Best place to pull 12v for LEDs?

[est....@gmail.com]

I'd like to add some LEDs under the X gantry to help see what's going on (and of course look bling bling lol), just wondering if you guys had a suggestion as to the best place to pull the power from before I go poking around with a multimeter?

Cheers

[Ed Nisley]

I connected my white LED strip directly to the 12 V supply (the huge brick) by inserting the wires into the connector next to the supply conductors. That means I must disconnect the LEDs when I move the printer, so at some point I'll wire them to a 12 V wall wart.

Some lights under the X axis definitely make things easier to see!

[Trevor Lewis]

The Rambo has an aux-power out that supplies 12v. Schematic shows it as X30, which looks like its located between the E1 stepper connector, and the T3 thermistor connector. 

Currently my LED strips (the waterproof RGB type) are *not* hooked up to this, but that location looks to be the best bet. I'm working on deconstructing the IR controller for the LED strips and stuffing them into the Rambo enclosure. My M2 and my soldering equipment are in two different locations, which makes it tough to complete this project.

The RGB strips look great, but the "white" they put out isn't uniform enough for good illumination at that distance. I recommend getting a soft white strip if you're looking for something a bit more practical.

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[Joshua Wills]

Trevor, that's the "12V1" output , which is the same as the "12V1" input.  We use a 19.5V supply for the "12V1" and "12V2" inputs, so the "12V1" header will actually supply 19.5V, no matter what the name is.

Another option is to use the onboard 5V regulator, if you're rolling your own LED strip.  It's rated for 2A.

[Trevor Lewis]

Hmm, that's misleading. The schematic at reprap.org shows X30-1 as GND and X30-2 as +12V under the heading "Aux power out". Kind of a big difference between 12V and 19.5V. I'll take your word for it, I'm just a schematic browser. :)

On Fri, May 3, 2013 at 12:47 PM, Joshua Wills <joshe...@gmail.com> wrote:

Trevor, that's the "12V1" output , which is the same as the "12V1" input.  We use a 19.5V supply for the "12V1" and "12V2" inputs, so the "12V1" header will actually supply 19.5V, no matter what the name is.

Another option is to use the onboard 5V regulator, if you're rolling your own LED strip.  It's rated for 2A.

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[Werner]

You can place your power supplies on this plate https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/makergear/3C0NnXVNY2c

than you don't have to disassemble the power supplies if you relocate your M2

 

Werner

[est....@gmail.com]

Hey guys, sorry for not updating - been too busy to play.

Thanks for the help... I have verified that the X30 output is indeed 19.1v, but it's just too perfectly placed not to use it - I am going to pull 19v from there and then regulate it down using a L7812 to 12v for my LED strip.

Cheers!

[est....@gmail.com]

Just thought someone might like to see a pic!

Looks way cooler lol... really makes it easier to see what's happening too so it's not just bling bling.

[Karl Williams]

It looks great! I'm going to have to add one to mine this weekend.

[Karl Williams]

I added a strip of white LEDs to my M2 on the weekend. It is wired to a separate 12V power supply and switch. No problems seeing what is going on now.

[mathisyourfriend]

I didn't want to mess with the electronics so I ordered these cheap LEDs from amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004E328A4/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

if they workout I'll post a pic.  

On Friday, May 3, 2013 5:04:58 AM UTC-4, est....@gmail.com wrote:

[mathisyourfriend]

buy crap and you get crap.  I'll look elsewhere