NICREW HyperReef blackbox hard to find info

[daybreaksky]

how so, you got full control of the lights with timers, dimming and spectrum? looking into getting some of these for my 90

there are only 2 channels white and blue so you can control timing and dimming for each of the 2 channels.

 

[Optimuspyne1]

The lights worked on the apex.

Did you use stock 3 pole connectors or did you rewire the kessil connector for 4 pole?

 

[Mehnock]

The lights worked on the apex.

Hi, Can you attach some photos of the cable and pinouts. I bought the 150W for my upcoming 220G build.

 

[TheTangFuzz]

Hi, Can you attach some photos of the cable and pinouts. I bought the 150W for my upcoming 220G build.

I have not bought these lights, but this is what Nicrew told me on FB

 

[Mehnock]

I have not bought these lights, but this is what Nicrew told me on FB

Thanks for the input. I read somewhere else the Kessil cable is 3 connector and these lights have 4, what is Nicrew's Facebook handle?

 

[Mehnock]

I emailed Nicrew tech support and they were very fast to respond, great! They send me a diagram of the pinout of the port so we can make our cable now!
Here is a summary for the ones that cannot see the attached image, pin 1 is the tip of the 3.5mm plug:

Pin. Purpose
1. Blue Intensity
2. White Intensity
3. +24V - Short to ground(Pin4) for 3-pin mode
4. Ground

I hope this helps someone.

 

[TheTangFuzz]

I emailed Nicrew tech support and they were very fast to respond, great! They send me a diagram of the pinout of the port so we can make our cable now!
Here is a summary for the ones that cannot see the attached image, pin 1 is the tip of the 3.5mm plug:

Pin. Purpose
1. Blue Intensity
2. White Intensity
3. +24V - Short to ground(Pin4) for 3-pin mode
4. Ground

I hope this helps someone.

I've gotten this information from them as well. Not sure if we need to modify the cable or if they are claiming that the current one from kessil works.

 

[Mehnock]

I've gotten this information from them as well. Not sure if we need to modify the cable or if they are claiming that the current one from kessil works.

What I understand is that you can use the Kessil cable so long as you short pin 3 and 4 on the input to the lights. In my case, I'll be connecting it to a robo-tank board so I will be making a custom cable.

 

[xshmoox]

So is this pinout only to use the cable on your apex? I was wondering if I used the kessil controller do I still have to change anything on the cables?

 

[stepho725]

Hey folks, I'm going to ask here because I assume no one else will have ever heard of Nicrew lights. I've got a new 40B and have been looking at lighting for about a month. These lights seem like a nice alternative to the black box because they come with the mounting arms. However, I'm not really sure how much light I will need for my tank. I currently just have softies but plan to keep LPS and mayyybe an anemone as the tank ages. I have a Fluval Marine 2.0 on there currently but, it isn't doing my coral many favors. The zoas have had one baby and in the one month that it has been set up the tank is already becoming covered in coraline algae but otherwise they've been looking pretty miserable (water quality is fine) as of late so the light needs to go - or at least only be a supplemental source of light....?
So, given all that info (perhaps too much) could I get by with just one 100W on a 40B or will I need two 100W? I saw someone earlier in the year post that they had gotten two 50W but that didn't sound right to me. TIA!

 

[Slayyyter]

Hey folks, I'm going to ask here because I assume no one else will have ever heard of Nicrew lights. I've got a new 40B and have been looking at lighting for about a month. These lights seem like a nice alternative to the black box because they come with the mounting arms. However, I'm not really sure how much light I will need for my tank. I currently just have softies but plan to keep LPS and mayyybe an anemone as the tank ages. I have a Fluval Marine 2.0 on there currently but, it isn't doing my coral many favors. The zoas have had one baby and in the one month that it has been set up the tank is already becoming covered in coraline algae but otherwise they've been looking pretty miserable (water quality is fine) as of late so the light needs to go - or at least only be a supplemental source of light....?
So, given all that info (perhaps too much) could I get by with just one 100W on a 40B or will I need two 100W? I saw someone earlier in the year post that they had gotten two 50W but that didn't sound right to me. TIA!

