knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

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Jaysen
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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by Jaysen »

Mimic panel. Ignore my last post.

Ideally you would run from the positive term to the ground of the load. You’d need a voltage regulator or LED matched to the load voltage.

Do not put led in line. The LED will be acting as a fuse at that point and would need to be rated to handle full load.

The bigger question is “mimic of what?” If the panel is to indicate switch state then using load monitor is less than ideal. Think about a circuit that has multiple loads but needs to be off… if the monitored load is showing no power but switch is on then you’ve missed the mimic. I’d think mimic is about switch state and that complicates the wiring a bit.

I’m going to crawl back under my rock now. Sorry.
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Jaysen wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 3:44 pm I tried to say something but God thought I was wrong and filled my mouth with saltwater. I kept my pie hole shut after that.

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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by Knottybuoyz »

fallguy1000 wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 8:36 am Doesn't the entire circuit load pass through the led? So, for say a 5amp pump; isn't that led just in the circuit?

Or is that power coming from a separate source from the switch?

??
My thoughts were that all grounds (DC) would be connected by single conductor to the boat's main DC buss. Each LED would only carry enough current to light them. In essence they would be in parallel. The source for each LED would in most cases be the main switch controlling that piece of equipment. The exception being the crash pump which will be energized all the time and that feed would come from the positive side of the switch in the bilge. None of the LED's would be required to carry the full load of all the circuits.

Does that make sense?
Yours Aye! Rick
"It's not the boat "you built" until you've sworn at it, bled on it, sweated over it, cried beside it and then threatened to haul the POS outside and burn it!"

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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by Knottybuoyz »

OrangeQuest wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 8:46 am I like how neat everything turned out on your mimic panel. Looked like a lot of work in the video.
Thanks. A lot of thought went into it.
OrangeQuest wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 8:46 am Wondering how you will control turning the LEDs on and off. I have my own opinion on it, we all do things the way we want to do them.
I assume to control on/off you would use the ground side; the side they all share in common. That is where two buss bars (one DC and one AC) would make that a lot easier, less connections and less points of failure. All grounds made before the first connector and then only need a connector for the signal side of the LEDs. Then a terminal block for those.
That's exactly how I've set it up.
OrangeQuest wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 8:46 am Easy to number the terminals on the buss bar and terminal block and then trouble shooting also would be easier. The use of the marine grade/standard eyelet connectors would also meet the standards for electrical connections on the boat.
I could have done it that way but couldn't find eyelet terminal connectors small enough for 22 AWG wires. I have some that say they are, but they do not adequately crimp down on the wires with any reliability.
Yours Aye! Rick
"It's not the boat "you built" until you've sworn at it, bled on it, sweated over it, cried beside it and then threatened to haul the POS outside and burn it!"

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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by Knottybuoyz »

fallguy1000 wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 8:55 am Another idea would be to add a dimmer. If you find out the leds are too bright; you can just add a dimmer.

MEETOOT DC Mini LED Dimmer Rotary Switch 12-24V LED Strip Light Brightness Controller On/Off Switch Inline Tact Switch Black with DC Female Connector https://a.co/d/gpKfHye

U r probably way ahead on this..
Think I mentioned in the video this panel will go in an overhead console. It will be easy enough to shade it from the driver's eyes. I had looked at LED Dimmers and decided a simple switch would be just fine. The switch is also lit.
Yours Aye! Rick
"It's not the boat "you built" until you've sworn at it, bled on it, sweated over it, cried beside it and then threatened to haul the POS outside and burn it!"

