Power Control Expansion

Expansion modules and attachments
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rimai
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Power Control Expansion

Post by rimai »

Hey guys,

Here is the module that you would use to control 12VDC devices.
It has 8 ports that can be used to control dosing pumps, small LED fixtures, Fans, light bulbs and much more.
If you have other ideas of products you could control, please let us know.
PowerControlExpansion.jpg
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It comes with a 12VDC power supply and 8x control port cables.
http://www.reefangel.com/productview.as ... lexpansion
Roberto.
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jsclownfish
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by jsclownfish »

just for clarification, are these individually controllable? or just a multi-port 12VDC source.

Thanks,
Jon
rimai
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by rimai »

Individually controllable.
They will work just like an expansion relay box, except they output 12VDC instead of closing a relay.
So, you can program the ports with the wizard and in the Portal, they will show as ports of an expansion relay box.
In fact, you need to set the dip switch to an ID that is not used by the expansion relay box.
Roberto.
bubbles
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by bubbles »

Very nice!
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joshlawless
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by joshlawless »

That settles it. I'm definitely going with Reef Angel over the Profilux or the Apex. Roberto - you are absolutely ROCKING this market.
fish76
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by fish76 »

The 8 power cables that come with it, are the device side of the wires just terminated (+)(-) wires at the end so you can directly hook up to a fan or solenoid or something, or are they plug style power connectors? Also, how long are the wires? Also, what's the max amperage that the box can deliver?
rimai
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by rimai »

They are terminated in DC connectors, but you can cut and splice your equipment if need be.
Each cable is about 20" and each channel is capable of 500mA.
Roberto.
stevengreen2
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by stevengreen2 »

You know what would have been really cool and I'm not sure if this is possible. If the Power Control Expansion could run all the other add-ons (PH, Lunar Lights, dimming exp, etc). But it looks like those need 1amp and this only puts out 500ma per channel.
rimai
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by rimai »

Well, I have mine plugged in, but here is the problem....
The way the module is designed, it expects to have no GND connection on the device being controlled. When you use the dimmable lunar or the dimming expansion, they will stay on all the time and won't turn off, even if you tell the port to turn off. So, you can use the module to power the lunar and dimming, but don't expect them to turn off.
In my case, I'm fine with them being on all the time, so I have both my lunar and dimming expansion connected to the power control, just to save space on power supplies.
The ORP/pH/Salinity CANNOT be plugged to the power module. They will loosed the galvanic isolation if you do so and they will start reading erroneously.
Roberto.
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lnevo
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by lnevo »

And you wouldn't want to power on / off those devices anyway...
stevengreen2
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by stevengreen2 »

Awesome, so i'm going to hook up my lunar module and my dimming module to it. That will save a lot of space for this bulky power supply boxes.
stevengreen2
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by stevengreen2 »

I have 1.0.7 and the power control expansion is not in there under example codes. That going to be soon?
rimai
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by rimai »

Next release of the installer.
But it is actually identical to the relay expansion code.
You will code the ports just as if they were relay ports...
So, for example you set the module to ID #1, you would code them as ports Box1_Port1 through Box1_Port8
Roberto.
TanksNStuff
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by TanksNStuff »

rimai wrote:They are terminated in DC connectors, but you can cut and splice your equipment if need be.
Each cable is about 20" and each channel is capable of 500mA.
Was considering buying the Power Control Expansion, but I was wondering about these connectors that come with the expansion too. I know you gave this answer before, but there are many different types and sizes of DC connectors out there. Do these come with both male and female connectors so that we can splice it directly to whatever we're powering? Just worried about being able to find the correct matching connector.

Also, do you have a picture of these cables that we could see before buying?
rimai
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by rimai »

Yes, they come with a male-male pigtail, so you can plug it straight into the dosing pump for example.
Roberto.
TanksNStuff
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by TanksNStuff »

I have dosers from Bulk Reef Supply, which have a 3-prong outlet plug on the end. Will I have to splice that to get this to work?
Piper
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by Piper »

TanksNStuff wrote:I have dosers from Bulk Reef Supply, which have a 3-prong outlet plug on the end. Will I have to splice that to get this to work?
They're A/C pumps, not D/C. You will need to use the relay box for the BRS dosers.

~Charlie
TanksNStuff
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by TanksNStuff »

Ah, I didn't know that. They're still in the box and I haven't looked at them yet.

Thanks for the info Charlie.
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Pny
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by Pny »

I was looking for the eagle files of the power control expansion to figure out exactly what it do, and how, but there are no eagle files for that particular expansion in the download section... Maybe that part isn't open hardware as the other expansions?
200 liter reef cube + 1000 liter FOWLR
rimai
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by rimai »

You can blame me for not being on top of it.
I come up with the modules and always forget to put the files up there.
Should be there now. Sorry about that.
Roberto.
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Pny
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Re: Power Control Expansion

Post by Pny »

Thanks! :-)
200 liter reef cube + 1000 liter FOWLR
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