Controlling Viparspectra Lights with Apex

[outhouse]

yet the circuit board feeding the driver is -3.3v???

Tried to tell you its 5 V, look at the link I posted, and how they modded it

 

[oreo54]

Tried to tell you its 5 V, look at the link I posted, and how they modded it

Actually most pwm circuits work in a range.
That it works w/5v doesn't mean it works just with 5 v or 5v was what the orig output was .

It may

2.5-6v pwm for meanwell ldd-h.
3.5-8v for some ldd-l's which is why bf minis don't work for them @ their 3.3v output.

 

[outhouse]

The other guys main problem why I didn't do it, was not being able to get the lights below 10% which I require

 

[oreo54]

The other guys main problem why I didn't do it, was not being able to get the lights below 10% which I require

There is a trim pot in the driver but below like 10% funny things can happen.

PWM usually can " dim to zero" so those drivers got to be err. odd.
10v pwm being an exception. My uneducated guess is it's just converted using an R/C filter to to an analog voltage inside the driver making it 0-10v analog- like.
In the vid he did reduce it to like 1% w/ no known ill effects.

Documents or full reverse engineering if these drivers would be nice.

 

[outhouse]

Documents or full reverse engineering if these drivers would be nice.

They are actually complicated looking inside. Way over my head. Had a mishap and dropped an end in the tank and I pulled it out quickly. Used a dryer after taking cover off drivers. Now I actually get a moonlight simulation where its leaking enough juice to simulate moonlight to a T and it changes brightness and some nights completely dark. I thought it was toast. I did have to replace the control panel/timer digital display. 10 bucks from viparspectra. These guys are pretty cool, while their in China, they ship out of the US

 

[unchaotic]

Alright, a few weeks ago I hooked everything up and found the controls in Fusion and BAM ... absolutely nothing. Well now I need to steal a Kessil off my tank for my wife's classroom tank so I needed to get this Vipar up and running.

Tonight I finally had some time to figure it out and it was just a stupid skipped step on my part. (This is why I want to put together as simple of a tutorial as I can.)

So it works now, complete wifi control through apex with (some slightly limited) ramping controls. I'll try to start putting together my non-tech-savvy tutorial now and include the silly little mistake I made.

 

[outhouse]

(some slightly limited) ramping controls.

That is where I need love since I only run 10% B and 1 % W

Keep up the good work, and thank you, I need the dummy directions

 

[unchaotic]

I posted it separately and kind of rushed it because I wasn't sure if the draft would save. So there may need to be corrections and updates.

Controlling Viparspectra Lights with an Apex Tutorial (For Dummies)

This tutorial is to customize a Viparspectra LED reeflight to allow a Neptune Apex to ramp the brightness up and down. Why "For Dummies"? Well we can't all be experts at everything right? I've had people try to help me with adding ramping controls to a Viparspectra light and God bless them...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[unchaotic]

Actually most pwm circuits work in a range.
That it works w/5v doesn't mean it works just with 5 v or 5v was what the orig output was .

It may

2.5-6v pwm for meanwell ldd-h.
3.5-8v for some ldd-l's which is why bf minis don't work for them @ their 3.3v output.

Could you maybe help me out with the next step I'm trying to do?

So I'm trying to give the Steve's LED controller an independent power supply. How important is it to get the right voltage? I saw a tutorial where a guy said to use a 12v power supply but I'm wondering if he was simplifying the idea of a DC power supply.

Also, do you know what you would do with the grounds on everything when using an independent power supply? There's the wires coming out of each driver, the power supply itself and both ground connections on the LED controller. The tutorials I'm finding aren't super clear on what to do with all of them.

 

[unchaotic]

Could you maybe help me out with the next step I'm trying to do?

So I'm trying to give the Steve's LED controller an independent power supply. How important is it to get the right voltage? I saw a tutorial where a guy said to use a 12v power supply but I'm wondering if he was simplifying the idea of a DC power supply.

Also, do you know what you would do with the grounds on everything when using an independent power supply? There's the wires coming out of each driver, the power supply itself and both ground connections on the LED controller. The tutorials I'm finding aren't super clear on what to do with all of them.

Nevermind on the power supply. I feel stupid on that one. The driver said 12v on the power output to the controller board.

So I have ramping ability now but can't turn the lights off. I assume I've either done the grounds wrong or I'm missing something on the Apex end. If I unplug Channels 1&2 (on/off signals) the lights turn off. So it's like they are constantly providing power, even if I switch the "output?" to off on my dashboard.

 

[unchaotic]

Nevermind on everything. I trialed and errored my way to what I wanted and it's totally outside the box.

I have ramping and On/Off (I/O) control through the Apex. I'm powering the converter (ACI) with the blue channel I/O signal. The I/O signals are completely bypassing the ACI (except to power it of course).

Once I've double checked and successfully duplicated my results with another light I'll add a tutorial to the comments section of my other tutorial.