Alternate Voltage Mods

[pircy]

Just a quick question .  I want to go the Freestyle - SSR4 route and have been reading the posts and the wiki to get my head aroung how all these things work.  Apart from the fact I have never made anything electronic before, most of it seems relatively simple to follow in the instructions (I'm sure once I start the skills required will come with experience).  Just unsure as to the Appendix A - Alternate Voltage Mods mentioned at the bottom of the SSR4 wiki page.  1 - Am I right in assuming these mods are intended for the power output to run the particular strings of lights I use, ie 24v or 36v LED strings, as opposed to the the different mains power imputs that each country has i.e in Australia 240v.  2 - if this is correct, are there extra mods I need to make to the SSR4 to ensure it uses my mains 240v power supply?  3 - If I  do need mods to cater for my 240v input from the mains for my SSR4's, should I take it that this mod is required for the entire Lynx family of hardware in my particular case?  I know it's lots of questions - thanks in advance!!!

[ThaiWay]

Pircy, starting point is:  what is your mains frequency?  e.g. 50 Hz?  60 Hz?

John

[pircy]

Australia's public mains power supply is 230 volts, 50 Hz.  Learn something new every day.  Apparently we changed from 240v to 230 v in 2000. So does this change things?  By the way, was in Thailand a few weeks ago.  My partners dad lives in Chaing Mai - I absolutely loved it!

[ThaiWay]

Yes, Chiangmai is a special place, with a country feel and yet enough city to offer plenty to do!  I have been many times, especially for the Loy Krathong Festival in November.

As to your 230V 50Hz mains power, make the mod found in Appendix B of the Freestyle  Manual here:  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

You'll also need to program the Freestyle PIC with 50Hz firmware; AussiePhil has it in the second last post of this thread:  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

For your SSR4's running 24 or 36V lights, you'll need to make the appropriate mod from Appendix A (SSR4.)  Then you'll apply that 24 or 36 volts to the SSR4 input to power the board and your lights.  In other words, whatever voltage your lights are, that's what you input to the SSR4 after modification.

The Lynx Express can be modded to run off 230VAC to control 230V lights, and 50Hz firmware is available.  The Lynx MR16/DC Controller accepts a low voltage input, so no mod is necessary.  The Lynx Wireless Devices are powered by a walwart rated for your mains voltage.

Hope that helps!  You've got questions pircy?  lots of learned folk here have answers!  Don't be afraid to ask.

John

[pircy]

Thanks for the help.  So I just re-read the SSR4 appendix A and I understand that I change the four (4) 180 Ohm resistors to the value specific to the operating voltage of my light strings. Thats cool. 

At the bottom of Appendix A it says - "Your modified SSR4 can now be powered by the appropriate AC Voltage (e.g. by a mains supply through a transformer)". 

Does this mean, for instance, that I can then use one of the 36v transformers that I have cut from one of the light strings to power the SSR4 or have I got it wrong?

[ThaiWay]

....Does this mean, for instance, that I can then use one of the 36v transformers that I have cut from one of the light strings to power the SSR4 or have I got it wrong?

That's correct.

[edit:]  I believe that's IF it transforms AC to AC.