before I come to my question, let me give you some background information:
I have a LED ceiling light that can be controlled via a 2.4G RF remote control. The remote supports controlling multiple lights so now I want to use it for controlling my LED cabinet lighting as well. After some research I found the LED driver that is used in my ceiling light (the 2.4G receiver and everything is already built into it). Here is a link: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2-4G-Wireless-Remote-Control-Smart_62022399028.html
Unfortunately the 2.4G LED driver has an output of 30-43V / 350mA but my cabinet lighting needs 12V / 1.25A (at least that's what's written on the LED driver that it currently uses). The 2.4G LED driver is also a constant current driver while afaik the one that currently powers my cabinet lighting is a constant voltage one.
While looking for a solution to this problem someone else suggested to me that I could use an arduino nano to solve the problem. His idea was as follows:
Buy an arduino nano, a DC-DC converter to power the arduino from the 2.4G LED driver and a relay board. Then with some trivial code on the arduino I could trigger the relay board at startup. The relay board would be connected with my cabinet lighting so that by turning on the arduino using my 2.4G remote it would close the circuit and the cabined lighting would turn on.
However, neither I nor the guy who suggested this solution know if it is actually possible to use the 30-43V / 350mA constant current LED driver with a DC-DC converter to power the arduino nano. Is this possible and is there anything to keep in mind and/or take care of when doing this?
If this is not possible then please let me know if you maybe have another idea how I could realize this project.
The 30-43V / 350mA constant current LED driver wants to deliver ten to fifteen watts. You would have to dump ten (or fifteen) watts somewhere. Interestingly enough, your cabinet lighting also wants fifteen watts. You would be better off to chop the LEDs into four equal sections and wire them up in series. Rearranging your cabinet lighting would be the most sensible way to do this.
There is no indication whatsoever here for an Arduino. A 48V relay wired to the constant current driver would presumably respond quite nicely to its attempts to power non-existent lights.
Hmmm. Hang on! That LED driver is just a single channel! It makes no sense to use one of them only to control a relay. Either you turn your cabinet lighting into something that matches the LED driver, or you just figure out how to make an ESP-01 relay module work with whatever protocol it is.
The 30-43V / 350mA constant current LED driver wants to deliver ten to fifteen watts. You would have to dump ten (or fifteen) watts somewhere. Interestingly enough, your cabinet lighting also wants fifteen watts. You would be better off to chop the LEDs into four equal sections and wire them up in series. Rearranging your cabinet lighting would be the most sensible way to do this.
There is no indication whatsoever here for an Arduino. A 48V relay wired to the constant current driver would presumably respond quite nicely to its attempts to power non-existent lights.
Hmmm. Hang on! That LED driver is just a single channel! It makes no sense to use one of them only to control a relay. Either you turn your cabinet lighting into something that matches the LED driver, or you just figure out how to make an ESP-01 relay module work with whatever protocol it is.
Thank you for the response!
I have some questions regarding your answer:
What do you mean "chop the LEDs into four equal sections and wire them up in series"? Why should I do that and why four sections? Also, if you think that a 48V relay would do the job then why would it make a difference that the LED driver is just a single channel and whats different about that ESP 01 relay?
WattsThat:
Adding an Arduino doesn’t give you the ability to change a horse into a giraffe.
Buy the correct led driver with a remote for your cabinet lighting.
I would've done that if it would be that easy. Unfortunately there is no LED driver sold that has the proper specs for my cabinet lighting and is compatible with the remote I currently use. I'm sure there are similar systems with a driver that would work for me but I don't want to have multiple remotes just for that reason. What I want is a solution that allows me to control all lights in my room with the same remote. It doesn't have to be a perfect solution but it should be reliable and last a while. For example another idea I had is using a 2.4G receiver with an arduino and then programming it to listen for the commands from the remote. However, I don't know if this is possible and how difficult it would be.
You need to cite what your cabinet lighting is. Running at a constant 12 V, it would use LEDs in groups of 3, each with a series resistor to control the current If it draws 1.25 Amps overall (but you would absolutely need to measure it), then a quarter of that is 310 mA, so if you divided it into four equal pieces, each would be consuming 310 mA at 12 V either as three 1 W LEDs or a number of three LED groups in parallel totalling 3 W.
