Sensor/LED circuit-more help needed please-multiV's and dimmer

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Excuse me if I seem rude, but what the fuck is the matter with you?
We\'ve all invested a great deal of time and effort in trying to help
you out, but as soon as you\'ve been given a solution you change the
ground rules by saying that what you asked for earlier wasn\'t really
what you needed and would we all please regroup and provide you with
what you need, this time? 

What do you _really_ want?

Glad you got it working. I'd throw out the 3 LEDs that had

47 ohm resistors. They were subjected to way too much current, and it would be a mistake to consider them reliable after that. Repeat reading the above paragraph until the LEDs are in the trash can.

I'd be concerned about the unstable power supply.

Ed

Hi John,

Thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated (hmmm seems I said that on more than one occassion).

And yes, you are rude. Sorry if you are having a bad day.

Best regards, Gman

Hi Ed,

You guys have been most awesome in helping me. As far as what the f*** is the matter with me, I guess saying that I don't know much about electronics wasn't enough of a hint for some people.

I am going to set the pots to a "factory" level and take a measurement and replace that with resistors of that value, and add a two position dip for selecting one higher and one lower level resistor (in theory wouldn't that give me one level brighter and one level more dim than factory?) . Do you see a problem with doing that?

Best regards, Gman

Hi John,

Thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated (hmmm seems I said that on more than one occassion).

And yes, you are rude. Sorry if you are having a bad day.

Best regards, Gman

Hi Ed,

You guys have been most awesome in helping me. As far as what the f*** is the matter with me, I guess saying that I don't know much about electronics wasn't enough of a hint for some people.

I am going to set the pots to a "factory" level and take a measurement and replace that with resistors of that value, and add a two position dip for selecting one higher and one lower level resistor (in theory wouldn't that give me one level brighter and one level more dim than factory?) . Do you see a problem with doing that?

Best regards, Gman

That's exactly what you should do, once you have the things set up, with 2 exceptions: 1) If you anticipate changing the thing in the future: 2) Replace with standard value resistors close to the measured value of the pots.

and add a two position

I don't know how noticeable a difference you'll get. Maybe I misunderstand - but you already have 3 levels of brightness available and it sounds like you want to add 2 more. Maybe it's my eyesight, but I don't think I could detect the difference between adjacent levels of dimming if there are 5 different levels when using LEDs.

Ed

Hi Ed,

For some reason I don't get the 3 levels, I get 2 (bright and dim), also everthing works fine as long as I do not apply a ground at the junction of R3 and the center leg of POT 1.

I've looked at it over and over and I am not sure what I'm doing wrong. I am wondering about the one line to ground (see below).

I truly appreciate your patience with me. I figured that this forum was for people like me who are pretty stupid about electronics, but are learning (slowly and tediously).

Thanks, Gman

Vcc---in|LM317|out---+--------------+-------+----//----+ ----- | | | | adj [R1] [Rled] [Rled] [Rled] | | | | | +---------+ [LED1] [LED2] [LED8] | | | | | Sensor1 Sensor2 Sensor8 | (Sensors connect to ground when active)

| | | dim bright dim off +---[R2]---o o +---o o | \\ sw1 | \\ sw2 [R3] o----------+ o | | | | P P +----------->O 1 +---->O 2 should >| T | T this be>| | here? +-----------------------+ Gnd

Hey Ed,

I just wanted to say thanks again. I re-read your post and I am realizing that my explanations and responses are probably not very clear. I do apologize, I do not seem to be very good at verbalizing exactly what I'm "trying" to say.

Regards, Gman

The center of both pots must be grounded. If you make the LEDs too dim with pot 1, you won't be able to get a lot of light level variation with pot 2. Adjust the pots as follows:

Set both pots at mid point. Turn sw1 to dim and sw2 to off. Adjust pot 1 to make the leds as bright as you can with the pot, then turn it to make them just a little dimmer. Don't touch pot 1 again. Now turn sw 2 to dim and adjust pot 2 to make the lights even dimmer.

If you have a voltmeter, you can measure the voltage between the out pin on the lm317 and ground. With sw in the bright position, you should see ~ 9 volts. With sw in the dim position and s2 off, you should be able to turn pot 1 to get a maximum of about 7.2 volts. Leave it at 7.2 volts and test the pot 2 circuit by turning s2 to dim (and leave sw on dim). Set up that way, you should be able to turn pot 2 to about 6.1 volts, maximum. Once you can do that, I would repeat the procedure, except this time you are not looking for maximum. Set sw2 off and sw1 to dim. Set pot 1 for 6 volts. Leave it there and leave sw1 in the dim position. Turn sw2 to dim, and set the voltage to 3 volts.

Bzzzzt! Wrong. ^^^^^^ Should say "unfamiliar with electronics".

Ed

Thanks again Ed,

I am going to mess around with it a bit today, I will give you a report back when I'm done. You have the patience of a Saint.

Gman