Bluefish to 3up board wiring !?

Steven Garland · Sep 30, 2019

So I got this BF controller today from a fellow member here and I am trying to get the controller wired to the coralux board,I was told it was a 3-4 channel set up and wondering exactly how the wiring goes.

I have made a few lights but never had to wire one of these up before. So on the wiring on the far left is the power from the power supply,then the leds in the middle and the BR harness on the far right,so I would assume the wires for the BF just goes to the pwm's on the coralux correct ?

brandon clow · Sep 30, 2019

Never wired up a BF but I would anticipate a pwm and a ground would be all that's coming from the BF, just like a PCA 9685

Steven Garland · Sep 30, 2019

brandon clow said:
Never wired up a BF but I would anticipate a pwm and a ground would be all that's coming from the BF, just like a PCA 9685

That is what I was thinking,but I'm still not 110% sure. I'm waiting on Dave Fason from NanoBox to get back with me. I was thinking 1 ground (black wire) and the rest go to the pwm slots.

But then thinking since it was 3-4 channel,maybe they all went to a pwm but I know it needs to be grounded..

brandon clow · Sep 30, 2019

I think rapid led has a visual schematic under the BF page.

Edited* https://www.rapidled.com/bluefish-led-controller/

Steven Garland · Sep 30, 2019

brandon clow said:
I think rapid led has a visual schematic under the BF page.

I'll have to check and see. Thank you !!!

brandon clow · Sep 30, 2019

I have been really tempted to pick up one of these on ebay or maybe even new. Share your thoughts on it once it's up and running if you find the time.

Steven Garland · Sep 30, 2019

brandon clow said:
I have been really tempted to pick up one of these on ebay or maybe even new. Share your thoughts on it once it's up and running if you find the time.

Its a great controller,I have had one before in my mini tide fixture. What you linked was for the regular BF I have the mini without the ribbon wire,its just this connector for NB lights:

brandon clow · Sep 30, 2019

I see, I would think the board would have silk screen reference but maybe it's too small of real estate. With that layout i would really be surprised by anything more then pwm and gnd. I have only seen them as a 6 channel but I haven't seen all revisions either.

I heard there is a camera mode profile (user presets) which I would really like.

Steven Garland · Sep 30, 2019

Well Dave has a basic 2 channel light and 4 or 5 I can't remember I have always been too broke for the extra control lol.

Yeah that mode is pretty nice,I used all the time. I just wish I could remember how all the wiring went -__-

brandon clow said:
I see, I would think the board would have silk screen reference but maybe it's too small of real estate. With that layout i would really be surprised by anything more then pwm and gnd. I have only seen them as a 6 channel but I haven't seen all revisions either.

I heard there is a camera mode profile (user presets) which I would really like.

lol.

bblumberg · Sep 30, 2019

Perhaps this helps?

https://aquarium-led-controller.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/bluefish-mini-manual.pdf

I bought the ribbon cable that RapidLED sells

Bluefish Mini Breakout Ribbon Cable

.

www.rapidled.com

and used the pinouts in the guide to both power the BF mini and connect the channels to the board. In my case it was the LDD-H-4S board that uses an SCW converter in the 5th position. I used this one to power the BF mini and the fans. Grabbing one of these cables might save you some headaches wiring everything up...

oreo54 · Sep 30, 2019

Steven Garland · Oct 1, 2019

Okay so what I am gathering,no need for a ground or power wire tied into the coralux board due to using the power cable I am using that comes with it. The remaining wires tie into the pwm spots on the on the 3up ?

But the header has 3 connections,so maybe the 4th does ground ?

Steven Garland · Oct 1, 2019

Alright guys,

So I messed with the light some more and still having problems. I have the psu plugged into the drive box connection,I ran the red power wire to vss and the black to ground.

Plugged the controller lead into the BF (skipped the first set of pins),then where the leads goes into the driver box,I ran the black wire to ground and the red,green,white into the pwm slots.

As for the leds,I have:

- White/Blue/Cyan: Purple + & Orange - (jumped the - on the whites to the + on the blue/cyan channel)

- Royals/Violets: Blue + & White - (jumped the same way as the whites)

- Mints- Brown + & Green - (jumped same way as the other 2 channels)

Then tied into the Coralux Board the same way as they are wired on the array.

I can't get the BF Mini to blink up,goes green after the blink up for about 3 seconds then blinks red real slow once and then 2 times fast. Checked the router I'm on 2.4ghz,so I am waiting on Spencer from BF to see what the deal is.