Drivers are Kaidomain and DealExtreme help!

I've got a few projects lined up here but I would like some group help here.

www.kaidomain.com

www.dealextreme.com

I would like to know which drivers on both websites (I plan on buying from both pending avaliblity of items from one site and the other) come with PRE-WIRED wires on the driver.

Also secondary help after the first one is completed I'd like to know which drivers have MEMORY to remember the last mode used when you turn the unit back on. I would like to enter the same mode and /NOT/ the next mode up.


Thanks in advance for the help. Please put links to the found items. I'm checking DX as I am typing this right now.

I'm hoping this thread can help others out there that want pre-wired drivers for simple projects to gain knowledge and then later if more advanced then get something non prewired knowing where to wire. I've a few people wanting to get into building stuff as well but in the same knowledge gap all looking for pre-wired for simple projects first.

So far I've got this unit at home 3.6-8.4v @ 1000mA 5-modes. It comes PRE-WIRED.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7425


Hope that helps someone.

5-mode, 960 mA 7135 regulated circuit from Kaidomain

I've gotten this 5-mode, 960 mA 7135 regulated circuit from Kaidomain. It is not pre-wired. It does have a memory for the last setting.

http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=2958

I was able to solder the connections without a problem once I figured out how to wire it. I used a 15W solder iron with a sharp tip, a bright headlamp, new reading glasses, and a magnifying glass to check the joint.

I am using it with a LuxIII red-orange on a tail light. It works perfectly.

Be careful which regulator you choose. This one: http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/Produ...px?TranID=2958 is for lack of a better term, a pwm (pulse width modulation) controller. It just turns the LED on and off very quickly (thru some voltage regulator chips wired in parallel). If there is a large mismatch between input voltage and output voltage (forward voltage of LED), the regulators will get REAL hot and go POOF! Plus this type of regulator, generates a lot of extra heat, probably not a good thing inside an already hot LED housing. On the other hand if your input voltage is close to the LEDs forward voltage, say you are driving a CREE with 3 or maybe 4 NiMh cells, then this type of regulator will work. See this data sheet for more detail: http://www.micro-bridge.com/data/ADD/AMC7135.pdf

A more efficient type of regulator uses an inductor to regulate current delivered to the LED. Such a regulator that has a lower input voltage than output voltage is called a boost converter. If it has a higher input voltage than output voltage it is called a buck converter. On dx or kaidomain, look for an inductor in the picture of the regulator. If there's no inductor, it's just a variation on the pwm AMC7135 regulator.

Personally I like buck regulators. They are less likely to kill your batteries. They typically are lighter and more efficient. The regulator ZeroEnigma mentions: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7425 is a buck regulator. I've played around with a similar one from dx: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10421 (comes pre-wired). It works, but the mode switching only really works with an input greater than 6 volts, so you'd need 6 AA NiMh to get it to work well. Hey ZeroEnigma ! How well does the one you mentioned work off of 4 NiMh batteries?

And I've messed around with another buck regulator with no modes: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3256 (also pre-wired) which seems to work pretty well from 4.8 to about 8 volts.

My favorite buck regulator is http://kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=2982 (not prewired). Of course kaidomain is out of them at the moment (damn!). It works across a wide voltage range. You can easily drive up to 3 LEDs in series off of a 14.4 volt battery. The upper limit on the chip used in this regulator is 18 volts so it's probably not good to use this in a 4 LED design.

Oh, one other warning about dx and kaidomain. Take their voltage ratings with a grain of salt. They oftain claim an input voltage that exceeds the rating of the main chip used in a regulator. The regulator will work for a while at such a high voltage, but will eventually die. Whenever possible, look up data sheets for the chip used in a regulator. Look for the suggested perating range, not the max voltage range, to see what range the regulator is good for. You can push a regulator at max for a little while (a few minutes at most) and not kill a chip, but do it too often and ... POOF!

