Has anyone made an LED driver based on LM3463 6 channel driver IC?

[tomservo]

I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this chip, it's a 48L WQFN package, which is my biggest concern. It's a 6 channel driver with 4 PWM / analog / serial dimming inputs.It even has built in thermal foldback dimming.

Anyways, I am in a situation where I need to make drivers for 5 or 6 "dream chip" type multichannel emitters. I tried LDD drivers on the last couple that I made, and out of the 12 LDDs I was able to order, 3 were bad! Plus, they don't support analog dimming, and they are kind of pricey when you need 40 or 50.

[O2Surplus]

I took a look at the specs and it's definitely an interesting find as it's input can handle up to 95V. The downside is it's output current- only 200ma. That's way below the current level that each channel of the "Dream Chip" can handle.
Are you still looking for a driver capable of 1400ma per channel? I'm pretty sure that your options are still limited to a DIY driver based on the National Semi-conductor LM3409 buck controller IC. The LM3409HV can accept both analog an PWM signals directly, and handle up to a 75V input /5000ma output. There's a wealth of information about it here on the "DIY LED Driver" thread, if that's the route you end up taking.

[tomservo]

No, that current rating is for driving the output mosfets, you can select your mosfets and current sense resistors to drive any load you would like. You could even use the LM3466 load balancer chips to use one driver to run many strings.

Yep, I'm still looking for 1400ma drivers. The LM3409 looks easy enough but the efficiency is a bit lame.

[O2Surplus]

Mosfets- How did I miss that? I saw them in the example schematic, but clearly forgot that they were there. That's the part I hate about spec sheets, they tend to only describe the component's capabilities- not what it's truly capable of when paired with other components. Why don't the chip manufacturers just plainly say - "Hey look at what OUR chip can do! Pair our chip with this... this... and that... and you can do this!" Wouldn't that approach make selling them easier?
I found a few suppliers that have an LM3463 EVAL BOARD in stock, but they're upwards of $150 a pop! That's a lot coin to drop- just to "Evaluate" it. LOL
I'll be interested to see where you go with this, as this "Dream Chip" driver would be a compact solution for multi-channel Led's.

[tomservo]

The plan is to print the datasheet and do some math to figure out the components I need, to get started. I will need to figure out how to choose mosfets, any advice you might have there is appreciated.

I want to design the board with dip switches or jumpers so that 0-10v or PWM control can be selectable, and the plan is to make the boards so that all 6 channels are usable. 5 channels with go to one on board plug, and the 6th will be wired to an additional plug.

I have a connection here to a place that does pick-and-place / board prototyping on their spare machine time, so I may look into having 10 boards made.

[asid61]

Newark sells a bunch of great led driver chips. You need to reflow solder most of them, but you can potentially get all the parts in through-hole configuration and solder the SMD packages to converters.
The LM3421 especially caught my eye. 1000ma max output, and has the parts list in the datasheet.

[tomservo]

I've completed a good bit of the math for the LM3463 board I will be making. These do need to be reflowed, but I have sufficient equipment for the job. I even have some low temp solder paste somewhere or other.

The thing about this chip is, by changing only the current sense resistor, you can select the max current you want. It also has provision for an analog dimming (of all channels) that functions as a max current trim, so you could configure the board for 3A, and then dial it back to 1.5A and the PWM/voltage dimming would be 0-1.5A. I selected a mosfet that will be good to 3A no problem, even without any cooling area for the mosfets. Probably will be fine to 4.5A even, and that is per channel. I think I can definitely get this onto a 5x10cm board, maybe even a 5x5 if I put mosfets on both sides. All the connectors are going to take up a considerable amount of real estate.

o2surplus: I want to use the power supply voltage trim, but the LM chip outputs 0-2.5v and the power supply wants 0-5v (0-6v actually but 0-5 is 0-100%). This will help system efficiency a good bit, but do you know how I can convert the signal?

[O2Surplus]

o2surplus: I want to use the power supply voltage trim, but the LM chip outputs 0-2.5v and the power supply wants 0-5v (0-6v actually but 0-5 is 0-100%). This will help system efficiency a good bit, but do you know how I can convert the signal?

I'm not sure if I'm following you? Are you saying that you need to figure out a way for a 0 - 2.5V signal to control a larger 0 - 5V signal? Sounds to me like it's a job for some type of comparator circuit. Let me know if I'm correct in my assumption?

[tomservo]

What I need is to use a 0-2.5v signal to drive a 0-5v input, and I'm not sure how this is done. I have +5v 200ma available on the board, as well as a 6.7v 10ma source from the LM chip, but for signal purposes this may be sufficient.

[asid61]

What I need is to use a 0-2.5v signal to drive a 0-5v input, and I'm not sure how this is done. I have +5v 200ma available on the board, as well as a 6.7v 10ma source from the LM chip, but for signal purposes this may be sufficient.

You use an OP-amp to make a voltage doubler. google the circuit.

[tomservo]

So the "output" is actually a current sink.. From what I can tell, it is designed to sink the voltage to zero to achieve the highest voltage, and for lowest voltage, it is 3.1v.

Here is a circuit diagram from the evaulation board - not shown is the 1.2v drop diode and 2.94kohm resistor on the board itself. Which work out to 1ma current and 3.1v - the line is "fed" 4.28v from the voltage divider R1 and R2, and then the result is fed into an op amp. I think their design is for the op amp to control the 2.5v feedback into the power supply's regulator.

Is what I need, then, to simply change the op amp into an inverting op amp, setup to convert 3.1-.1v to 2-5v?


Edit: I just thought of using the circuit as it was intended, to bias a voltage regulator - I am thinking of putting in some cheap 5v regulator and with the aid of a diode or two to drop the 4.28v to .8v. Thoughts?

Edit again: I have found Rohm BD00HA3WEFJ 1.5-7v regulator, uses .8v reference voltage. Should be as simple as adding a voltage divider between the "FB" junction and the feedback on this regulator, to output 1.5-4.8v, which is good enough for my purposes.

[ME2003]

A major design concern with LEDs is heat. If you use mosfets with one voltage
source and 4 channels. You take one channel and dim it. It has to reduce the
power to the LED. It can either pulse it or the mosfet acts as a variable resistor.

1. Pulse issue.
"facilitate average LED current control by means of PWM dimming. "
This is a different type of dimming than used on many LED controllers.
The LED is being pulsed at a varying duty cycle. Instead of the current being
reduce by a voltage or pwm signal. Not sure if an issue with corals.
The dimming frequency is mentioned as an example was 488hz for 8 bit.

2. Heat issue v=ir p=iv
This chip has a different modes that it would take a while to review if you use analog
you could have heat issues with the sense resistor and mosfet.

What power supply do you plan on using. There can be quite an efficiency loss.
Your power supply cost may be more than you save.

Your mosfet also needs to have a low rSD on
The one TI uses is.
rDS(ON)= 45mΩ

[tomservo]

I am going to use a meanwell RS-1000 @ 91% efficiency.

I think the 488Hz has to do with matching up with 256 bit resolution, and doesn't necessarily reflect the PWM frequency applied to the mosfets.. Since on the evaluation module user guide, there is a chart showing 3v-2v dimming and the pulse on-off cycles are 1ms each. IE @3v there is an approx .5ms on and .5ms off (~50% duty). It may be that using direct PWM dimming, it's possibly to get flashing but I am thinking probably not. It would be useless in lighting applications if it was like that, after all.

It's not about savings in this case; I tried using LDD drivers and 3 out of 12 were bad, plus they don't have anything over 1000ma. I need to make 25 channels worth of drivers; I am not seeing many worthwhile options out there. Using individual power supplies is out of the question, I'd need a capacitor bank just to start that many, and a 200 amp service!

[tomservo]

OK, so after a careful review, I am thinking about switching my design (now that the circuit diagram is complete, DOH) to the Monolithic Power MP2483. It's an integrated 2.5A LED driver that does 5v PWM and .7-1.4v analog dimming. The .7-1.4v is a bit annoying but I think I can live with it, and there is probably some kind of op amp circuit to compensate, but I don't think I'll bother. With a voltage divider it works out to 5-10v 0-100% dimming, that is good enough for me.

They're only $2.08 in qty 25 from mouser. The external components are a handful of resistors, some small capacitors and one 4.7uH choke. $.25 each so I expect the per channel cost to be somewhere around $2.50-2.75, not bad at all!

Edit: I just found an impressive product from ISSI - this one is meant to run on rectified 85-265VAC - no AC-DC power supply required! http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/198/31LT3918-10728.pdf

[007Bond]

Interesting Tom, I can't offer solutions, but I'm looking for that 1400ma answer. Subscribed!---Rick

[tomservo]

Rick, I tried the ISSI unit, and couldn't get it to work sensibly, and I gave up when I blew one of the mosfets.. I should have ordered a spare or something. That said, I have the parts to try on the MP2483 chip, when I get a chance. We just bought a house so right now it's not a big priority compared to packing. Once the packing is done I will put together a circuit and try to come up with a +48v source. I may have two 24v power supplies I can tie together for that.

[007Bond]

I'm subscribed to your thread, so I'll be watching Tom. I would think more guys or manufactures would have a interest in a supply driver above 1000ma. Heck AC-RC should push for a driver for their DC. You see the Ron's postings on the adjustable lenses coming out.

[007Bond]

Hey Tom,
You see this driver the guy posted on the LDD to 0 thread. It will put out 1500ma, and appears you can lower its amperage by removing jumpers. Has PWM dimming. They don't show the size, but it looks small. What do you think---Rick

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150-1500mA-Buck-Regulator-LED-Driver-for-1-50W-High-Power-LED-/161026417634

[O2Surplus]

Hey Tom,
You see this driver the guy posted on the LDD to 0 thread. It will put out 1500ma, and appears you can lower its amperage by removing jumpers. Has PWM dimming. They don't show the size, but it looks small. What do you think---Rick

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150-1500mA-Buck-Regulator-LED-Driver-for-1-50W-High-Power-LED-/161026417634


They're only $6 each! This stuff is getting so cheap that it's getting harder to justify spending more $$, just to DIY. LoL

[007Bond]

Hi O2, Is this thing something to what Tom was looking to build? I don't know if the LM3463 and the A6211 on this driver are similar?

[O2Surplus]

Hi O2, Is this thing something to what Tom was looking to build? I don't know if the LM3463 and the A6211 on this driver are similar?

I think his original intention was to build a 5 channel driver specifically for a dream chip. I like the idea, and understand his desire to "package" the whole thing on one small PcB, but going "all-in" on one PcB has it's downsides too. The failure of just one component could render the entire 5 channel driver unusable. Just that particular failure mode alone is enough to convince me that it's best to use individual drivers for each channel, and at $6 each, the driver you linked is an excellent candidate for the job. $30 per 5 channels is a great deal and it's gotta be less $$ than similar DIY effort.

[007Bond]

Thanks for the input O2. I'm planning on using Dream Chips also which can run at 1400ma. From the LDD to 0 thread using the LDD's on your 5 up boards, (which I already have) makes the most sense. I can just pull a bad one from the IC sockets or change to a lower amperage LDD, which I like. If only Meanwell would start selling some higher amperage LDD's we would be all set. I'll see what Tom thinks about these ebay drivers.---Rick

[tomservo]

I just got to checking the thread today, looking at the A6211 datasheet now.. Looks like a nice, low part count chip. Not sure what they cost or anything, but it doesn't support voltage based dimming, which kills it for me.. I need to build a fixture for a friend with an apex, and they only do 0-10v. I realize that I could use converters but I doubt I will. It's nice that they made the board so configurable.. And the cost of doing so is pennies, so it's not like it adds much cost for the manufacturer.

Another reason to go for an all in one 5 channel board, is that I can build in connectors for everything. Wiring up 5 seperate boards turns into a nasty box of spaghetti right away, connections everywhere, 30000 terminal strips and not to mention I'd need 20 screws and spacers etc just to hold 5 pcs driver board in a housing of some sort. It's not deal breaking but one of the things I am looking to do is make stuff like swapping a board out to be much easier. I can use a ribbon connector and daisy chain the dimming inputs, for instance. That's dozens of connections on this planned build. It will be 5x dream chip lights.

Still packing stuff up, I spent the evening disassembling my lathe and carrying 90+ lb boxes of tooling to the van.

[O2Surplus]

I just got to checking the thread today, looking at the A6211 datasheet now.. Looks like a nice, low part count chip. Not sure what they cost or anything, but it doesn't support voltage based dimming, which kills it for me.. I need to build a fixture for a friend with an apex, and they only do 0-10v. I realize that I could use converters but I doubt I will. It's nice that they made the board so configurable.. And the cost of doing so is pennies, so it's not like it adds much cost for the manufacturer.

Another reason to go for an all in one 5 channel board, is that I can build in connectors for everything. Wiring up 5 seperate boards turns into a nasty box of spaghetti right away, connections everywhere, 30000 terminal strips and not to mention I'd need 20 screws and spacers etc just to hold 5 pcs driver board in a housing of some sort. It's not deal breaking but one of the things I am looking to do is make stuff like swapping a board out to be much easier. I can use a ribbon connector and daisy chain the dimming inputs, for instance. That's dozens of connections on this planned build. It will be 5x dream chip lights.

Still packing stuff up, I spent the evening disassembling my lathe and carrying 90+ lb boxes of tooling to the van.

Tomservo-

The A6211 is only $1.05 each at DigiKey. I got intrigued by the idea of using it in a 5 channel driver design, so I began drawing up a PcB for earlier today. I'm still working on it, but I've managed to squeeze everything into a 5cm x 10cm PcB. I'll post it up for you to look at sometime in the next few days. Here's a photo of the 5cm x 2cm single channel PcB that I'll panelize into a single 5cm x 10cm Pcb. Once I have the individual channels sitting side by side, I'll rework the Vin & grounds to common buses between all five drivers. Let me know what you think?

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/5cmx2cmA6211leddriver_zpsf28e66e8.png

[007Bond]

Hey Tom, thanks for the reply, hope your move is coming along!

