Odd I/R Problem

[Chuck745]

I have several LED spotlights, they're mounted to the ceiling in my media room, they're used to light movie posters. They run off of 3 AA batteries, and use an I/R remote for off/on/dim. Tired of buying batteries, I hard wired them, in parallel, to a 4.5v adapter. They all function...however:

The remote will no longer turn them on. They still function as normal if I manually turn them on, AND if any one of them is on, the remote will work to operate the others...until all of them are off. Then, the remote will no longer turn any of them on.

Again, I used these little spotlights for almost a year under battery power, and when I had them positioned so that all of the I/R windows were clocked properly, they would all turn on/off/dim simultaneously, as advertised.

If you're interested in what the lights look like, they have them on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/LED-Output-Spotlig...=8-1-fkmr0

Nothing about this is logical (to me). Any light (pardon the pun) that anyone could shed on the subject would be most appreciated.

[Jack Crow]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

Chuck,
Don't know if this is of much help to you or not.

Some time back I was working for an AV company. One of the products was a remote control system that sent signals to tiny IR LED's that were attached to the front of various TV like devices.

The problem was nobody was sure if the IR LED's were working or not.
Most of the guys including the engineer I worked with knew how to test an LED with a dmm.

To prove that the control units were sending data to the IR LED, I made a little project. It was a photo transistor feeding an audio amp. The amp drove a speaker.

So when the control box (Or your IR Remote) sends a signal, the pulse train can be heard as audio in the speakers.

I still have the box here. Can take some photos if you like.

Share a thought.
Jack Crow
Herndon VA.

[Chuck745]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

Jack -

Thanks for the response.

Sounds like a handy device to have when you're unsure that the IR is functioning, but in my case, I already know that it is...since the IR transmitter will operate the lights appropriately...so long as at least one of them is already on.

I spoke with someone who's pretty electronics savvy (he owns an oscilloscope), and he suggested that I just add an extra LED "nightlight" at the end of the circuit, since everything works as long as one of my LED spotlights is on. Not really interested in having a random light burning 24/7 (even if it only costs about 3 cents a year in power costs!)

Maybe this is a situation where, until the circuit is actually drawing power from the AC/DC adapter, the IR receiver on the lamp doesn't have enough power to operate?

Believe me, I know practically nothing about electronics, but, I'm wondering...if everything works fine so long as one LED is lit...is it possible to put a diode at the end of my circut, which would be powered all the time. Could that possibly work?

Chuck

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

Sounds like you need new batteries in the remote to me.
.

[ratdude747]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

yeah new batteries. decent ones too... no noname BS you get online... those are useless.

also open the remote and clean the button contacts and battery contacts... those may have gotten dirty as well.

[lmcancu]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

longshot but did you get a new TV or change some of the settings on your TV? The "energy conservation" modes on some TVs cause IR interference. i.e. the mode that dims the backlight when the room is dark for example. Causes all sorts of weird problems with IR remotes. I had a STB that would not turn on because of it. Changed the "energy mode" function to off and thing works perfectly. Also, if you can change the IR address that may help as well.

[Chuck745]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

To all of you who have responded, thank you. I know that there's an answer out there...somewhere!

Just before I decided to go "batteryless", I had just replaced all of them, 3 AA in every spotlight, 4 AAA (which I had to go out and buy because that remote is about the only thing I have that uses them). All Duracells.

No new anything, with the exception of the AC/DC adapter. There's no TV in the room, just a ceiling mounted projector that's been there long before I bought these lights. Nothing else is different that it was when the batteries were installed.

The lights do have 2 IR channels, and I get the same results on either channel. (this was something I didn't think to check...thanks).

Again, as long as one light is on, I can stand almost 19 feet away and the remote will turn that one off and the others on...and then back the other way every time I hit the button.

Again, I really appreciate the help. Still hoping that someone can tell me if I can try a diode or something that might draw current without being a night-light.

Chuck

[bbjunkie]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

Perhaps your SMPS (I assume that's what your PSU is) isn't performing properly under no-load.

Check the voltage with a DMM, ideally if you have a scope - put that on the output.

[Chuck745]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

No scope, but with DMM, I get 8.0vdc with all LEDs off, 4.8vdc with one LED on, 4.2vdc with all 3 LEDs on. Printed on the AC adapter I'm using is: OUTPUT = 4.5vdc, 500 mA.

Hmmm. My 4.5vdc adapter puts out 8vdc with no load? Could the problem be too much voltage? I have several others that put out about 5vdc (allegedly, lol). Should I try that?

Chuck

[Chuck745]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

This just keeps getting to be more fun! This morning, as I woke and headed for my new hi-tech coffee maker, (which I'm sure will soon find new ways to frustrate me), I turned the corner for the stairs and noticed a light at the end of the tunnel (hall). I walked in and found one of my spotlight was still on. Although I thought I had turned them all off after my little DMM activity (in my jammies). Must have taken the Ambien too soon. Anyway, I grabbed the remote, hit the buttton, and the rest of the lights turned on...but that one did not turn off. Several more button presses and all of those other lights went off and on accordingly, but, that one that had turned itself on in the middle of the night would not turn off. So, on the ladder I went, pressed the button on the light to turn it off. Nope. Stayed on. Finally, thinking I had already spent too much time on a ladder, I just unplugged the adapter from the ceiling outlet, the light went out. Plugged it back in, then headed down the ladder re-focused on the coffee.

The light turned on before I hit the floor. I went back to bed.

[bbjunkie]

Re: Odd I/R Problem



Yep, i've seen that before. I have a 12v "regulated" supply that gives 17.5v no load!

[Toasty]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

Bad filtering in adapter (getting "hum" into the DC line) and you need to "load" the supply somehow to bring that voltage down or drop a 5v regulator into it.

PS: Your Amazon link is no good. 404 error page.

[crtfool]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

Hi,

Step 1.

Disconnect the adapter and put batteries back in and see if everything works the way it is supposed to. If it does, then go on to step 2.

Step 2.

The 4.5 volt ac adapter is showing 8 volts off load - this tells me that you are using a standard class 2 power supply which is basically only an ac transformer with a rectifier built in. These are very bad to use for your application. You need to get a real regulated 4.5 volt or 5 volt power supply with at least 2 amps output = 10 watts. This should power your lights properly, and it will work the way it works on batteries.

[Chuck745]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

Let's try this first....

http://www.amazon.com/LED-Output-Spo...5812351&sr=8-3

[Chuck745]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

Ok, so now that I've at least managed to get a link to work...

Although I did put batteries in each one individually after soldering the new wires into it, I'll give that a go again...and THEN I'll start asking where I can find the "right" power supply...

Thanks again everyone for the help.

[Chuck745]

Re: Odd I/R Problem

Haven't done anything with this in a couple of weeks...too "work" busy. Everything still works with batteries.

I've found this power supply. Do you think it will take care of my issue?

http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a.../1A-40W/1.html