Mark

That's good information about the 7135 drivers. I am using this in a DiNotte-style DIY bike tail light with a LuxIII red/orange (~2.7 Vf) with 4 NiMh AA cells (4.8 V). From what you are saying, it sounds like this is too high an input voltage for this LED. So far I have not run this for more than 2 hours and the temps did not seem to get that hot. However, the ambient temps were between 35 and 50 deg F and I was paying more attention to the temp and brightness of the LED. The 5-mode switching works great.

It sounds like I would be better off running the LuxIII R/O with 3 cells (3.6V) only rather than with 4 cells? Is this correct?

Smacmillin said:

That's good information about the 7135 drivers. I am using this in a DiNotte-style DIY bike tail light with a LuxIII red/orange (~2.7 Vf) with 4 NiMh AA cells (4.8 V). From what you are saying, it sounds like this is too high an input voltage for this LED. So far I have not run this for more than 2 hours and the temps did not seem to get that hot. However, the ambient temps were between 35 and 50 deg F and I was paying more attention to the temp and brightness of the LED. The 5-mode switching works great.

It sounds like I would be better off running the LuxIII R/O with 3 cells (3.6V) only rather than with 4 cells? Is this correct?

Click to expand...

The 7135 drivers are called linear regulators, which means they are essentially variable voltage dividers that "burn up" any excess voltage from your batteries. Current in = current out, which means adding more cells above the minimum necessary (in your case, 3.6V/3 cell) does nothing but waste power.

With a true buck regulator though, that's not true -- there input current is less than output current, and will adjust depending on how many cells you have. There is one on DX that is a 750mA output, up to 16V input that is pretty versatile, unfortunately it's only one-level.

2xTrinity,

What driver are you talking about from DX? I thought I'd looked at all of them and I don't remember that one. Please post a SKU number.

There's one like that from kaidomain, is that what you meant?

Mark

the kennan from kaidomain is great, very flexible indeed.

i just wish they hurry up and get them back instock, i need to finish a project.

G

Sorry to hijack the thread onto a tangent, but there's at least one person knowledgeable on typical regulator circuits here...

Chances are this question does not have a simple answer for all circuits but here goes: with a regulator circuit, can the -ve be shared between input and output?

I'm thinking of the case where a housing is part of the circuit. Do you need to run 2 wires from the controller to the LED, or can you continue to use the housing and simply 'ground' both the input and output -ve of the regulator circuit.

(there are actual reasons I'd want to do this, though probably surmountable ones)

For buck converters it depends on whether the converter senses current thru the LED on the high side (between the battery and the LED) or on the low side (between LED and ground). The DX and Kaidomain drivers I've looked at sense current on the low side.

Connecting one side of the LED to ground could bypass the current sense part of the converter if it uses low side current sensing. Most converter chips have some form of overcurrent protection, but you probably shouldn't count on that working with your LED for more than a short burst of light .

I suspect most boost converters from DX and kaidomain have similar topologies (in the way they sense current), but I haven't really looked at them.

So the short answer (but possibly not the correct one) is:

Don't ground your LED! It might work for a little while, but who knows?

Mark

Personally I like buck regulators. They are less likely to kill your batteries. They typically are lighter and more efficient. The regulator ZeroEnigma mentions: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7425 is a buck regulator. I've played around with a similar one from dx: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10421 (comes pre-wired). It works, but the mode switching only really works with an input greater than 6 volts, so you'd need 6 AA NiMh to get it to work well. Hey ZeroEnigma ! How well does the one you mentioned work off of 4 NiMh batteries?

Click to expand...

Mark,

I like this regulator. Tho the only thing I don't like about it is that it does not have memory mode. Right now I have 2 x SSC P4 U-bin hooked up to this 5 mode regulator using a 6xAA NIMH battery pack 8.4v fresh off the charger. 4xAA will work as well with the 2 x SSC P4 U-bin setup. However I have not done a full burn in yet.

I've mounted the two LED's on a 486 heatsink for testing right now but am hoping to get another regulator later to run my red/blue cop like test up for kicks. :naughty:

I currently have the 3.6-9.0v @ 800mA single mode regulator inside my dual AchesAlot light setup and that works well with 4xAA (4.8v) and 6xAA (8.4v hot).

