Inverter to make 110v LEDs NOT flicker?

[duffy]

Yes, custom motor drive with an interruptor opto for motor speed and strobe sync. Then some idiot with horizontally striped hair decided to crank all the way t'fck up just to see how fast it would go and BOOM!

No deaths. The lights are infernally boring. Ever do anything on that zebra mussle killer?

 

[Video Warrior]

Shoot, no. Forgot all about that until just you just said it. Spending my time these days making folded piles of towels move in an organized manner into tying equipment. Whee!

Watch out for those horizontally striped hair nitwits. Some of 'em are dangerous; throwing batteries around and stuff.

 

[WardXmodem]

Ward, are you looking for a "painless" solution for the LED rope lights (i.e. one that does not involve cutting into the string anywhere)? Then you may have to go with the higher-freq inverter plan. However adding appropriate filter caps should also work. Requires surgery though.

I am totally fascinated by the idea of an outlet box containing the higher-freq inverter.

Why? Because there are too many chances for stuff that needs it - Xmas LED strings, Rope Lights, and stuff ppl haven't made available cheap in the stores yet.

Ideally, if it could scale down - a little "brick" that has a regular AC plug, maybe fused at 100MA, etc.

VV

 

[duffy]

LED chains are going to use standard recovery rectifiers. I burned out a few standard recovery rectifiers in switching regulators before I got wise to the fact that the slow turn-off times make them get hot at high speeds, like 20khz and up. But if it ran at 1khz or so it might not be a problem.

Might be a stand-alone product. Main concern with that would be somebody plugging the wrong thing into it, and the subsequent liability issues.

Sorry to hear you didn't pursue the zebra mussel thing, Ted. There's a guy over here who built something along these lines, though it was a lot more low-tech. After testing last summer, we had a hundred pounds of dead zebra mussels stinking up the back lot.

 

[Video Warrior]

Huh. Do you mean have the inverter built right into the box in the wall, so that you just have a "special" outlet somewhere in your house with 400Hz (or whatever) power coming out of it? Interesting thought, and not too hard to do. But after that it sounds like you are talking about plugging something in to a standard wall outlet, cord leads to the inverter enclosure which also features the "hi-freq" outlet on it.

First thing to do is define the frequency and how much power (VA is handy) that it will have to deliver. Might have to thrash around what that target price should be too. Plenty of converter/inverter sets in the VFD world, but they tend to run a little pricey for the home consumer.

 

[Video Warrior]

Duffy: I think the zebra mussel killer we were kicking around just smashed 'em and left them where they were. Don't know if actually recovering them from the water is a good thing to do or not.

A hundred pounds of dead stinking zebra mussels just sounds like same problem but now where you can smell it, too.

I would be interested in pics of the low-tech approach though.

 

[duffy]

I will send pics when he says it's cool. This thing is literally a "shovel ready" project - you need a shovel to get the dead shells out from behind the machine, which is eight feet tall and weighs five hundred pounds.

The DNR (heard of them, right?) turns out to have issues with putting a load of dead zebra mussels in waterways. Causes hypoxia from bacterial action, among other things.

 

[Video Warrior]

Oh.. wait. DNR. Is that the gang that'll yell at you ( or fine you) for doing just about *anything* but refuses to proactively come up with what they consider *acceptable* solutions to various problems? That DNR? I think I have heard of them, now that you mention it.

 

[duffy]

Yes, that one. Sit on their hands while zebra mussels and quaga mussels eat Lake Michigan, send you to jail for spitting on a turtle.

 

[duffy]

This thread is now about molluscs

The DNR even got upset when we went to remove dead zebra mussels from tidal pools. Said the shells from this alien invasive species were now hatcheries for minnows, I kid you not. Took a conference call with someone from the University of Wisconsin to get them to change their minds on THAT one.

 

[Video Warrior]

Ah... it is reassuring to hear that the gubmint mentality is alive and well.

I am slightly surprised to hear about your activities in this area. What got you going after zebra mussels all of a sudden? Should I be picturing Duffy crouched up in a tree stand during bow season as well?

 

[duffy]

Naw, almost nothing to do with me. The DNR was giving him such a hard time it looked at one point like he was going to need a data logger with GPS, temperature, time and date recorders, and maybe an optical damn flow meter. That's when I got involved. But then some brainy science chick at U of W managed to straighten their asses out.