I'm still planning on Arduino for control of my DC's(4-5), so pwm dimming would work for me, but like you said I'm not sure how I would package 5 of these drivers without having a wiring rats nest. I would like to mount the driving unit on the fixture/cannon itself similar to Lasse's. The wiring I would need to send back to the controller is 2 wires for power, 5 for pwm and 5 for Zalman & 18B20's. I was planning on using O2's 5up boards, mount it in a plastic case of some sort with cat5's for pwm, fans,temp, and a molex for power, but the units would still end up being rather large. I do like the 1500ma output on these A6211 boards. I looked at Digi-Key also,and it say A6211 has a max out put of 3A, on sale .76@

Anyhow I'll watch for more input from you and O2. Ideally, if you ended up with plug & play 5 driver 5cm x 10cm boards with on board connectors (cat5, molex, whatever)...Touchdown!!!:dance: ---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Hey Tom-

Here's the Pcb that I've managed to create. I actually had to create the A6211 chip library from scratch, as I couldn't find an existing Eagle Library for it. The Pcb passes Itead's design checks and the I drew the circuit directly from the Manufacturer's data sheet, so it should work in theory...Lol. Let me know what you think?

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/Allegro62115upleddriver_zpsdf0366f0.png

[007Bond]

Wish I knew what to ask.

[tomservo]

O2: that looks very nice, very clean layout. The only things I would find missing are connectors, and those are easy enough to work in, just a light edit really. Ideally there'd be a robust VIN connector and a pin header for the PWM and 12V for the fan. Pin header b/c you can daisy chain them with ribbon cables.

The only other thing I noted was that the A6211 in PWM dimming mode, dims by PWM output to the LEDs rather than adjusting the current. I think almost every chip does this, though - even that MP chip I am going to try on when I get a chance soonish.

[asid61]

Hey Tom-

Here's the Pcb that I've managed to create. I actually had to create the A6211 chip library from scratch, as I couldn't find an existing Eagle Library for it. The Pcb passes Itead's design checks and the I drew the circuit directly from the Manufacturer's data sheet, so it should work in theory...Lol. Let me know what you think?
[/IMG]

Quick warning: drawing directly from a datasheet is actually not a good idea with led drivers. The reason, I found, was that the tolerances on the resistors (even 1%) makes the driver put out more than 1 amp or whatever the datasheet says it does.
If you designed the driver board with a 3 amp max in mind, then I would suggest making the current set resistor set the current to around 2.95a instead of the full 3a. That way, even with 1% tolerance, you get 2.9795 amps.

I recently had to reorder a bunch of resistors because of this. :(

[O2Surplus]

Quick warning: drawing directly from a datasheet is actually not a good idea with led drivers. The reason, I found, was that the tolerances on the resistors (even 1%) makes the driver put out more than 1 amp or whatever the datasheet says it does.
If you designed the driver board with a 3 amp max in mind, then I would suggest making the current set resistor set the current to around 2.95a instead of the full 3a. That way, even with 1% tolerance, you get 2.9795 amps.

I recently had to reorder a bunch of resistors because of this. :(

What I should have said, is that I drew the circuit directly from the datasheet but not the components and their respective values. I've found too, that the component values do need some "tweeking" to get your desired maximum current output, regardless of what the datasheet or their fancy excel spread sheet says.LOL I picked a lot of the component packages used in this PcB, simply because I already have them leftover from building batches of LM3409 based drivers. Those drivers were designed with 3amps in mind, but this one will be aimed for about half that, approximately 1400ma per channel. Needless to say, but every new design that I produce is treated as a Prototype only, it will probably go through many design changes until I've worked out all the "kinks". LOL

[O2Surplus]

O2: that looks very nice, very clean layout. The only things I would find missing are connectors, and those are easy enough to work in, just a light edit really. Ideally there'd be a robust VIN connector and a pin header for the PWM and 12V for the fan. Pin header b/c you can daisy chain them with ribbon cables.

The only other thing I noted was that the A6211 in PWM dimming mode, dims by PWM output to the LEDs rather than adjusting the current. I think almost every chip does this, though - even that MP chip I am going to try on when I get a chance soonish.

Since your looking to make a driver that's compatible with Analog dimming, why not include an arduino based 0-10V analog/ 5V PWM interface on the same pcb? I think I posted the build files for it somewhere in the LDD thread.

[O2Surplus]

TOMSERVO & 007BOND


Here it is. I'm going to order a batch of this PcB and set them up for 1400ma each. (they can do 2000ma with just a resistor swap) They'll be a direct replacement for the LDD-1000H on any of the Pre-existing LDD-H PcB's. I managed to find all of the parts cheap enough to build the first batch of 20 for about $6 each. Let me know what you think?

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/A6211leddriverinLDD-HFootprint_zps79d158a7.png

[asid61]

Looks great! $6 is pretty good too.
I like the driver chip in general. 3a max, PWM dimming, and Arduino-compatible.

[007Bond]

Alrighty! Been waiting to see this. That's a little board. I still would like to do away with the screw terminal connections. What I would like is a A6211 5up board with a 10 pin header for the 5 led + & -, a 3 pin for power, with a RJ45 connector for pwm.
Something like this, if possible.---Rick

http://i.imgur.com/LNlOZmc.png

[O2Surplus]

007

Now that you're using EAGLE, why don't you just design a driver board exactly the way you want it. Just use the LDD-H driver footprint in your design and the little driver that I've designed will plug right in. I'll build a batch of drivers and send you however many you need for cheap. I don't have any personal need for these drivers, so this just an engineering exercise and entertainment for me. LoL:lolspin:

[asid61]

Have you considered Cat5 or Cat6 cable sockets for power and PWM?

[007Bond]

Have you considered Cat5 or Cat6 cable sockets for power and PWM?

That is what I would like to do. I want a cat socket for PWM, and it would be cool to use one also for power. I'm not sure what cat cables and scokets can handle amp wise. I was even thinking of pairing up 4 of the cables wires for the +, and 4 for -. In my case the connector would need to handle up to 7 amps. :confused: ---Rick

[007Bond]

007

Now that you're using EAGLE, why don't you just design a driver board exactly the way you want it. Just use the LDD-H driver footprint in your design and the little driver that I've designed will plug right in. I'll build a batch of drivers and send you however many you need for cheap. I don't have any personal need for these drivers, so this just an engineering exercise and entertainment for me. LoL:lolspin:

Thanks O2,
I'm working on my Eagle skills. I got a schematic together by following your layout and pulling parts from library. When I move to board, I can't tell if I have it right (nothing to copy from) I think I need to watch some more YouTube how to's. To build a board from scratch, would the 6211 footprint be smaller than a LDD? I think I would have a smaller footprint by grouping them together. I don't know if I need to be able to remove a single driver, or if I could just desolder and replace one if it fails? My ideal board would be small with the connectors I showed in the picture. Also in your post on the pwm to analog board you built, you said you used "hot air"? is this something I could do? I can through hole solder ok, and I soldered smd resistors on my 5 up boards. don't know what hot air is? Last question, I would want to make a plastic case to house and mount the 6211 drivers on my fixtures. Heat...? will 6211's generate heat? Can I enclose these in a plastic case? or will they need to be free air? Thanks---Rick

[asid61]

Also, what are the advantages of using this board instead of a normal LDD driver?

[O2Surplus]

Thanks O2,
I'm working on my Eagle skills. I got a schematic together by following your layout and pulling parts from library. When I move to board, I can't tell if I have it right (nothing to copy from) I think I need to watch some more YouTube how to's. To build a board from scratch, would the 6211 footprint be smaller than a LDD? I think I would have a smaller footprint by grouping them together. I don't know if I need to be able to remove a single driver, or if I could just desolder and replace one if it fails? My ideal board would be small with the connectors I showed in the picture. Also in your post on the pwm to analog board you built, you said you used "hot air"? is this something I could do? I can through hole solder ok, and I soldered smd resistors on my 5 up boards. don't know what hot air is? Last question, I would want to make a plastic case to house and mount the 6211 drivers on my fixtures. Heat...? will 6211's generate heat? Can I enclose these in a plastic case? or will they need to be free air? Thanks---Rick


Rick-

I'd recommend, for the sake of learning, that you grab the build files for one of the PcB designs that I've posted, and modify them directly in EAGLE. All you have to do is create a new "folder" in "projects" and then insert the .brd & .sch files of the preexisting PcB design into the folder. You can then open the folder and toggle between the schematic and board screens to see what ever changes you want to make. To make changes you must alter the schematic first. Any change you make will be automatically reflected on the PcB layout screen. I've found that it's the easiest way to learn EAGLE quickly.
The A6211 PcB that I posted is smaller than an LDD-H. I designed the PcB by positioning the components into the the "device symbol" for an LDD-H. The round green pads that you can see in the photo of the PcB are taken directly from an LDD-H, They are the connection pins of an LDD-H. I made a custom copy of the MeanWell LDD-H library part and then edited out the "Meanwell LDD-H" from the silk screen layer. That's why it doesn't show up on the A6211 PcB.

To answer your question about "Hot Air"- YES, You can do it yourself. It's easy! I'd use SMD components exclusively now, but I still have a lot of through hole components in my collection that I need to use up first. LOL Some people, like "Bacon Biter", use a Toaster Oven to do the "Hot Air" soldering on his awesome controller. I'm not making large batches of anything, so for smaller builds I use a "hot plate" and a hand held "Heat Gun". I start the soldering process by placing a small amount of "solder paste" (actual solder not flux) onto each pad on the PcB. Then I place each component into position using tweezers. Once all the components are placed, I then transfer the PcB to the surface of the hot plate (preheated to 300 degrees). I then use the heat gun to blow hot air (600 degrees +) over the surface of the board. I continue heating the PcB and components until the solder melts and most of the flux burns off. From the time the solder melts to the time the flux evaporates normally takes about 10 seconds. I then turn off the heat and allow the PcB to cool. After the PcB cools to the touch, I'll then place and solder any through hole components that remain. I finish the process by washing the PcB with a Flux remover and then manually trim all excess component leads.
As far as a plastic case for your drivers? Sure, why not? Just make sure to design it in such a way that adequate ventilation can be maintained. All electronics will generate some heat, so just make allowances for heat removal, and you'll be fine.

[jedo65]

Hey Tom-

Here's the Pcb that I've managed to create. I actually had to create the A6211 chip library from scratch, as I couldn't find an existing Eagle Library for it. The Pcb passes Itead's design checks and the I drew the circuit directly from the Manufacturer's data sheet, so it should work in theory...Lol. Let me know what you think?

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/Allegro62115upleddriver_zpsdf0366f0.png

Hi, nice work!:thumbsup:
Are the eagle files "free" available?

[007Bond]

Hey O2,...Dose this look like any kind of a 6211 circuit?---Rick
http://i.imgur.com/QdwwFw0.png

[O2Surplus]

Hey O2,...Dose this look like any kind of a 6211 circuit?---Rick
http://i.imgur.com/QdwwFw0.png


Looks good to me! Are you going to put 5 of them side by side, sorta like the one I posted above?

[007Bond]

Hey O2 thanks for the how to explanation. I've used a heat gun on heatshrink before. I would think the gun would blow the smd parts from their positions. I'll try eagle as you said. Another problem, is I don't know what the correct sizes are for the various parts needed. I made the schematic as a knock off of the one you posted and added the connectors from the libary. Anyhow I'll keep playing with it!---Rick

[007Bond]

Looks good to me! Are you going to put 5 of them side by side, sorta like the one I posted above?

Ya thats what I would like to do. I need to see how to transfer it over to the board while showing me the size its going to be, and then learning top layer, bottom layer, ground plane ect. :fun5:

[O2Surplus]

Ya thats what I would like to do. I need to see how to transfer it over to the board while showing me the size its going to be, and then learning top layer, bottom layer, ground plane ect. :fun5:

So you want to create a PcB? From the schematic layout editor- click "file", select "switch to board". The Eagle software will then open a pop up window that says something like this- "The board file does not exist- create from schematic?" Click "Yes". The software will then switch over to the Board Layout editor. You'll see all of your parts in the lower left corner of the screen and a white box to the right. The white box is your "PcB". The PcB measures 100mm x 80mm IIRC in the "lite or freeware" version of eagle. You can use to "Move" an "Rotate" commands to re-locate your components to the PcB and re-size the PcB to your liking. It takes awhile to learn, but you'll get it down. LOL

[asid61]

100mm x 80mm is more than enough for most things. Also, there is a button 4 to the right from "open" that switches between board and schematic.
I recommend getting a single-layer version down first, the moving the parts to make a double-layer. Also, don't use the autorouter. It sucks, and never works for me.

[007Bond]

Thanks guys!
I tried what you described the other day after watching a video from a young guy (Jeremy Blum). I'll play with it some more once I understand what its going to do.
O2 dose the electrical lay out I put up look electrically correct?
The other day when I moved to the board, moved the parts... hit ratsnest, it looked like everything was crossing. Do you need to relocate parts to untangle the routs, or dose it just all work out in the end?

[O2Surplus]

Thanks guys!
I tried what you described the other day after watching a video from a young guy (Jeremy Blum). I'll play with it some more once I understand what its going to do.
O2 dose the electrical lay out I put up look electrically correct?
The other day when I moved to the board, moved the parts... hit ratsnest, it looked like everything was crossing. Do you need to relocate parts to untangle the routs, or dose it just all work out in the end?


Rick-

Yes- it helps to untangle the "air wires" a bit, but that's basically what you're doing as you layout your design. The "ratsnest" command will help untangle the air wires as you go. Remember- there are at least 2 air wires for each component, which adds to the visual confusion. To help eliminate some of that visual "mess", I use the "Polygon" command to draw a ground plane on the top layer of the board, and then "copy" it to the bottom side of the board. Then place all my components on the top layer and then invoke the "Rat's nest" command to eliminate all the ground side air wires. That approach will make it easier for you to place the components in logical locations based on the remaining air wires. Use the Rat's nest command often and don't forget to run the DRC (Design Rule Check) command (found under the "tools" tab) on a regular basis to make sure your design is within limits.

Oh one more thing! Your schematic looks correct, but I screwed up when I made the A6211 part library. I forgot to include the #1 pin identifier "dot" and forgot to assign a "pin" to the thermal tab under the chip. I've attached the corrected library. Just load it into your library folder and use the "replace" command in the schematic editor to update your A6211. Don't forget to tie the thermal tab to ground.

