Diode's to rectify half wave LED strings?

[DanHouston]

Has anyone used the 4 diode or DF06 recifier to convert their half-wave LED lights to full-wave?

If you have which have you used and which diode size did you use (1 amp or 3 amp seems common from what I've read), possibly 1N5402 or 1N4007?

If you've used the DF06 I assume the pins labled with a "~" are for the incoming AC current and the (+) and (-) are the outgoing DC current?

Thanks,
Dan

[urthegman]

Dan, Don't know if it helps, but the v5 express has a rectifier built in.

[DanHouston]

Dan, Don't know if it helps, but the v5 express has a rectifier built in.

That does not affect any LED strings you have connected does it?

[tbone321]

The Express is an AC controller and its rectifier is only for the internal power supply used to power the onboard components.  It has no effect on the outputs.

[n1ist]

Yes, the pins with the ~ are the AC in, and the +/- pins are the DC out.
/mike

[urthegman]

The Express is an AC controller and its rectifier is only for the internal power supply used to power the onboard components.  It has no effect on the outputs.

Hmmm, So then how does the Light Normalization Technology and "light curves" work?

[mms]

Pk and I have converted half wave to full wave.  The full wave LEDs are brighter and dim similarly to incandescent lights. 

[Penfold]

I've used the DF06 on all of my mini trees (12).  The only thing that I don't like about the DF06 is the legs are pretty fragile and you should use heat shrink in between each connection so that you don't run the risk of shorting connections out.  I also wrap the chip and wires in electrical tape as extra insurance.  What I did notice was that the light strand looked a little brighter after I was done converting. 

[rrowan]

The Express is an AC controller and its rectifier is only for the internal power supply used to power the onboard components.  It has no effect on the outputs.

Hmmm, So then how does the Light Normalization Technology and "light curves" work?

RJ has a random number generator that calls a circus sideshow "barker" to ask the guy that guess your weight to return a number he thinks the light brightness should be.

or something close to that

Rick R.

[pk]

Pk and I have converted half wave to full wave.  The full wave LEDs are brighter and dim similarly to incandescent lights.

We used 1N4007's and several pieces of heat shrink to prevent shorting. 

[chrisatpsu]

don't some led strings have some of the leds in the string backwards?

[pk]

Chris -

Yes there are strings that have some of the LEDs wired to turn on during the positive half cycle and the others turn on during the negative half cycle. 

The string of 200 that mms and I modified came from Sam's Club.  It could be separated into 6 sections of 33 or 34.  Using a 100 VDC supply I noticed 1/2 of the LEDs turned on with one polarity and the other 1/2 turned on with the opposite polarity.

The full wave rectifier was installed before section 1. Due to the way this string was wired, I ended up reversing the polarity for each of sections 2-6.

[urthegman]

The Express is an AC controller and its rectifier is only for the internal power supply used to power the onboard components.  It has no effect on the outputs.

Hmmm, So then how does the Light Normalization Technology and "light curves" work?

RJ has a random number generator that calls a circus sideshow "barker" to ask the guy that guess your weight to return a number he thinks the light brightness should be.

or something close to that

Rick R.

                    Ok, now I am REALLY confused!!!!!

[n1ist]

Not to get too technical, here's the scoop on how dimming curves work (in general; I have not seen any of RJ's code to see how he does it...)

We use PWM dimming.  Each cycle of the AC power waveform is broken down into 256 parts.  If we leave the lights off for the first half and turn them on for the second half, they will in theory be at half brightness.  Leave them off for 25% and on for 75% of the time and they will be at 3/4 brightness, etc.

Easy in theory, but in real life, neither the lights nor your eyes are linear.  So 50% on/off timing isn't really 50% perceived brightness, and changing the percentage linearly changes the brightness more like a logarithmic curve.  What light curves do is apply a suitable correction so that a linear change in what you ask the controller to do results in a linear change in perceived brightness.

/mike

[rrowan]

hmmm I thought my answer was more fun 

oh well. I won't give the real answer. But I believe RJ has talked about it before

Rick R.