Help me build a simple light controller

[ReefGeezer]

Hi everybody. I have 2 Rapid LED Onyx fistures. They are controllable in 3 channels via a small controller that Rapid LED sold with them. BUT... they have been discontinued and nobody seems to have one for sale. The thing looks like a pretty simple 3 channel variable 0-10 VDC output, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know how I might DIY something that would work? Thanks. P.S. If you have the controller in question for sale, I'd be interested.

 

[GaryE]

Hi everybody. I have 2 Rapid LED Onyx fistures. They are controllable in 3 channels via a small controller that Rapid LED sold with them. BUT... they have been discontinued and nobody seems to have one for sale. The thing looks like a pretty simple 3 channel variable 0-10 VDC output, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know how I might DIY something that would work? Thanks. P.S. If you have the controller in question for sale, I'd be interested.

Check out the reef-pi project.

 

[elysics]

reef-pi is a powerful solution, but it doesnt do 0..10V signals. For that, you need one of the addon boards sold by some of the contributors in the reef-pi thread or solder one yourself.

How difficult that is depends on whether your light actually needs analog 0..10V or whether it is ok with 10V PWM too. Also how much curremt the signal line draws. If you are not that familiar with electronics or soldering, best to just buy one of the finished boards.

If you are, for low power draw and pwm you just need one transistor and two resistors per channel to boost the 3.3V PWM of the raspberry pi to 10V.

If you need actual analog 0..10V and or slightly more power draw than the pi should handle, then the best solution i have come up with/ loaned from a professional solution and that i am using is to first smooth over the 3.3V PWM to analog 0..3.3V with an RC lowpass filter and then boost that to 0..10V and at the same time make it able to handle more current with an opamp like the lm324 that conveniently has 4 channels on a single chip.

This also works with any other platform that provides any kind of pwm signal.

 

[elysics]

Here is an example schematic, but the resistor values are for operation with arduino and C1 should by 100µF rather than 10 for a light for a slower changing, but less rippling signal,

V1 is the input pwm signal, V2 external 12V supply powering the whole thing and ignore R5, that's supposed to simulate the light.

For a rpi the ratio between R2 and R3 needs to be different, if i remember correctly R3 needs to be double R2, for example R3=10K and R2=5K, best to use a potentiometer for R2 to finetune

 

[Michael Lane]

Hi everybody. I have 2 Rapid LED Onyx fistures. They are controllable in 3 channels via a small controller that Rapid LED sold with them. BUT... they have been discontinued and nobody seems to have one for sale. The thing looks like a pretty simple 3 channel variable 0-10 VDC output, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know how I might DIY something that would work? Thanks. P.S. If you have the controller in question for sale, I'd be interested.

Can you post some pictures of what you do have? How do you plan to control the lights?

@elysics did a great job explaining the electronics you would need. The next part of the puzzle is to define if you have some controller you already plan to use, or a simple timer, or just some knobs.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Thanks everyone. I've verified with RapidLED that the Onxy fixtures have a 0-10 VDC control circuit built in. I think I just need to supply the control voltage. There are 3 channels that have female mini connections to accept the voltage on the fixtures. My plan is to use a 10 VDC power supply and three potentiometers to control the 3 channels. I believe one small power supply can power the signal to six channels (2 fixtures). I have the OEM cables for the Onyx fixtures. I hope I'm right. It seems a simple wiring project.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Thanks everyone. I've verified with RapidLED that the Onxy fixtures have a 0-10 VDC control circuit built in. I think I just need to supply the control voltage. There are 3 channels that have female mini connections to accept the voltage on the fixtures. My plan is to use a 10 VDC power supply and three potentiometers to control the 3 channels. I believe one small power supply can power the signal to six channels (2 fixtures). I have the OEM cables for the Onyx fixtures. I hope I'm right. It seems a simple wiring project.

 

[SherridanSB]

Hi everybody. I have 2 Rapid LED Onyx fistures. They are controllable in 3 channels via a small controller that Rapid LED sold with them. BUT... they have been discontinued and nobody seems to have one for sale. The thing looks like a pretty simple 3 channel variable 0-10 VDC output, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know how I might DIY something that would work? Thanks. P.S. If you have the controller in question for sale, I'd be interested.

Hi i have the same problem here. But since its only installed above the algae refugium i want to use simple potentiometers. How did you solve the problem? Can anyone tell me, or show me, how its done?

Regards
Jörg

 

[ReefGeezer]

Hi i have the same problem here. But since its only installed above the algae refugium i want to use simple potentiometers. How did you solve the problem? Can anyone tell me, or show me, how its done?

Regards
Jörg

Sorry. I replaced the lights. I turned out they weren't putting out as much PAR as I thought.

 

[oreo54]

Hi i have the same problem here. But since its only installed above the algae refugium i want to use simple potentiometers. How did you solve the problem? Can anyone tell me, or show me, how its done?

Regards
Jörg

Just need a 10v power supply and 3 potentiometers.
Usually 10k pots but no guarantee .

You can try just a pot across the wires on a channel but considering it wasn't sold as "just pot" dimming (from what I can tell) unlikely to work..

As an example and NOT implying Rapid used them some meanwell drivers are fine using 10V analog. 10V PWM or a potentiometer.

NOW What I don't know.. which plugs or their polarity..

 

[oreo54]

Some hints here..

RapidLED Onyx Lights setup to Prolifux 4

Below is a picture of the wires that go from my RapidLED Onyx lights to an Apex DMV module to control the lights... that's how the previous owner had them setup. I want to hook up the lights to my GHL P4 controller. Is this the same connection/cord type the P4 uses on the 0-10v inputs...

www.reef2reef.com