[007Bond]

Thanks O2,... Your explanations are very clear, you should be a teacher (or maybe you are) lol. I seen the guy on the video use the Polygon command, I'll try to put it into play on my layout. I'll upload your 6211 file. I seen something in the manufacture speck about the center pad helping out as a heatsink(was wondering at the time how to solder it)
What I need to do next is apply the information you guys have posted, and see where I end up. This is really interesting, now I know how Dr. Frankenstine felt in his laboratory. :lmao: ---Rick

[O2Surplus]

I seen something in the manufacture speck about the center pad helping out as a heatsink(was wondering at the time how to solder it)

Hey- Thanks for the compliments! I've always considered myself a "Jack of all trades and Master of none". LOL
Just stick a big "Via" under that tab. Just make sure to adjust the drill size to 1.6mm IIRC. That way you'll be able to solder it down from the bottom of the PcB. That's how I do it, and don't worry about the DRC issuing and "overlap" error after you've run the command. Just "Approve"the error, as you've added the "Via" for reasons the DRC does not understand.

[007Bond]

Got it :thumbsup: I'll start rereading all your posts in the morning. Stuff tends to stick in the gray matter a little better when I'm fresh. As Arnie says..."I'll beee back!"---Rick

[007Bond]

Tom,...You still moving.

[007Bond]

Here we go again! O2, I think I uploaded the A6211 link, but the only change I see on the schematic is a + in the middle of the part symbol. I'm not clear on what you mean by

"I forgot to include the #1 pin identifier "dot" and forgot to assign a "pin" to the thermal tab under the chip. I've attached the corrected library. Just load it into your library folder and use the "replace" command in the schematic editor to update your A6211. Don't forget to tie the thermal tab to ground."
Rick

[O2Surplus]

Here we go again! O2, I think I uploaded the A6211 link, but the only change I see on the schematic is a + in the middle of the part symbol. I'm not clear on what you mean by

"I forgot to include the #1 pin identifier "dot" and forgot to assign a "pin" to the thermal tab under the chip. I've attached the corrected library. Just load it into your library folder and use the "replace" command in the schematic editor to update your A6211. Don't forget to tie the thermal tab to ground."
Rick

Oh- Now that you've replaced the library, you'll have to "right click" on the A6211 part in the Board editor and select "replace". The Eagle software will open the Library screen. Go to the new A6211 library and select the A6211 again. Once you've done that you should see the "new" version of the A6211 in the Board editor. The software may also open a pop up window saying something like "there's a new version of this part available, would you like to replace it?" Just click yes.
When I first created the library for the A6211, I cheated a bit and used an existing part in the SOIC8 package for reference. The part I chose used a simple line to denote a chamfered edge on one side of the actual plastic chip package. I then received my order of A6211 chips and when I inspected them closely,I noticed that the #1 pin was denoted by an "identifier dot". Since I'd already posted the new library to the forum, I wanted to make sure that I corrected the problem, so that you and others would not get confused when trying to position the chip correctly on your PcB's. I know it's a small detail, but it's important to get it right. I don't want anyone to let the smoke out of their chips, because they had to guess it's proper pin alignment.

[007Bond]

Thanks I'll give it a try. Now I get "identifier dot"

[007Bond]

Finally in forward motion... The A6211 uploaded to the library under O2Surplus Alegro A6211(didn't think to look in the O's)lol.
Soooo now I'm going to redoing the schematic. My question is do I need to add 5 of everything on the schematic, or just put one drawing together and then multiply it out when I move it to the board layout?--RICK

[O2Surplus]

Finally in forward motion... The A6211 uploaded to the library under O2Surplus Alegro A6211(didn't think to look in the O's)lol.
Soooo now I'm going to redoing the schematic. My question is do I need to add 5 of everything on the schematic, or just put one drawing together and then multiply it out when I move it to the board layout?--RICK


You may have to experiment a bit, because I'm so used to using the "standard" version of EAGLE that I can't remember the all the program limitations of the "Lite" version. I know that the "Lite" version only allows one page for your schematic, so you're probably stuck to placing 5 copies of the basic driver schematic there, and then placing all of your components manually in the Board editor. There is one trick IIRC that can make your life easier though, but it still involves some work.

Starting in the board editor.

1.) Draw up and arrange your driver components (for one driver only) as you'd like to see them. Get all your wiring traces, ground planes and vias installed.
2.) Go to the upper left corner of the board editor and open the "Layer settings" window. Now scroll down and turn "Off" all layers except for #1, #16, #17, and #18. You should now only be able to see the top and bottom planes and traces along with any pads and vias that you've placed.
3.) Click the "Group" command and use it to highlight everything that remains showing on the PcB.
4.) Click the "Copy" command and then move the cursor near your drawing. "right click" and the option to "Copy Group" should show up. "Left Click" the "Group Copy" and a copy of everything should now show up. Move the Copy into your preferred position on the board.
5.) repeat steps #3 & #4 until you have 5 distinct copies on your PcB.
6.) Go back to the "layer settings" command and re-enable all the layers that you hid earlier.
7.) Move back to the schematic editor and use the "Group copy" command sequence to make 4 more copies of your driver components.
8.) Move to the board editor and place all of your components to their respective positions on the new "copies" of your led driver.
9.) You'll have to "right click" on the new traces and polygons to check their "properties" and identify them."Rename" all traces and polygons using the names of the "air wires" associated with the components you've placed on them.

It's going to be a lot of work,but that's how the folks at Cadsoft prod you into actually paying for the better version of the software. Let me know if you run into trouble. If you send me a copy of your .brd & .sch files,I can do the copy & paste work for you, and then send you back the files for your final additions and tweaks.

[007Bond]

Thanks O2 I'll give it a try, I'm actually pretty patient at learning new stuff. :)

I just got the schematic done, I think I'll forward it, so you can take a gander if you would before I get to carried away. Thanks again---Rick

[007Bond]

Hey O2, I wanted to get my schematic to you, but I can't seem to get if off the eagle site.
So how do I send it?---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Hey O2, I wanted to get my schematic to you, but I can't seem to get if off the eagle site.
So how do I send it?---Rick

If you're using a windows PC, it should be easy enough to just high light the schematic file in the Eagle control panel ( the Eagle program's start screen) and "right click" COPY it to your desktop. Then just zip it up and upload it to this thread as an attachment. If that doesn't work you'll have to find the eagle program files on your hard drive and access the file that way.

[007Bond]

Have you considered Cat5 or Cat6 cable sockets for power and PWM?

Hey 61, Cat5 or Cat6 for power would be ideal. Have you done this, or could you elaborate. It would be nice to use 4 of the wires in a cable for + and 4 for -, but I don't know if the board connector or the cable could handle the power to a 5up board? What's your thoughts. Thanks---Rick

[tomservo]

I still live! We are finally moved in, and all of our stuff is in the house.. except my reef tank. So there's that, I guess. But SOON I will organize my shop and get cracking. I have the parts to test the MP chip.

[asid61]

Hey 61, Cat5 or Cat6 for power would be ideal. Have you done this, or could you elaborate. It would be nice to use 4 of the wires in a cable for + and 4 for -, but I don't know if the board connector or the cable could handle the power to a 5up board? What's your thoughts. Thanks---Rick

Haven't used it, but I should. I have heard good things about using them for leds.
Apparently cat6 run around 22-24 gauge, so 1 amp for leds should be okay. More than that is probably not good. Ideally, you would get something in the range of 20-22 gauge, but I can't recall any wire assortments that use that.

[007Bond]

Hey Tom, good to see you back.
O2 is in the final design stages of a 5up board using a A6211 driver for power. He is setting the board up for me with two RJ45's (power and pwm) and a 10 pin molex for the leds, needless to say I'm excited. I'll have you take a look before I send it to Itead.---Rick

[O2Surplus]

:celeb3:
"The Man in the Brown Van" will be delivering my Allegro A6211 PcB's tomorrow! I've got all the other needed parts ready to go. If it all goes as planned, I'll have a 1400ma replacement for the Meanwell LDD-H up and running by tomorrow night!........or.........a big puff of smoke LOL! I can't wait!

[asid61]

Speaking of which, my LM3429 boards arrived last night. They're like boost mode LDD drivers.
Although I didn't realize there were other designs of the same driver. The lm3423 and lm3421 have almost the same circuit schematic, but are 2-3% more efficient. It's not too much of a difference, but it nags me.
The LT3476 is a 4 channel led driver that costs $9 for the chip, and it has a pretty simple schematic. Max drive of 1500ma. Boost drivers, but maximum output of 36v. Little late to mention, but if you pursue more stuff like this, I though you might be able to use it.
http://cds.linear.com/docs/en/datasheet/3476fb.pdf

Also, good luck on those boards! Hopefully there won't be overlapping pads or anything.

[007Bond]

Hey take a look at this fellows LDD paralleling
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/330355-ldd-driving-more-then-1000ma/

[asid61]

Hey take a look at this fellows LDD paralleling
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/330355-ldd-driving-more-then-1000ma/

It didn't work. Evil and jedimasterben do a lot of led work, and if they say it can't be done, it probably can't.

[007Bond]

It didn't work. Evil and jedimasterben do a lot of led work, and if they say it can't be done, it probably can't.

I know a couple guys had posted some ideas, but nothing ever was confirmed as working. I just wanted to post the link for feed back. I thought I posted it on the LDD thread also, but I didn't see it. I think RC has some rule regarding other forum sites.---Rick

[O2Surplus]

007-

I received my A6211 PcB's yesterday, and had just enough time to solder one up, before I had to go to work. It looks like I'll have to do some tweaking on some of the component values. I fired one up and got 1600ma on the output. That's obviously a wee bit high for our needs. I'm not going to have time to play with it for a few weeks though, as I'm now stuck working "nights" at an oil refinery LOL.

[nemosworld]

007-

I received my A6211 PcB's yesterday, and had just enough time to solder one up, before I had to go to work. It looks like I'll have to do some tweaking on some of the component values. I fired one up and got 1600ma on the output. That's obviously a wee bit high for our needs. I'm not going to have time to play with it for a few weeks though, as I'm now stuck working "nights" at an oil refinery LOL.

1600ma would be awesome for someone wanting to run a parralel string at 800ma.

[O2Surplus]

1600ma would be awesome for someone wanting to run a parralel string at 800ma.

I'm definitely going to do more testing on these, just as soon as time permits. The only real roadblock that I can see is heat. The Meanwell LDD-H may only be rated for up to 1000ma because of this. Since I was silly enough to package my A6211 chips into the LDD-H footprint, the added heat load on such a tiny PcB may prove to be a limiting factor to attaining substantially higher currents. I may be forced to add a small heat sink to the A6211 chip and employ active cooling to keep operating temps within limits. Unfortunately- I'm working 14 hours a day, 6 days a week right now,until God knows when, so it's going to be some time before I can get back to work creating the "LDD-2000H".:mad2:

[nemosworld]

I don't care for those kind of hours. I don't think I could do it.

[O2Surplus]

I don't care for those kind of hours. I don't think I could do it.


I don't either, but I don't have a choice. I've got a position that allows me a lot of freedom most of the time, meaning- I can multitask and do the work that I'm paid by my employer to do, and work on my hobbies at the same time. That's a rare professional benefit that I enjoy having, so I'll do what I have to to keep it. I normally work from 6am to 4pm, but for the time being it's 5pm to 7am + a 1 hour commute each way. That's leaving just enough time for a few hours of sleep and nothing else.
Jeez- I forgot to feed the fish......the little buggers are gonna be hungry. Oh well- They're better off. I don't have time right now for water changes either. LOL :headwalls:

[007Bond]

The commute time would be the killer for me! I never minded the on the clock time $lol
Interesting your test information so far. I haven't done anything except window shop so far, so no biggie. I'll watch for your updates. Take care, and drive careful on those commutes! :thumbsup:---Rick

[O2Surplus]

The commute time would be the killer for me! I never minded the on the clock time $lol
Interesting your test information so far. I haven't done anything except window shop so far, so no biggie. I'll watch for your updates. Take care, and drive careful on those commutes! :thumbsup:---Rick


I managed to survive! I ended up working only 78 hours instead of 84 LOL! I spent some time playing around with the A6211 drivers today, and here's what I've got so far-

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/013_zpsdd0a55c9.jpg

The one on the far left is being tested to see how much current that it can produce without overheating. The one with the small heat sink is being tested too, for the same reason. I'm using an ambient temp of 95F with no forced air cooling, as a baseline for my testing (just because- that's the temp here right now -lol). I've ordered some small 14x12x4mm copper heat sinks, that should perform better than the steel one that I'm using now. I'll post some more photos and my latest findings, after they arrive and I've tested them a bit. A stable output of 1400ma is the target, so I'll we'll see if I can pull that off- in such a tiny package.

[007Bond]

YAY O2!!:dance:...Kind of cool to see it next to a LDD. I'll keep my fingers crossed on the cooling/1400ma. Tom might chime in if he seen your post. I know he's still unpacking. May be some others will post also now that design can be seen. Did you change the Rsense resistor to lower the output?

Soooo excited :bounce2:---Rick

[O2Surplus]

YAY O2!!:dance:...Kind of cool to see it next to a LDD. I'll keep my fingers crossed on the cooling/1400ma. Tom might chime in if he seen your post. I know he's still unpacking. May be some others will post also now that design can be seen. Did you change the Rsense resistor to lower the output?

Soooo excited :bounce2:---Rick

No- I haven't changed out the resistor yet. I'm playing with the component values in the Allegro Spread sheet to determine what value combination of resistors and caps will get us to 1400ma. I'm trying to avoid any changes that will cause a change in the preferred inductor of 10mH, since they (the inductors) can be hard to find in the same package w/a different value.

From the spread sheet- it appears that I need an Rsense value of .143 ohms (.13 ohms now) and a 31K ohm resistor for setting the switching frequency at 2MHz. I'll probably order some more parts this week and then continue testing. I'm hoping that the copper heat sinks will provide the cooling that I'm looking for. They only add 50 cents to the cost of each driver, so that won't break the bank. LoL

[007Bond]

I got my mm to inch calculator out,...those are some little guys. And 95f as your base ambient Whoo! open the fridge door :uhoh3: Wish I could help with those calculations, but no such luck from this end.---Rick

[asid61]

The a6211 has an exposed pad on the bottom so you can use copper traces to heatsink it. The example PCB also has vias to dissipate heat. Why did you not take advantage of this?
Also, many inductors have a maximum frequency, some around 750kHz. Does this effect the frequency of the drivers?

