litho light blinking

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mchurchf
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:55 pm

litho light blinking

Post by mchurchf »

I have a couple lithophaned completed that for some reason the LED lights blink on and off. I solder the lights to the power source and when I complete one I let the lights stay on for quite some time to see if there are any issues. I haven't seen any issues with the lights when I had them but after a while I was told they blink on and off. Any ideas?

Eagle55
Posts: 788
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2011 8:44 pm

Re: litho light blinking

Post by Eagle55 »

Its possible it could be one of a couple of things. On the power supply that you used you may be getting close to the maximum current limit. Some power supplies have a "current foldback" type limiting circuit that will cut the voltage back to keep from going over the current limit. Some will even cut the voltage off once it reaches the limit and periodically put the voltage back on to see if the over-current condition has gone away. It is important to know if it is a rhythmic blinking or just go out and randomly come back and an odd rhythm. What I have had also is a poor connection on the 2.1mm x 5.5 mm connectors. If you used one of these it may be that the connection to the center pin may be intermittent (can sometimes be corrected by powering everything off and putting a knife in the slit of the center pin to spread it apart and make a better connection. This would likely be the cause if it is a random blinking as apposed to a steady blinking that might be caused by the power supply. Anyway, a little more information and knowing the components in the system might help narrow it down. questions such as how many leds of what type (ie trying to determine current needs), type of power supply and max current, type of connections throughout the circuit (ie solder, plug connectors etc, all of this will help determine. Also does it start blinking as soon as it turns on or does it have to "warm up" before it starts? Does it go away when moved or keep blinking or blink worse if the wires are moved around?

Roger
CNC Shark HD ~ Control Panel 2.0 ~ Windows 7 & XP
Located in West Tennessee near the Tennessee River
http://www.eaglecarver4.com

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