4 led square module

[zwiller]

Ordered some of these last year to fool with knowing they weren’t DIYLA approved per se.  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Although I did want more output of the additional led, I really liked them because they are symmetrical, square module with 2 rows of 2 leds.  Perfect for some things I want to build.  They work 100% with the TH2010x controller, 95% with SSCv1 and 98% with SSCv2.  I really held my breath hoping the SSCv2 would fix this and it does work better than the SSCv1 but not 100%.  The problems are the SSCv1 flicker during fades.  With the SSCv2 no obvious flickering but there are flashes during fades.  I thought about living with the issue but worried it might be harming the modules. 

Anyway, ultimately decided to give up on them and just go with 3 led DIYLA approved modules.  I sent an email to Ray for a quote and he informed me that the 3 led square modules are not available for a month but he suggested the 4 led modules as they are brighter. 

So...  I am not a circuit guru but these appear to use the same approved IC.  Truthfully, I just expected to need to reduce total modules for power requirements.  Pic attached.  Anyone willing to help tweak?  Any suggestions/thought?  On the other hand, if these modules really aren’t compatible, can someone just confirm this?  Thanks in advance! 

[Steve Gase]

Ordered some of these last year to fool with knowing they weren’t DIYLA approved per se.  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Although I did want more output of the additional led, I really liked them because they are symmetrical, square module with 2 rows of 2 leds.  Perfect for some things I want to build.  They work 100% with the TH2010x controller, 95% with SSCv1 and 98% with SSCv2.  I really held my breath hoping the SSCv2 would fix this and it does work better than the SSCv1 but not 100%.  The problems are the SSCv1 flicker during fades.  With the SSCv2 no obvious flickering but there are flashes during fades.  I thought about living with the issue but worried it might be harming the modules. 

Anyway, ultimately decided to give up on them and just go with 3 led DIYLA approved modules.  I sent an email to Ray for a quote and he informed me that the 3 led square modules are not available for a month but he suggested the 4 led modules as they are brighter. 

So...  I am not a circuit guru but these appear to use the same approved IC.  Truthfully, I just expected to need to reduce total modules for power requirements.  Pic attached.  Anyone willing to help tweak?  Any suggestions/thought?  On the other hand, if these modules really aren’t compatible, can someone just confirm this?  Thanks in advance!

I used the square pixels in my coro flakes last year...  I also saw flicker.  I don't think it hurts anything, but it causes me annoyance because I see these little things.  (no one else seems to notice this btw...)

anyway, I am told that I can fix the problem by changing the 333 ohm resistor on my SSC v1s to 150 ohm and it will fix the problem.  Using SSC v2 will also work, I am told.

[RJ]

Updated firmware that is coming may also help. 

RJ

[MrChristmas2000]

Update the 47ohm V2 resistor to 150ohms and that should solve your flicker.

Radio shack carries a 1/8 watt model that you could get to test for your self.

If you don't have one get a solder sucker to remove the old resistor.

[rm357]

The flicker won't hurt anything. The pulse width modulation used to control the brightness of each color is turning them full on and off faster than the eye can see. If you want to see the modulation, swing or move the led while watching it closely... The line that is formed by the slow response time of your eye will have breaks in it where the led was off. You will have to move it pretty fast...

[tbone321]

I would recomend that people NOT make any changes at this time.

[mykroft]

Why?

[tbone321]

Because we don't know what if any changes might be required with the new firmware update.  You could change the resistor only to find out that the origional one or yet a different one is needed.  In that case you would have wasted both your time and money for nothing.  Even RJ said to hold off on makng changes at this time but hey, if you want to change it anyway .........

[zwiller]

Yep, don't bother. I had some extra 150 ohm resistors from trying to upgrade on the v1 so I swapped. Just like resistor upgrade for the v1, no noticeable improvement.

RJ, thanks for posting about the firmware update. With a little luck maybe the firmware update might fix it. If you want some of these modules to fool with shoot me a pm.

Thanks for all the input guys. 

[JonB256]

Using the 4 chip vs the 3 chip, should I be concerned about using 120 pixels per SSC like it says for the 3 chip?

My layout doesn't need that many, but thought I'd ask for future concerns.

My roofline plan is to use 4 SSC V2 controllers, each one only powering 60 pixels.

[tbone321]

Until we know what the current draw of these new nides are, I would not push it to the max.

[JonB256]

Ray Wu's comment to me online was that the 4-chip modules were 0.96 Watts (just call it 1 Watt)

That is higher than the 3-chip version. I'm not sure that a single SSC (version 1 or 2) could supply 80 of them. I only plan to do 40 per SSC. (but you know how plans are )

[chrisatpsu]

48 would be the max, but i'd still try to keep about 40-45 as the max