[O2Surplus]

The a6211 has an exposed pad on the bottom so you can use copper traces to heatsink it. The example PCB also has vias to dissipate heat. Why did you not take advantage of this?
Also, many inductors have a maximum frequency, some around 750kHz. Does this effect the frequency of the drivers?

Ugh- If you'd looked closely at the PcB design that I posted earlier, you'd have noticed the 6 small vias and 1 additional large via placed under the A6211. I included the large via to facilitate soldering in the thermal pad from the bottom side of the PcB. Spreading out the heat to the rest of the PcB isn't the issue. The issue is- there's not enough real estate on this small of a PcB, for adequate heat sinking to begin with, hence the need for additional heat removal schemes.
I've been testing these drivers all day in 90F+ ambient temperatures. So far the driver without any additional heat sinking has been pushing 1000ma all day, without issue. The driver with the heat sink is pushing 1400ma all day with just a whisper of airflow over the PcB. I'm encouraged by this.
I'm not concerned with the switching frequency of the drivers. According to the manufacturers data sheet, 2Mhz is the frequency that this driver will operate at, given the component values that I've chosen. The driver seems to perform pretty close to the specs that I'd chosen, albeit a little more output current than I'd asked for. I've found that the dimming performance is right where I'd like it to be. Full 8 bit dimming is achievable with 1/255 steps having been seen.

[asid61]

That's great! I can't wait till this is done; it will provide higher driver current for the larger Bridgelux arrays.

[O2Surplus]

That's great! I can't wait till this is done; it will provide higher driver current for the larger Bridgelux arrays.


I've already tackled that issue with the creation of my LM3409 based driver.
It's capable of driving up to 2900ma and features analog current level adjustment, PWM dimming, and 12V power for cooling fans ect...

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/002.jpg

[asid61]

Dude, you're incredible!
Have you ever made an ac/dc led driver, like the one you linked to in the first post?

[O2Surplus]

Dude, you're incredible!
Have you ever made an ac/dc led driver, like the one you linked to in the first post?


Lol- To be honest, A/C kinda scares me. I still bare the scars from being nearly electrocuted as a small child, so I tend to give high voltages a wide berth. I'll be sticking to <50Vdc because of that experience.

[rott]

02 hows the testing going with the A6211 boards I have a new led build that is using 6 50w led's and these look perfect to drive them and I have a few extra 4up LDD boards I can use them on

[O2Surplus]

02 hows the testing going with the A6211 boards I have a new led build that is using 6 50w led's and these look perfect to drive them and I have a few extra 4up LDD boards I can use them on


I'm still waiting for some copper heat sinks to arrive, before I can continue testing in earnest. My hope is that they'll allow the driver to push at least 2000ma without going into thermal "protection" mode, so dialing them in for a more modest 1400ma will make for a long service life. If I can get that, Ive got enough parts on hand to build 40 of them, so if you'd like to be a Beta tester, let me know and I'll send you a few to play with. Lol

I'm also working on a 5up driver PcB for "007Bond", but it's on hold until I can get the little LDD-H compatible Pcb sorted out. I'm going to apply "lessons learned" from the little driver to help perfect "007's" PcB design.

Here's another version that I'm working on too. I call it "the kitchen sink driver" Lol. It's not completed yet, I'm still trying to figure out what else I can cram in LOL, and then finalize placement of the components.(don't laugh-I'll get it all to fit eventually) :hammer:

Here's a list of what it's got so far-:lol: Let me know what you think?

1.) 5 independent A6211 drivers. Each driver with jumper selectable current settings. ( Don't worry 007, I'm gonna add this to yours too!)

2.) 1 MeanWell SCW05-12 Dc/Dc convertor for powering cooling fans, arduinos, ect.. (how cool is that? This alone makes everything else on the list possible )

3.) 1 5V regulator (a must have for the Atmega chip)

4.) 1 AtMega 328-au micro-controller.

5.) 1 DS1307 Real Time Clock

6.) 1 I2C connection w/ 5V and 1.8k Pull Up resistors already installed. ( for future expansion )

7.) 1 FTDI connection for programming access.

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/A6211Kitchensinkdriver_zpse937900a.png

[rott]

Yup sign me up for beta testing I can use atleast 6 or a few more. I really like that new board

[007Bond]

[QUOTE=O2Surplus;21856068]I'm still waiting for some copper heat sinks to arrive, before I can continue testing in earnest. My hope is that they'll allow the driver to push at least 2000ma without going into thermal "protection" mode, so dialing them in for a more modest 1400ma will make for a long service life. If I can get that, Ive got enough parts on hand to build 40 of them, so if you'd like to be a Beta tester, let me know and I'll send you a few to play with. Lol

I'm also working on a 5up driver PcB for "007Bond", but it's on hold until I can get the little LDD-H compatible Pcb sorted out. I'm going to apply "lessons learned" from the little driver to help perfect "007's" PcB design.

YAY!!!!... O2 why don't you put up the pic. of the board, and see what they think of the cat5's :beer:---Rick

[O2Surplus]

[QUOTE=O2Surplus;21856068]I'm still waiting for some copper heat sinks to arrive, before I can continue testing in earnest. My hope is that they'll allow the driver to push at least 2000ma without going into thermal "protection" mode, so dialing them in for a more modest 1400ma will make for a long service life. If I can get that, Ive got enough parts on hand to build 40 of them, so if you'd like to be a Beta tester, let me know and I'll send you a few to play with. Lol

I'm also working on a 5up driver PcB for "007Bond", but it's on hold until I can get the little LDD-H compatible Pcb sorted out. I'm going to apply "lessons learned" from the little driver to help perfect "007's" PcB design.

YAY!!!!... O2 why don't you put up the pic. of the board, and see what they think of the cat5's :beer:---Rick


Here's 007's work in progress-
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/A6211leddriverRev5_zpsc42c8411.png

[007Bond]

Yep,... looking good!... O2, what size is that board? 4 x 4?

[O2Surplus]

Yep,... looking good!... O2, what size is that board? 4 x 4?

Yep- 10cm x 10cm. I try to keep all my PcB designs within that limit, as it helps to keep the cost down.

[zachts]

I'm still waiting for some copper heat sinks to arrive, before I can continue testing in earnest. My hope is that they'll allow the driver to push at least 2000ma without going into thermal "protection" mode, so dialing them in for a more modest 1400ma will make for a long service life. If I can get that, Ive got enough parts on hand to build 40 of them, so if you'd like to be a Beta tester, let me know and I'll send you a few to play with. Lol

I'm also working on a 5up driver PcB for "007Bond", but it's on hold until I can get the little LDD-H compatible Pcb sorted out. I'm going to apply "lessons learned" from the little driver to help perfect "007's" PcB design.

Here's another version that I'm working on too. I call it "the kitchen sink driver" Lol. It's not completed yet, I'm still trying to figure out what else I can cram in LOL, and then finalize placement of the components.(don't laugh-I'll get it all to fit eventually) :hammer:

Here's a list of what it's got so far-:lol: Let me know what you think?

1.) 5 independent A6211 drivers. Each driver with jumper selectable current settings. ( Don't worry 007, I'm gonna add this to yours too!)

2.) 1 MeanWell SCW05-12 Dc/Dc convertor for powering cooling fans, arduinos, ect.. (how cool is that? This alone makes everything else on the list possible )

3.) 1 5V regulator (a must have for the Atmega chip)

4.) 1 AtMega 328-au micro-controller.

5.) 1 DS1307 Real Time Clock

6.) 1 I2C connection w/ 5V and 1.8k Pull Up resistors already installed. ( for future expansion )

7.) 1 FTDI connection for programming access.

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/A6211Kitchensinkdriver_zpse937900a.png

seems to me all that needs fit in yet is a fan connector with options for fan control, and somewhere to plug in a DS18b20

[O2Surplus]

seems to me all that needs fit in yet is a fan connector with options for fan control, and somewhere to plug in a DS18b20

Yeah- I just threw that PcB up for a few laughs, but the longer I stare at it, the more I want to make a working example of it. I'll definitely add the fan control circuit and a couple of connections for the Dallas One Wire stuff.

[mkj]

Awesome, looks like a TRON racebike course. Who won:inlove:

I'm still waiting for some copper heat sinks to arrive, before I can continue testing in earnest. My hope is that they'll allow the driver to push at least 2000ma without going into thermal "protection" mode, so dialing them in for a more modest 1400ma will make for a long service life. If I can get that, Ive got enough parts on hand to build 40 of them, so if you'd like to be a Beta tester, let me know and I'll send you a few to play with. Lol

I'm also working on a 5up driver PcB for "007Bond", but it's on hold until I can get the little LDD-H compatible Pcb sorted out. I'm going to apply "lessons learned" from the little driver to help perfect "007's" PcB design.

Here's another version that I'm working on too. I call it "the kitchen sink driver" Lol. It's not completed yet, I'm still trying to figure out what else I can cram in LOL, and then finalize placement of the components.(don't laugh-I'll get it all to fit eventually) :hammer:

Here's a list of what it's got so far-:lol: Let me know what you think?

1.) 5 independent A6211 drivers. Each driver with jumper selectable current settings. ( Don't worry 007, I'm gonna add this to yours too!)

2.) 1 MeanWell SCW05-12 Dc/Dc convertor for powering cooling fans, arduinos, ect.. (how cool is that? This alone makes everything else on the list possible )

3.) 1 5V regulator (a must have for the Atmega chip)

4.) 1 AtMega 328-au micro-controller.

5.) 1 DS1307 Real Time Clock

6.) 1 I2C connection w/ 5V and 1.8k Pull Up resistors already installed. ( for future expansion )

7.) 1 FTDI connection for programming access.

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/A6211Kitchensinkdriver_zpse937900a.png

[Myocardial]

O2, What inductor have you gone with on the boards? Been looking at the suggested Taiyo Yuden as it is a fair amount cheaper in bulk than higher rated components.

I only really need 350-1050mA most of the time but want the flexibility to run higher with certain strings should the need arise and will be keeping the jumpers for this very reason (cheaper than buying multiple sets of LDD) as I will likely need to adjust my current as I'm going with a Bridgelux BXRA-40E0950 or BXRC-40E2000 test build and want to keep driver costs down initially.

[O2Surplus]

O2, What inductor have you gone with on the boards? Been looking at the suggested Taiyo Yuden as it is a fair amount cheaper in bulk than higher rated components.

I only really need 350-1050mA most of the time but want the flexibility to run higher with certain strings should the need arise and will be keeping the jumpers for this very reason (cheaper than buying multiple sets of LDD) as I will likely need to adjust my current as I'm going with a Bridgelux BXRA-40E0950 or BXRC-40E2000 test build and want to keep driver costs down initially.


I'm using inductors made by Sumida P/N (CDRH8D43NP-100NC). I bought 20 of them for $.30 each on FleaBay.

[tomservo]

Well, guys, I am getting my shop set up. I spent some time today letting the magic smoke out of some MP2483 chips. What I learned is, I'm no good at designing a circuit. It did sort of work, though, and that is a pretty big improvement for me.

I had to spend a bunch of time yesterday replacing my circuit breaker box after I learned the ones that were there were not safe (federal stab-lok). Also, there weren't enough slots anyways, but there are now!

The biggest holdup in this whole project has been my kids, I've got a 3 year old and a 15 month old and they're just terrors these days.

I think I'll be going with O2's allegro based design, and I'll just use a 0-10v/5v pwm converter for the signals.

[007Bond]

Hey O2,...Threads been quiet for a while now, any updates? :bounce3:

[O2Surplus]

Hey O2,...Threads been quiet for a while now, any updates? :bounce3:

Unfortunately my job has been keeping me quite busy as of late, and it's been 100 degrees + at my home for the last few weeks. I'm relegated to doing my experiments out in the NON Air conditioned garage, so at these temperatures, my motivation wanes quickly. I'm working on a few different versions of the A6211 driver PcB and still attempting to find a way to adequately cool my little LDD-H replacement driver, as time permits. I'm going to order another batch of PcB's that will include a 14mm x 12mm solder pad on the underside of the PcB. The solder pad will allow me to attach a heat sink directly to the thermal tab of the A6211. Hopefully this modification will provide the additional cooling that's needed. Here's a photo (the blue square is the heat sink mounting tab)
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/A6211_LDD-Hreplacementver2_zps2ff5fa7b.png

[007Bond]

I seen the weather maps, 100 degree humid temps are rough! :eek1:
The solder pad sounds like a good idea/solution!---Rick

[summoner12]

I'm still waiting for some copper heat sinks to arrive, before I can continue testing in earnest. My hope is that they'll allow the driver to push at least 2000ma without going into thermal "protection" mode, so dialing them in for a more modest 1400ma will make for a long service life. If I can get that, Ive got enough parts on hand to build 40 of them, so if you'd like to be a Beta tester, let me know and I'll send you a few to play with. Lol

I'm also working on a 5up driver PcB for "007Bond", but it's on hold until I can get the little LDD-H compatible Pcb sorted out. I'm going to apply "lessons learned" from the little driver to help perfect "007's" PcB design.

Here's another version that I'm working on too. I call it "the kitchen sink driver" Lol. It's not completed yet, I'm still trying to figure out what else I can cram in LOL, and then finalize placement of the components.(don't laugh-I'll get it all to fit eventually)

Here's a list of what it's got so far- Let me know what you think?

1.) 5 independent A6211 drivers. Each driver with jumper selectable current settings. ( Don't worry 007, I'm gonna add this to yours too!)

2.) 1 MeanWell SCW05-12 Dc/Dc convertor for powering cooling fans, arduinos, ect.. (how cool is that? This alone makes everything else on the list possible )

3.) 1 5V regulator (a must have for the Atmega chip)

4.) 1 AtMega 328-au micro-controller.

5.) 1 DS1307 Real Time Clock

6.) 1 I2C connection w/ 5V and 1.8k Pull Up resistors already installed. ( for future expansion )

7.) 1 FTDI connection for programming access.

