Ati powermodule modification

Tbabcock · Jan 22, 2017

Ok has any one done this? I have the 8x54w powermodule and i attempted to change out the non dimmable ballast that controls just two of the lights with a dimmable ballast. I added two wires for the 10v control on the ballast to an RJ45 plug and pined it out for the v1 port on my Apex. Plugged it all up and programed the apex. When i ramped up the channel the light flickered for a second then went out. I stopped at this point so i can trouble shoot what could be wrong. Any advice would be great.

Ocelaris · Jan 22, 2017

What's the pinout of the ballast, what's the model number? I would assume that you can only go from 40-100 percent, have you confirmed your outputs from your apex is good still? I'd make sure that is at 10v or 0v, whatever correlates to 100 percent on. Also burn in of the bulbs is important, so don't dim too much immediately.

Tbabcock · Jan 22, 2017

What is the best way to check the out put on the apex?

Ocelaris · Jan 22, 2017

if it's 0-10v, hook up a multimeter on DC. If I was attempting this, I'd read the manuals of the ballasts very closely, I have had some 0-10v ballasts but never tried to incorporate them. You have to make sure you get positive and negative properly. If you run it without the 0-10v connection does everything work fine? can you find a 9v power supply laying around or try a 9v battery for that purpose? All I'm going through is making sure you get exactly what you think you are getting to the ballasts. If you post up the ballast model I'll see if I can look at the schematic to compare that against the apex vdm module.

Tbabcock · Jan 22, 2017

I have the 10v power to pin 5 and the ground to pin 6 for a V1 connection on the Apex.

Ocelaris · Jan 22, 2017

First thing, no ground for the ballast? It may/may not be needed, but just curious if the original had the ballast mounted to the chassis, this should accomplish the same thing, otherwise I'd ground the ballast just to be safe.

So from a quick google search, this is the pinout of the apex that I'm seeing. So 3 or 7 would go to your (-) labeled gray (your wire is white), and 4 or 8 respectively would be your (+) labeled violet (your wire is red) is that correct? So you would have 3 and 4 on the apex OR 7 and 8, but not both. Sorry if these are obvious questions, but just setting a baseline for understanding.

ballast manual:

http://www.hepgroup.net/proimages/Product_spec/dimmable_ballast/SD254-58_UNI-UL.pdf

If you've done that, I don't see any obvious logical errors, so I'd go back and check things like the ground, and if your signals are correct. If you're able to test the ballast without the apex, try a stand alone wall DC power on the ballast, and then confirm/deny that the apex is indeed putting out 0-10v DC on your multimeter.

I'm off to bed, but that's somewhere to start.

Tbabcock · Jan 22, 2017

Thanks for your help. The ground is under the lug that holds the ballast to the fixture. I have it wired like the diagram shows but the pin out is diffrent then in my book. Not that this is the issue considering i tested it with a good 9v battery and still nothing. Im thinking the ballast is bad but i will confirm that tomorrow when i can pull it all back apart. At fist the light would flicker and then shut off but nothing is working when i put power to that ballast sooo.. ya... may be toast.

gus6464 · Jan 23, 2017

That reefs.com picture is misleading in the way one would normally terminate an rj45. Going by the traditional method of terminating an rj45 by looking at the back of the connector with the clip facing away from you the configuration is really this:

1 V2+
2 V2 ground
3
4
5 V1+
6 V1 ground
7
8

Makes no freaking sense why on earth Neptune would make the pinout configuration like that.

Sabellafella · Jan 23, 2017

Tbabcock said:
Ok has any one done this? I have the 8x54w powermodule and i attempted to change out the non dimmable ballast that controls just two of the lights with a dimmable ballast. I added two wires for the 10v control on the ballast to an RJ45 plug and pined it out for the v1 port on my Apex. Plugged it all up and programed the apex. When i ramped up the channel the light flickered for a second then went out. I stopped at this point so i can trouble shoot what could be wrong. Any advice would be great.

You have no idea how long ive ben thinking about doing this, i just never got to it. I think theres a thread on the forum on someone who has done this quite recently. Anyway thanks for sharing!

gus6464 · Jan 23, 2017

T5 ballasts don't dim to 0. 0 is just no power. The way to properly program the ballast to the apex is you have to create virtual outlets with different dimming profiles and attach those outlets to the physical outlet code. So in essence:

turn on ballast
sunrise virtual outlet for ramp up
midday virtual outlet for whatever dim setting you want it to be
sunset virtual outlet for ramp down
turn off ballast (no power)

Tbabcock · Jan 23, 2017

Thanks for all of the replies. At this point i think is just a bad ballast, i have double checked the wiring and its all as it should be, the pin outs to the apex are correct but i have also put 9v to the ballast controls and still nothing. The ATI fixtures come with rapidstart sockets which are required for a dimmable application so thats checked off and i have checked the bulbs and they are still good so all thats left is to check voltage across the terminals and im sure im going to find none as i would have some kind of light if there were any.

Tbabcock · Jan 23, 2017

I also have a dusk and dawn profile programed to V1 and tied to my outlet #4 for this application. For testing i just plugged power into the wall and put 9v to the dimming controls of the ballast. All results are the same. I have had no reaction from the fixture since i first powered it up. A couple flickers of the lamps then off. Now there is nothing so im gonna say the ballast is toast.

gus6464 · Jan 23, 2017

Tbabcock said:
I also have a dusk and dawn profile programed to V1 and tied to my outlet #4 for this application. For testing i just plugged power into the wall and put 9v to the dimming controls of the ballast. All results are the same. I have had no reaction from the fixture since i first powered it up. A couple flickers of the lamps then off. Now there is nothing so im gonna say the ballast is toast.

And you are sure the ballast is grounded properly?

dysfam · Jan 23, 2017

I have been reading along and I just think a brand new ballast went bad just like this is strange...Unless I have a dimmable fixture to confirm that, I would suspect the conclusion that the ballast is bad.
I don't know how ATI do their dimmable fixtures. I just notice the difference between the old style sun power and the dimmable version. There are relays and a controller board on the dimmable version....If the controller board is doing the dimming, what are the relays, 1 per 2 bulbs, for? When my dimmable fixture went bad with 1 of the channels, I bought both the relay and the ballast, but only a relay was needed to be replaced...Like I said I don't know how they do it or how it should be done, I just provide information that might be obvious to some people but just in case you miss anything ;-)

gus6464 · Jan 23, 2017

dysfam said:
I have been reading along and I just think a brand new ballast went bad just like this is strange...Unless I have a dimmable fixture to confirm that, I would suspect the conclusion that the ballast is bad.
I don't know how ATI does their dimmable fixtures. I just notice the difference between the old style sun power and the dimmable version. there are relays and the a controller board on the dimmable version....If the controller board is doing the dimming, what are the relays for? When my dimmable fixture went bad with 1 of the channels, I bought both the relay and the ballast, but only the relay was needed to be replaced...Like I said I don't know how they do it or how it should be done, I just provide information that might be obvious to some people but just in case you miss anything ;-)

The board dims the ballast and the relay gives or cuts power to it altogether. You can't dim a T5 ballast to 0 so when you program the off setting on the controller it just cuts the power via the relay.