DerrickH Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 So I haven't got my apex yet but Ive downloaded the "unofficial" manual for it and Im not liking what Im seeing for the dimming options. Everything is in percent instead of voltage but a simple formula in excel can be used to calculate the voltage to % ratio since 100% is 10v. Now my question is, since Im currently using adjustable wall warts to trim the voltage to the meanwells and 1.5v is the lowest setting I can set them to, will the apex accept non whole % values? e.g. 1.5% ect so I can tune the lights to exactly the tone I want? Also, when I run the voltage on the wall warts up to 7v the lights are at their brightest and do not change when voltage increased to 9v. Would this be a setting inside the meanwells that I could tweak? I know there are two pots in the drivers, one to limit current and I believe the other is a voltage regulator. When I got the LED kit, the pot that you would normally not adjust , was turned down pretty far and the driver would barley illuminate the LEDs. I turned the current limit pot down all the way and adjusted the other pot up a tad then ran the current limit pot up a tad and the LED were brighter. After some adjustment, was able to get all the blue LED to illuminate like they were supposed to and dim in equal amounts. As for the current, I dont know, didnt have a multimeter handy. I will be playing with them some prior to hooking up the apex but as they currently sit, at roughly 75% set in the apex would actually be 100% illumination which I dont want. I need more range in my adjustment, e.g. 0-10v. Right now I have 0-7v instead for 0% to100% light. Any ideas guys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Without a multi meter you may be pushing way more mA than the leds can handle long term. If you go over 750mA on the blues it will shorten there life considerable <not that I know how long considerable is> and if you push over 1000mA or I guess thats 1amp to the whites it will do the same. I know with my eln 60 48D's you have to be pushing right at 2vdc before they fire. otherwise they just have a faint glow. I have not hooked my LED's to the apex I just got yet so I duno how it reacts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 and if you can see a 1% increase in power to the LED's you have way better vison than me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 Guess I need to get a multimeter and find out what exactly the wall wart is putting out. I can see quite a difference in illumination from 1.5v to 3v input, night and day to me. Then again I have 20/17 vision :-/ Also, at "supposedly" 1.5v input from the wall wart, the led are far more than a faint glow, they will light up my entire dining room. I dont mind adjusting the meanwells as they may be letting too much volt/current run through them. I need more adjustment range for them to work properly with the apex. 0-7v sucks, I need 0-10v, 10v being 100% or even 70%(LED v trimmed) so the apex can dim properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Well I hope so I replaced my RKL with there led light control just for that reason lol. I did a lot of research and from what I got out of it is you should be able to go from 10% to 100% with the drivers I have and with other drivers you should be able to go from 1% to 100% The ELN60 48D's from what I have read take at least 10% or 1V to get them to fire.. I had them on the rapid led controler and never could get much of an adjustment out of them. Then got the parts to make DIY LEDs work with my RKL only to find out I would need 3-4 of the ALC's to work my fixture or make a diy adapter thing to power them and the RKL only supports 4 moduals. It would mean I had to update to the RKE then buy 4 ALC's A new temp probe <the rkl probe does not work with the rke> and at that point I was pissed enough to just go buy the apex lol. I should be hooking up the LED's to the Apex this weekend and can let you know how it goes. You do know that the apex provides the 0-10v power to the drivers so you no longer need the wall wart. If you do not have a wall wart that puts out 10 volts I would just wait for your Apex and set the internal pots when you hook it up. Just remember to turn the drivers internal pot that controls the 0-10V all the way to the lowest setting before attaching it to your led strands. And check with the manufature of your LEDS to see what the max mA they can be ran at and set your drivers to push that with the Apex set at 100% that way you should never overdrive the led's. And when you have the apex at 100% your led's will be at there 100% setting. When you use the apex at 1% or 10% or 23% that is the same % you are pushing the led's at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 I havent read anything in the thread yet but I've got Apex and LED and meanwell-D all working flawless... I'm too tired from work to even begin to get this all straighten out and explained. PM me when you have the APEX, dimming cables and all LED gear. We just need to get on a video chat (I've got apple and android products to video chat on) and I'll help you get everything squared away. I'm off to shower to try and relax my back then rebuild an Iphone 4 =D Been told it is hard to do; makes me want to do it more LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 I would be very hesistant about trusting the voltage from a wallwart. Check it out with a multimeter, but bio3 and I can help you whenever you get ready to hook up your apex. WE PROS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 Yeah I got the apex so I could ditch the wall warts. Any input voltage above 7v is useless, the LED do not get any brighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 It's possible that the "7v" voltage out of the wart isnt actually 7v. It might be 10v. The only way to truly know is to measure or use the apex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 Im going to check it this weekend for sure. My apex is still on back order On a brighter note, my aluminum bar stock should arrive today so I can manf my light mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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