Page 1 of 1
Stopping flicking LEDs due to heat bed/hot end
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 11:25 pm
by miglo
Hey guys,
So I bought some cheap 12v LED strips from china to provide some light in my enclosure. I'm using 12v coming off of a molex connection from the PSU. Problem is, it seems to flicker to the same frequency/pulses from the heated bed/hot end.
I notice that LEDs plugged into the same AC circuit does this as well. Is there anyway to stop the 12v from the PSU from doing this? I'm an electronics noob.
Re: Stopping flicking LEDs due to heat bed/hot end
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 8:13 am
by Jimustanguitar
This is because of how an ATX supply regulates its power. You can alleviate some of it by putting a load on the 5v rail. You can also put in a constant voltage / constant current LED driver from Amazon or Ebay. Do some googling and you'll find info for both on the forum.
Re: Stopping flicking LEDs due to heat bed/hot end
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 5:34 pm
by teoman
Or you could try adding a massive capacitor on the 12V rail.
Re: Stopping flicking LEDs due to heat bed/hot end
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 6:49 am
by Eric
teoman wrote:Or you could try adding a massive capacitor on the 12V rail.
Or a not-so massive one applied to the right spot, like at beginning of the LED light strip itself. 100 µF might be enough...or maybe 470 µF. But that fix is best tried by people like me who have such parts on hand already.
Re: Stopping flicking LEDs due to heat bed/hot end
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 1:25 am
by DerStig
Flickering print head LED's is a sign of not enough power supply. I replaced the anemic 450w kit power supply with a Cosair 850watt PSU and it makes a hu-HU-HUGE difference in printer performance
Re: Stopping flicking LEDs due to heat bed/hot end
Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 1:08 am
by miglo
DerStig wrote:Flickering print head LED's is a sign of not enough power supply. I replaced the anemic 450w kit power supply with a Cosair 850watt PSU and it makes a hu-HU-HUGE difference in printer performance
I've since just got a separate 12v LED PSU. That works well. I upgrade the stock to a 650watt dual rail PSU and it def helps with heating up the bed.