ESzczesniak Posted January 6 Posted January 6 (edited) I'm starting to make some actual progress on my F/A-18C full pit. The right console has been my main focus and I have about 80% done/functioning. My basic construction are PC Flights panels connected at the panel to simple custom PCB breakouts. I've put each panel in a 3D printed enclosure underneath and lined the bottom with a basic LED strip/adhesive panel. Brightness is controlled with PWM through a MOSFET. It really isn't bad, but as I move on the lower MIP and then the left console, I'd like to tidy this up even more. So I'm looking at more formal backlighting options. There are principally 4 options as I see them: 1. The current solution: It works, but I'm not a fan of self adhesive's for long term fixation. My general experience is they tend to loosen and don't take well to repeat assembly/disassembly for trouble shooting and improvements. 2. Embedding thin LED light strips in routed channels on the top most panel. A Hornet's Nest has done this and it looks rather nice. However, I've had trouble sourcing 3 mm LED strips, and routing premade panels isn't entirely straightforward. I do have a CNC router, but without the source dimensions/files worry quite a bit about being off course and messing up the panels. 3. A separate LED PCB with SMD LEDs mounted sandwich between the inner clear panel layer and the switches. This has a fair bit of appeal if space wasn't an issue. But there is only 2-3 mm of space to mount such a panel in this area and this may not be possible. 4. Redoing the PCB's to incorporate SMD mounted LED's. I think this is the second most appealing solution. Being below the switches has the advantage of diffusing the light more, but the disadvantage of the switches and wiring shadowing out the light. So this brings me to my questions: 1. Does anyone have any advice on what methods to use? 2. Can anyone give me advice choosing a SMD LED? I have no experience here and could pick from fairly routine 0603, larger sizes with more light and possible with wider light cone angles. 3. Wire the LED's in parallel or series? I already am powering my LED strips with 24V power. But with forward voltages of approx 3V for the green SMD LEDs, in series I'd be limited to about 8 LED's still I think? In parallel, I could drop down to 12V and use a good PC PSU or similar. 4. Should I wire in capacitors? Would these defeat dimming with PWM? It seems like a lot of higher quality boards use the capacitors, but the ones I've worked with also only have 2-3 different light levels and not continuous dimming. I appreciate any advice and feedback. It's nice to see the pit coming along, but it also has me already wanting to think of ways to make it more real and polished. Edited January 6 by ESzczesniak
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