Where to wire leads on this driver (DX)???

LEDBE
S

Supernam

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 20, 2006
Messages
753
Location
Irvine, CA
How do I wire this driver?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1885

It looks like from the picture that the Positive LED lead is soldered to the center, while the negative is above and to the left of the diode. On the back, I'm guessing you wire the positive battery lead to the center and the negative to the outer ring.

If my assumptions are correct, then the Vin+ and the Vout+ share the same point of soldering. Is this right? I wired it up and it runs fine on 3D Alkalines driving a single SSC P4, but I don't know if the driver is actually regulating, or if I wired it to somehow just direct drive.

Help!
Thanks.
 
Thank's, but that image is not helpful because it's not exactly the same one. The layout is different. Mine matches the one from DX's pictures.
 
The boards I have are slightly different layout but I'm fairly certain that the Negative should go to the IC pin next to the marking Q4
Norm
 
I'm having real trouble posting today. Maybe the Internet is on holiday. What I said:

Of course, figuring out which version of that board you have before you start connecting things would be quite sensible. The original version is shown in DX's photos, and has three out of four possible positions populated with AMC7135 chips. The customer photo has three out of three AMC7135s there, and a multimode controller chip missing, but with a zero value resistor connecting things so they work properly.

Which do you have?
Click to expand...

Since you've just answered that question, the LED positive is between the two diodes in the middle. The LED negative is the roundish pad next to the writing "Q2" in the unpopulated corner of the board. The outer ring on both sides of the board is battering negative. Don't connect it to that.
 
The other thing to keep in mind is that (probably) only one of those AMC7135 chips will be connected and you'll need a tiny solder bridge to get the other two working. Need a photo?
 
Thanks TorchBoy! That clears everything up. I was having trouble posting earlier too. Must have been a server brain freeze.
 
TorchBoy said:
The other thing to keep in mind is that (probably) only one of those AMC7135 chips will be connected and you'll need a tiny solder bridge to get the other two working. Need a photo?
Click to expand...

I haven't received mine yet so don't know which I'm getting but I would like to see the photo if you have it on hand.
 
I just posted this same reply in a very similar thread about KD sku #3256. If you plan to glue the board to a heatsink (which I think you should), it helps to solder all of the wires to the same side of the board. You can see in the photos towards the end of this thread how to do that. Basically you put the battery negative to any of the gold through-holes around the perimeter of the board, and the battery positive to the two through-holes in the middle of the board.

www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192418

Good luck!
 
Thanks guys,

Here is a picture that I took myself of the board.

IMG_6964copy.jpg


Vout+ is the center. Vout- is the pad above Q2.

Snowplow, I noticed that this particular board does not get hot. The one you used with your heatsink is the multimode type which has that extra component (don't know what it's called). I think it's that part thats making the whole board hot. I ran mine straight for 20 minutes and touched it to my lips and it felt barely warmer than room temp. I believe it's because Vbatt is so close to Vf.
 
Last edited:
Let me first state that I have no formal training and very limited experience with electronics, so you can take this post with a grain of salt. The wiring you described in the first post sounds to me like direct drive. I don't think the Vin+ and Vout+ should be soldered to the same point. The Vin+ should be passing through all of the components of the board while the Vin- (ground) should pass right through. I think you might have all of the regulating components on the ground side of the circuit. That would explain the lack of heat as well. It seems that the board would have to be uncommonly efficient not to get hot or even warm after supplying 3 watts for 20 minutes.

One way to check if you are direct driving is to measure the current at the LED. You have to wire the DMM in series with the LED; not bridge over it like you would to measure voltage (my apologies if this was obvious to you). You could also check by connecting it to 4 cells instead of 3. I happen to know that SSC P4s do not like to be connected in direct drive from 4-D alkalines, but it will not kill the LED right away (blueish light and smoke will give warning - don't ask how I know that...:whistle:)

Good luck!
 
SnowplowTortoise said:
I don't think the Vin+ and Vout+ should be soldered to the same point. The Vin+ should be passing through all of the components of the board while the Vin- (ground) should pass right through. I think you might have all of the regulating components on the ground side of the circuit.
Click to expand...
NO! All the regulating components are supposed to be on the ground side. Vin+ and Vout+ are the same point in the middle of the board -between the diodes in this case. Vin- is the outer ring on the underside, or followed through to a suitable point on the top side. Vout- is actually on the + side of the regulator, which is the circular pad next to the writing "Q2".

SnowplowTortoise said:
It seems that the board would have to be uncommonly efficient not to get hot or even warm after supplying 3 watts for 20 minutes.
Click to expand...
It's the LED that's running at 3W, not the linear regulator. When the input voltage is just a little above what is needed the thing can be 97% efficient. I would not recommend putting one's lips on it though. Not because you might burn your lips, but because the solder has lead in it. It's best to keep away from that sort of thing.
 
Thanks for the clarification. I thought it was kinda funny too that the regulating components were on the negative side also, but it worked fine.

BTW, it's made in China... of COURSE it has lead in it. :sssh: (I also use leadless solder).
 
Supernam, I remember a leadless solder thread a month or two ago. Have you chimed in on that?
 
I take it from the bold and ALL CAPS and exclamation points that I might be wrong. I'm not trying to be argumentative and I don't want to hijack, but I would like to find the gap in my understanding. Every board I have ever used (5 or 6 varieties from U.S. and Chinese sources) has the negative side of the LED (side with "-" sign cut into prong) passing directly through the board through the outer ring to ground, and positive going through all of the components and then to the button side of the batteries. At least that's how I've wired them, and they seem to work in every respect (modes, regulation, etc.) Is this board different, or did I not use the right shorthand, or what? Thanks for your help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Orion
Replacing LED? Where To Find Quad LED?
Replies
8
Views
523
Orion
Orion
B
best 16mm Driver and LED for this body?
Replies
0
Views
914
brn1911
B
I
How to make any size red lens cap?
Replies
3
Views
479
imjerv
I
C
Convert this multimode light to a single mode?
Replies
1
Views
1K
HarryN
H
M
1.5v light modules with dimming modes running on aaa. Searching
Replies
0
Views
429
mrfixitman
M

Latest posts

Top