My Reef pi build - Well, my Viparspectra PWM light controller :D

[GK3]

Where is your uln2803? That I think is your problem. You are trying to run the relays directly off of the raspberry pi outputs which draws too much current thru the pi output pins causing the undervoltage error. The uln2803 is part of the power controller for a few good reasons. It isolates your pi outputs from the relay board AND it handles the higher current relay power draw using only minimal current thru the pi output pins. In effect it "amplifies" the raspberry pi outputs so that you can run higher current items.

I am not sure what relays he is using but they look like the sain smart ones. Don’t those have the transistors in them that use the supplied 5V to power the actual mechanical relay and keep the current from the IO pin to <20 ma? I e used these before with Arduino and could power straight from an io pin.

 

[GK3]

This is how I was told to run the reefpi - the relays are 5v ones - should I use another convertor and run the relays at 12v? will this damage them? - Cheers for the reply - I'm only using it at the moment for light control (or will be when I get it connected up) this is how I have it set up (minus the feeds to the lights so far)

Couple things that would help us troubleshoot with this diagram

1) you switch colors for ground and power which makes it confusing. You start with red being 5vdc and black being ground but switch this on the pi rails. I believe this is just color convention in the diagram and no that you actually have ground and power crossed.

2) It would also help to have labels of what you think everything is so we can see what is going where. This is especially true of the lights because it’s hard to tell what is supposed to be what signal.

 

[Bigtrout]

I am not sure what relays he is using but they look like the sain smart ones. Don’t those have the transistors in them that use the supplied 5V to power the actual mechanical relay and keep the current from the IO pin to <20 ma? I e used these before with Arduino and could power straight from an io pin.

I saw that after he posted the fritzing pics.
Hes getting the error without relays hooked up so may be a buckpuck problem or a bad pi

 

[Bigtrout]

Those buckpucks can be a crapshoot, which is why I went with 5v 3 amp meanwell supplies, 7 bux on Amazon they are a steal and have a nice small footprint

 

[ph123uk]

Have a spare buck Puck I will switch out, will be done at the weekend cheers all

 

[Des Westcott]

Just a thought here......... I have made a light controller out of a PiZero, and I didn't use relays at all. I just used the PWM signal from the Pi (two channels) to dim the lights. PWM of zero was "off" and anything else was on at different levels.

 

[ph123uk]

Sorted it now it seems, as soon as I went headless and unplugged my Wireless / Bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo - I no longer get the error - presume the puck isn't giving the rated 3a MAX or even the 2a its meant to, but as long as its stable, I'm happy now. Will still pop a multimeter on it and measure the amps this weekend anyway!

 

[Bigtrout]

Sorted it now it seems, as soon as I went headless and unplugged my Wireless / Bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo - I no longer get the error - presume the puck isn't giving the rated 3a MAX or even the 2a its meant to, but as long as its stable, I'm happy now. Will still pop a multimeter on it and measure the amps this weekend anyway!

Thats why the buckpucks can be a crapshoot. They probably put out half the current that the specs say, if that. But as long as its stable now, should be just fine!

 

[ph123uk]

Well oh my, all sorted, got it working, wiring colours were different on my drivers but overall really easy and works well!

Now, going to get it all in a nice little box and get everything soldered to some db9 connectors.

Quick video to show functionality, did relatively big "jumps" to show it g happy

 

[GK3]

Well oh my, all sorted, got it working, wiring colours were different on my drivers but overall really easy and works well!

Now, going to get it all in a nice little box and get everything soldered to some db9 connectors.

Quick video to show functionality, did relatively big "jumps" to show it g happy

So what was the final issue? Just wiring?

 

[ph123uk]

As above, was lack of amps to the pi, from the buck puck - once I removed the Bluetooth Keyboard and mouse controller from the USB and went headless, all problems solved

 

[Ranjib]

 

[trackerit]

As above, was lack of amps to the pi, from the buck puck - once I removed the Bluetooth Keyboard and mouse controller from the USB and went headless, all problems solved

So the wiring original works? What is the schematics?

 

[ph123uk]

Yea, the original wiring works fine

Wiring guide on the first page - I can do a more comprehensive one when I get 2 mins - as my driver wire colours were different (but the PCB was labelled so no worries)

 

[ph123uk]

Ok, so here some pics, I've built the reefpi into the light fixture itself! - noted the wiring as requested

Viparspectra timer board, I left this in as I didn't want a big hole, also, if I ever sell the light, I can reconnect it back up properly:

This directly correlates with the plug from the driver, I simply used little jumper cables pushed into the plug and secured with electricians tape.

Couple of pics of the internals of the Vipar! As I understand it, not all have heatsinks and quiet fans

Power cable fed into the rear of the light via a grommet plug:

All connected up and in the process of securing to the light, didn't get a pic of it all tidy and cable tied as I was excited:

And now mounted, will tidy up the cabling once I have verified I have no problems, for now, all working as it should on Wifi.

 

[ph123uk]

AH, there we go, all sorted

 

[trackerit]

AH, there we go, all sorted

Great! Then 12v its not necesary? Only 5v to relays?

 

[ph123uk]

Correct, all the relays are doing is bridging the on/off and 12v wires which are already supplied by the fixture.

You just need to power the relay, in this case, that's 5v

 

[trackerit]

Correct, all the relays are doing is bridging the on/off and 12v wires which are already supplied by the fixture.

You just need to power the relay, in this case, that's 5v

Ok, i try this weekend.

 

[ph123uk]

@Ranjib How come I cant get both Light schedule graphs on the same "graph" I have to have 2 separate ones on the dashboard - There must be a way to do it as I have seen pictures and others doing it somehow - when I configure my dashboard I select "light" but then it forces me to choose just one channel