I definately want to make a 4-6 LED AchesAlot light but with 2 LED's wired to a regulator for the red/blue, 2 wired to another regulator for a red/white, and the last two being white/white.

Both of the regulaotrs I've mentioned above are good and simple for a newbie to work with.

ZeroEnigma,

Do you have the LEDs wired in series or parallel? If in series, then I might be wrong about this being a buck regulator. 2 x 3.6 = 7.2 volts for two SSCs in series, and the only way to run that off of 4.8 volts would be to use a boost regulator, or wire the LEDs in parallel.

I would worry a bit about putting LEDs in parallel. If they aren't matched, one will suck a lot more current than the other. You probably won't blow anything up using this regulator, since it limits the output current.

Mark

[email protected] said:

ZeroEnigma,

Do you have the LEDs wired in series or parallel? If in series, then I might be wrong about this being a buck regulator. 2 x 3.6 = 7.2 volts for two SSCs in series, and the only way to run that off of 4.8 volts would be to use a boost regulator, or wire the LEDs in parallel.

I would worry a bit about putting LEDs in parallel. If they aren't matched, one will suck a lot more current than the other. You probably won't blow anything up using this regulator, since it limits the output current.

Mark

Click to expand...

Both my 3.6-9v @800mA and the 3.6-8.4v 5-mode are wired in series.

If you use the 3.6-9v regulator with a 4.8v battery the light would be slightly dimmer then with a 8.4v battery.

Same with the 3.6-8.4v 5-mode.

[email protected] said:

My favorite buck regulator is http://kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=2982 (not prewired). Of course kaidomain is out of them at the moment (damn!). It works across a wide voltage range. You can easily drive up to 3 LEDs in series off of a 14.4 volt battery. The upper limit on the chip used in this regulator is 18 volts so it's probably not good to use this in a 4 LED design.

Mark

Click to expand...

I liked the looks of this driver also - especially the price:thumbsup: I see someone posted in a review there with a way to boost the current from 750ma to something higher:
"This is a very good regullator working to 750ma and the cuurrent can be increased very eazilly if you put a second resistor in parallel with the one on the pcb. Use 1 ohm for 950ma output, 2.2 ohm for 830ma"
I don't even know from the picture where the resistor is. I suppose if this is true, you could wire the resistor to a switch for a hi-low setting.

My idea was a 5 LED Cree in a maglight head, 2 of these drivers, one driving 2 LEDs and the other driving the remaining 3. I would use one of those multi-position push switches such as:
OFF
2LED ON
2LED and 3LED ON
3LED ON
OFF

Back in staock at Kaidomain

Good deals may be posted in the appropriate forum at the Market Place.

Unforgiven

Is DealExtreme under new management? I've bought hundreds of dollars worth of stuff from them in the past, but my most recent order was very slow getting here, 4 items are missing, and they can't seem to get their act together to send them. I've been waiting since May.

Think again to buy from Kaidomain.
There Products are low quality.
I ordered them arround $1000USD Drivers and LEDs.
All drivers are Faulty.
when I tried to contact them they said I don't know how to use it.
When I tried to contact thr boss.
But no reply from Thr boss too.
Now thr is no replacement for my returned prodcuts.

Please - no dealer discussions/complaints in this forum...

rjalthar said:

Think again to buy from Kaidomain.
There Products are low quality.
I ordered them arround $1000USD Drivers and LEDs.
All drivers are Faulty.
when I tried to contact them they said I don't know how to use it.
When I tried to contact thr boss.
But no reply from Thr boss too.
Now thr is no replacement for my returned prodcuts.

Click to expand...

Judging by every one of your posts it seems your only reason to be here is to bash Kaidomain. Not that they don't deserve some of the criticism thrown their way but if that is all you have to say here then please leave.

Thanks saabluster. I already made that point to him here.

No more product bashing in this thread please.