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/A6211Kitchensinkdriver_zpse937900a.png

I want one!!! :bounce2::bounce3::bounce1::inlove::fun4::inlove::bounce1::bounce3::bounce2:

[mrjimmypit]

Unfortunately my job has been keeping me quite busy as of late, and it's been 100 degrees + at my home for the last few weeks. I'm relegated to doing my experiments out in the NON Air conditioned garage, so at these temperatures, my motivation wanes quickly. I'm working on a few different versions of the A6211 driver PcB and still attempting to find a way to adequately cool my little LDD-H replacement driver, as time permits. I'm going to order another batch of PcB's that will include a 14mm x 12mm solder pad on the underside of the PcB. The solder pad will allow me to attach a heat sink directly to the thermal tab of the A6211. Hopefully this modification will provide the additional cooling that's needed. Here's a photo (the blue square is the heat sink mounting tab)
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/A6211_LDD-Hreplacementver2_zps2ff5fa7b.png

this is awesome, can we get the design files?

[007Bond]

Hi O2,... Hey did your new pcb's with the solder pads show up yet? Your idea of heat reduction with the added pads sounded like a good solution.---Rick

[sasalone]

Yeah- I just threw that PcB up for a few laughs, but the longer I stare at it, the more I want to make a working example of it. I'll definitely add the fan control circuit and a couple of connections for the Dallas One Wire stuff.
Try to squeeze in a PCA9685 12-bit 16-channel PWM controller, the one Adafruit is using on their 16-Channel 12-bit PWM/Servo Driver (http://www.adafruit.com/products/815). The 12-bit PWM really smooths the dimming.

[O2Surplus]

Hi O2,... Hey did your new pcb's with the solder pads show up yet? Your idea of heat reduction with the added pads sounded like a good solution.---Rick


Hey Rick!

I got the new PcB's, but haven't had any time to play with them yet.... Unfortunately my job has me working 5 nights a week now, (6pm - 7am) and I'm feeling like a Zombie because of it. I'll be working these hours until about the end of the year, so I won't be able to contribute much to the Forum/thread until then. What's that old saying about "Money & Time"? I'm not complaining, since these days I'm lucky to still have a job in the first place.LOL

[007Bond]

Ok buddy, I'll watch for future updates.---Rick

[O2Surplus]

this is awesome, can we get the design files?

I'll release the design files just as soon as I've had a chance to build a few, and verify that the new driver will perform reliably.

[tomservo]

Well, I have an update. I finally got around to configuring my PCB based on the one 007 was going to use.. Basically I just switched the connector for my favored 12 pin val-u-lok and added a terminal block for the volts in, and did some +12v shenanigans for the fans. I also switched things so there are still two RJ45 connectors but they are both for PWM, for easy piggybacking of the boards.

[007Bond]

Hey Tom,... haven't heard from you in a while. Are you doing the A6211? Can you put up a pic of your board. Also did you see on the posting on the other thread, that meanwell is putting out a new LDD-L series, up to 1500ma. Now they need to put out the H series, and we would really be in business for Dream Chips.---Rick
http://www.powergatellc.com/mean-well-ldd-l-dc-dc-converter.html
.

[O2Surplus]

Hey Rick

I'm back to working normal hours and 3 day weekends, so I'll be soldering up a couple of the newest A6211 driver designs in the next few days. I'm going to put together a 5up and one of my LDD-H compatible drivers to see how they perform. LOL Hopefully- there won't be any sparks, flames or other surprises!

[tomservo]

Nice to hear things are starting back up for everyone... O2, I sure hope the boards work, as I already ordered up 10 of them...

[O2Surplus]

Nice to hear things are starting back up for everyone... O2, I sure hope the boards work, as I already ordered up 10 of them...


Oh.....They're gonna work. Just slap a VGA cooler on the back and "let 'er rip" LOL. Thermal management is the only stumbling block that remains to be addressed with these new driver chips.

[007Bond]

Hey Rick

I'm back to working normal hours and 3 day weekends, so I'll be soldering up a couple of the newest A6211 driver designs in the next few days. I'm going to put together a 5up and one of my LDD-H compatible drivers to see how they perform. LOL Hopefully- there won't be any sparks, flames or other surprises!

Hey O2,...That's good news.:bounce3: I'm anxious to see if the larger pad for the A6211 that you added on the new board works for cooling the chip.---Rick

[O2Surplus]

I'm still in the game! Check this out- 5 channels, 1600ma per channel, 12V SCW DC/DC convertor and Arduino PWM control for 3 fans! I've run it for a couple of hours so far, and as long as some airflow over the PcB is maintained, it performs admirably.( Each channel will have user programmable current settings, just as soon as I can locate the proper resistors,LOL)
I've also built v2.0 of my A6211 "LDD-H" replacement. A copper heat sink added to the bottom of the tiny PcB and some airflow is all that was needed to make it push 1600ma from a 48V supply. here's some photos-

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/NewPcBs013_zpsca05080b.jpg

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/NewPcBs012_zps5cfc9f91.jpg

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/NewPcBs007_zps77fc8b0c.jpg

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/NewPcBs008_zpsa081e942.jpg

[007Bond]

Hey O2,...looks like your real close to what I was looking for in a 5 up board. Sounds like the heat sink is cooling the 6211 now, and if I could get it top out at 1400ma that would be ideal. I'm going to use a Jarduino for control, so even if the board is putting out 1600ma I should be able to set the controller to the right percentage of the 1600ma to stay at 1400ma or below. If meanwell would now just put out a new LDD-H in the 1500ma, that would really be the solution to my needs. Thanks,---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Hey O2,...looks like your real close to what I was looking for in a 5 up board. Sounds like the heat sink is cooling the 6211 now, and if I could get it top out at 1400ma that would be ideal. I'm going to use a Jarduino for control, so even if the board is putting out 1600ma I should be able to set the controller to the right percentage of the 1600ma to stay at 1400ma or below. If meanwell would now just put out a new LDD-H in the 1500ma, that would really be the solution to my needs. Thanks,---Rick

Hey Rick-

I've located and ordered the 1% resistors needed to finish off this design. I'll take some more current measurements after they've been installed, and hopefully there will be a certain jumper configuration that will hit your 1400ma target. In theory, if all the resistors have their jumper installed, this driver will hit 3000ma per channel. LOL That would be fun to watch, as the solder holding the components would melt from the enormous amount of heat generated from all that current.
I know it will take further experimentation, but I'd like to eventually have a driver that will have jumper settings for 300, 700, 1000, &1400ma per channel. We'll get there eventually.LOL

[007Bond]

Your the Man!! Thanks O2,...I have my solder paste at the ready(been reading up on SMD soldering),...oh I suppose I'll need to order the boards first.lol---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Update-

Last night I received the batch of inductors that I've been waiting on for the last couple of weeks. I swapped out the 10uH inductors, that I had been using, for some new inductors measuring 47uH. This change has made all the difference. The drivers run much cooler than before and max out at 1400ma on the nose! I tested the current output for each jumper setting and got 1400ma, 970ma, 690ma, & 300ma. That's a pretty flexible driver in my book. I'm still in the process of testing the smaller LDD-H replacement version. I built a few to output 1400ma and 1600ma. So far the 1400ma version looks promising with the added copper heat sink, but I may have been pushing too far when going for 1600.
I'm going to continue testing tonight and see what happens.LOL

[007Bond]

Yay O2!!! :bounce2: :bounce1: :bounce3:

[89Delta]

Very nice O2.

[GiulianoM]

O2,

I have been following this thread and the other Meanwell-dim-to-0 thread for some time, and even went as far as getting some 4-up and 5-up PCB's made from ITEad for Dream Chips..

And I'm really looking forward to these new driver boards once they're all tested and ready.

A few questions, if you don't mind:

Do you plan to release the design as the board files and a BOM for the parts?

How about as a kit, board and parts, soldering required?

Or as a fully assembled board?


Thanks!

[nemosworld]

Update-

Last night I received the batch of inductors that I've been waiting on for the last couple of weeks. I swapped out the 10uH inductors, that I had been using, for some new inductors measuring 47uH. This change has made all the difference. The drivers run much cooler than before and max out at 1400ma on the nose! I tested the current output for each jumper setting and got 1400ma, 970ma, 690ma, & 300ma. That's a pretty flexible driver in my book. I'm still in the process of testing the smaller LDD-H replacement version. I built a few to output 1400ma and 1600ma. So far the 1400ma version looks promising with the added copper heat sink, but I may have been pushing too far when going for 1600.
I'm going to continue testing tonight and see what happens.LOL

You have to get the reward for DIY'r of the year.
your contributions to this hobby is just amazing.
I bet if you got a couple of guys under your wing and work out of a garage
(steve jobs) you could create some really cool led solutions and/or aquarium controllers.
all open source.

[O2Surplus]

Very nice O2.
Thanks for the compliment, LOL I've been inspired by a few of your projects as well! (That AC powered chip you pointed out looks promising!)


O2,

I have been following this thread and the other Meanwell-dim-to-0 thread for some time, and even went as far as getting some 4-up and 5-up PCB's made from ITEad for Dream Chips..

And I'm really looking forward to these new driver boards once they're all tested and ready.

A few questions, if you don't mind:

Do you plan to release the design as the board files and a BOM for the parts?

How about as a kit, board and parts, soldering required?

Or as a fully assembled board?




Thanks!

I promise to release the build files after I've built a few more iterations of the basic design. It seems that I suffer from a disorder that I've come to call "PcB OCD" LOL. Just when I start to feel happy with one of my current designs, I'll notice something about the design that's lacking and want to improve it further. Maybe I should seek treatment? LOL

Seriously though, I always have extra PcB's laying around, since I can't use them all. If there's something you see that I've built and want one for yourself, just send me a PM. I've got a really good "Day Job", so Profiting from these projects is not my motivation. I do them purely for the sake of learning something new and for the chance to help other hobbyists get cool stuff without having to break the bank.

You have to get the reward for DIY'r of the year.
your contributions to this hobby is just amazing.
I bet if you got a couple of guys under your wing and work out of a garage
(steve jobs) you could create some really cool led solutions and/or aquarium controllers.
all open source.

Man, you're making me blush :o Steve Jobs is one of my Hero's! It's too bad that I can't get my head wrapped around the software side of these projects LOL. I'd build an "Open Source" Time machine and use it for one purpose LOL. I'd go back to the time just long enough to find Steve Jobs & Bill Gates and "loan them some cash" in exchange for just a small investment position in any "future" companies that they would form. How cool would that be?:celeb3:

[89Delta]

Oh i'm just a novice playing here and there with ideas. You're the master as well as terhaz....if it wasnt for the both of you i'd just be biting my nails waiting for a new design by you guys to come out.Mouser has em but only reels of 1k....grrrr....I wanna get my hands on one to try out. Would mean a smaller foot print than the mean well ac drivers and more power for LEDs in series.

[O2Surplus]

I had the day off today, so I thought I'd be productive. I built a temporary LED rig so that I could test the drivers with all five channels under a full 1400ma load. I used two Chinese "White" 100watt arrays and a couple 50watt RGB arrays. The 100 watt arrays comprised two channels and the three remaining channels were used to drive (2) 50 watt RGB arrays wired in parallel. All 5 channels were configured to drive 1400ma each. I let the drivers run for 4 hours and took temperature measurements occasionally. The highest temp measured at 68C with no air movement. I added a small 45mm fan to the mix and temps fell to no more than 35C. I'm happy with the performance of this driver and will finalize the BOM, so that others will be able to replicate the same performance with this or other designs. I'm going to make a few small changes to this design, mainly to make assembly a little less tiresome, and post the build files when I'm finished.

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/BuiltoutA6211PcBs004_zpsfba552a5.jpg




I also built out the remaining A6211/LDD-H replacement drivers for 1400ma service and dropped 4 of them into the mail for "ROTT" to try out. The little guys perform just as well as the Big PcB and should provide a nice DIY option to the Meanwell LDD-H.:beer:

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/BuiltoutA6211PcBs007_zps2555a457.jpg

[007Bond]

Toooooo cool O2!...did you say that there are jumpers for different currents?---Rick

[rott]

hay 02 thanks again for letting me try these out. I am glad I didn't buy all the LDD1000H drivers these will be much better and the small foot prints make them perfect for mounting on the 4 up boards

[O2Surplus]

Toooooo cool O2!...did you say that there are jumpers for different currents?---Rick

Hey Rick-

Yeah- There are 4 different current setting resistors for each channel. Since I designed the PcB with the "Dream Chip" in mind, the driver's component values are optimized for a 36Vf load with a 48V input. The jumper settings are (from the photo - top to bottom)

300ma
700ma
1000ma
1400ma

I made an interesting observation when driving a BridgeLux BXRA-C4500 with one channel of the driver. That particular led array has a max Vf of 26V @ 2000ma. For some reason that I don't quite understand, the current fell to 1100ma with the jumper in the 1400ma position. Just to see what would happen, I added a second shunt to the 300ma jumper and Viola! the current level rose to 1400ma. From this observation, I have to conclude that more than one shunt may be needed to raise the current into lower Vf loads. It's a good thing, as the shunts are dirt cheap to purchase and only one BOM is needed to cover multiple led Vf levels and current requirements.:bounce1:

[007Bond]

That sounds good. I think Lasse has posted some of the different fv's he was getting when he power the different channels on his DC's. I asked about the jumpers, because I found a guy that will sell me some 50W'ers from his build that never happened. They run at a max 700ma, 1/2 of the 100W. If I get 10 boards on my board order, I need 4 for 100W 1400ma and 3 for 50W 700ma.:bounce1:
I've been reading up on SMD soldering and bought some of the paste you linked me to. Getting excited!!---Rick

[O2Surplus]

That sounds good. I think Lasse has posted some of the different fv's he was getting when he power the different channels on his DC's. I asked about the jumpers, because I found a guy that will sell me some 50W'ers from his build that never happened. They run at a max 700ma, 1/2 of the 100W. If I get 10 boards on my board order, I need 4 for 100W 1400ma and 3 for 50W 700ma.:bounce1:
I've been reading up on SMD soldering and bought some of the paste you linked me to. Getting excited!!---Rick


Cool Rick!

