Ciphers DIY 120 and 75 gallon LED build

[cipher43]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/390510/ciphers-diy-120-and-75-gallon-led-build/60#post_3464908
With the lights I'd start low (maybe 350mA'ish) and go from there. When ever you add a new coral try to be mindful of where it's coming from and what type of lighting it's been growing under. Adjustments to spectrum and intensity should always be a gradual acclimation whenever possible. Less stress the better. Good thing is you have a pretty full spectrum fixture going there so that's going to help make things easier I'd hope.
Main thing I was wondering is once I get done with the break in for the corals should I have the drivers set to 850mA?

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cipher43 http:///t/390510/ciphers-diy-120-and-75-gallon-led-build/60#post_3464929
Yeah I may try the Dim4 or arduino build some day but we will see. If he gets the typhoon/hydra fixed I will probably do that build. I do have a typhoon here for the 75 build so I may try the 5v on my build and see how much power I actually get cause on my pot I only have it turned up about 50% when the power is at 850mA. One question though, when the signal from the typhoon first starts will it kick it on to full blast or will it start with low/no power and work up from there.
So far I have it set at its lowest setting which I cant remember what that is for sure but its lower than 350mA. .
Another question I have is do you have regular timers on your actual drivers or just the typhoon?
Well if he ever does make an updated version of the Typhon he said that all current hardware and future hardware changes will not be allowed to be marketed for sale. So you'd pretty much have to build it. Which in reality, I'm still very green in my research on diy controllers but really they don't seem hard to build at all. And the software to do most of what most folks like us would do with one is already out there. Still need just a little more homework in this area for me though.
I'd be very curious to know if the Typhon worked with your HLG 150's. It seems to be a mixed bag. A couple folks have said that the Typhon works with their HLG's and some say it does not. I think a couple of those who did were running 240's. And even 1 guy saying he had to run it with reversed signal. The other guy I was talking to said it absolutely will not work with his 185's. So you could get lucky??? Not enough information out there yet as to which drivers are working with it and which for sure are not.
No timers on my set up. In direct contrast to what the data sheets claim for my LPF drivers I'm not supposed to be able to dim mine dark. But they do indeed dim dark. No need for timers for me. The ELN's should dim dark as well.
The HLG's, according to some folks I've spoken with don't dim dark. So it's strange to me that the LPF and HLG data sheets are identical in these areas but yet my drivers go dark.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cipher43 http:///t/390510/ciphers-diy-120-and-75-gallon-led-build/80#post_3464932
Main thing I was wondering is once I get done with the break in for the corals should I have the drivers set to 850mA?
At this point in time I can't see needing to have them set any higher then that. That's not really a question anyone here can really answer for certain. Try it out and see where it takes you. 850mA should be enough intensity for your average mixed tank. If it's too much then you can always set them a little lower.

 

[cipher43]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/390510/ciphers-diy-120-and-75-gallon-led-build/80#post_3464939
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cipher43 http:///t/390510/ciphers-diy-120-and-75-gallon-led-build/60#post_3464929
Yeah I may try the Dim4 or arduino build some day but we will see. If he gets the typhoon/hydra fixed I will probably do that build. I do have a typhoon here for the 75 build so I may try the 5v on my build and see how much power I actually get cause on my pot I only have it turned up about 50% when the power is at 850mA. One question though, when the signal from the typhoon first starts will it kick it on to full blast or will it start with low/no power and work up from there.
So far I have it set at its lowest setting which I cant remember what that is for sure but its lower than 350mA. .
Another question I have is do you have regular timers on your actual drivers or just the typhoon?
Well if he ever does make an updated version of the Typhon he said that all current hardware and future hardware changes will not be allowed to be marketed for sale. So you'd pretty much have to build it. Which in reality, I'm still very green in my research on diy controllers but really they don't seem hard to build at all. And the software to do most of what most folks like us would do with one is already out there. Still need just a little more homework in this area for me though.
I'd be very curious to know if the Typhon worked with your HLG 150's. It seems to be a mixed bag. A couple folks have said that the Typhon works with their HLG's and some say it does not. I think a couple of those who did were running 240's. And even 1 guy saying he had to run it with reversed signal. The other guy I was talking to said it absolutely will not work with his 185's. So you could get lucky??? Not enough information out there yet as to which drivers are working with it and which for sure are not.
No timers on my set up. In direct contrast to what the data sheets claim for my LPF drivers I'm not supposed to be able to dim mine dark. But they do indeed dim dark. No need for timers for me. The ELN's should dim dark as well.
The HLG's, according to some folks I've spoken with don't dim dark. So it's strange to me that the LPF and HLG data sheets are identical in these areas but yet my drivers go dark.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cipher43 http:///t/390510/ciphers-diy-120-and-75-gallon-led-build/80#post_3464932
Main thing I was wondering is once I get done with the break in for the corals should I have the drivers set to 850mA?
At this point in time I can't see needing to have them set any higher then that. That's not really a question anyone here can really answer for certain. Try it out and see where it takes you. 850mA should be enough intensity for your average mixed tank. If it's too much then you can always set them a little lower.
Im guessing I wont have a problem with power. We had it on 850mA and we didnt need lights on in the front part of the office it was that brite.
My big worry with trying the typhoon on my setup is I know my HLG drivers are too big for the lights themselves so Im guessing I would blow all the fuses if it doesnt work. Will it hurt anything else or would the fuses be it? Im gun shy since this light is working great right now and I dont want to ruin that..

