Relay box pwm question

[saf1]

New member. New owner.

I've sent a few emails to say thanks regarding shipping, packaging, and contents. I was honestly impressed with everything. Not sure why because I've read a lot about it but just the way it was packaged up impressed me. Anyway, now I'm off to configure and install but ran into yet more questions.

Regarding pwm coming out of the relay box. I didn't order the wire kit as I missed it but I'm going to use the two that came with the ATO kit. In a separate email Roberto mentioned that it is the same so I'll order replacements once I get ready to use that system.

My question. I'm using Steve's LED's system on my BioCube 29 which accespts pwm signals. It is a dual driver and has two pins (2 & 4) on each for white/blue control and say to place the black wire into power supply DC common ground and postive PWM wire into pin 2. On the relay box I see the connections but not sure which wires are + or - to map up. The two top-off connectors are whate based with one having long red lines with 'x' and white dots on the second wire. The other connector is small red dashes with the other having x's.

If there is a tutorial or FAQ on the PWM coming off the relay box and I missed it I apologize. I've looked but only saw the PWM expansion. I only need to control two at the moment so the relay box will work perfectly.

Oh - this only dims the power input and not actually the light on/off, correct? I'll still need to plug it into the relay box to turn on? So it will already be dim or as low as possible then power on so Im not getting this full on, then dim down, etc?

Thanks again.
-scott

[saf1]

Never mind. I found the information regarding dimming ports and polarity.

Any tips regarding dimming though are welcome I'm pretty sure I need to use the relay box to turn on/off the lighting as a whole still.

[rimai]

My recommendation is to plug your power supply to the relay box to turn them off when you are not using it.

[saf1]

Well got the pwm piece hooked up. With Steve's drivers there is a loop / pig tail on pins 2 and 4 that is there by default in case you do not use PWM signals. You have to remove the pigtail and route the relay box + to pin 2 on his driver. The relay box - route to the Comm / V- on his power supply.

Once I did that the lights fired up. Full on.

Not sure which port on the relay box to plug in the LED power supply though. 3 or 4 I guess it doesn't matter or can I just use another? I just need the port to turn on and off at a set time and hopefully the default LED pwm slope / parabola will work fine with the dual driver setup this kit uses.

[rimai]

If you are using the preloaded code, port 3 is actinics schedule and port4 is daylights schedule.
You can have more info in the user manual or here: http://www.reefangel.com/Support.About- ... -code.ashx

[saf1]

Will the preloaded code still work even though I'm using a single power supply for the dual drivers? The drivers each have their pwm inputs which I've connected up and work.

I'm assuming I can just pick a relay outlet, set up a timer for on/off, and then hopefully the PWM logic will take over from there( I guess as you mentioned 3 and 4 are already configured)?

Or am I way off.

[rimai]

Yeah, just pick actinic port and you should be fine.

[saf1]

Cool. That is what I figured and did.

Is there a easy way to test the PWM slope? I noticed mine are full @ 100% even though I used the wizard to rebuilt and set the unit up. It later dawned on me that I had the potentiometer on full rather than set to the lowest setting.

Now the LED's are on but at a lower wattage. According to the head unit they should both me around 90% if that is what the DP/AP numbers mean.

[rimai]

Yes, that's what the AP/DP means.

[saf1]

Thanks.

I'll have to look into the wires then and logic to see what is going on. They should be full on then and they are not.

Controller logic is working I know because the temp probe logic kicked in and shut down the lights earlier when I tested it. Pretty neat actually. Same with turning off the pump(s) in feed mode.

So I'm getting there. PWM is new to me.

[saf1]

Quick update in case anyone else is using Steve's LED's and drivers kits especially with the BioCube tanks. I've finally managed to get everything working now and honestly I can't be any happier. The reef angel controller is like a gift that keeps on giving. Honestly.

