[ireland57]

I've ordered some bits to build a bar light

They are an MCE led, 700mA driver and Fraen reflector (kit on Cutters) and want to add it to R2 leds I have.

I'm thinking of this:-

MCE (4S) kit as delivered (driven at 700mA) +
2 x R2 leds with 1000mA Buckpuck
using a 14.8v Li-Ion battery pack (4 x 3.7v in Luminous holder)

So... 2 drivers from 1 battery; 2 on/off switches (1 per driver); 1 x pot on R2 leds (unsure if MCE kit has pot ability).

I don't wish to run it all in series (it'll end up with 6 x 3.7v I guess) so how do I wire up the battery to get the MCE in parallel with the R2's?

Or is it not a good idea?

 

[.40AET]

To wire the 2 buckpucks in parallell just twist the red wires together of both pucks and twist the black wires together of both pucks. Then twist them to the + and - of the battery leads. Now the 2 pucks are in parallel with the battery. They both will get the same voltage. Break the hot (red) wire of each puck with a switch and you have independant on/off control. The dimmer works in either scenario.

 

[ireland57]

Thankyou.

 

[ireland57]

To wire the 2 buckpucks in parallell just twist the red wires together of both pucks and twist the black wires together of both pucks. Then twist them to the + and - of the battery leads. Now the 2 pucks are in parallel with the battery. They both will get the same voltage. Break the hot (red) wire of each puck with a switch and you have independant on/off control. The dimmer works in either scenario.

If the buckpucks (700 + 1000mA) are wired in parallel what happens with the current?

Does it have a ceiling of 1000mA ?

OR..... does it add together then divide equally to the leds?

So 850 mA to each?

Sorry but bit confused with this bit.

 

[odtexas]

The current is additive so you will have 1700 mA headed toward the emitters. Run two strings and each string should see 850 mA.

 

[.40AET]

If the buckpucks (700 + 1000mA) are wired in parallel what happens with the current?

Does it have a ceiling of 1000mA ?

OR..... does it add together then divide equally to the leds?

So 850 mA to each?

Sorry but bit confused with this bit.

The MCE will see 700mA from the single driver. The two R2's will each recieve 1000mA if they are wired in series.

Keep asking if it's not clear yet.

 

[.40AET]

Here's a drawing.

 

[ireland57]

That drawing is exactly the setup I wanted. Did you draw that just now or was it already available?

Odtexas comments about being additive is how I thought it would work.
I.e. when you connect the two drivers in parallel the current is additive and then divides into the number of leds being used.

Is that not the case at all or is there two ways the drivers can be paralleled?

I'm using the drawing method regardless but I'm curious.

 

[odtexas]

 

[Curtis C]

Ireland you are getting 2 completely different circuits presented to you. 40aet's circuit is the type of circuit I thought you would be looking at based on your initial post. Sounds like you are only going to parallel the inputs of the 2 drivers, that being the case you only calculate one led string that is connected to the output of one driver. then you do the same for the other driver and led string. The outputs will not be added together as they will be 2 separate circuits. Once wired each led string will have the fixed current based on the driver output setting. The only variable you will have is the amount of current being pulled from the battery which will be based which light string(s) is/are on.

ODTexas's circuit is nice in that it will allow you to up the output current to a level greater than a solo driver could handle

Wow I hope that didn't muddy the water

 

[ireland57]

Ireland you are getting 2 completely different circuits presented to you. 40aet's circuit is the type of circuit I thought you would be looking at based on your initial post.

Yes that's the case here.

Sounds like you are only going to parallel the inputs of the 2 drivers, that being the case you only calculate one led string that is connected to the output of one driver. then you do the same for the other driver and led string. The outputs will not be added together as they will be 2 separate circuits. Once wired each led string will have the fixed current based on the driver output setting. The only variable you will have is the amount of current being pulled from the battery which will be based which light string(s) is/are on.

ODTexas's circuit is nice in that it will allow you to up the output current to a level greater than a solo driver could handle

Many Thanks OD. Now I understand both methods.