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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by Knottybuoyz »

OrangeQuest wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 9:18 am I am assuming since it is a mimic panel.
The LEDS would not have any real current going through them, just a signal of power on the power side of the load they monitor. You could use very small wire for the signal wire. If I was doing it and had the time, I would run my signal wire off the positive side of the load itself, say a pump. I flip the switch to the pump, the light at the switch lights up but the pump doesn't come on. I look at the mimic panel and the LED is not lite, tells me the pump is not getting power to it but because there is power at the switch, switch light is lite, then I know there is an open connection somewhere going to the pump. It can also tell if the pump is under to much load, like debris on the impeller. Higher current will cause the LED to dim whereas the switch power light will not dim as easy.
That's exactly how I see it working. Most of the minor loads, Nav Lights etc. can draw from the dist panel. Some like the bilge pumps can draw from their switches in the bilge. Any high amperage loads like windlass, thruster etc. will draw current from the dist panel. These loads only trigger a solenoid to energize those loads. The actual load to operate them come directly from their battery source.
OrangeQuest wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 9:18 am If concerned of the brightness of the mimic panel, I would place it in an area that can easily be seen from the helm but not in front of the helmsman. Like off to the side and slightly behind the helm. Since there is a on/off switch you could just turn the panel off.
We'll tuck it up and can make sure it's not an issue.
Yours Aye! Rick
"It's not the boat "you built" until you've sworn at it, bled on it, sweated over it, cried beside it and then threatened to haul the POS outside and burn it!"

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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by Knottybuoyz »

Jaysen wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 10:09 am Ideally you would run from the positive term to the ground of the load. You’d need a voltage regulator or LED matched to the load voltage.
The LED's match the current load.
Jaysen wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 10:09 am Do not put led in line. The LED will be acting as a fuse at that point and would need to be rated to handle full load.
They won't be inline. They're parallel to the load.
Jaysen wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 10:09 amThe bigger question is “mimic of what?” If the panel is to indicate switch state then using load monitor is less than ideal. Think about a circuit that has multiple loads but needs to be off… if the monitored load is showing no power but switch is on then you’ve missed the mimic. I’d think mimic is about switch state and that complicates the wiring a bit.
Let's call it a pseudo mimic panel, a facsimile of the real thing. It's a bit much to assume that this little project is anything more than that.
Jaysen wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 10:09 am I’m going to crawl back under my rock now. Sorry.
I may just join you!

Thanks for chipping in. Appreciate it from everyone.
Yours Aye! Rick
"It's not the boat "you built" until you've sworn at it, bled on it, sweated over it, cried beside it and then threatened to haul the POS outside and burn it!"

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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by fallguy1000 »

Interesting.

I don't think it'll work well or maybe not at all. Have you tested the concept? You are shorting the LED, so no current should flow through it unless perhaps the short has resistance? i.e. longer wire?

I think you need to relay all of that and it would also keep the lights all the same brightness.

So, you flip a switch and a relay turns on. That relay has current to deliver to the led. All the relays have the same power supply.

Take two cases. One with a 1amp draw and another with a 3amp draw.

Vdrop for each load will vary and so Vled will vary if they are not simply shorted.

No?
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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by fallguy1000 »

I'm wrong about shorting it, had the wiring diagram in the noggin wrong. But I am right about led intensity I believe.
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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by OrangeQuest »

fallguy1000 wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 11:49 am I'm wrong about shorting it, had the wiring diagram in the noggin wrong. But I am right about led intensity I believe.
You are over thinking it. Think of the word "mimic". It mimics the power LEDs at the switch. The power switch is turned on, the power on LED lights, then the LED on the mimic panel also lights up. If the mimic panel gets its positive power at the load device, it also acts like a test light at the load device showing the load device also has power. Because an LED is really a one-way valve for energy flow, it lights up when energy is flowing in the correct direction, then there is also no feedback. The LEDS for the AC side may need to go through a rectifier to cause energy to flow in only one direction and drop the voltage low enough not to overheat the LEDS and burn them out.

Seems the electrical engineer that designed and is assembling the mimic panel has everything under control. It is a very simple device, once it is all wired up and that labor used to do so.
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Re: knottyBuoyz III The TW28 Project

Post by fallguy1000 »

I think the voltage across the led varies from one led to another is all. So, they may have different intensity. All I'm sayin.
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