ACx8
From d.e.w.e.y.c.o.o.t.e.r
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The ACx8 board is a D-Light animated light controller board. It is powered by AC power and can control 8 channels for an animated light display. The ACx8 is available for purchase in a variety of models: Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
The silver model includes the PCB, PIC, and transformer only, and the rest of the components are purchased separately. It is up to the user to assemble the boards using a soldering iron, which should take a novice-level solderer about an hour to complete. In addition, a power cord and leads for the lights must be connected.
The gold model comes pre-assembled, but still requires the power cord and light leads.
The platinum model comes assembled with the leads, an enclosure, and a heat sink.
[edit] Assembly
The ACx8 Silver Edition requires the electrical components (except for the PIC microcontroller and transformer) to be purchased separately. A list of parts is available on the D-Light ACx8 page that can be ordered from parts suppliers such as Mouser or DigiKey. These parts must then be soldered onto the PCB.
There has been a known problem with the non-Fairchild optocouplers.
Some of the headers can be removed from the bill of materials. The headers facilitate some features available on the boards such as flashing the firmware and mounting an external LED.
[edit] Firmware
The current version of firmware for the ACx8 is 1.12. It can be downloaded from D-Light (login required).
[edit] Troubleshooting
LED Diagnostics
- No LED
- Solid LED
- Slow blink
- Fast blink
Stuck Channels (On)
- Bad Triac
- Bad Optocoupler - [TODO: what are the failure modes - can an opto fail on the DC side as a closed circuit?]
- Other [TODO: firmware, PIC specific, other components?]
Put the channel into a situation where the channel should not be on (use the HW Utility). Using a multimeter, measure the voltage between the appropriate pin on the PIC (see the pin out below) and ground. It should read 0V, otherwise the config is wrong or the PIC is faulty. Measure the voltage across pins 1 and 2 of the optocoupler (should be 0V, otherwise bad opto). If both these readings are fine, replace the triac.
Missing events
PIC Pin Out
18F2420
| 1 | 28 | ||
| 2 | 27 | ||
| Channel 1 | 3 | 26 | Channel 3 |
| Channel 2 | 4 | 25 | |
| 5 | 24 | Channel 8 | |
| 6 | 23 | Channel 7 | |
| Channel 4 | 7 | 22 | Channel 6 |
| Vss | 8 | 21 | Channel 5 |
| 9 | 20 | ||
| 10 | 19 | Vss | |
| 11 | 18 | ||
| 12 | 17 | ||
| 13 | 16 | ||
| 14 | 15 |
