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Tlu-01 Voltage & Connectors

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Hi All,

I've just been looking up the prices for additional TLU-01 LEDs!! ;)

Due to the cost, I was wondering if anyone had figured out the voltage and connector type? It seems propriatory to Tamiya? But like all these things I expect they've re-used another standard. 3-Racing seem to have followed a similar but different standard too with their kit.

I can easily solder up some LEDs for my light bar, but I'd like to plug them into the TLU unit if possible. Alternatively I could splice into one of the existing plugs with more LEDs in parallel, but not sure on the current allowed per socket.

Cheers!

Tim.

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I went to a electronics store with a LED out of my MFC and they put it in a tester, mesuring 3v. But I have no idea on the TLU-01's connector's and would love to know if they are available elsewhere too.

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ok there's 2 parts to the answer to your Qs... ;)

Due to the cost, I was wondering if anyone had figured out the voltage

...

I can easily solder up some LEDs for my light bar, but I'd like to plug them into the TLU unit if possible. Alternatively I could splice into one of the existing plugs with more LEDs in parallel, but not sure on the current allowed per socket.

LEDs aren't too fussy in voltage, 3-15VDC and they're fine.

There isn't much brightness difference between driving them off 15V or 7V*.

What is important is the *current flowing thru them, usually 30-50mA to a max of 100mAH is survivable.

If there is no resistance in the circuit to limit the current then the LED will conduct like a shortcircuit;

= very high current flow, it will overheat & pop - literally.

The TLU01 controls the current so that's taken care of. I suspect it also has some high-frequency switching

circuitry that makes it run more efficiently (eg LED is actually flashing on/off faster than you can detect)...

hence if you use a DC voltmeter it only shows ~3V even though its running off 7.2V.

How bright they get is usually a manufacturing spec - a 2000MCD unit doesn't necessary

draw any more current than a 30,000MCD LED even though its much brighter.

in short...

I suspect you'll be able to splice in IN SERIES an additional LED to each one on the TLU01,

run 4 LEDs off each port without losing much brightness due to halved voltage.

The std 2 LEDs on each line are wired in series already... which will give you 4 in series.

Probably more an issue to find suitable LEDs of similar MCD so they're all equally bright.

... connector type? It seems propriatory to Tamiya? But like all these things I expect they've re-used another standard. 3-Racing seem to have followed a similar but different standard too with their kit.

good pickup ;)

The plugs are not proprietary to Tamiya but they won't be something often found in a highstreet electronics store.

If you want to order a few thou, an component wholesale might be able to get a box in for you.

Bear in mind they're real tiny and a real PITA to wire them up... i like them soldered and even my iron (done SMT before)

doesn't work them easily... haven't yet gone looking for a smaller crimping tool, if such a thing exists.

I've been piecing together The Mother Of All LED Installs :) for some time now... with aim of using all 16 ports! :D

Hoping to custom-wire everything using ribbon cable for packaging neatness else it'll be a huge bowl of spaghetti.

here's the armoury:-

DSC01287s.jpg

also have:-

DSC01291s.jpg

and you mentioned 3Racing; strangely their Drifter smart lightkit (above left) uses compatible plugs with TLU01 ;)

however their LEDs are wired 2 in parallel (Y-join) to the plug.

YeahRacing Dark Drifter LED kit on the right - these have a bigger plug with 4-pins,

each pair of LEDs are individually wired back to the box. Yes huge amts of copper cabling.

ok here's an even stranger act of serendipity...

have seen YeahRacing sell spare wired LED pairs for the 3Racing kit. ;)

uhuh, re-read that twice again... don't ask me why, they JUST DO ;)

And like all things YR they're as cheap as the extra LEDs for their DD kit, about 60-70% cheaper than Tamiya's.

Best thing about it is...

#1 suggests that 2 parallel LEDs work fine in each TLU01 port

(well it won't blow up the TLU01 in any case, as LEDs already act as shortcircuit diodes. But how bright is the unknown.)

#2 if you're gunna splice 4 LEDs for each, start with the YR pair so you'll get 2 parallel lots of 2 series LEDs

#3 if that don't work, you've still got a lead with a good plug on it that's factory crimped, no PITA to build :P

okie crawling back to my cave now

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Thanks for the tips! That does look like the mother of all LED installs. :)

I've got 2 of the same 3Racing kits, they're great value for money and are going in 2 hard-body crawler project shells - I'm just hoping to splice in a couple more LEDs to the TLU unit in another shell - will give that a try!

Cheers,

Tim.

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The connectors you need are available from Farnell. Put "jst ph" into the seach box. You'll need to trawl through and decide what items you specfically need, but they're all available off the shelf. Have made several extensions etc myself.

Mud.

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The connectors you need are available from Farnell. Put "jst ph" into the seach box. You'll need to trawl through and decide what items you specfically need, but they're all available off the shelf. Have made several extensions etc myself.

Mud.

The plugs are also available from RS

PLUGS The price is for one bag of 50 plugs

You'll also need the crimp connector pins, these also come in bags of 50, so you need 2 bags =100 connectors which is enough to do the 50 plugs (unless you damage any pins!!)

