Extend the life of your LED Power Supply | WLED + Relay + DigQuad

Can you do one for the DigUno?

I installed my power supply on a smart plug that I controlled via Alexa that kills everything, is there any issue turning on and off the power supply and board each day as I only run at night during the holidays?

if I turn off the power supply off from source no need for relay

Hello, I used the same AC setup and relay but looks like my relay always get stuck closed ( Maybe relay contacts welding together?) but doesn't get stuck if I use DC. Have you ever encounterd this issue? Thanks.

Why not just hard wire your power supply to a light switch and just turn off the switch? I love playing with relays but they just seem unnecessary in this application? My other question is; I run 90w uncooled power supplies on my lighting and never need to run a fan to cool them off. Why is your supply needing such cooling when running <5amps?

what 5V ext power source was used it the video ?

How much power does the phone charger draw?

Hi Can we use a Mosfet instead of the Relay?

A while ago you did a live stream and we’re messing with a PIR sensor but you never figured it out. Any plans on making a video on that? I haven’t found a video yet that has this information.

I use a tp link outlet plug that completely turns off my power supply conveniently programed and controlled with their iPhone app. They can be purchased on sale for $5 each. I have 13 to control 13 power supplies on my light show, Cheers!

Is there a way to do this if I'm already using the green terminals on my Quad for a 5th circuit?

There is a potential minor problem with the first solution. If the fan is running, it needs to cool the PS components. Regularly switching off the PS when the fan is running allows HOT components to remain hot as the fan is switched off. This heat may destroy or shorten the lifespan of internal PS components. (Just a thought) 🙂

Can you make a video how to do this with a Shelly and home assistant?

Neat trick, now if only I can find a relay board with a higher current capacity than 10A; my power supply draws upwards of 15A of input power when the lighting system is at full throttle.

I am new to this. Like the idea. Ok see you manually turning the lights on and off. Can the controller do that on a schedule on its own? Just wondering.

im using a digquad but i also need a 5v psu to do the relay? if im understanding correctly?

Hey DrZzs
I didn’t see this question in the comments… Is there a way to delay the relay from turning off the power supply?
The reason I ask is that if the power supply fan is running, it means that the PSU is still hot! And turning the power off while it is trying to cool down may also shorten the life of the power supply.
David M

These are fine. I'm in the middle of putting together a controller box with a dig-quad and a similar PS. The first thing that came to my mind was a photoelectric switch that would turn on or off the AC power to the whole panel. Since it's a system that I only want to run at night I figure that is the simplest solution (other than pulling the plug). I'm probably also going to add a timer to shut it off after 4 hours and a physical switch to bypass the PE switch so I can make it run during the day for setup/troubleshooting purposes. Any reason you can see why my KISS system would be a problem?

Dr.Zzs… I’m Running 600 ws2811 12v leds thru a Dig-Uno. How can I keep 5v on the ESP32 and relay the AC of my 12v power supply off? Or can I only make option #2 work with the 12v ?

can somebody tell me why when i set my relay with 5 volt to the transformer the relay and i turn it off it turn back on and off constantly ?,and if i take the load from the relay it work fine.

Justin, I'm just revisiting this again after a few years. We used to say that we had to always connect all the grounds. Does having a separate 5V supply for the board mess with common grounds? I'd try it myself but my test string is flaking out so I can't tell if the results are from the string or different grounds. They are plugged into the same receptacle box, so they are connected on the AC side.

Excellent overview of the options. Great to know.

Is there a way to control the relay from XLights?

Gud day sir, how can i connect a relay module on esp8266 node mcu and what pin is to connect relay?

Great info. The MEAN WELL RS-15-5 5V 3Amp looks like a good small power supply for a hardwire installation.
Now, if am am using two sets of wires from my 60A power supply, to the two sets of terminals on the Dig-Quad, does that mean I need two relays? Thanks!

Love this idea! Question: For Method #1, the DigQuad has that green block with the 3rd terminal being a data output to run a wire to the data input of the relay. Where do you connect a relay wire on the DigUno? Do you run a wire from the Q1 pin on the DigUno to the relay? Thanks!

Wouldn't it be better to use a USB adapter to power the esp32 and have your power supply connected to a smart outlet? I guess it would be about the same concept, haha, That's how I have a few of mine set up so when I'm not running a holiday show I can still incorporate WLED with my home automation

@DrZzs if my power supply's voltage fluctuates between 11v & 16v, would I need a buck convert or does the Dig-Uno have a built in converter to output a stable 12v signal?

What size 5V power supply (Watts) is required just to power the DigQuad relay circuit and the power relay? I plan to power the LEDs with 12V power from the power supply?

like always..quality job,thank you,i have the same wiring setup but with a big concern if something goes wrong to the relay circuit could feed back Ac current to Dc side and fry our boards,some of the relay modules have VCC,JDVcc pins so we cant use an external power for the relay,so that said if we want to protect the boards will need 3 power supplies one for the leds one for the digquad and another for the relay

Will scheduling be able to turn this on at sunset still with this setup?

It looks like you're passing main power through the board still. Can I run a separate 5v psu to the board, and run 5v directly to the lights, with only the data line running from the diguno to the lights? So I'm not running the main power lines through the dig uno?

Nice, Recommended application

On dig uno where do I find data out pin to control the relay?

Using a USB HID relay with win10, is it possible to control the lights of the Wled such that when relay is on the LEDs are white and when relay is off the LEDs are displaying preset color? How to do that with the Uno?

Question: I'm planning on hooking up some WS2815 12V LED strips to a bare metal power supply like the one in this video, but the power supply will in turn be connected to a Meross smart plug that I can turn off and on using Alexa. So if I were to turn the smart plug off, that would cut off power to anything "downstream"--including the power supply that supplies power to the LED strips. Do I still need a relay in this situation?

I added a relay to my dig uno. It is working great but my WLED is now defaulting the LED settings back to 30 LEDs. Anyone have this issue?

Any chance of using poe?

👍👍

I added vscode via docker compose, any help configuring ssh connection would be greatly appreciated... Terminal in vscode shows me as user abc@2f69326953... HELP!!!

Why not keep it simple and just turn off the sonoff plug... DONE.

Hey guys can you connect a ICS-43434 to the Dig Quad? Little bit confused! Many many thanks if you can help a fellow LED Geek

What about just using the sonoff basic? And set it to hold the button to stay on (instead of toggling when pressed) at least you have got a nice cover for it and you might be able to share the 5v of the sonoff as well. Or would that not work, since the 5v of the sonoff is basically always on? As a bonus you might be able to create a switch in homeassistant that you can toggle at will :)

With the increase in difficulty of flashing smart plugs with Tasmota, you and Quindor should team up and create a smart plug. You know, with all your guys free time :)

That's fantastic. I think i'd do as others have suggested and skip the relay component for some HA smarts and a smart plug, but this is fantastic!

Love the shorter content, thanks!

Nicely Explained as always.😍😍
Wonder what people are playing outside your window 😂😂

Is there any reason not to use the usb-c connector on the esp32 to power the dig unit with 5v? Instead of using the screw terminal?

Great video on saving potentials. I‘m sure you have your reasons for using the big 500W PSU but I couldn‘t help noticing that it seems to consume about half of the power in the on state. That puts its efficiency at ~50% (at <10% load) … for this specific setup a more appropriately sized PSU would also yield a significant reduction in consumption.

Thanks Dr Z for your great explanation. I would like to control a couple of relays for dumb led static displays that could be turned on and off with Xlights and sequenced. I have tried looking it up and have not had any luck.