Another option is you could go with the ledzeal zeus 150 but the nicrews are very powerful so you could probably do one 100w

 

[stepho725]

Another option is you could go with the ledzeal zeus 150 but the nicrews are very powerful so you could probably do one 100w

We don't have the ledzeal zeus available in the US it seems. One 100w will be enough spread for a 40B? I would love to buy just one lol

 

[mgav1976]

The lights worked on the apex.

How did you get them to work on apex?

 

[Mightythias]

What I understand is that you can use the Kessil cable so long as you short pin 3 and 4 on the input to the lights. In my case, I'll be connecting it to a robo-tank board so I will be making a custom cable.

Were you able to get this to work with your Robo-tank? IF so can you send a pic of your custom cable? I currently have two of the HyperReef 50s on my tank connected to a Kessil controller but I would like to integrate them into my Robo-tank instead.

 

[Mehnock]

Were you able to get this to work with your Robo-tank? IF so can you send a pic of your custom cable? I currently have two of the HyperReef 50s on my tank connected to a Kessil controller but I would like to integrate them into my Robo-tank instead.

I made the cable and connected to light 1/2 outputs of the robo-tank board. I am able to control them however once I start dimming, the lights start to flicker. I made another cable and it also makes the light flicker when dimming. I contacted Nicrew and they suggested an already made cable from Amazon. I bought the cable but have not had a chance to install it yet. My tank is 9 weeks old and I plan on not turning on the lights until week 16 so I have time to sort this out.

The kessil unit will be plan b.

Let me know if they work out for you

 

[Mehnock]

Were you able to get this to work with your Robo-tank? IF so can you send a pic of your custom cable? I currently have two of the HyperReef 50s on my tank connected to a Kessil controller but I would like to integrate them into my Robo-tank instead.

Are you using the Kessil controller X or A? Nicrew says the A-controller is not compatible but the A and X are both 0-10V capable so I don't understand what is the difference? They emailed me last week and said the reef-pi flickering is a sign it's not compatible. The reef pi is also a 0-10V controller.

Please let me know if you try the robo-tank controller with your lights, attached is the pinout of the cable they sent me. Pin 3 is shorted to 4 (ground) to connect it to a 0-10V controller

 

[Mightythias]

I made the cable and connected to light 1/2 outputs of the robo-tank board. I am able to control them however once I start dimming, the lights start to flicker. I made another cable and it also makes the light flicker when dimming. I contacted Nicrew and they suggested an already made cable from Amazon. I bought the cable but have not had a chance to install it yet. My tank is 9 weeks old and I plan on not turning on the lights until week 16 so I have time to sort this out.

The kessil unit will be plan b.

Let me know if they work out for you

I ordered my Robo-Tank and am still waiting for it to be delivered. What cable did they suggest from Amazon that you got? Do you have a link to it? When I get my robo-tank I will buy it and try it out.

 

[robsworld78]

I made the cable and connected to light 1/2 outputs of the robo-tank board. I am able to control them however once I start dimming, the lights start to flicker. I made another cable and it also makes the light flicker when dimming. I contacted Nicrew and they suggested an already made cable from Amazon. I bought the cable but have not had a chance to install it yet. My tank is 9 weeks old and I plan on not turning on the lights until week 16 so I have time to sort this out.

The kessil unit will be plan b.

Let me know if they work out for you

Did you try changing the frequency of the pca9685 driver to 600? That should clear up the flickering.

 

[eliben10]

If anyone is looking to connect this bad boy to apex for cheap -

I successfully connected to apex using one of these 4 pole 3.5mm to speaker wire. Basically cut the end of an ethernet cable and use the wires from pins 3-ground, 4-Left or White and 8-Right or Blue. ONLY 3 WIRES. The ethernet cable's (cat5) wires are color coded so you can easily see which wire is which pin. The adapter is also clearly marked Left, Right, Ground, and 24v. YOU DO NOT NEED THE 24V.

Various cables on bulk reef etc will not work because they are 3pole stereo plugs.

Here is the link to the adapter -

used

 

[phxreefer]

Has anyone else had success with the previous mentioned cord/ cat5 combo. Wiring it up tomorrow, don’t want to blow the apex