[chbot] In need of dimmer board to control 12v LED via Arduino

[Henri Shustak]

Hi,

Depending on your project you may also want to consider DMX (I have a bit of experience with this stuff) or if you want an off the shelf solution you could look at the Phillips HUE strips. 

DMX is very flexible. HUE strips work out of the box but you need a hub and you are some what limited in terms of off the shelf controllers. With DMX you can have wall mount dimmers and colour wheel etc or have it fully computer controlled.

Just something to consider. I have a feeling you are looking for a simpler solution and hopefully have that sorted.

Henri

> On 28/01/2018, at 7:46 PM, Andrew Sands <andrew at theatrix.org.nz> wrote:
> 
> Guys,
> 
> Anyway to get in on this as a discussion. I may not be able to bring much to the table but I can 'break' things?
> 
> regards,
> 
> Andrew
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jan 17, 2018, at 20:06, Rob de Voer wrote:
>> Hello Mike,
>>  
>> Yes, a design based on Mosfets seems to be best way to go.
>>  
>> How do you use the RGB strips? Still on your workbench or installed in your house?
>>  
>> Have some step down regulators to convert the 12v to 3.3or 5v and can also bring ESP32, Arduino and WemosD1 R2 as alternatives to drive the gate.
>>  
>> Would be great to get together and sort this out.
>>  
>> I have no relevant experience with any PCB design work (am a mechanical engineer with 30+ years of software development experience), played around in Fritzing to create my designs but never turned any of those into PCBs.
>>  
>> The couple of boards I made consist of soldered tracks on test boards…
>>  
>> Will email my contact details offline to arrange getting together.
>>  
>> Kind Regards,
>> Rob
>>  
>> From: Mike Field [mailto:hamster at snap.net.nz] 
>> Sent: 17 January 2018 22:38
>> To: Rob de Voer <rob at businesspalz.com>
>> Subject: Re: [chbot] In need of dimmer board to control 12v LED via Arduino
>>  
>> Hi Rob,
>> 
>> I am switching 25W 12V RGB strips using Si4944DY 30V Dual MOSFETS from Jaycar - datasheet is at https://www.vishay.com/docs/72512/72512.pdf  They are tiny SOIC8 packages, and can switch about 10A (!)
>> 
>> 'On' resistance is less than 0.02 Ohm, These are old parts, the replacement Si4946 are rated at 60V. I've got 10 of these on their way from my mate Ali E in China for $1 each :-)
>> 
>> I've got a couple mounted on DIP adapters, on a breadboard with an ESP32 driving the gate through a current limiting resistor.  You are more than welcome pop over and either experiment with them - I can hook your load up to a PSU and a function generator driving the gate), or take one away to play with.
>> 
>> I'm also happy to work with you on a board, with headers for the ESP module, 6(?) channels (3 dual MOSFETS), screw terminals and so on. We could even add a 5V0 or 3V3 regulator to power whatever is controlling the lights. I'll got all the bits here or almost here, just not enough motivation to move it off the breadboard to  a PCB. - fancy a Saturday afternoon / evening project session?
>> 
>> Are you better at KiCad or Eagle than me?
>> 
>> Mike.
>> 
>> On 17/01/2018 10:02 PM, Rob de Voer wrote:
>>  
>> Hi All,
>>  
>> I have been gradually replacing the 240v lighting in my house with 12v LED lights all powered by one 12v transformer and switched through a home automation system made up of several Arduino boards and one RaspBerryPI3.
>>  
>> I want to start installing higher powered LEDs (21w 12v or more), dim them to the low output for daily needs, and adjust the dimmer as needed.
>>  
>> Unfortunately building a suitable dimmer module so I can control individual LED lights has thus far proven outside of my ability.
>>  
>> Have tried some of the published designs but have to resign myself to the fact that I should stick to building software since i appear unable to convert any of the myriad of example project to my needs.
>>  
>> Who is able to help me build a 12v dimmer board that can be controlled remotely using any of  Arduino / ESP8266 / WemosD1R2? 
>>  
>> Do I need to limit myself to a specific power (i.e. 21w LED) for the dimmer to work efficiently or is a good design not that restrictive?
>>  
>> Kind Regards,
>> Rob
>>  
>> 
>> 
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