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SLOW AND STEADY AS SHE GOES!!Trolls!
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SLOW AND STEADY AS SHE GOES!!Trolls!
If I do an AWC i have to do this to a sump under my stand with the return chanber emptied...yikes!Don’t break. Don’t break!
Hello Mikeneedsahobby, Bigtrout, Ranjib, Trolls and anyone else I missed.
First off let me say, your tanks are looking great!!
Ok looked at your mosfet boards and they wont work because they are N channel mosfet boards.Hello Mikeneedsahobby, Bigtrout, Ranjib, Trolls and anyone else I missed.
First off let me say, your tanks are looking great!!
I'm new here but have been following this thread for some time, mainly because it came up when searching Reef-Pi and Beamsworks. I've been wanting to better control my lights (and CO2) but haven't had time to really set this up. I've accumulated some parts over the last few months that I didn't already have but one thing I'm unsure of is the mosfet. I see Mikeneedsahobby is using the
DFROBOT Gravity: MOSFET Power Controller Module
Amazon
Is there a difference/what is the difference between that and
400W Dual High-Power MOSFET Trigger Switch Drive Module
Amazon
I bought the 400W Dual High-Power Mosfet Trigger Switch some time ago (I think I saw it on the Reef-pi light controller build guide) but it seems a little different than what Mikeneedsahobby is using (some differences in components on the boards). This has as separate ground for the input and output voltage that I suppose I would tie together where Mikeneedsahobby has a single ground post between the Vin and Vout. Can someone let me know if these are technically the same/interchangeable parts? I think I've got a good handle on the rest of the circuit but I'm still a little unclear on what a MOSFET is actually doing.
Thanks in advance!
don’t forget the goblins and I think I had gremlins at one point too.
Ok looked at your mosfet boards and they wont work because they are N channel mosfet boards.
The dfrobot are p channel mosfet boards. Stick with those for Beamswork lights.
N channel mosfets are used to switch on the low side or ground side of a circuit. P channel mosfets switch on the high side or +V side of the circuit.
Beamsworks lights are peculiar in that the way the leds are tied together, all the channels share a common ground. They have seperate +V lines for each channel one for the white, one for the blue. If you want seperate control we have to use p channel mosfet boards to switch these lines to dim the light.
A simple explanation of how the mosfet boards work is:
Pwm signal is used to switch the mosfet On and Off. The 15v from the beamswork power supply runs thru the mosfet and then to the led board.
Almost like a relay board only mosfets switch much faster. Fast enough to for led pwm.
You have to look at the mosfet on the board. The boards you linked on amazon have d4184 marked on the mosfets. That tells me they are AOD 4184 mosfets which are 40v N channel fets.Thanks for the feedback! Completely forgot about the goblins and gremlins. If I remember correctly the Gremlins like pizza!
Thanks Bigtrout, I will most likely get the dfrobot mosfet boards, since I know I'll have time to work on this this weekend. I don't get a lot of time for hobbies.... That being said, I hate to pay the premium for these on Amazon when they are half the price on digi-key. Once I add in the shipping on Digi-key they end up being the same price so unless I can think of other parts I'm going to need (down the road, PH sensing, temp probes...) I'll probably go with Amazon and it will most likely arrive quicker. I hate to feel like I'm not getting a good deal though!
Just to help me out, how did you come to the conclusion that one in P channel and the other is N channel. I don't see any reference to "N channel" on the ones I have. I 100% believe you, I'm just curious to look for others that could be P channel when I don't see N or P called out on any of them.
Thanks so much for both of your help! I apologize if I'm hijacking your thread. I don't think I'll have a ton of questions but if you'd prefer me to start a new thread instead of asking here just let me know.
You have to look at the mosfet on the board. The boards you linked on amazon have d4184 marked on the mosfets. That tells me they are AOD 4184 mosfets which are 40v N channel fets.
You have to look at a pic carefully to tell.
I have looked carefully thru every mosfet module there is. On my thread I found and am using another but the problem is they are on sale everywhere on ebay, and all with different supporting components on the board. If the supporting components are not right. They are not capable of supporting higher frequency pwm, so buying those is a crapshoot. The df robot modules WORK just dont set the frequency to much over 200hz if you want really low level dimming.
Yes I can shoot the ebay link for the others I bought. All of 1.82 per board but ship from a slow boat from China, to arrive in october.Thanks, I was actually just going through your thread and saw those other Mosfet boards you mentioned and also a lot of good information about them in general. The dfrobot ones seem to be the best bet if I want to get started this weekend.
Thanks again for your help!
Thanks so much for both of your help! I apologize if I'm hijacking your thread. I don't think I'll have a ton of questions but if you'd prefer me to start a new thread instead of asking here just let me know.
Yes I can shoot the ebay link for the others I bought. All of 1.82 per board but ship from a slow boat from China, to arrive in october.
Feel free to ask questions here. I’m glad this thread can help others. Your questions will help even more.
Thanks Bigtrout. If you can find the link, let me know. I looked for a while last night and couldn't find any that looked similar to the ones you are using. I went ahead and ordered the dfrobot ones for now but may still order these and install them later since they are so cheap. Also, its possible that I may build another reef pi down the road.
Thanks Mikeneedsahobby. I do have a few more questions for you and Bigtrout and anyone else. I see you are using the PH board from Michael Lane. What probe are you using with this? He is out of stock on the board, but I went ahead and messaged him on Tindie to see if he knows when he will have more of those, the dosing pump adapters and the hat. I am planning on building my own hat but may go with his for the ease or if I can't get mine to look clean enough for my liking. I'm definitely interested in the other items though. In addition to the PH probe, how have your DROK temp probes held up? Any regrets or wishes that you went with something else? Those red cables aren't the prettiest but they look solid.
Thanks
I second this, unless you like to solder, the hats make a clean and easy install.highly suggest a pre-made hat. Mike Lane and Theatrus are stand up guys. Very helpful to me and the products are great quality and
Here is the ph probe I got.
Milwaukee Instruments MA913B/3 pH Probe Double Junction with Kcl Gel Filled, Bnc
I have 2. I have no complaints. It hasn’t lost calibration ever. I know other people have other brands and I haven’t heard of anyone complain. Seems the probes are pretty consistent regardless of supplier.
Not so for temp probes. Don’t get the cheap temp probes. They aren’t as good. I potted mine in epoxy and it lasted a year or so. I just replaced it with this.
T-PRO DS18b20 Waterproof...
There was a post recently that almost all of the temp probes are using knock off chips. This one probably has a knock of chip too but it works good. The red wire probes worked well too but I couldn’t find them the next time I went to order probes.
get a good connector with them. Most temp probe problems are because of the connectors and bad soldering.
I highly suggest a pre-made hat. Mike Lane and Theatrus are stand up guys. Very helpful to me and the products are great quality and great value.
3V 5V Low Control High Voltage 12V 24V 36V E-switch Mosfet Module For Arduino | eBay
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I second this, unless you like to solder, the hats make a clean and easy install.