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Hi. Newbie here. Not much experience with this level of electronics.
I purchased some inexpensive RGB recessed LED fixtures that are IR controllable to adjust dimming, colors, scenes. My goal was to install 10 of them in parallel on my porch and wire IR flashers into each housing so I can automate the control from a programmable remote or IR repeater. I wanted to avoid running 110VAC to each fixture.
Each unit came with an LED driver (AC90-280V input). Each LED is 1W (3-RGB x 1W total). The driver has three output leads. I assumed they were LED power (Pink lead) IR receiver unit power (Red lead) & ground (White lead). I tested the voltages of the Red and Pink leads - 4.6v and 1.8v DC respectively. The voltage was the same regardless of whether I had the fixture connected and on, connected and off or disconnected.
I assumed one driver wasn't going to be adequate for the whole circuit, so I didn't even bother to test it.
I thought I could just create my own power supplies (4.6v and 1.8v) to replace the driver. I had some variable output DC-DC buck converters so I used those in conjunction with a 12v1A power supply to replicate the (what I thought was) the needed output voltages. Of course it didn't work. So I went back to the original driver to test everything again. Then I started reading about constant current and constant voltage drivers. Now I'm just confused.
Interestingly...I did find this out...If I connect the Pink output lead (4.6v) to my makeshift power supply (and of course the grounds) and then touch (yes, literally hold it between my fingers) the Red lead on the fixture (without actually connecting it to the output lead on the driver), the light works perfectly. I have yet to measure any current or voltage through my body (and yes, it does work when other people touch it).
So two things:
1) Should I figure out what kind of driver I need to power the circuit? And if so, how? And will this even work?
2) Should I figure out why the fixture works when I touch the red lead?
Lots of assumptions and guesses. I hope someone can shed some light on this problem. Thank you.
I purchased some inexpensive RGB recessed LED fixtures that are IR controllable to adjust dimming, colors, scenes. My goal was to install 10 of them in parallel on my porch and wire IR flashers into each housing so I can automate the control from a programmable remote or IR repeater. I wanted to avoid running 110VAC to each fixture.
Each unit came with an LED driver (AC90-280V input). Each LED is 1W (3-RGB x 1W total). The driver has three output leads. I assumed they were LED power (Pink lead) IR receiver unit power (Red lead) & ground (White lead). I tested the voltages of the Red and Pink leads - 4.6v and 1.8v DC respectively. The voltage was the same regardless of whether I had the fixture connected and on, connected and off or disconnected.
I assumed one driver wasn't going to be adequate for the whole circuit, so I didn't even bother to test it.
I thought I could just create my own power supplies (4.6v and 1.8v) to replace the driver. I had some variable output DC-DC buck converters so I used those in conjunction with a 12v1A power supply to replicate the (what I thought was) the needed output voltages. Of course it didn't work. So I went back to the original driver to test everything again. Then I started reading about constant current and constant voltage drivers. Now I'm just confused.
Interestingly...I did find this out...If I connect the Pink output lead (4.6v) to my makeshift power supply (and of course the grounds) and then touch (yes, literally hold it between my fingers) the Red lead on the fixture (without actually connecting it to the output lead on the driver), the light works perfectly. I have yet to measure any current or voltage through my body (and yes, it does work when other people touch it).
So two things:
1) Should I figure out what kind of driver I need to power the circuit? And if so, how? And will this even work?
2) Should I figure out why the fixture works when I touch the red lead?
Lots of assumptions and guesses. I hope someone can shed some light on this problem. Thank you.
