USB 3/C for LED Power

eazyreef · 05/14/2017, 02:16 PM

I have been away for the hobby for a couple of years and now have some time to throw myself back in. I am building my won LED's and have a power question.

First off, the power and meanwells are going to be separate from the hood and I was looking for a slick way to connect the controller to the LED's in the hood. I can get just the hardware but was wondering has anyone used usb connectors to wire up the controller to the hood.

If not, what did you use and how did it look.

Thank you...

twitchy · 05/15/2017, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eazyreef

I have been away for the hobby for a couple of years and now have some time to throw myself back in. I am building my won LED's and have a power question.

First off, the power and meanwells are going to be separate from the hood and I was looking for a slick way to connect the controller to the LED's in the hood. I can get just the hardware but was wondering has anyone used usb connectors to wire up the controller to the hood.

If not, what did you use and how did it look.

Thank you...

I've never used USB as a connector on any projects without following the standard. I'm sure it would work, but you just have to make sure you don't have someone in the house that at some point could see a USB port and plug something into it...
I've used a CAT5 for a similar purpose and it worked nicely, but this was for a small (<50W) led setup, how much current would you be pulling through the cable?
How many pins do you need?

Digikey/mouser also have a wide range of cables and connectors that you could use depending on your power and pin needs.

der_wille_zur_macht · 05/15/2017, 06:24 AM

I would try to avoid using any connector with a standard unless implementing that standard, but especially USB C, given the lack of consistency from cable to cable in terms of how the standard is implemented. You may already know this, but a "real" USB C cable isn't just a bunch of wires in a sheath, there's circuitry built in that helps implement the standard. And manufacturers aren't behaving consistently in terms of how they do that, so you may be fine with one cable, but have issues with another.

theatrus · 05/15/2017, 08:48 AM

USB C 3.1, as der_wille_zur_macht mentioned, is an active cable, which means it has logic and drivers embedded in the cable end overmolds. The connectors are common now, but you're designing your own PCB in order to use them.

Standard USB cables can be super shoddy internally with bare-minimum wiring, and aren't going to handle even half an amp particularly well. I'd also second to recommendation of avoiding mixups of connectivity.

So can you do it? Yes. Should you? You'd be ok with proper USB cables using the power pair (the data pair will generally be small by design) - thats what Neptune does with AquaBus (CAN over USB data pairs), but they keep AquaBus at 5V so nothing terrible will happen when you jam in your laptop by mistake.

eazyreef · 05/15/2017, 08:56 PM

Thank you for the replies. The plan was to get the connectors and wire them myself using something like cat 6 cabling. I need 5 lines (10 strands) to control the lights. I think the the night wattage will be the royal blue at about 24 watts. The rest are much lower wats.

eazyreef · 05/15/2017, 08:57 PM

Thank you for the replies. The plan was to get the connectors and wire them myself using something like cat 6 cabling. I need 5 lines (10 strands) to control the lights. I think that the most wattage will be the royal blue at about 24 watts. The rest are much lower wats.[/QUOTE]

oreo57 · 05/15/2017, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eazyreef

Thank you for the replies. The plan was to get the connectors and wire them myself using something like cat 6 cabling. I need 5 lines (10 strands) to control the lights. I think that the most wattage will be the royal blue at about 24 watts. The rest are much lower wats.

http://www.allelectronics.com/item/1...FdWEswod8uMPTw

Personally find 22ga too small for long runs or higher power..
20ga is about minimum for me.. Trying to find 10 conductor 20ga isn't easy..
well in small quantities and reasonable per foot prices..
$2/ft is about max I'd pay for 10 conductor 20ga sheathed wire..

18ga solid is pretty stiff...

http://www.graybar.com/store/en/gb/t...FYaEswodYrEPww

Save money .. sheath it yourself..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-AWG-Gauge...38.m2548.l4275

25' 20ga stranded..10 colors..

Go figure.. found some..

http://www.pacergroup.net/shielded-m...FY-PswodTesMmg

well min. 25ft

eazyreef · 05/16/2017, 04:57 AM

Thank you very much. I am going to try the custom usb-3 connectors with the cable and let you know how it works.

It it works as hoped, it will be a clean and easy to use connection.

der_wille_zur_macht · 05/16/2017, 06:18 AM

What connectors are you planning on using? (Do you have a link to the specific product?)

oreo57 · 05/16/2017, 11:42 AM

FYI for wire junkies..

http://www.discount-low-voltage.com/...FYW3wAodPfIKoQ
http://www.discount-low-voltage.com/...776c0b31de1bb4

eazyreef · 05/22/2017, 04:29 PM

Sorry for the delay, was thinking of using something like the following:

https://www.saikosystems.com/web/p-8...GoogleMerchant

There are a lot of different types.