Once you've learned how to solder SMD, You'll prefer it over "through hole" any day. Since your PcB doesn't have the current setting jumpers it actually makes it easier to predict and fine tune your desired current levels. I've got an Excel spreadsheet from Allegro that will make choosing the Rsense resistor values easy for you. I found that, due to the small amount of resistance added by the jumpers in my design, my expected current outputs were always lower than expected. I had to skew all my resistor's values lower to compensate.

The spreadsheet is attached.

[007Bond]

Great O2,... let me look at it. I know when I was trying to find Rsense resistors last summer I was having a heck of a time. I bet Tom chimes in, as this is what he was trying to do, unless he figured something else out.

[O2Surplus]

Great O2,... let me look at it. I know when I was trying to find Rsense resistors last summer I was having a heck of a time. I bet Tom chimes in, as this is what he was trying to do, unless he figured something else out.

LOL- It's slim pickins' for the Rsense resistors on Fleabay. I eventually knuckled under, bit the bullet and ordered them from Digikey. I ended up blowing about $100 for 6 values in cut tapes of 100each. That works out to $.16 per resistor or $3.20 per 5 channel PcB.:headwalls:

[007Bond]

Ok O2,...after rereading your posts this morning, I understand now :p that I don't have/need the jumpers on my boards. As you said...this will make my soldering easier. I soldiered SMD pull down resistors on my first 5up boards by scraping the top of the board, and I didn't even have the paste back then, so yes I like SMD better than through hole.
Your jumper design will surely make the boards pretty versatile for others.
What do you mean 3.20 @ 5 channel board ? Is that total cost @ board?:bounce3:
Hey I'll take some of the rsense off you, and anything else, to help offset your development cost.
Now what about ordering my boards? I have the files,and the BOM. The only thing was,... I thought you changed the pad size for the 6211 (larger) to help with cooling.and In your latest pics. I don't see the little heatsinks you had showed earlier...are they on the other side?

Getting closer :dance: ---Rick

[89Delta]

So drooling O2.

[O2Surplus]

Ok O2,...after rereading your posts this morning, I understand now :p that I don't have/need the jumpers on my boards. As you said...this will make my soldering easier. I soldiered SMD pull down resistors on my first 5up boards by scraping the top of the board, and I didn't even have the paste back then, so yes I like SMD better than through hole.
Your jumper design will surely make the boards pretty versatile for others.
What do you mean 3.20 @ 5 channel board ? Is that total cost @ board?:bounce3:
Hey I'll take some of the rsense off you, and anything else, to help offset your development cost.
Now what about ordering my boards? I have the files,and the BOM. The only thing was,... I thought you changed the pad size for the 6211 (larger) to help with cooling.and In your latest pics. I don't see the little heatsinks you had showed earlier...are they on the other side?

Getting closer :dance: ---Rick


Rick-

I'll save some Rsense resistors for you. LOL My "$3.20" comment was just an effort to show that even little components can add significant cost to a PcB, when you're using a lot of them. Being that each channel has 4 Rsense resistors, 5 channels equals the need for 20 Rsense resistors. $.16 X 20 = $3.20
Check out Digikey's pricing for the resistors that I needed for the 1400ma drive option.http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?pv7=2&k=+RL1206FR-070R13L&mnonly=0&newproducts=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25 LOL Digikey prices them at $.46 each for multiples of 1. I ordered 100 and the price falls to $.16 each w/ a fraction of the shipping charges included
I didn't add the solder pads for the copper heat sinks to this design yet.... but I did attach the copper sinks to the back of the board, using the thermally conductive adhesive that comes with them. They seem to pull off the heat just great as is, but a solder pad would be a more robust thermal path/ attachment method for long term use. The little copper sinks add another $2.50 in cost for each PcB LOL, but they sure "look purdy".

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/BuiltoutA6211PcBs006_zpsde9c1d77.jpg

[89Delta]

What about using a VGA cooling fan for the heatsink if needed.Provided one uses a longer stock across all 5.

[O2Surplus]

What about using a VGA cooling fan for the heatsink if needed.Provided one uses a longer stock across all 5.

I actually tried doing that, but I couldn't find any "off the shelf" that were long enough and didn't interfere with some of the "through hole" solder joints. I'd already purchased 50 of the little copper sinks, so I thought why not put them to use. LOL They actually do a good job on the "big" Pcb and make all the difference in the world for cooling the little LDD-H sized driver PcB.
The 5 channel PcB measures 10cm X 10cm. Do you know of a particular VGA cooler that might fit? I was planning to mount a few of these drivers into a 6' Maker's Heat sink (they fit the top channel where the fans reside) and just let the cooling fans intended for the leds provide the needed airflow. That's the plan for now anyway. LOL

[007Bond]

Rick-

I'll save some Rsense resistors for you. LOL My "$3.20" comment was just an effort to show that even little components can add significant cost to a PcB, when you're using a lot of them. Being that each channel has 4 Rsense resistors, 5 channels equals the need for 20 Rsense resistors. $.16 X 20 = $3.20
Check out Digikey's pricing for the resistors that I needed for the 1400ma drive option.http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?pv7=2&k=+RL1206FR-070R13L&mnonly=0&newproducts=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25 LOL Digikey prices them at $.46 each for multiples of 1. I ordered 100 and the price falls to $.16 each w/ a fraction of the shipping charges included
I didn't add the solder pads for the copper heat sinks to this design yet.... but I did attach the copper sinks to the back of the board, using the thermally conductive adhesive that comes with them. They seem to pull off the heat just great as is, but a solder pad would be a more robust thermal path/ attachment method for long term use. The little copper sinks add another $2.50 in cost for each PcB LOL, but they sure "look purdy".

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/BuiltoutA6211PcBs006_zpsde9c1d77.jpg

Ya... I like the looks of those little guys...clean! I understand your math now. I was thinking before there was only one Rsense resistor @ driver.@channel.
I thought you had ordered some boards with the larger solder pads for the 6211's a while back to try to pull some heat off them.

Are their any changes you know of for the boards I want to use?

Another question,...looking at the calculator you posted, if I want to build some of the boards to push 700ma, do I switch the resistors from .143 to .286?
Thanks O2!---Rick

[89Delta]

None that i'm aware of right now. Was just a thought that popped into my head after seeing the post. I've seen just the fans for sale that have two mounting locations. If there was a piece of copper or aluminium heatsink we could have the fins cnc'd out for the fan(s).

[O2Surplus]

Ya... I like the looks of those little guys...clean! I understand your math now. I was thinking before there was only one Rsense resistor @ driver.@channel.
I thought you had ordered some boards with the larger solder pads for the 6211's a while back to try to pull some heat off them.
The solder pad that I mentioned was for cooling the smaller LDD-H replacement PcB. The board that I designed for you incorporates some changes to the component's solder pads to make them easier for you and I to solder.


Are their any changes you know of for the boards I want to use?

Let me look it over again. I'll make changes, if needed, and forward you the updated build files.

Another question,...looking at the calculator you posted, if I want to build some of the boards to push 700ma, do I switch the resistors from .143 to .286?

Yes- That's all that has to be done, and I've got plenty of resistors in those two values for you. LOL

Thanks O2!---Rick

[007Bond]

Ok Thanks O2,...have a good day!! getting 7-8" of snow here today.---Rick

[O2Surplus]

None that i'm aware of right now. Was just a thought that popped into my head after seeing the post. I've seen just the fans for sale that have two mounting locations. If there was a piece of copper or aluminium heatsink we could have the fins cnc'd out for the fan(s).

I'd love to find something "off the shelf", but being that computers are constantly evolving, a VGA cooler design that may lend itself nicely for my use on this project "today", may not be available "tomorrow". I've seen it happen before. I designed a PcB a few years ago that was meant to pair with a specific VGA cooler model. Before I'd even built the first PcB, the VGA cooler was obsolete and no longer available. LOL

LOL- I'm gonna "play it safe" this time around and corner the market on those little copper RAM chip heat sinks. I just ordered another 100 of em'.:D

[O2Surplus]

Ok Thanks O2,...have a good day!! getting 7-8" of snow here today.---Rick


Burrrrrrrrrr! Snow! Out here in the "Land of Fruits & Nuts" it's Sunny & 75F, with not a cloud in sight. LOL:)

[89Delta]

How much is in parts per driver. I'm looking at a max of 16 for my PCA9685 breakout board from adafruit.

[007Bond]

I'd like to trade spots for the next three months. :lol:

[O2Surplus]

How much is in parts per driver. I'm looking at a max of 16 for my PCA9685 breakout board from adafruit.


My component cost for the little LDD-H clone is about $8 per driver.

The big 5 channel costs about $45 with the SCW05-12 included.

I'm saving money by buying in bulk Vs. someone looking to copy the project and buying components- only in the amounts that they personally need, but I'm laying down a lot more cash up front.
LOL I won't even get into R&D costs on this one. I just chalk up those $$ to the cost of entertainment.:lolspin:

[O2Surplus]

I'd like to trade spots for the next three months. :lol:

LOL- You're welcome to visit, but by Law, You're required to take someone with you, when you leave.:rollface:

[89Delta]

I have 2 on a 5x5 footprint in eagle.....just haven't looked at the costs yet....lol. I have a PT4115 design with 6 per 5x5 footprint also....

[007Bond]

Good Morning O2,...question for you. I'm going to need 4 - 5up boards for my 100w DC's...if I need 4 resistors @ channel = 20@board x 4 = 80 plus 1 spare board, I'm at 100 from Digi-Key and on the 50W boards (4 total) = 80 resistors. Sooooo looks like two 100 cut tapes from DK.(no problem)

Now on the DK site I can get the resistors at .143 for the 1400ma channels, and these are what the calculator calls for, but you have .13 linked. I can get .14 from DK at $14.98@ 100, and they have .143 that the calculator calls for, but the .143 are $17.02@ 100. How critical is the resistor number to get to 1400ma?
For the 700ma,... calculator says .286, and DK has them at the $14.98@ 100

So I'm just trying to figure what all I can get at DK. Did you get the A6211's from them also? Thanks,---Rick

[89Delta]

@007Bond --

A friend of mine is thinking of using the LUMI Leds like the DC I think. How are you liking them? I know my buddy want to do an arduino to control the color spectrum to get either 10k,14k and 20k just in programming alone.I'm not sure it can be done by naked eye though.

[007Bond]

I'm planning on using DC's mainly from the info off the multi chip thread here on RC. You can also push a 100w DC to 252w if you want. My tank is deep, so I want the option to drive them harder if needed. I'm going to get a par meter also, as I think its an important tool when building these DYI fixtures. I know there are some comparison threads if you google the two. There seems to be valid arguments for both chips

[O2Surplus]

Good Morning O2,...question for you. I'm going to need 4 - 5up boards for my 100w DC's...if I need 4 resistors @ channel = 20@board x 4 = 80 plus 1 spare board, I'm at 100 from Digi-Key and on the 50W boards (4 total) = 80 resistors. Sooooo looks like two 100 cut tapes from DK.(no problem)

Your design only uses 1 Rsense resistor per channel not 4 (like mine). Your only gonna need 20 resistors not 80 (like mine)


Now on the DK site I can get the resistors at .143 for the 1400ma channels, and these are what the calculator calls for, but you have .13 linked. I can get .14 from DK at $14.98@ 100, and they have .143 that the calculator calls for, but the .143 are $17.02@ 100. How critical is the resistor number to get to 1400ma?
For the 700ma,... calculator says .286, and DK has them at the $14.98@ 100

I had to use the .13ohm on my boards to compensate for the added resistance of the jumpers.
Order the .14 ohm resistors for your design. Just make sure you specify a 1% tolerance on all the resistors that you order.

So I'm just trying to figure what all I can get at DK. Did you get the A6211's from them also?

I got the A6211's from DigiKey for $1.05 each. That was a few months ago, and now when I search for them, they're not in stock ANYWHERE right now.
Try searching here-http://www.findchips.com/avail?part=A6211GLJTRT

or here- http://octopart.com/partsearch#!?q=A6211GLJTR-T&start=0&limit=10


Thanks,---Rick

[007Bond]

Thanks O2,...Will do!

[89Delta]

Hiya O2,

Here's my 4up version for the A6211 that I'll still clean up on the input side of things by using a P4 screw terminal for the PWM inputs, Possibly a P5 to include 1 GND from the controller too. What do you think of using a telephone jack to make it look nice and perty for the PWM signals...lol

5cm x 10cm
http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y487/liquidarts/Electronics%20Creations/Allegro6211_zpsaa6c489f.png

[007Bond]

Hey Delta,...here is the board O2 designed for me. I'm 99% sure I'm going to mount the driver at each fixture,...so I have a 10 pin molex for the DC one cat5 to go back to my controller, pwm's and GND Then a second one for power.(parallel 4 and 4) and a third cat. (one end cut off at the fixture but the other will plug in at my controller) back to controller also for fan and 18B20's. ---Rick
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21856414&postcount=91

[89Delta]

Nice 007Bond. Mine will be used with the PCA9685 12-bit I2C chip. 4 was the max I wanted to try and fit on a 5cm x 10cm pcb. Since Seeedstudios does 5pc's now i'll have just enough....lol

[O2Surplus]

Hiya O2,

Here's my 4up version for the A6211 that I'll still clean up on the input side of things by using a P4 screw terminal for the PWM inputs, Possibly a P5 to include 1 GND from the controller too. What do you think of using a telephone jack to make it look nice and perty for the PWM signals...lol

5cm x 10cm
http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y487/liquidarts/Electronics%20Creations/Allegro6211_zpsaa6c489f.png


That looks good! There is one thing that I'd change though. Do away with the tiny "Vias" under each chip and use the biggest one that'll fit. That way you can solder the thermal pad of the chip from the "back side" of the PcB. Keeping the little buggers "cool" is the most important thing to pay attention to.