As I mentioned above I am using the BioCube 29 LED kit which uses the dual driver setup with a single power supply source. In order to get everything working here is how I set it up in case anyone else uses the same setup.

Disconnect pigtail on pins 2 and 4.
Connect + relay box to pin 2 on the driver
Connect - relay box to power supply DC common ground
Ignore pin 4

Plug in the power supply to any port on the relay box. It doesn't matter really because we only have one power source and will turn it on and off based on a time of our choice. I used port 4 which I believe is already flagged as actinic in the default software. Using the reef angel controller client I started the wizard under tools to finish the configuration as follows:

1. Relay port 1 pump - always on, shutdown feeding, water change
2. Relay port 2 Power head - always on, shutdown water change, shutdown overheat, shutdown feeding
3. Relay port 4 LED power supply - on 10:00, off 21:00, shutdown overheat
4. Enable wifi - this was critical to get the Reef Angle Client to work per my search in the forums
5. Use PWM Parabola for daylight and actinic
5.a. Actinic start at 10, end at 2100
5.b. Daylight start at 11, end at 2000
6. PWM for both start at 0, end at 100%
7. Potentiometer left open/full - I was using those as dimmers before I bought the controller

Once that sketch was uploaded everything was working really well. It took about 7 different tries before I finally understood what was going on. The final piece of information after getting the reef angle client to work on my PC was the ability to mess with the PWM in real time. That helped me connect the start and stop PWM settings because the first time it was 100% and I didn't know it. Now everything ramps up and down as I'd expect which makes for a pretty epic looking tank. Even though it is just 29 gallons.

I'm still working on the PH probe piece but just waiting to find some calibration fluid. The probe cable is a bit short but I think I can make it work. Other than that just need to keep on reading and learning.

Thanks!
-scottf

[rimai]

Cool!!!
Glad you got your stuff working
How do you like the steve's led drivers?
Are you able to dim them all the way down to 1%?
I'm tempted to get me some to play around with, but got so much stuff in my plate that if I get them, I know it will just sit in the shelf forever.

[saf1]

I think the drivers are working rather well honestly. However, the power supply he uses is horrible. I'm on my second one now. I think they have some serious heating issues and the fan goes out which I've had to replace now. I'm not bashing it or his kit, in fact, I've spoke to him about it and his reply makes sense. Overall kit cost is why he is using what he does which I can respect. I'll probably go with another supply here in a bit.

Yes, they dim down to 0 it would appear. Originally I was using the default configuration you ship which is 15% I believe. Then once I got the hang of it I dropped them down to 0 and it is working perfectly. Relay turns on at X time and there are zero lights on. Then once the PWM kicks in the acintic is first to fire up and the hammer and green star polyps almost glow. Just like all you guys are talking about which is pretty cool.

My son has his own BioCube but he uses the Rapid LED with Mean Well drivers. I think the 'P' which also accepts the PWM input (I believe). Not to sound cheap but if I could find a way to dim his lights that would be pretty epic. However, his tank is upstairs so not sure it is possible. So you may have another buyer here in a month or two which isn't bad

[civictuner04]

hey im trying to set mine up also using steves led did you leave the potentiometers plugged in or not? mine isnt working :/ thanks for your help

[rimai]

you should take them off.

[rimai]

If I understood correctly, their driver accepts PWM signal straight through and you should choose between pot or controller signal.

[civictuner04]

i figured it out earlier the op was correct with pwm + goes to 2nd terminal the pots had to be removed and a jumper wire installed. everything is working great.....my only issue is my ph is off i have calibrated it a few times and its showing my ph @ 7.2ish i tested with api kit and it shows im around 8ish (its hard to read) before my ph dropped and corals would open and stuff everything looks great now so i think my sensor is off. and im not sure my salinty is reading right but i just calibrated with tank water im waiting on my lfs to get more 35ppt solution in so i can calibrate it the correct way. i cant work on it anymore tonight but i will make my own issue thread tomorrow if i cant figure it out with the ph.