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Smart Lighting Controller


bentnail67

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So I have been reading thru and found a few threads concerning lighting outside of the Box for like desk and others. So I have looked at the LS100 which has the Smart Lighting Controller in it. Can I obtain the controller by itself? I did not find it on the Corsair parts site...

 

I am reading the specs and it says that it can handle up to 138 LEDs per channel. This is alot more than a Node Pro can with only 60 LED a channel. This being said then longer strips can be used to around your desk as well as behind the monitor. As long as we don't use more than 138 LEDs on a strip.

 

So now I am curiuos, 138 Digital WS2812B LEDs on a strip, what would be the draw? So how much can the SLC handle? As I could get a 5v Wall wart rated for what Amps?

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LEDs vary on the draw but most are less that .3W. 60 LEDs typically comes in around 2.1-2.2A.

I did measurements of the Corsair RGB, including the LS100 strips - https://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=191905.

There are a couple of issues with long chains of LEDs. Current draw is one. Voltage drop along the chain is another. Still one more ... each LED requires data on the line. If your controller doesn't generate enough data, the amount of power you have won't matter. They won't light up.

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So the SLC controller will take what ever external 5volt wall wart i supply it with?

 

But now you bring up a good point, the length of the data run could cause an issue. Hmmm...so the digital signal that is sent on the data is about what mA ? Or basically this would be a hit or miss when looking at the strips due to inconsistency of the manufacturers practices.

 

I am more worried as to what will the SLC allow for.... 5 volts in at what amperage in and what amperage out. Any idea? If not then I could purchase one and try it out to see what it outputs and such...

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Dev,

 

Great videos on iCue....

 

SO I am still pondering adding RGB lighting to outside of my computer for more ambience lighting controller via the iCue. I have been pondering this for awhile other places within my house for more indirect lighting purposes too.

 

So here is what I have found and doing some number crunching.. I have read your table of mAmps. I have also been doing some nosing on strips. Funny thing is I have been using these RGB LEds on my train layout for about a year now and didn't realize it till I sat down and did some reading on this. I had one of those Lightbulb moments.

 

So in the general sense of the of the world, a RGB Led at full brightness pulls 50 mA each. So a 30 Led strip 1 meter long pulls 1.5A, so 60 Led Strip 1 meter long is 3A and so forth. The 30 and 60 leds to a 1 meter strip is the norm.

 

So i did some dicpehering (Jethro way) and looked at the LS100 controller and what it will work with. So being it uses it's own wall wart psu for the 5V input. It will hold two channels and each channel can run 138 leds on it. This based on the kit you get and what you can add to it. I read a confliction of that only 196 leds for both channels but I am betting that is based on the wall wart 5V amperage output limts that. But being that I can supply that 5V with a higher amps such as a Meanwell RS-100-5 that gives me 16A @ 5V, then I would be able to drive 2 2 meter strips of 60 Leds a meter off each channel. This is all based on the WS2812B types.

 

So now comes the Data conntection to the SLC and onto to the computer via USB connection. Does the SLC use a 2 wire or three wire for the data? So in a 2 wire one is data and the other is Ground....3 wire would two data and one ground.

 

In reading I have found that those are to be discontinued in the future as to when I am not sure with replaced WS2813 which gives a better enviroment for the Leds since currently the WS2812B is wired from to another and another on the data and if one fails say 20 in of 30 then the last 10 do not light. SO with the WS2813 the data line is paralleled basically using 2 data inputs instead of 1. I am wondering if tieing those two data inputs together will allow for a LED to go bad and the rest of the strip to continue working.

 

 

Thoughts concerning this?

 

I am getting a itchy fingers to try this. I am gonig to keep doing some reasearch and look more into this. I have seen they (Crosair) has released the towers. Interesting idea...but if I can make the strips work...then creating a custom wall scounce to hold the strips and light the walls is the simple side of it. Also coming up with this is DIY or something to pass onto to Corsair.

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So the SLC controller will take what ever external 5volt wall wart i supply it with?

Not sure. What I don't know is if there are fuses in there to prevent you from drawing too much current.

 

But now you bring up a good point, the length of the data run could cause an issue. Hmmm...so the digital signal that is sent on the data is about what mA ?

The digital control signal isn't something that you measure in mA. There is very little current involved. And it's the number of LEDs present on the signal that you need to worry about.

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I am figuring that the SLC has a signature that iCue sees via USB to know that it is there and within the iCue software it knows of the device via that code. Or if not then creating a USB platform that allows connection to the computer and would ID up as a iCue compatilble device would be the challenge. I noticed in reading someone did a wireless via WIFI for the Tower lights.

 

 

I gonna buy one of those SLC's and have a go at it. I am more than curious and now wanting to see.

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