[O2Surplus]

I'm in the middle of making revisions to my current 5 channel design. I've managed to squeeze the components close enough to allow the PcB to comfortably fit the Maker's Heat sink without "shorting" against it. I'm still debating whether to add additional features- or- leave it alone? I'm tempted to cram in an Arduino "Pro-Mini", a 5V regulator, and DS1307RTC or a 10V Analog to 5V PWM convertor? Decisions, decisions? LOL:headwalls:

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/5upA6211ver4_zpsb2d8aaeb.png

[007Bond]

Hey O2,...What do you say, should I hold on the boards a while yet? :strange:---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Hey O2,...What do you say, should I hold on the boards a while yet? :strange:---Rick


Rick-

The A6211's seem to be next to impossible to locate/purchase right now. Until they're available, there's no reason to order the PcB's. Spend some time thinking about your upcoming build. Are there any changes that you'd like to make to your PcB design? Anything you'd like to add? I'll make whatever changes you'd like while we're stuck waiting on the parts.

[007Bond]

Rick-

The A6211's seem to be next to impossible to locate/purchase right now. Until they're available, there's no reason to order the PcB's. Spend some time thinking about your upcoming build. Are there any changes that you'd like to make to your PcB design? Anything you'd like to add? I'll make whatever changes you'd like while we're stuck waiting on the parts.

Hey O2,...I think I have my build pretty well figured out how I'm going to do everything now. I've been thinking through this for almost a year. I originally was going to use Meanwell ELN-60, then the LDD's and now A6211's which I think are the best drivers for the DC's.(at least until tomorrow lol.)

As far as the board goes, I think I'd like to add the larger pads on both sides of the board for the small heatsink and the 6211to help with cooling the chip. I don't think I need pulldown resistors as the led can handle the default current. Nor do I need fan hookups or any other power on board. So just the larger pads for the 6211 you had mentioned earlier.

I want to get an order together from Digi Key for 50 6211's, Rsense resistors, molex 10 pin headers, cat5's, and anything else I need from them. I could use an updated BOM for a single driver. I going to build both 1400 and 700ma boards. I can figure quanities if you give me the parts for a single driver.

I can't wait to build a board and run some tests with my Jarduino controller,:bounce1:...I'll have to blow the dust off that thing lol. I know IteadStudio's will be at least 3 weeks before the boards get here. I really Need to scratch this itch!:D ---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Hey O2,...I think I have my build pretty well figured out how I'm going to do everything now. I've been thinking through this for almost a year. I originally was going to use Meanwell ELN-60, then the LDD's and now A6211's which I think are the best drivers for the DC's.(at least until tomorrow lol.)

As far as the board goes, I think I'd like to add the larger pads on both sides of the board for the small heatsink and the 6211to help with cooling the chip. I don't think I need pulldown resistors as the led can handle the default current. Nor do I need fan hookups or any other power on board. So just the larger pads for the 6211 you had mentioned earlier.

I want to get an order together from Digi Key for 50 6211's, Rsense resistors, molex 10 pin headers, cat5's, and anything else I need from them. I could use an updated BOM for a single driver. I going to build both 1400 and 700ma boards. I can figure quanities if you give me the parts for a single driver.

I can't wait to build a board and run some tests with my Jarduino controller,:bounce1:...I'll have to blow the dust off that thing lol. I know IteadStudio's will be at least 3 weeks before the boards get here. I really Need to scratch this itch!:D ---Rick

Rick-

I'll add the copper heat sink solder pads to your design later today, and forward you the board files when I'm finished. I made an important discovery concerning the A6211. Evidently it has a more handsome identical twin called the "A6213". It's the Automotive grade version of the A6211. The two chips appear to be the identical package/ pin out and specs, but for reasons unknown they have different part numbers. According to Digikey, Allegro's factory lead time is 11 weeks for the A6211 (February) but the A6213 will ship again on Christmas eve. Here's a link-http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/A6213KLJTR-T/620-1480-1-ND/3844941
Keep an eye out for the chips to become available. They're priced at $1.95 each, but that's still cheap.... all things considered. I'm gonna grab 100 of them this time around. LOL :)

[007Bond]

Thanks O2!!!...I'm going to build out all ten boards, so I'll need 50 X 6211. The 6313's come out to 1.57@ and the 6211 are .83@. I wonder if the 6213's are more robust somehow for the automotive industry?maybe their built for damp, humid,vibration type conditions? or is Allegro just sticking it to the auto industry.(same chip, higher price) there are a lot of different product manufactures that employ this pricing models.

Anyhow thanks,...I'll wait to see the new board.---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Thanks O2!!!...I'm going to build out all ten boards, so I'll need 50 X 6211. The 6313's come out to 1.57@ and the 6211 are .83@. I wonder if the 6213's are more robust somehow for the automotive industry?maybe their built for damp, humid,vibration type conditions? or is Allegro just sticking it to the auto industry.(same chip, higher price) there are a lot of different product manufactures that employ this pricing models.

Anyhow thanks,...I'll wait to see the new board.---Rick

You're welcome Rick. I'm betting that they're the same chip and Allegro's just giving the shaft to the automakers. LOL I should look to see if they offer a "Mil Spec" version too. I can't even imagine what they'd charge for that!:spin1:

[007Bond]

Ya I bet!...an example, I was using AlageFix by API...there is a long thread here on RC about it. They sell a fresh water version and a saltwater version. The saltwater version cost more, but with some investigation from the RC guys, it came out that they are one in the same product.
I just checked DR F&S, and now the saltwater cost less...go figure. But they are both the Same product...just different label.
I bet the A6211's are the same animal no matter what numbers follow. Not sure, but one is about 1/2 the cost of the other. :confused:maybe Allegro is pulling a fast one on the boys in Detroit.:D---Rick

[rott]

After a full day of running the new mean well replacement H drivers @36v and 1.4ma all day on a Jarduino controller. Using the test LED function and over a full hour of manually ramping up and down I have to say these little guys I have are rock solid. I used a small cpu fan just blowing across the drivers from the side and had no heat of any kind you could touch them with your bare hand and not feel any heat. I sent some general pics to 02 but his 8up board with 4 drivers on it worked perfect. I put a LDD-1000H on the board next to the replacement driver and the LDD looks big compared to the new ones:dance:

[O2Surplus]

After a full day of running the new mean well replacement H drivers @36v and 1.4ma all day on a Jarduino controller. Using the test LED function and over a full hour of manually ramping up and down I have to say these little guys I have are rock solid. I used a small cpu fan just blowing across the drivers from the side and had no heat of any kind you could touch them with your bare hand and not feel any heat. I sent some general pics to 02 but his 8up board with 4 drivers on it worked perfect. I put a LDD-1000H on the board next to the replacement driver and the LDD looks big compared to the new ones:dance:


:beer: Sweeeeeeeeet!

[rott]

I will run them again all day to make sure they are behaving but I do not think any thing strange will happen

[GiulianoM]

I'm planning on using at least 4 DreamChips on my tank soon, so I'm glad to hear that the A6213's are more readily available... I'm looking forward to building a handful of these boards.

[rott]

if anyone is interested I have some extra screw shields for the mega for $10 each you have to populate them yourself and has a built in real time clock these are just a few extra I have after these run out I probably won't do another run

[tomservo]

Yeah, turns out the A6213's are now listed as shipping in MARCH now, and the 6211's on feb 5. I am SO screwed. My PCB's are arriving in the next couple days and I have dragged my feet ordering parts, and now there are no chips to be had anywhere.

Gonna call allegro on monday, I guess.

[O2Surplus]

Yeah, turns out the A6213's are now listed as shipping in MARCH now, and the 6211's on feb 5. I am SO screwed. My PCB's are arriving in the next couple days and I have dragged my feet ordering parts, and now there are no chips to be had anywhere.

Gonna call allegro on monday, I guess.

No kidding- I've scoured every corner of the Web looking for more chips, and haven't found any. How does this happen? One minute, they're easy to find, and the next - NOTHING.
I just pulled the trigger on a 6' Makers Heat sink and a bunch of 50 and 100 watt leds for a new build. I'm guessing they'll just have to collect dust until more chips are available.:thumbdown This Sucks!

[rott]

here is a pic of my new screw shield for mega. makes working on projects like this easier when you can connect the wires with screws instead of soldering and un-soldering still need to populate the board

[007Bond]

Thats pretty cool rott. Would sure clean up my Jarduino.---Rick

[O2Surplus]

here is a pic of my new screw shield for mega. makes working on projects like this easier when you can connect the wires with screws instead of soldering and un-soldering still need to populate the board

Ooooh that did turn out nice!

[rott]

007 I have a few extra $10 for the board and about the same to get parts

[007Bond]

rott, think I'll take you up on that. I'll pm you,...maybe we can meet towards the end of the week.Thanks,---Rick

[rott]

Ya np I will set one aside for you

[007Bond]

:thumbsup:

[O2Surplus]

The wait is killing me! Anybody have better luck?



Product Lead Time Estimates

<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1"> <tbody><tr><td align="right">Digi-Key Part Number</td><td>620-1477-1-ND (http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/A6211GLJTR-T/620-1477-1-ND/3597453)</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">Manufacturer Part Number</td><td>A6211GLJTR-T</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">Description</td><td>IC LED DRVR CONS CURR 8SOIC</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1"> <tbody><tr><th>Quantity</th><th>Ship Date Estimate
(mm/dd/yyyy) </th></tr><tr><td align="center">100</td><td align="center">2/5/2014</td></tr> </tbody></table> Ship dates are approximate and subject to change.
<form action="/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?LeadTime" method="post"> <input name="quantity" value="100" size="9" maxlength="9" type="text"> </form>
Alternate packages available for620-1477-1-ND (http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/A6211GLJTR-T/620-1477-1-ND/3597453) <table class="product-details-alternate-packaging" frame="void" rules="all" style="margin-top: .5em;" border="1"> <tbody><tr><th>Digi-Key Part Number</th><th>Manufacturer Part Number</th><th>Packaging</th><th>Quantity Available</th><th>Unit Price</th><th>Minimum Quantity</th></tr> <tr><td>620-1477-2-ND (http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/A6211GLJTR-T/620-1477-2-ND/3597451)</td><td align="center">A6211GLJTR-T</td><td align="center">Tape & Reel (TR) http://www.digikey.com/web%20export/common/mkt/en/help.png </td><td align="center">0
</td><td align="center">0.40600 (http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/A6211GLJTR-T/620-1477-2-ND/3597451)</td><td align="center">3,000</td></tr> <tr><td>620-1477-6-ND (http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/A6211GLJTR-T/620-1477-6-ND/3597454)</td><td align="center">A6211GLJTR-T</td><td align="center">Digi-Reel® http://www.digikey.com/web%20export/common/mkt/en/help.png </td><td align="center">0
</td><td align="center">Calculate (http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/A6211GLJTR-T/620-1477-6-ND/3597454)</td><td align="center">1</td></tr> </tbody></table> 20:03:03 1/9/2014

[007Bond]

Same boat without the paddle. Good thing my boards are still in transit or you would really hear some boohooing :lol2: ---Rick

[rott]

wow that is a long wait

[O2Surplus]

wow that is a long wait

I waited longer for my first batch of LDD's LOL. I just hope DigiKey isn't stringing me along with their estimated shipping date.

Are you still playing with the drivers that I sent you? Long term update needed. LOL

[rott]

I had the 4 drivers on a 8up board and ran them for 5 days connected to 4 50w led's being controlled by a Jarduino. They ran at 1.4A and never got hot, there was no problem with the fading up or down. During the middle of the day when all the led's where on at almost full power you could easily touch the drivers with your bare hand and only slightly warm to the touch. (the new copper heat sinks are really working out well)please ask any questions you might have. I did not use a bunch of 3w led's I am trying to move away from them like so many other people are.

[rott]

02 I have decided to keep these. and still need more liked we talked about. One thing I wanted to know is on the 8up boards would it be a good Idea to have them so the end user could use 2 separate power supplies to power 1-4 and 5-8 or am I just not seeing high amp power supplies on ebay

[O2Surplus]

02 I have decided to keep these. and still need more liked we talked about. One thing I wanted to know is on the 8up boards would it be a good Idea to have them so the end user could use 2 separate power supplies to power 1-4 and 5-8 or am I just not seeing high amp power supplies on ebay

I've got 7 more that I can send you. Do you need all of them to run at 1400ma? Let me know how many you need and what current level that they should be set at and I'll get them into the mail for you tomorrow.

The Power traces on the 8 up PcB could be cut to divide the power inputs between two different power supplies. It won't be pretty when your done, but it will be functional. The main trace between 1-4 and 5-8 could be severed to isolate the two rows, and then a separate power wire could then be soldered in to row 5- 8 to provide positive power. The ground side would remain common between between the two rows. Row 1-4 would use the original screw headers. I'll post a picture tomorrow to show exactly what I'm talking about. LOL I'll modify the build files to include this feature, before I order the next batch.

[proietti]

O2 what about this driver STCS1. Max drive is 1.5A and it seems to be more available.

[O2Surplus]

O2 what about this driver STCS1. Max drive is 1.5A and it seems to be more available.

That's a nice find. I only took a quick glance at it's specs, but the first thing I noticed is it's only capable of 40V/1500ma Max. That's not enough for me to consider throwing in the towel on the A6211, being that it can do 48V/3,000ma Max. I'm just going to be patient and wait for the next batch to arrive. ( yes- that's the sound of Crickets LOL )

[proietti]

I suppose patience is a virtue

[O2Surplus]

Dale-

Clear out some space in your PM box. I can't message you until you do. LOL

[rott]

Ok done

[O2Surplus]

Here's the latest iteration of my 5up A6211 PCB.

(5) channels- with 4 levels of current selection (300,700,1000,1400ma)
(1) SCW convertor with dual fan connections.
(2) Dallas onewire temp sensor connections.
Atmega328 and DS1307 RTC on board with dual I2C connections, temp sensor tied to D2 and all 5 led drivers tied to a PWM pin.


I' don't think I can cram in anymore.LOL I've already ordered a batch, hopefully it will all function as planned. LOL

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/5ChannelA6211leddriverVer2_zps714fb5dd.png

[GiulianoM]

I'd be interested in obtaining 4 of those A6211 boards, if they work out.

I have 4 DreamChip LED's awaiting to be lit up... :)

[O2Surplus]

I'd be interested in obtaining 4 of those A6211 boards, if they work out.

I have 4 DreamChip LED's awaiting to be lit up... :)


Stay subscribed to this thread, as I'll update it after I've had a chance to test this one.