05/14/2017, 02:16 PM	#1
eazyreef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 10	USB 3/C for LED Power I have been away for the hobby for a couple of years and now have some time to throw myself back in. I am building my won LED's and have a power question. First off, the power and meanwells are going to be separate from the hood and I was looking for a slick way to connect the controller to the LED's in the hood. I can get just the hardware but was wondering has anyone used usb connectors to wire up the controller to the hood. If not, what did you use and how did it look. Thank you... __________________ 10 years experience in Nano Reefs --- 2.5 wave; 2 - 3 gallon bowfronts; 12 gallon bowfront; 30 Oceanic Show (starting); 50 Oceanic Show (starting); 90 Wave (starting) www.eazyreef.com

05/15/2017, 06:24 AM	#3
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	I would try to avoid using any connector with a standard unless implementing that standard, but especially USB C, given the lack of consistency from cable to cable in terms of how the standard is implemented. You may already know this, but a "real" USB C cable isn't just a bunch of wires in a sheath, there's circuitry built in that helps implement the standard. And manufacturers aren't behaving consistently in terms of how they do that, so you may be fine with one cable, but have issues with another. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

05/15/2017, 08:48 AM	#4
theatrus 100-mile-commuter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: almost nevada Posts: 4,721	USB C 3.1, as der_wille_zur_macht mentioned, is an active cable, which means it has logic and drivers embedded in the cable end overmolds. The connectors are common now, but you're designing your own PCB in order to use them. Standard USB cables can be super shoddy internally with bare-minimum wiring, and aren't going to handle even half an amp particularly well. I'd also second to recommendation of avoiding mixups of connectivity. So can you do it? Yes. Should you? You'd be ok with proper USB cables using the power pair (the data pair will generally be small by design) - thats what Neptune does with AquaBus (CAN over USB data pairs), but they keep AquaBus at 5V so nothing terrible will happen when you jam in your laptop by mistake. __________________ Custom electronics purveyor. blueAcro.com Current Tank Info: 90g SPS+mixed reef (10 yrs): LEDBrick LEDs, 40g custom sump, Ca reactor, chiller, Vortech, lots of custom electronics

05/15/2017, 08:56 PM	#5
eazyreef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 10	Thank you for the replies. The plan was to get the connectors and wire them myself using something like cat 6 cabling. I need 5 lines (10 strands) to control the lights. I think the the night wattage will be the royal blue at about 24 watts. The rest are much lower wats. __________________ 10 years experience in Nano Reefs --- 2.5 wave; 2 - 3 gallon bowfronts; 12 gallon bowfront; 30 Oceanic Show (starting); 50 Oceanic Show (starting); 90 Wave (starting) www.eazyreef.com

05/15/2017, 08:57 PM	#6
eazyreef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 10	Thank you for the replies. The plan was to get the connectors and wire them myself using something like cat 6 cabling. I need 5 lines (10 strands) to control the lights. I think that the most wattage will be the royal blue at about 24 watts. The rest are much lower wats.[/QUOTE] __________________ 10 years experience in Nano Reefs --- 2.5 wave; 2 - 3 gallon bowfronts; 12 gallon bowfront; 30 Oceanic Show (starting); 50 Oceanic Show (starting); 90 Wave (starting) www.eazyreef.com

05/16/2017, 04:57 AM	#8
eazyreef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 10	Thank you very much. I am going to try the custom usb-3 connectors with the cable and let you know how it works. It it works as hoped, it will be a clean and easy to use connection. __________________ 10 years experience in Nano Reefs --- 2.5 wave; 2 - 3 gallon bowfronts; 12 gallon bowfront; 30 Oceanic Show (starting); 50 Oceanic Show (starting); 90 Wave (starting) www.eazyreef.com

05/16/2017, 06:18 AM	#9
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	What connectors are you planning on using? (Do you have a link to the specific product?) __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

05/16/2017, 11:42 AM	#10
oreo57 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 1,793	FYI for wire junkies.. http://www.discount-low-voltage.com/...FYW3wAodPfIKoQ http://www.discount-low-voltage.com/...776c0b31de1bb4

05/22/2017, 04:29 PM	#11
eazyreef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 10	Sorry for the delay, was thinking of using something like the following: https://www.saikosystems.com/web/p-8...GoogleMerchant There are a lot of different types. __________________ 10 years experience in Nano Reefs --- 2.5 wave; 2 - 3 gallon bowfronts; 12 gallon bowfront; 30 Oceanic Show (starting); 50 Oceanic Show (starting); 90 Wave (starting) www.eazyreef.com