Think of it as my way to keep my own hands off from my tanks, while still be involved heavily in reefing.
There are other folks who are now doing bulk of the coding (@Michael Lane & @Zekth )
I picked it up at a local electric supply house, but the mfg website is https://www.av-iq.com/avcat/ctl1642...trorack-enclosure-products&product=pb12018-01 and they have a search to find a local place that carries them.
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I just discovered those a couple of days ago. I shared them on FB. Thanks Ranjib!Adafruit just published the third reef-pi guide, temperature controller
https://learn.adafruit.com/reef-pi-guide-3-temperature-controller
Thank you
I found some previous info on the ATO, and that was one of the first things i planned on integrating.Thank you
I plan to write a full series, this is the third one, at least five more to come (ato, lighting, ph, doser and finally AIO) leading up to Thankgiving, when final 2.0 release will happen. Should be fun
You should be able to use any logic level powermosfet to control 24V volt with 5v pwm signal. I do the same for my moonlight. I think i have shared the circuit image in past, i can post it again if you need
Very nice. Its similar to the recommended kessil circuit, except it uses lm7810 instead of lm2596 to generate 10V DC current. I wonder if you need two of them,Here is some additional info about the dimming circuits that I installed in my SB reef lights
I used the circuit from @Ryan115 from this post reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.
Here is a picture of my circuit. My perfboard doesn't have any traces on it so all the wiring was point to point on the backside (connections on back of board are in red below). The advantage of using the specific connectors listed below is that you don't have to cut any wires on the SB reef light black box so it is trivial to back to stock (if you have a different black box, I recommend opening your light to find out what type of connectors you will need before ordering!)
Parts list:
2 NPN transistors (I used 2N2222A transistors)
2 LM7810 voltage regulators
2 3-pin JST XH (2.5mm pitch) male connectors
1 2-pin JST SM (2.5mm pitch) male connector
2 1k ohm resistors
2 10k ohm resistors
1 solderable perfboard
A three wire input connector of your choice to connect PWM from the PCA9685 on Reef-pi to the dimming circuit. I used Ethernet cable and JST connectors but other people use headphone cable and jacks
I made a video to help explain more about the circuit, wiring, and functionality
Adafruit just published the third reef-pi guide, temperature controller
https://learn.adafruit.com/reef-pi-guide-3-temperature-controller
You are right an rj45, rj9, rj11 , mini-xlr , mini-din all of them are better.. but none are as common, cheap and abundant as 3.5 mm jacks. They are also easy to solder and they do not require any special equipment to connect (rj11,9,45 all requires special crimping tools). This is why I went with audio jack. When I started I didnt know, later I learned and tried different things, and they work too. But I realized, this projects original goal was to keep things affordable and easy, and I found if we are little careful (which we can afford to expect, since its a DIY thing, average users will know a lot during the build phase) we can probably get away with it.
. Let me know if you all think it's not right, and I should instead go with some other connectors , cause I am actually thinking recommending the same for ato as well (i.e. connect the optical water level sensors using 4 pole TRS jacks).
And thank you for the kind words, I and the rest of the dev team truly appreciate all the support you all provide.
I understand the benefits of 3.5mm audio jacks. But my vote is with RJ-45 connectors. The crimping tool is an added cost but eBay & Amazon have lots of affordable ones and it's a 1 off cost.You are right an rj45, rj9, rj11 , mini-xlr , mini-din all of them are better.. but none are as common, cheap and abundant as 3.5 mm jacks. They are also easy to solder and they do not require any special equipment to connect (rj11,9,45 all requires special crimping tools). This is why I went with audio jack. When I started I didnt know, later I learned and tried different things, and they work too. But I realized, this projects original goal was to keep things affordable and easy, and I found if we are little careful (which we can afford to expect, since its a DIY thing, average users will know a lot during the build phase) we can probably get away with it.
That said, anyone who is keen enough, can certainly go with better connectors, and we make it abundantly clear that this is a good idea as well. But not required.
I hope it makes sense
On a side note, this whole connector topic is pretty fascinating in itself. I have spent weeks reading, testing and tinkering with different connectors. I would agree and accept openly that this is not a solved thing yet....at least for reef-pi.
I am glad that this is working for you. I have been toying around with the idea of modifying the circuit to add a channel cutoff utilizing the 3rd wire from the dimmer to the driver. I have the 32" basic and I wired all of the power into a single plug so that I can control the unit from a single relay. However since the channels will not dim to 0, I would like another way to turn them off individually without using extra relays/plugs.Here is some additional info about the dimming circuits that I installed in my SB reef lights
I used the circuit from @Ryan115 from this post reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.
Here is a picture of my circuit. My perfboard doesn't have any traces on it so all the wiring was point to point on the backside (connections on back of board are in red below). The advantage of using the specific connectors listed below is that you don't have to cut any wires on the SB reef light black box so it is trivial to back to stock (if you have a different black box, I recommend opening your light to find out what type of connectors you will need before ordering!)
Parts list:
2 NPN transistors (I used 2N2222A transistors)
2 LM7810 voltage regulators
2 3-pin JST XH (2.5mm pitch) male connectors
1 2-pin JST SM (2.5mm pitch) male connector
2 1k ohm resistors
2 10k ohm resistors
1 solderable perfboard
A three wire input connector of your choice to connect PWM from the PCA9685 on Reef-pi to the dimming circuit. I used Ethernet cable and JST connectors but other people use headphone cable and jacks
I made a video to help explain more about the circuit, wiring, and functionality
I would have to look at it again, but since you are essentially shorting the output of the 10v to GND through the NPN, I think you would have issues trying to run it through a single 10V regulator. I want to mock this up now though.
You are right an rj45, rj9, rj11 , mini-xlr , mini-din all of them are better.. but none are as common, cheap and abundant as 3.5 mm jacks. They are also easy to solder and they do not require any special equipment to connect (rj11,9,45 all requires special crimping tools). This is why I went with audio jack. When I started I didnt know, later I learned and tried different things, and they work too. But I realized, this projects original goal was to keep things affordable and easy, and I found if we are little careful (which we can afford to expect, since its a DIY thing, average users will know a lot during the build phase) we can probably get away with it.
That said, anyone who is keen enough, can certainly go with better connectors, and we make it abundantly clear that this is a good idea as well. But not required.
I hope it makes sense
On a side note, this whole connector topic is pretty fascinating in itself. I have spent weeks reading, testing and tinkering with different connectors. I would agree and accept openly that this is not a solved thing yet....at least for reef-pi.
I work in IT, and have access to crimpers and the such. Might go with rj45 for my build, but it's been a while since ive done any soldering, so i might go with what you suggested as well.You are right an rj45, rj9, rj11 , mini-xlr , mini-din all of them are better.. but none are as common, cheap and abundant as 3.5 mm jacks. They are also easy to solder and they do not require any special equipment to connect (rj11,9,45 all requires special crimping tools). This is why I went with audio jack. When I started I didnt know, later I learned and tried different things, and they work too. But I realized, this projects original goal was to keep things affordable and easy, and I found if we are little careful (which we can afford to expect, since its a DIY thing, average users will know a lot during the build phase) we can probably get away with it.
That said, anyone who is keen enough, can certainly go with better connectors, and we make it abundantly clear that this is a good idea as well. But not required.
I hope it makes sense
On a side note, this whole connector topic is pretty fascinating in itself. I have spent weeks reading, testing and tinkering with different connectors. I would agree and accept openly that this is not a solved thing yet....at least for reef-pi.