[007Bond]

Impressive as usual O2!! I'd have trouble sleeping at night if I had all the ideas you have running through my mind. lol:spin2:---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Impressive as usual O2!! I'd have trouble sleeping at night if I had all the ideas you have running through my mind. lol:spin2:---Rick


No trouble sleeping here! Slow days "on the job" get turned in to "productive days on EAGLE". LOL:lolspin:

[007Bond]

Yay! :thumbsup:

[007Bond]

Hey rott,...did you see my pm question. I need to know what battery you use for the rtc on the board I got from you. Thanks,---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Hey rott,...did you see my pm question. I need to know what battery you use for the rtc on the board I got from you. Thanks,---Rick


It's a 12mm 3V battery, but I'm not sure of the exact part#.

[007Bond]

Thanks O2,...I'll ck it out. Reason I asked, was I have another RTC from ebay, and I thought I was going to just pull the batt from it, but its to big. The 12mm sounds right, because the holder measures 1/2".---Rick

[007Bond]

Oh, and by the way,...hope you have another slow day at work O2,...can not wait to see your next board idea. lol---Rick

[rott]

007 I haven't looked in to battery but I believe any 12v 12 mm battery should work

[007Bond]

Hi rott,...now I'm a little confused. O2 said 3v and you 12v. I know its 12mm now because I measured.---Rick

[rott]

might be 3v not 12 I will let you know later today what to get

[O2Surplus]

Hi rott,...now I'm a little confused. O2 said 3v and you 12v. I know its 12mm now because I measured.---Rick


Rick-

it's a 3V Battery. It's only there to provide backup power for the DS1307 RTC. A "CR1225" should fit.

[rott]

it is a 3v. back at work and had a look at the rtc battery. as 02 said it is not important to run the rtc, its there if the power goes out it will keep correct time till you power the arduino board.

[007Bond]

Got it,...Thanks, after I thought about it, I didn't think 12v for a rtc., ya, just so it don't lose its memory if power goes out.

[GiulianoM]

Stay subscribed to this thread, as I'll update it after I've had a chance to test this one.






Will do!



I tried to send you a PM instead, but I think I was short a few posts...

[007Bond]

Hey guys look what my buddy Mr Mailman brought today.

http://i.imgur.com/BKA6h96.jpg

And

http://i.imgur.com/C16ldr3.jpg

Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy :dance:

Now just need to get my hands on those pesky A6211's. Thanks O2!!! ----Rick

[O2Surplus]

Lookin' good Rick. It always feels like "Christmas" when new PcB's arrive. LOL It's too bad the A6211's are still a way off yet.

I've got 5 different PcB designs being made for me at SeedStudios, right now. I went "all in" with the idea that I'd save some money on shipping, but got a surprise instead. It seems that shipping gets a lot more expensive when you exceed the arbitrary weight limit. LOL I gotta pay $82 for 8.5Lbs of PcB's. At least I'll be flush for awhile LOL. I panelized my little A6211 driver, so that 8 of them will fit into a 10cmx10cm PcB. I ordered "20" LOL, but once I cut them down to size - I'll have 160! Plenty to share!

[007Bond]

Ya those boards are dead weight lol. I rechecked Digi on the 6211 back order,...I think they backed them up to feb 10-11? there about. I thought they had them listed around the 2nd. What date did you have them down for? My little copper heatsinks should be here first of the week also. Funny, I paid for them in Canada and they ship from China. You see the pads on the back side of the boards for them,:thumbsup: I'm really getting anxious,...now I need to get the rest of things on my shopping list lined up.lol:bounce1: Thanks again O2---Rick

[rott]

can not believe it is snowing again

[O2Surplus]

can not believe it is snowing again


LOL - That sucks! It's 78 here! I think we're just gonna skip "Winter" here, and just go straight to Spring.

[rott]

lol there is at least 2 foot on the ground and 2 foot more has melted off in the last few days I would love 78 hell I would love any thing past freezing tired of ice and snow

[O2Surplus]

Well- I managed to scrape up enough A6211 chips to build 1 copy of my latest 5up design for testing purposes. Below is a photo of her. This version has an Atmega328 and a DS1307 slapped on the back, and also features connections for a Dallas temp sensor. The drivers can be controlled either by an external controller (think StormX)or by the on Board Atmega328. I added script to the bottom of the board that describes the Arduino pin assignments used by the on board chip for PWM control, Cooling Fan control, and Dallas Temp. I also doubled up the I2C and Dallas One Wire connections to add the ability to "Daisy chain" a number of these board together. Soldering this thing together was not fun. LOL Let me know what you guys think?

Front-

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/5upA6211rev4004_zps816cf441.jpg

Back-

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/5upA6211rev4003_zpse33e8e27.jpg

[nemosworld]

Looks really good!

[nemosworld]

All wee need now is a source for cheap custom heatsinks that these would have a slot for and space for LEDs, think board in center, LEDs on both sides.

[O2Surplus]

All wee need now is a source for cheap custom heatsinks that these would have a slot for and space for LEDs, think board in center, LEDs on both sides.

LoL- It fits the top slot on Makers Heat sink out where the cooling fan resides. I've got a 6 footer and the plan is to mount 5 driver PcB next to/ between the 6 cooling fans. I can't think of any cleaner way of doing it.

[007Bond]

Looking good O2,...I got my bag of parts from Digi Key today.:bounce1: only thing I'm missing are those pesky 6211's, and I think the usps loss my little copper sinks (went to post office, got run around,...will attack harder tomorrow) My cat5 connectors dropped in and the 10pin led header also(connector flush with the board just liked we talked) I have a heat gun coming monday, so I'm close to putting the whole thing together. I have a couple soldering questions I need to ask you. Thanks again,---Rick

[nemosworld]

LoL- It fits the top slot on Makers Heat sink out where the cooling fan resides. I've got a 6 footer and the plan is to mount 5 driver PcB next to/ between the 6 cooling fans. I can't think of any cleaner way of doing it.

Makers are not cheap, at least I don't think so.
Rapidled is cheaper.

[O2Surplus]

Makers are not cheap, at least I don't think so.
Rapidled is cheaper.


True, True, True. I scored mine during the Black Friday sale last year & saved 20%...... and got free shipping to boot. The 6' kit comes with 6 cooling fans and s boat load of mounting hardware, so I figure I did OK.

[Talis]

That is great! I wish my soldering skills were up to that...

[zachts]

True, True, True. I scored mine during the Black Friday sale last year & saved 20%...... and got free shipping to boot. The 6' kit comes with 6 cooling fans and s boat load of mounting hardware, so I figure I did OK.

Personally I think they are a pretty good deal, if you think about how to best use them. 4 nanos would handle most 4' tanks pretty well and look really clean and finished whether hanging by themselves or tied together on a rail, or just in the canopy. When you consider how nice they look and everything that comes with them it's hard to beat for DIY on many projects. Not to mention no drilling and tapping and you can still remove LEDs unlike glueing them on to a cheaper heatsink to avoid drilling.

[007Bond]

Hey guys,...I just got my cooler fan today. Which wire is which? Got black, yellow, green, and blue. I don't want to put 12v to the wrong guys. I'm thinking power, black and yellow, green ground, and blue pwm.Thanks,---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Hey guys,...I just got my cooler fan today. Which wire is which? Got black, yellow, green, and blue. I don't want to put 12v to the wrong guys. I'm thinking power, black and yellow, green ground, and blue pwm.Thanks,---Rick


Standard Pin arrangement for a 4 wire fan should be this- if you listed the wire colors in the order they're arranged on the connector.

Black= Ground
Yellow= 12V+
Green = Tach
Blue= PWM input

Proceed with Caution though, Not all fans follow the standard pin arrangement.

[007Bond]

Thanks O2,...its a Zalman 8900. I'll see if I can find something on line to confirm.
What is the Tach?

[rott]

02 that is a good looking board

[O2Surplus]

Thanks O2,...its a Zalman 8900. I'll see if I can find something on line to confirm.
What is the Tach?

The Fan produces a "tach signal" as it turns. In the case of most computers, the signal is monitored to determine whether the fan is running or not. If the cooling fan in your computer were to ever fail- the Computer will know and take steps to avoid overheating the main processor.

[007Bond]

Thanks O2,...I started thinking about it while laying in bed this morning, and I understand it now,...a tach is a tach. My controller (Jarduino) lets me know speed. On the controller build page, the fan control wire colors are shown. Sometimes a little sleep ,things become clear :thumbsup:---Rick

[007Bond]

Standard Pin arrangement for a 4 wire fan should be this- if you listed the wire colors in the order they're arranged on the connector.

Black= Ground
Yellow= 12V+
Green = Tach
Blue= PWM input

Proceed with Caution though, Not all fans follow the standard pin arrangement.

Yep,...just checked Zalman site,...same lay out :beer: Thanks!

[tomservo]

Minor update, I finally got my mitts on some A6211's.. I had to order samples through my "local" distributor.. Means the chips cost nothing, but wait until I get the bill for fedex express to canada! In other news, one of the caps on my board (the 47uf) I used the wrong form factor for, so I will have to fudge that (ugh). Since it's just a PS filter cap, I wonder if you can't just use one larger cap across the input to each board?

[O2Surplus]

Minor update, I finally got my mitts on some A6211's.. I had to order samples through my "local" distributor.. Means the chips cost nothing, but wait until I get the bill for fedex express to canada! In other news, one of the caps on my board (the 47uf) I used the wrong form factor for, so I will have to fudge that (ugh). Since it's just a PS filter cap, I wonder if you can't just use one larger cap across the input to each board?


LOL- Can your "local distributor" get more????? Or can you hook Rick and I up with your local "dealer"? tehe.

From my experience with this driver so far, the 47uf cap is just a PS filter. It's not terribly important. I've busted a few off my little drivers due to careless mistakes and it doesn't affect the driver's operation.

[O2Surplus]

:bounce1: I found a supplier in China that was willing to sell me some A6211's. Just got an Email with tracking information! I ordered 300 of the little buggers, so I'll have plenty to share! They're being shipped UPS and should arrive by Monday.

[007Bond]

Wow, thats good news. I was just over visiting rott and he told me you had found some. Are they the real McCoy's?---Rick

[O2Surplus]

Wow, thats good news. I was just over visiting rott and he told me you had found some. Are they the real McCoy's?---Rick

I bought them from the highest rated seller that I could find on Alibaba and used an Escrow service as a go between. I also made the payment using PayPal, so I've got a couple layers of protection, just in case they tried to screw me LOL.
I'll test a few of them out after they arrive. It should be fairly obvious if they're fakes or not. I'm optimistic, as their price was inline with what suppliers here would charge for them based on the quantity that I ordered. I ended up paying $.79 each, with delivery to my front door. Not to shabby IMO.

[007Bond]

I'll keep my fingers crossed. I just had a go a round with the little copper heat sink seller. First order never showed from a 12-18-2013 order, so I have another order on the way. Anyhow fleabay stepped in and they just refunded my paypal today.
Thats a good price, and fast shipping :)

[O2Surplus]

I'll keep my fingers crossed. I just had a go a round with the little copper heat sink seller. First order never showed from a 12-18-2013 order, so I have another order on the way. Anyhow fleabay stepped in and they just refunded my paypal today.
Thats a good price, and fast shipping :)

LOL- If they turn out to be legit, I'll have enough spares to pass around and I'll put however you many you need into the mail for ya. I'm going to let my order of 100 stand at Digikey for the time being, as I'd hate to cancel it, only to find out that the chips I bought from China were "duds":rollface:

[007Bond]

Ya I still have mine on order with DK. Sounds like you'll know soon.

[emerald crab]

What is the lead time that you guys are getting from Digikey? I got March 19th and I ordered more than a month ago.

[O2Surplus]

What is the lead time that you guys are getting from Digikey? I got March 19th and I ordered more than a month ago.


Don't feel bad. March 19th is the back order date for everyone. I've been waiting since December for mine. :headwally:

[bigguyuk]

another great thread to follow :) Intrested in Some off these dude if you are selling any or the files to have a go at building

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=22353710&postcount=217

also the driver boards when you finalize the design like the idea of one driver board for the 4 different values :)
Just Starting out learning smd work so happy to buy a batch to play :)
Thanks again Simon

[rott]

I guess I missed that whole last page I missed that 5 up board till just today. That's what I get for just hitting last button on the page count

[bigguyuk]

i guess i missed that whole last page i missed that 5 up board till just today. That's what i get for just hitting last button on the page count

lol

[O2Surplus]

Things were slow at work yesterday, so……when no one was looking, I closed the office door, fired up my portable soldering iron and got busy. With no calls, or other “work” related interruptions I managed to burn up the remainder of my “work” day by building 16 new A6211 LDD-H replacement drivers. I built the first 12 to operate at 1400ma and the last 4 to run a 1600ma. I’m going to test the 1600ma version by letting them run for an extended period of time with no additional forced air cooling. Since the A6211 chip will enter thermal shutdown protection at 130C, I think that if the driver does not exceed 100C, we can call it good and I’ll release a few of them to others for further long term testing.
Here’s a photo of the first 8 completed drivers-

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/NewA6211drivers005_zps1241e59f.jpg

Here’s another showing a side view. The copper heat sinks that provide the needed cooling are visible.

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/NewA6211drivers009_zps4abfc40d.jpg


007- You see this?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
280 A6211 still in the bag!

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/kovawa/NewA6211drivers003_zps760f161b.jpg


If “work” gets slow again today, I’m thinking that I’ll lock the door again, and get busy some more. LOL
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[GiulianoM]

Totally awesome... I'm looking forward to the new boards. :)

[bigguyuk]

Fantastic Them Boards Look well Cool :)

[007Bond]

Oh yeah buddy,...I'm watching. I finality got my controller back in forward motion now, (big thanks to rott) ie. cooling fans come on through the 18b20's...yay! ect. I think I'll make up some of my boards next (- the 6211's of course). How do I attach the little copper heatsinks? Are they set in place and then solder the four outside edges? I looked at the ones rott has but that was all I could see. And did you tell me I SHOULD solder the smd's from the inside area and work my way out? This should be interesting. :lmao: ---Rick

[bigguyuk]

when wil you be happy with the board design and driver design O2 and release the files :)
Or sell some of the made up ones :)
Thanks Simon