Reefbreeders Value Fixture

[cosmith71]

http://www.reefbreeders.com/value_led_fixtures.html

Anybody know how this dims? Has two knobs, one for each channel. Wonder if it could be hacked?

I sent an e-mail to Reefbreeders. They were more than happy to add me to their mailing list, but not response to my question...

Thanks,

--Colin

[rimai]

I sent an e-mail to Reefbreeders. They were more than happy to add me to their mailing list, but not response to my question...

LOL

[cosmith71]

They got back to me. They say it uses "resistance" dimming. What is that? Analog?

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[lnevo]

I don't think it's either because in this post...

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-breede ... 37138.html

They say:

The drivers will take PWM, 0-10v analog, or resistance dimming, so all 3 are supported., along with the option to add a Dim4 controller, or possibly the same controller used in our new 104watt fixtures.

This is for their SuperNova fixture.

[rimai]

If only accepts resistance, the only way to do this is with a special expansion module that has variable digital controlled resistance. It won't be simple

[lnevo]

Do I hear a new expansion module in the works...

[bhazard]

I've ripped apart several of these fixtures.

The drivers are resistance, and possibly even TRIAC. The leds are run in series ~580mah, 28 and 27 leds per driver, and each driver runs up to 100v. You do not want to screw around with that level of voltage unless you really know what you are doing.

They are non standard, as the fans have their own wires into the driver too. The POT had 4 wires to it.

It's possible to replace the drivers themselves with PWM or 0-10v drivers, and run a new separate AC/DC converter line to the fans via a wall wart. I have. It sucks. Ends up costing as much as the controllable model. Reefbreeders used to do it for you for that extra price. They still might if you ask.

In the end, its just easier to buy the model with the built in controller.

[cosmith71]

Thanks, guys. I think if I were to get it, I should not plan on modding it then. I'm looking for my BC29 HQI. Tired of the clunky old MH. Knob dimming would probably be OK, just not ideal.

--Colin

[lnevo]

Check out the onyx at rapidled. I know that has external control and is a decent price. Maybe not as cheap as the reefbreeders.

[cosmith71]

I've looked at the Onyx. Nice enough fixture, just more expensive than I want to spend right now.

I had an awsome idea though. How about a RA controlled servo to turn the knobs? It's crazy, but it could work!

--Colin

[rimai]

Like airplane/RC cars servos? Might work. I don't know what frequency they work though.

[lnevo]

Aren't there a lot of arduino controlled servos for robotic projects? Could probably find at Radio Shack

[rimai]

Yeah, I think for the precision you need, it should work fine.
You must have PWM signal at 5V though.
The dimming expansion is 10V.

[cosmith71]

Yeah, I have a few. Arduino has built in servo support. I built an Arduino controlled cat laser out of servos. I think this is totally do-able through a PWM port. Just have to cap the control voltage at 5V and map the PWM outputs from 1-100 to 1-180. I need to think about this more...

[cosmith71]

What about the float switch port? Can't one be changed to PWM output?

[rimai]

You know... I learned something today that I've missed all along
Thanks for planting the bug in my head
Standard RA can only turn one of the ATO ports into PWM output port, but RA+ can turn both ATO ports into 5V PWM ports.

[cosmith71]

You know... I learned something today that I've missed all along
Thanks for planting the bug in my head
Standard RA can only turn one of the ATO ports into PWM output port, but RA+ can turn both ATO ports into 5V PWM ports.

What are the details on setting those? Which port on the standard?


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[rimai]

http://forum.reefangel.com/viewtopic.php?p=24108#p24108

[rimai]

Just keep in mind the range is 0-255 when doing straight analogWrite().

[cosmith71]

I'll play around with it this weekend on my old RA board. If I can get the standard Arduino servo library to work it should be much easier. Then I'll just have to figure out a way to mount the servos. I'm thinking duct tape might be involved...

--Colin

[cosmith71]

Sigh. Not working out like I want it to.

I stuck the servo code in a bare bones RA sketch just to see if I could move the servo, but something isn't right. The servo jumps a little, but doesn't really move.

I have it wired like this:

Positive from ATO LOW switch to servo control line
Negative from ATO LOW switch to servo ground
Positive 5V from a power supply to servo +5v
Negative from power supply to servo ground

Look right?

Code is as follows:

Code: Select all

#include <ReefAngel_Features.h>
#include <Globals.h>
#include <RA_Wifi.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include <OneWire.h>
#include <Time.h>
#include <DS1307RTC.h>
#include <InternalEEPROM.h>
#include <RA_NokiaLCD.h>
#include <RA_ATO.h>
#include <RA_Joystick.h>
#include <LED.h>
#include <RA_TempSensor.h>
#include <Relay.h>
#include <RA_PWM.h>
#include <Timer.h>
#include <Memory.h>
#include <ReefAngel.h>

#include <Servo.h>

Servo myservo;

void setup()
{
  ReefAngel.Init(); // Initialize Controller
  pinMode(lowATOPin, OUTPUT);

  myservo.attach(lowATOPin);

  ReefAngel.AddStandardMenu();
  ReefAngel.AddDateTimeMenu();  
}

void loop()
{
  
  myservo.write(90);       // Set servo to 90 degrees
  
  ReefAngel.ShowInterface(); // Display everything on the LCD screen 
}

This is on a standard RA.

Anybody have any ideas? I wonder if it's a timer conflict.

--Colin

[rimai]

The wiring looks fine.
What I would recommend is try without the ReefAngel classes first.

Code: Select all

#include <Servo.h>

Servo myservo;

void setup()
{
  pinMode(11, OUTPUT); // lowATOPin is pin 11
  myservo.attach(11);
}

void loop()
{
  myservo.write(90);       // Set servo to 90 degrees
}

It could be that the controller is messing with the PWM timing when it needs to read the ATO status.

[cosmith71]

OK, so that works. I wonder if I should just switch to the actinic and daylight ports. Would there still be issues?

[cosmith71]

OK, so that works. I wonder if I should just switch to the actinic and daylight ports. Would there still be issues?

Oh, but then there will be the 10V vs 5V issue as well. Voltage divider?

[rimai]

I've never tried voltage divider as signal for servos.
It may work or may not. I don't know how much resistance the servo signal input has.
The DC pumps work just fine with voltage dividers. Meanwell drivers do not work with voltage dividers. I guess they start pulling current and affects the divider signal.
So, the only way to find out is to test it against your servo.

[cosmith71]

Hey Roberto,

I got it working, sort of.

I used pretty much the code above, substituting pin 10 (daylight PWM pin) for pin 11 and using a voltage divider. I can get the servo to go where I tell it to, but it's still jumping in between commands. Like something is pulsing the port.

Any ideas?

EDIT: It jumps using full libraries. Works fine without.

--Colin

[cosmith71]

So I'm thinking that fixture is too big anyway.

Might go with something a little smaller and more compatible.

--Colin