Good retail option for dimming and scheduling lights

[primo21]

Hi all...the control board on my SB Reef Lights has failed and need a new option to schedule and dim these lights. Need to control 4 channels, any good retail options out there? These are the drivers. Doesnt need to be anything fancy, just looking to be able to dim individual channels (whites) and turn them on/off on a schedule. Ramping would be a nice to have. Is there anything available in retail? I could DIY a moderate level if that is the best option. Thanks in advance.

 

[CaptainScuba]

I recently used a TC420 controller to DIY control my light fixture that came with a crappy infrared remote control sensor. It was a pretty straight forward & easy process. It can control 5 channels. There is a desktop program called TC420App that I used to quickly and easily program the controller the way I wanted; it has ramping features. I believe tc421 is the same thing but with WiFi capabilities. The tc420 connects to PC through usb, and that’s how you add / modify / change / remove lighting schedules.

 

[oreo54]

Hi all...the control board on my SB Reef Lights has failed and need a new option to schedule and dim these lights. Need to control 4 channels, any good retail options out there? These are the drivers. Doesnt need to be anything fancy, just looking to be able to dim individual channels (whites) and turn them on/off on a schedule. Ramping would be a nice to have. Is there anything available in retail? I could DIY a moderate level if that is the best option. Thanks in advance.

So all the drivers work?
Fans fed by the control board?

You are a step ahead if the drivers are fine.
Biggest problem is finding what the control protocol is.

From some vids from sb reef they mention " pw" from the control board. Actually has "pwm" on the driver..lol..

Assuming it is referring to pwm and butt- u- ming the "normal" method one could suspect it's 10v pwm

Ac/DC drivers if that type are usually either 10v analog, potentiometer dimmed, or 10v pwm or a combination of..

Why it matters is it will determine the type of controller.
Where in getting my guesses from.

 

[primo21]

So all the drivers work?
Fans fed by the control board?

You are a step ahead if the drivers are fine.
Biggest problem is finding what the control protocol is.

From some vids from sb reef they mention " pw" from the control board.

Assuming it is referring to pwm and butt- u- ming the "normal" method one could suspect it's 10v pwm

Ac/DC drivers if that type are usually either 10v analog, potentiometer dimmed, or 10v pwm or a combination of..

Why it matters is it will determine the type of controller.
Where in getting my guesses from.

The drivers do say PWM right on them...Mine are not the old black box lights, I have the new Ultra one where the drivers are in a seperate enclosure from the leds.

 

[oreo54]

The drivers do say PWM right on them...Mine are not the old black box lights, I have the new Ultra one where the drivers are in a seperate enclosure from the leds.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sb-reef-light-wifi-fix.1115185/
BTW did you ever replace the battery? NOTE.. may wipe out some memory if you do.

As to the replacement controller. You will be powering with 12V and output will be 12v pwm..
If that is the correct voltage to the drivers is ????

personally I'd get one of those small voltage step down boards off amazon and decrease the output to around 10v (10v plus change)
https://www.dfrobot.com/product-155...pl-BnNPn7bDgAD47VGR2jSKXhAq1BnlkaAlqEEALw_wcB

 

[primo21]

Yeah, not the battery.

 

[primo21]

Still need some help here if someone can instruct me on how to dim these drivers. I tried a potentiometer and the emitever led controller and neither worked to dim.

 

[oreo54]

Still need some help here if someone can instruct me on how to dim these drivers. I tried a potentiometer and the emitever led controller and neither worked to dim.

Hmmm... Emitever "should" have done something.
Only possible catch is that the emitever is + ground and low side switching (-).

What did you power it with voltage wise?

The ESP 7 pwm is 3.3v I believe. I suspect the esp board boost s the voltage(?) to 10.
Need to find the driver data.

I'm not going to say "try this" but *I'd* take a AA battery and a 10k resistor in series (limit current) and put it on the dim circuit of one driver. Now it's not pwm but the 1.5 volt "may" pretend to be..

 

[primo21]

i used a 12v power supply. i had the red wire to + and black to -, are you saying it should be switched red to - and black to +?

 

[oreo54]

i used a 12v power supply. i had the red wire to + and black to -, are you saying it should be switched red to - and black to +?

No.
What I was referring to is the fact that " normally" negative is ground. Like a car battery.
In the emitevet positive is ground.
The're not " reversed" so much as their function changed.

 

[primo21]

No.
What I was referring to is the fact that " normally" negative is ground. Like a car battery.
In the emitevet positive is ground.
The're not " reversed" so much as their function changed.

ok, but then do i need to supply them to match the function? is that why it is not working?

 

[oreo54]

ok, but then do i need to supply them to match the function? is that why it is not working?

Not sure why it's not working.
Did you try dimming all the way down?

Technically your emetever will then have 12v pwm on the output

"Industry standard" is like 10v.
Like Meanwell 3 in 1 driver dimming..
10v, 10v pwm and of course potentiometer

Yours didn't work with a pot (10000k is common)

5v pwm is common for DC/ DC drivers. "Shouldn't" apply here

The lights are like any " Chinese black box" driver.
Wattshine used them

 

[primo21]

Not sure why it's not working.
Did you try dimming all the way down?

Technically your emetever will then have 12v pwm on the output

"Industry standard" is like 10v.
Like Meanwell 3 in 1 driver dimming..
10v, 10v pwm and of course potentiometer

Yours didn't work with a pot (10000k is common)

5v pwm is common for DC/ DC drivers. "Shouldn't" apply here

The lights are like any " Chinese black box" driver.
Wattshine used them

FWIW...the PWM connection on my driver only has a red/black wire, this one does not look like mine.

 

[oreo54]

Yea I know.. Was writing about that.

Somebody, somewhere has solved your issue..anyways..

Oddly they seemed to have changed driver (NL) dim types 3 times..
3 wire, 4 wire ,and your 2 wire...

Ok more shots in the dark.. what "block" powers the control module board?
And what are the output ratings?

 

[primo21]

Yea I know.. Was writing about that.

Somebody, somewhere has solved your issue..anyways..

Oddly they seemed to have changed driver (NL) dim types 3 times..
3 wire, 4 wire ,and your 2 wire...

Ok more shots in the dark.. what "block" powers the control module board?
And what are the output ratings?

i removed the control board (that stopped working) to install the emitever which i then powered using a new 12v power supply.

 

[oreo54]

i removed the control board (that stopped working) to install the emitever which i then powered using a new 12v power supply.

the orig control board had12v fed to it. I suppose you could have just used that. That is what I'm curious about.
Where the 12v came from to the orig board.

 

[primo21]

the orig control board had12v fed to it. I suppose you could have just used that. That is what I'm curious about.
Where the 12v came from to the orig board.

it was less than 12v. i only added the 12v power supply because the connection going to the original board was not sufficient to power the emitiver

 

[oreo54]

it was less than 12v. i only added the 12v power supply because the connection going to the original board was not sufficient to power the emitiver

Sooo ..your circuit board might be good but the power supply is bad?
According to sb's vid it's 12v

 

[primo21]

Sooo ..your circuit board might be good but the power supply is bad?
According to sb's vid it's 12v

even if its good the new 12v supply to the emitiver sould have worked right? the problem i am facing this point is the PWM connections on each of the 8 drivers did not dim with either the emitever or pot.

 

[oreo54]

even if its good the new 12v supply to the emitiver sould have worked right? the problem i am facing this point is the PWM connections on each of the 8 drivers did not dim with either the emitever or pot.

The pot...no that was a toss up.
Those others using a pot, well it's more complicated than that.
The driver powers it w 12v.

The Emitever had a better chance.
Not sure what the issue is atm