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Post subject: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 9:26 am
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Aspiring Musician
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I wanted to see how my HRD would look with a blue hue so taking the quick & dirty route I mounted some self-adhesive LED strips underneath, ran the wires to the open back and into an electrical box with a switch. The box was attached with velcro to the inside of the amp. The result was pretty cool so now I'd like to put aside the Q&D way and make things a little neater.

I need 12V to power the LEDs. I was thinking to tap into the mains of the amp or maybe there's enough with the wires feeding the pilot light? Ideally I'd like to keep things as simple as possible and avoid making too many holes in the cabinet. LOL

Thanks for any suggestions and ideas
Cheers!
BM

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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:43 am
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Bluer Monkey wrote:
I wanted to see how my HRD would look with a blue hue so taking the quick & dirty route I mounted some self-adhesive LED strips underneath, ran the wires to the open back and into an electrical box with a switch. The box was attached with velcro to the inside of the amp. The result was pretty cool so now I'd like to put aside the Q&D way and make things a little neater.

I need 12V to power the LEDs. I was thinking to tap into the mains of the amp or maybe there's enough with the wires feeding the pilot light?
Yes you can you can use pilot light 12 volts. Any picture of the led you want to put ?



Ideally I'd like to keep things as simple as possible and avoid making too many holes in the cabinet. LOL

Thanks for any suggestions and ideas
Cheers!
BM


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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 12:58 pm
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Thanks for the reply, stratele52. I measured the voltage across the pilot light and got 6.7V which is not enough juice for the LEDs. Then I realized that, duh, I need DC not AC so there goes my idea out the window. I think I'll just use a transformer and not get myself into any trouble with the amps power system.

As for the LEDs, I'm planning to use these 1-meter long strips. You can cut them and solder them together to fill a given area.

https://addison-electronique.com/bande-del-flexible-12v-60-del-smd3528-rouge-ip44-1-metre.html

Cheers!
BM

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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 5:15 pm
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Bluer Monkey wrote:
Thanks for the reply, stratele52. I measured the voltage across the pilot light and got 6.7V which is not enough juice for the LEDs. Then I realized that, duh, I need DC not AC so there goes my idea out the window. I think I'll just use a transformer and not get myself into any trouble with the amps power system.

As for the LEDs, I'm planning to use these 1-meter long strips. You can cut them and solder them together to fill a given area.

https://addison-electronique.com/bande-del-flexible-12v-60-del-smd3528-rouge-ip44-1-metre.html

Cheers!
BM


You are living in Montréal close to me :D
I must go to Addison tomorrow morning :lol:

You are right about heater supply it is 6. 3 AC volts plus or minus not 12 volts.

Can you put a small power bar in bottom of your amp to plug the LEDs transformer and amp power cord.. Power bar power cord go to a wall outlet.


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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 6:15 am
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stratele52 wrote:
Can you put a small power bar in bottom of your amp to plug the LEDs transformer and amp power cord.. Power bar power cord go to a wall outlet.
I suppose that would be the simplest and possibly best solution. Maybe I was over-thinking the whole thing. ... Then again I still would like a switch for the LEDs so one way or another I'm going to need a junction box in the amp. I'll give it some more thought.

Thanks, stratele52
BM

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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 8:58 am
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That sounds like a cool project.
There is plenty of power available right in the amp to power a couple LED strips.
In the power supply that runs the Integrated citcuits, there are two large resistors that dissipate almost 5 watts. You can utilize these for powering the LEDs. It involves replacing the 470 ohm 5 watt resistor with 2 resistors that divide the voltage drop across the resistors..
This allows a 12 volt tap and a 20 volt tap of filtered DC..
The two resistors would cost a couple bucks.
It can be done without pulling the circuit board by cutting off the original leads and connecting to them topside.
If you want to try it, it's roughlty 120 ohm and 330 ohm resistors. You need a 5 watt rating for the 330. The 120 ohm can be 2 watt...
Now to calculate the resistor values more accurately, I need to know the amount of amps that each LED strip takes. There is about 160Ma of current available on each resistor
Turn off the amp, remove the back and discharge. In the case of the HRD, it will self discharge within a couple minutes..
Starting with R78 or R79, cut the lead as close to the sandbox as possible. Curl the lead into a loop.
Connect the 120 ohm resistor to the bottom lead. Leave a stub of wire to connect the Positive of the LED strip
Connect the 330 ohm to the top lead
Connect the free leads together and leave a stub for the negative of the LEDs.
Here is where the calaclations are needed. When the resistors are connected, they create a voltage divider. When the LEDs are added, they draw current too and the 12 volt tap will drop its voltage. There is 160 Ma available and the LEDs and resistor will share that, so you have to balance out their share of the current
To balance, the 120 ohm resistor and LEDs, the 120 ohm resistor needs to be a little smaller, 100 or 82 ohm.
You can calculate it out or just measure the voltage to the LED strips, then cut and try different resistors to get the proper brightness.
If it works, you owe me some pics, Tim


