Ok so I been thinking lately after Dale popped by and told me that the potentiometers that come with the led kits are garbage, that I should switch them out to give me a better control of my lights. These pots are so finicky and it seems like its either all or nothing within the first quarter turn. The last three quarters do nothing for light intensity. That back of the pots say 4k7 ohm. Now I went to school for electronics and this has me boggled. I've never seen a resistance listed this way. Does it mean 4.7kohm or 47kohm. The drivers max dc output is listed as 48vdc at 3.2 a. I wired it in 5 strings of 12. 12 LEDs are in series x 5 strings. According to kirchoffs law V=IR. With this respect V=48vdc and I=3.2a. If I use this formula to calculate resistance I end up with R=V/I where's R=48/3.2= 15 Ohm. Does this mean if I utilize a 15ohm pot I will have full range of dc voltage allowing me to have complete control of the lights? Where I get confused is when you wore in series the voltage across all LEDs remains the same but the current is a summation of all 12. In parallel it's opposite. Ugh. I guess my question is what size potentiometer should I use to regulate the output voltage? I was showing cb that if I touch the center lead on the pots now the lights increase in intensity beyond that of maximum output. But all I'm doing is introducing a ground. I wanna increase the brightness of my royal blues substantially to give me a bluer effect while whites are at what appears to be 100%. Dale if you are reading this please help.
A little help
- Thread starter Krazykarl
- Start date
- Status
C
copperkills
Guest
4k7 = 4.7K
teebone110
Distinguished Member
Not sure about the technical aspects, as any recommendation about electrical hook-up and connections will surely lead to a house fire ;D
I can confirm that the potentiators for the Aquastyle leds are garbage. i find that they do the job, but aren't very sensitive. I also find that they are inconsistent as I notice the brightness fluctuating randomly. Luckily for me, I have the set to a very low level, and have just left them there.
I can confirm that the potentiators for the Aquastyle leds are garbage. i find that they do the job, but aren't very sensitive. I also find that they are inconsistent as I notice the brightness fluctuating randomly. Luckily for me, I have the set to a very low level, and have just left them there.
C
copperkills
Guest
What are the specs on the leds for voltage and current
I obviously do nt want to over drive them. Which is why I'm asking. It's been so many years since I've been in school for this crap. If I change the resistance of the pot I will change the current and voltage respectively. Maybe just go buy a diff style 4.7kohm pot and hope its of better quality.
That's what I was originally going to do. Keep the nominal resistance and change te number of turns. I was hoping that maybe the 4.7k would be decreased to give me a slightly brighter ligh but I'm worried about burning them out. It's just weird that if I touch a lead they brighten substantially even when fully adjusted cw
yes keep the resistance as the aquastyle but get a couple ten turn pots... woudl prtty much solve your issue unless its the drivers that are loosing the resolution. If the drivers take everythign between x and y rvalue on the opot and sets the brightness that way then there will be nothing to fix it. If it is truely analog then the 10 turn pots will solve it for ya.
- Status