- attached to a Bluetooth LED controller, and it works like a charm.

    Optocoupler_GI_Control (resized).jpgOptocoupler_GI_Control (resized).jpg
    #56 5 years ago

    Am using at the moment ledstrips which operate on USB 5VDC and not the 12VDC version. These strips I hook up direct via a bridge rectifier to the GI. No more relays required. That simple.

    #57 5 years ago

    Yes that is super simple, but I believe that using RGBW lights and Bluetooth / WiFi controllers to set the color and brightness would draw way too much current from the GI. And since none of my GI is changed to led, I don't think my GI circuit would be able to handle the extra load.

    Are you using white or single colour led's? Or are they multicolour 5050's?

    #58 5 years ago

    Am using for the backbox single color. Yep, all my pins have led in the Go so I have extra power budget but am guessing that a GI circuit being AC has space to for something like this.

    F503E1CD-0632-4C75-8305-8117B5D01898 (resized).jpegF503E1CD-0632-4C75-8305-8117B5D01898 (resized).jpeg
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