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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 9:55 am
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TimsAudio wrote:
That sounds like a cool project.
There is plenty of power available right in the amp to power a couple LED strips.
In the power supply that runs the Integrated citcuits, there are two large resistors that dissipate almost 5 watts. You can utilize these for powering the LEDs. It involves replacing the 470 ohm 5 watt resistor with 2 resistors that divide the voltage drop across the resistors..
This allows a 12 volt tap and a 20 volt tap of filtered DC..
The two resistors would cost a couple bucks.
It can be done without pulling the circuit board by cutting off the original leads and connecting to them topside.
If you want to try it, it's roughlty 120 ohm and 330 ohm resistors. You need a 5 watt rating for the 330. The 120 ohm can be 2 watt...
Now to calculate the resistor values more accurately, I need to know the amount of amps that each LED strip takes. There is about 160Ma of current available on each resistor
Turn off the amp, remove the back and discharge. In the case of the HRD, it will self discharge within a couple minutes..
Starting with R78 or R79, cut the lead as close to the sandbox as possible. Curl the lead into a loop.
Connect the 120 ohm resistor to the bottom lead. Leave a stub of wire to connect the Positive of the LED strip
Connect the 330 ohm to the top lead
Connect the free leads together and leave a stub for the negative of the LEDs.
Here is where the calaclations are needed. When the resistors are connected, they create a voltage divider. When the LEDs are added, they draw current too and the 12 volt tap will drop its voltage. There is 160 Ma available and the LEDs and resistor will share that, so you have to balance out their share of the current
To balance, the 120 ohm resistor and LEDs, the 120 ohm resistor needs to be a little smaller, 100 or 82 ohm.
You can calculate it out or just measure the voltage to the LED strips, then cut and try different resistors to get the proper brightness.
If it works, you owe me some pics, Tim
Piece of cake. Why didn't I think of that? :) :? :P


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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 11:09 am
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Tim with respect to you and to your knowledge, I won't recommended to take some power inside a amp to feed any gadget.

A short circuit or any issue may happened if wiring / mods are not do professionnaly and the amp my stop in a gig .


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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 3:59 pm
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TimsAudio wrote:
That sounds like a cool project.
There is plenty of power available right in the amp to power a couple LED strips.
In the power supply that runs the Integrated citcuits, there are two large resistors that dissipate ... If it works, you owe me some pics, Tim
Thanks very much for your detailed reply, Tim. I wish I had the knowledge and skills to follow your instructions but in my case the safest route is the best route.

I mounted the LEDs without entering the forbidden zone for the electronically challenged. I made some holes here and there but overall the amp is intact. The advantage of the power bar is that I can plug in my pedal board as well.

Here are some pics.

Image

Image

Image

Image

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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 4:14 pm
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All you need now is a smoke machine and some inflatable go-go dancer dolls.

:mrgreen:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 5:04 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
All you need now is a smoke machine and some inflatable go-go dancer dolls.

:mrgreen:

Arjay
LOL! Good idea, Arjay, but I'm afraid that those days are long gone for me.

Cheers!
BM

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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 5:26 pm
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Nice job Bluer Monkey


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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:42 am
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Nice job. That looks like more than 160Ma of LED power that my circuit could provide.
Your system will provide much more than that.
Looks like its ready for liftoff.


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Post subject: Re: HRD with LEDs
Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 9:07 am
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TimsAudio wrote:
Nice job. That looks like more than 160Ma of LED power that my circuit could provide.
Your system will provide much more than that.
Looks like its ready for liftoff.
LOL. All we need is the smoke machine Arjay suggested and it's T-minus 10, 9, 8 ...

The transformer I'm using for the 80 LEDs is rated at 12V and 300mA. The one's I'm using for the pedal board LEDs is the BOSS PSA-120 which is also powering the pedals.

Cheers!
BM

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