As long as these pieces are equal, you can connect the four pieces in series to operate at 48 V at 350 mA. If you calculate that 350 mA is excessive, you can use a large resistor in parallel with this series string, to take up the extra 40 or 50 mA; that would be a 910 Ohm resistor dissipating 2.5 W - you would probably use a 1k, 5 W resistor.
If by any chance your cabinet light happened to be four parallel units already, it would simply be a matter of reconnecting them in series instead of parallel. I have seen some cabinet light assemblies like that.
Chrissi1001:
For example another idea I had is using a 2.4G receiver with an Arduino and then programming it to listen for the commands from the remote. However, I don't know if this is possible and how difficult it would be.
That is precisely what I cited with the ESP-01 which is a 2.4 GHz transceiver with a CPU - it is already assembled for you. The trick is to find out what form these commands take
(You do not use actual Arduinox for WiFi - the ESP8266 does it all for you. )
Paul__B:
You need to cite what your cabinet lighting is. Running at a constant 12 V, it would use LEDs in groups of 3, each with a series resistor to control the current If it draws 1.25 Amps overall (but you would absolutely need to measure it), then a quarter of that is 310 mA, so if you divided it into four equal pieces, each would be consuming 310 mA at 12 V either as three 1 W LEDs or a number of three LED groups in parallel totalling 3 W.
As long as these pieces are equal, you can connect the four pieces in series to operate at 48 V at 350 mA. If you calculate that 350 mA is excessive, you can use a large resistor in parallel with this series string, to take up the extra 40 or 50 mA; that would be a 910 Ohm resistor dissipating 2.5 W - you would probably use a 1k, 5 W resistor.
If by any chance your cabinet light happened to be four parallel units already, it would simply be a matter of reconnecting them in series instead of parallel. I have seen some cabinet light assemblies like that.
That is precisely what I cited with the ESP-01 which is a 2.4 GHz transceiver with a CPU - it is already assembled for you. The trick is to find out what form these commands take
(You do not use actual Arduinox for WiFi - the ESP8266 does it all for you. )
Wouldn't it make a difference that the cabinet lighting currently uses a constant voltage driver but the 2.4G driver is a constant current one? Could I still use a constant current driver for the cabinet lighting?
Chrissi1001:
Wouldn't it make a difference that the cabinet lighting currently uses a constant voltage driver but the 2.4G driver is a constant current one? Could I still use a constant current driver for the cabinet lighting?
That is the point exactly.
Your "constant voltage driver" in fact is a constant current driver. most likely the "constant current" devices are resistors in series with each set of three LEDs. LEDs are always driven by a constant current driver; a resistor is the simplest and cheapest.
Your "constant voltage driver" in fact is a constant current driver. most likely the "constant current" devices are resistors in series with each set of three LEDs. LEDs are always driven by a constant current driver; a resistor is the simplest and cheapest.
Well, it would be easier for me to understand this if people wouldn't tell me different things all the time.
When I was talking with the manufacturer of the constant current 2.4G driver they literally told me "this driver is constant current, i assume your 12V 1.25A is constant voltage, it cannot fit".
Now you are saying that they are both constant current drivers. At least on the 2.4G one I know the specification and it clearly states that it is a constant current driver, about the 12V one I could not find any information.
At this point I don't really know how to continue with this anymore to be honest. People told me so many different things and suggestions that other people then said I shouldn't do because it won't work, I don't really know anymore.
The main thing that I don't understand is what 2.4G transceiver I should use and what the differences are between them (in case I go that route instead of trying to use driver from the manufacturer that already has the transceiver in it). When I buy a 2.4G trainsceiver, can I be sure that it is able to receive data from any other 2.4G receiver or is there any other detail in the specs of such a transceiver that I can check to make sure that it would work for whatever I wanna do with it?
Chrissi1001:
When I buy a 2.4G transceiver, can I be sure that it is able to receive data from any other 2.4G receiver or is there any other detail in the specs of such a transceiver that I can check to make sure that it would work for whatever I wanna do with it?
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