Hello, a newbie here, approching retirement and want to learn more about arduino projects!
I have been playing around with my Uno R3 kit for a while. I want to build a "steampunk lamp". This means powering a 40 watt edison bulb on a manual dimmer but I also want the mains to power the microcontroller and 4 flashing RGB Leds that go with it (I have a sketch that works for this part). I want it to all operate out of the one 120 volt plug. I know this requires a step down power supply but I suspect there is a lot more to it than just that.
Can anyone direct me to how to carry out such a project? Parts I need , schematic or maybe a step by step example on you tube you can point me too. Excited to join this forum.
Step 2 will be adding an old Milliampers meter between the seperate LED lights and DC power source but I'll cross that bridge after the first part.
That one plug solution is perfect. Perfect if you have a mains USB charger plugged into it to power the UNO. The same mains power goes to the load side of an SSR, and the other side of the SSR goes to G and a digital pin.
CAUTION: As has already been pointed out, you are dangerously uneducated regarding electrical concepts and can kill yourself if you are not careful. Please take an electricity 101 course before you do anything. Then I suggest the excellent book Arduino Cookbook as well as Electronics Cookbook.
NOTE: I have been involved in the fields of electrical, electronics, and software for over 70 years. I have attended various courses over the years, read probably over a hundred books, and I am still learning, having bought two more books just this month.
Due to the low cold resistance of the filament, the bulb will draw several Amperes AC during the startup phase, then settle to maybe 350 mA (rms AC) as it reaches operating temperature. The violent startup swing is very hard on old-fashioned meters.
As long as you keep the lethal voltages away from you and the Arduino, you'll be OK. If you want to dim AC power with the Arduino that's normally done with optical isolators so there's no direct electrical connection between the power and the Arduino.
The most common way is with a "wall wart" power supply. But that would mean the Arduino has be plugged-in separately from the AC dimmer.
Or you can buy or build a power supply to put inside a box with the Arduino. (I like to put it all in one box.)
I've built lots of power supplies but lately I've been buying them because they are "nicer" that what I can make unless I make a custom PC board. And I can buy a switching (AKA "switch mode") power which is not something I want to attempt to build.
Clarify what "This means powering a 40 watt edison bulb on a manual dimmer but I also want the mains to power the microcontroller and 4 flashing RGB Leds that go with it" means.
If these are two separate projects then there is no problem.
One is a standard mains powered dimmed lamp, the other, a low voltage Arduino controlled light display. At some point, you want to display the AC current going through the mains filament lamp on.
For the Arduino side, you simply supply 5 or 12-V DC and supply enough current for the LEDs bearing in mind the current limitations of the Arduino outputs.
The trickiest part will be the "old" meter bit. If you are using a dimmer, you are going to have a more complex waveform than the usual sine wave of AC. A Variac transformer maintains the pure sine wave, but is an expensive, large way of doing things. The challenge is going to be how to measure that AC current, and not destroy your old meter. That's going to take some research.
Safety hint. Make sure you wire your Edison (Edison screw?) lamp correctly. The live (hot) goes to the centre 'pip', not the screw side. Additionally, if steampunk means a lot of metal pipe etc., make sure it's earthed (grounded) or the mains is well isolated (Class 2 in UK)
This implies that you do not want to measure the 40W lamp current but instead want to measure the LED current. Some of the advice assumes the lamp current. Can you clarify?
Maybe turn the bulb ON/OFF with a relay since they’re built to control mains power for one. The same socket should take a 5V wall wart PS to power the board and 4 RGB leds (at 240 mA max).. a 1A supply will do, the leds power MAY have to be wired around the board but that’s just a detail.
that includes the socket, dimmer and switch all in one. Then add the DC power supply for the controller and LEDs and power that supply from the mains. I'm still in the dark about what you want to measure with the analog meter.
Hi EmilyJane. The Ampereres meter is for DC, so I want to set it up between the LED lights (which are accessory lights). The edison bulb bulb will be on AC circut with a dimmer switch. My inspiration for this project comes from here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbBiQZdaSNY. At 5 min. you can see the fellow uses a custom PCB. I don't expect to get that fancy. At the end of the video you will see the light I am trying to copy. It is VERY cool!
I havent picked out a base yet. FIrst I have to figure out the internals then I will figure out the package. My inspiration comes from here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbBiQZdaSNY. Go to the end.
