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QuinLED-Dig boards and using a relay and the vEXT function

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Addressable LEDs use power even while off (not displaying light). To combat this idle power usage you can use a relay to cut off the power from the LEDs. This can be done on the DC side but large current make this challenging so often this is done on the AC side, also cutting off the idle power draw that larger power supplies have.

To facilitate this feature the QuinLED-Dig boards (QuinLED-Dig-Uno and QuinLED-Dig-Quad) offer a function called “vEXT” (prior called 5vEXT). This function allows you to connect 2 power supplies so you can have a large LED power supply (5v-24v) and a separate small power supply to supply the board with current while idle and the big power supply is off (depending on board 5v-24v compatible but generally a cheap 5v 1Amp spare hone charger is used).

Full written article

ezcGman|Andy has put a lot of work in making a full written guide for the QuinLED-Dig-Quad including all steps to build this setup yourself! You can check it out here!

Relay purchasing guide

If you are looking to buy a relay or SSR please see my relay purchasing guide for my recommendations!

Livestream video version

Recently we did a livestream exploring to use of 10Amp and 30Amp relays and a SSR. We tested using them with 3.3v trigger voltage from one of the Q pins on the boards or using the special Q1R pin on the pre-assembled QuinLED-Dig-Quad boards.