Wow I hope that didn't muddy the water

On the contrary Thankyou.

Much clearer now.

I just gotta wait for the postie. I used to like him ..... but now :madman: :madman: :madmax: where's my stuff?

 

[Vancbiker]

Another factor to consider

I think that the Cutter MC-E kit comes with a Recom buck driver instead of a buckpuck. While it will work for sure to run both drivers off the same battery as per .40's diagram, I would not want to try to parallel the output of two different brands of drivers.

 

[.40AET]

odtexas: Thanks for the drawing. You learn something new here all of the time.

 

[odtexas]

No worries.
I think I am one of few attempting this. Posted a question about it a while back and got no answers or opinions.

So started making lights. Built 5 now with the parallel buck pucks. All work fine and current is additive based on multimeter readings.

You could wire a XPG or XRE into the buckpuck output before joining the two outputs together. Then each emitter would see only the maximum of the buckpuck while anything after the connection would see the additive sums of both buckpucks. Hope that makes sense. Drawing and labeling on the computer is a PITA for me since I don't have a good image maker program.:thumbsup:

 

[mojojojoaf]

No worries.
I think I am one of few attempting this. Posted a question about it a while back and got no answers or opinions.

So started making lights. Built 5 now with the parallel buck pucks. All work fine and current is additive based on multimeter readings.

You could wire a XPG or XRE into the buckpuck output before joining the two outputs together. Then each emitter would see only the maximum of the buckpuck while anything after the connection would see the additive sums of both buckpucks. Hope that makes sense. Drawing and labeling on the computer is a PITA for me since I don't have a good image maker program.:thumbsup:

It looks like you could put a switch to interupt one of the buck pucks to create a hi low affect. Yes? or do I fail

 

[odtexas]

Pass. Works great. That is how I set up the 10x XPG.
Two switches are needed. Connect a switch in each of the positive battery "in" of both buck pucks.
When using a 700 and 1000 with two parallel strings you can send 350 mA per string, 500 mA, or 850 mA. So you have a low, medium and high when using buckpucks of different output.
Using the switch on the negative side both buckpucks run if either switch is on. Some sort of common gound thing going on I guess, thats why you must break the circuit on the positive side of the battery input.

 

[ireland57]

I think that the Cutter MC-E kit comes with a Recom buck driver instead of a buckpuck. While it will work for sure to run both drivers off the same battery as per .40's diagram, I would not want to try to parallel the output of two different brands of drivers.

It does use a Recon driver; sounds like good advice.

Odtexas that's a great idea.... lots of flexibility in that system.

 

[mojojojoaf]

Pass. Works great. That is how I set up the 10x XPG.
Two switches are needed. Connect a switch in each of the positive battery "in" of both buck pucks.
When using a 700 and 1000 with two parallel strings you can send 350 mA per string, 500 mA, or 850 mA. So you have a low, medium and high when using buckpucks of different output.
Using the switch on the negative side both buckpucks run if either switch is on. Some sort of common gound thing going on I guess, thats why you must break the circuit on the positive side of the battery input.

I have been cutting current to both the pos and neg vin's that way nothing going in or out.

 

[ireland57]

Driver Questions - Recom and Taskled

The Recom driver sent to me has no flying leads.
To have variable resistance for this light do I need to have flying leads or is there another way to do this?

Triple XPG light:-

The taskled driver for this light is as below (sorry, I forgot how to link). http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut885

On the back there is 5 terminals. How do I connect the pot and On/Off switch to it?

The Led holes are self explanatory; the ground is the negative to battery; what do I do with the two others?

They both connect to the switching I guess but which one does what?

 

[OldMTBfreak]

Hi Ireland57, Here's a linkyhttp://www.taskled.com/techccxw.html As far as I can tell, the cc5w only regulates to a preset current value. I didn't see anyplace for a pot to control the current. I think the hyperboost uses a pot for control, most Taskled controllers use digital control.