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cipher43 http:///t/390510/ciphers-diy-120-and-75-gallon-led-build/80#post_3464945
Im guessing I wont have a problem with power. We had it on 850mA and we didnt need lights on in the front part of the office it was that brite.
My big worry with trying the typhoon on my setup is I know my HLG drivers are too big for the lights themselves so Im guessing I would blow all the fuses if it doesnt work. Will it hurt anything else or would the fuses be it? Im gun shy since this light is working great right now and I dont want to ruin that..
If you want to test it out Safely I would do it on just the whites. The whites can handle the maximum power that the drivers will put out in this case. So if you remove the fuses for the test and just replace them with some pieces of wire temporarily you'll know whether it's going to work with your drivers or not on the 10v channels.

 

[cipher43]

Ok so I checked it this morning and with the 5v it works perfect, except it has the lights on low until the timer kicks up and then it works great. On full blast it will run my lights at 550mA.
Then I checked the 10v....... didnt work....... When I started it it kicked the lights up to 1200 mA so I shut it down. I tried inverting the pwm and that didnt work either.
If its an issue with the ground is there any way to hook up the positive to the 10v and the neg to some other ground like the 5v ground or a different one?

 

[2quills]

No unfortunately I asked the same question. The 10v channels are like a looping circuit and the transistors are on the ground pin side of those circuits. If you try and tap into a ground somewhere else the signal will be pulled to ground and never make it to the driver. I think the most logical way to do it would be to build a second circuit and amplify the grounded 5v channels like a normal controller would do. Or get yourself some eln's lol. 550mA though may be plenty for your needs. Just depends what you're looking to keep I guess.

 

[cipher43]

LOL thas my problem Im having. If i knew for sure the dim4 would work with mine or an arduino wouldnt have a problem I would build one in a heart beat. but since I dont know for sure Im concerned. As for buying the elns instead, I have thought about it but im not sure i want to spend the money on that and have these hlgs set around and not get used. I do like that the drivers can handle more so I am technically not pushing the drivers at all but I would like to be able to run these lights at 850mA max.
right now all I have are some mushrooms and button polyps but I do want to dabble in the harder corals some time.
Have you heard of anyone using an arduino on the hlgs? Is there a chance that they will cause the same problems?

 

[2quills]

I do know the Dim4 is being used with HLGs. The guy who first brought the dim4 to my attention has 3 builds that he did with hlg drivers and is running that controller on all of them. The dim4 is analog...same as using a 10k pot with a wall wart power supply same as an apex. I couldnt find anyone on the net saying they couldnt use them with any analog dimming driver.

 

[2quills]

And yes, if the 5v channels on the typhon work then they will work with arduino if you can verify how the 10v channels have been designed.

 

[cipher43]

here is a video I took to show some of the shimmer I have with these lights. I have them set to 150mA right now since they were under a super crappy pc light before. Figured I would start out slow so nothing burns.