CONNECTORS

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I have a G.T. Power Smart L.E.D. System II with specs:

Input voltage: 4.8 to 6.0V

Working current: ≤ 150mA

Dimension: 47 x 32 x 12mm

Radio system supported: PPM/ FM/ FS2.4G

Now I recently bought a bunch of Yeah Racing Spare LED that have 2 LED on one connector. They have the same connector plug as my Smart control box and fits exactly but it seems these are not working and turing on. The single LED's work but these Yeah Racing don't. I thought maybe there's not enough voltage to power these 2 led on one connector, so I even added a separate and additional receiver battery pack along with the 7.2 volt big battery....which I attached to the receiver battery slot, still didn't work. Tried attaching the receiver battery pack directly to the CH1 (steering) and Ch2 (Throttle) on the control box, still didn't work. The company RC Mart told me that these should work with 3Racing and GTP-53 control boxes, but on careful research.....these control boxes have exactly the same Input Voltage of 4.8 to 6.0V as my Smart control box, only difference I see is that these other control boxes have a "flashing" functionality and the working voltage of these are smaller at 100mA.

Here's an actual video of my problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui4vPOrFUlY

Can someone please tell how to resolve this issue, desperately need help. I need the full 12 slots for what I need. I'm willing to get and the other suggested control boxes, but I want to understand what exact specs make these work and I want make sure they work. Don't want to waste any more time and money, still not have these LED work.

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Does anybody know the exact spec of the TLU-01 LEDs?

I'm thinking luminosity and wavelength primarily.

I broke a red taillight LED and I'd like to get a bag of replacements. At the same time I thought I could stock up on whites, yellowes etc. as shipping will probably be the bulk of the investment.

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get those JST plugs pre wired, lot easier, on the TLU-01 I even put 3 white LED in series.

info LED center

I did my SCX10 with one TLU works perfect red, orange and white (5 on the roof, center 3 on one connector)

DSC00535.jpg

IMG-20110513-00028.jpg

Think in the end I filled all 8 spots :rolleyes:

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Can someone please tell how to resolve this issue, desperately need help. I need the full 12 slots for what I need. I'm willing to get and the other suggested control boxes, but I want to understand what exact specs make these work and I want make sure they work. Don't want to waste any more time and money, still not have these LED work.

try switching the wires on the plugs maybe the are reversed, led wont work if + - is swapped

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try switching the wires on the plugs maybe the are reversed, led wont work if + - is swapped

yip, spot on , LED (light emitting diode ) the clue is in the name , diode's are polar and only allow flow in one direction

;-)

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Hey, why are you all answering AM's question from January and now my followup from yesterday?

Maybe I shouldn't have hijacked an old thread? ^_^

I'll try again: Does anybody know the specs of the LEDs? I broke one for the taillight and would like to find a match to solder in.

I need the wavelength of the red light and brightness, maybe even a type spec.

I've been searching around a bit, but can't find anything.

I could just replace both leds of course...

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I could just replace both leds of course...

This would be my approach ^^

Tamiya's LED drivers are current limiting devices, so they can use just about any variety of LED available. If you look closely at Tamiya's wiring, notice that there is no resistor placed in line! That is because the driver does all of the current limiting via high frequency switching. (Which is also why you may have noticed that these units emit a high pitched whine when they're operating.)

I've actually made a number of light harnesses for the TLU 1&2 and found that it's best to make sure you have tested MATCHING LEDs before you solder; There really is an infinite variety of specifications out there, and if you're dealing with a pile of loose components like I am, it's easy to get a couple different hues of red on the same string :rolleyes:

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This would be my approach ^^

Tamiya's LED drivers are current limiting devices, so they can use just about any variety of LED available. If you look closely at Tamiya's wiring, notice that there is no resistor placed in line! That is because the driver does all of the current limiting via high frequency switching. (Which is also why you may have noticed that these units emit a high pitched whine when they're operating.)

I've actually made a number of light harnesses for the TLU 1&2 and found that it's best to make sure you have tested MATCHING LEDs before you solder; There really is an infinite variety of specifications out there, and if you're dealing with a pile of loose components like I am, it's easy to get a couple different hues of red on the same string :rolleyes:

Thanks,

You wouldn't have some recommendations for starters? I'll probably try to pick up some small lots on ebay for easy shipping.

I have way too little time to build, but at some point I'll build the RERE Bruiser or Mountain Rider. I've been thinking about how to get neat wiring, and have landed on this:

img34051_22102014205719_1.jpg

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OK, need to work on my tcphotos skills before I do the great reveal ;)

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Here we go:

img34051_22102014205719_1.jpg

It's a black floppy ribbon cable from the days of yore.

I'm going to cut a section, split out a width containing the number of wires I need, add plugs to one end, glue or tape the ribbon flat to the inside body, spread wires out where they're needed, solder inn LEDs and add the connecting wires to create full circuits of diodes in series. That's not going to be easy, but the end result should be much neater wiring than the cable bundles I would get normally.

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Be wary of those ribbon cables salvaged from old PCs (I got heaps! IDE, FDD, SCSI etc)

the China factories made those ribbons for crimp connectors, so they've just used some crappy PVC insulation that ain't particularly heat tolerant

Warm wire up to solder and the plastic just melts, along with adjacent wires :( 

 

I've had to buy rainbow ribbon cable which seems more heat tolerant to my hamfisted soldering. (Plus having different coloured lines is bit easier to trace than all-grey with only 1 key wire at the edge) 

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