LED strip power question

[VoronManiac]

@GarthSnyder Related to room lighting flicker, have you seen any upgrades published to phase control the bed heater?  There are some 3Amp-ish modules on eBay that take a pwm signal and use it to phase control a lines Triac dimmer but nothing in the current range we'd need in the US with 120V mains. 240V @ 3A would probably work ok.  I did see one 120V project, but it was using like a $50 controller.

[GarthSnyder]

4 minutes ago, VoronManiac said:

Related to room lighting flicker, have you seen any upgrades published to phase control the bed heater?  There are some 3Amp-ish modules on eBay that take a pwm signal and use it to phase control a lines Triac dimmer but nothing in the current range we'd need in the US with 120V mains.

I haven't heard of this myself, but that doesn't mean it's unreasonable. What is the problem you're trying to solve? Is your bed heater making your room lights flicker?

Edited April 1, 2023 by GarthSnyder

[scotchtape]

@VoronManiac

For the insulation, I just put that right against the acrylic on the outside. I'm not hardcore about it, I just figured it would help with keeping some heat in for ABS.

I think they are gates belts, that particular belt had some issues with slipping and got a bit chewed up, I think I had threaded it incorrectly in the beginning. It kept slipping off one of the pulleys. I checked all the clearances and it seemed to be ok, so I ended up just flipping the belt around and it stopped jumping the pulley, but is still dedicated to committing seppuku. If the pulley flanges were a bit bigger I think the belts would have less of a tendency to jump.

For the flicker, I think there are less issues using current limiting instead of PWM or voltage drops, hence why I used the additional board.  It does suck because you can't software control it, but at least it doesn't flicker!

[VoronManiac]

@scotchtape The source my flicker was the Extruder when the update sample/PWM rate was 10Hz. The PID was injecting large sudden current spikes into the 24V supply.  After bumping the Extuder to 100Hz update rate the flicker disappeared.  The LED PWM rate is set to 200Hz. Totally no visible chamber LED flicker now.  Dimming function is also smooth with no flicker.

If you think about it, running the Extruder PWM at 10Hz is a bad idea.  Running a a much higher frequency smooths out sudden changes in current demand on the 24V supply and allows its regulator enough time to adjust.

When you swap in new belts, let everyone know if your printer gets happy or if there was some other issue lurking.

@GarthSnyder I am fighting flicker on room LED lamp lighting that is on the same 120V mains branch as the Voron bed heater.   Haven't seen much of a difference between different lamp brands.  Would probably be more tolerable in countries that run 240V outlets.