Please explain how to setup clouds feature

[Mortie31]

Hello
I can program my V4’s and I use a custom program, but for the life of me I can’t get the clouds to work, I go into the page set the time for heavy clouds in my case 15:00 on 21:00 off press the ON button and send, and I never see clouds or ny change even if I wait a few days. If I then go back into the clouds page none of the values I previously entered are saved everything just reads 00:00 and OFF. Hoping someone can explain what I’m doing wrong

 

[HolisticBear]

Hello
I can program my V4’s and I use a custom program, but for the life of me I can’t get the clouds to work, I go into the page set the time for heavy clouds in my case 15:00 on 21:00 off press the ON button and send, and I never see clouds or ny change even if I wait a few days. If I then go back into the clouds page none of the values I previously entered are saved everything just reads 00:00 and OFF. Hoping someone can explain what I’m doing wrong

I don't have the manual handy, but the clouds is sort of like a dimming feature. Soft vs Strong is how often/long it happens each hour. I didn't notice an immediate change. But I was standing by the tank the following day, and noticed the tank got brighter as I watched it (it came out of clouds). Not sure if that helps.

 

[Mortie31]

I don't have the manual handy, but the clouds is sort of like a dimming feature. Soft vs Strong is how often/long it happens each hour. I didn't notice an immediate change. But I was standing by the tank the following day, and noticed the tank got brighter as I watched it (it came out of clouds). Not sure if that helps.

Thanks, from what I can get from the manual the clouds are meant to come into effect for 5 mins every 15 mins,so should be very easy to observe, hopefully some one can let me know what I’m doing wrong

 

[gatorbait01]

Thanks, from what I can get from the manual the clouds are meant to come into effect for 5 mins every 15 mins,so should be very easy to observe, hopefully some one can let me know what I’m doing wrong

Did you ever figure this out?

 

[HolisticBear]

Did you ever figure this out?

I use the cloud feature. If I change the lighting program, I re-enable clouds. Seems to work fine. I don't adjust the lights these days, but the cloud effect is noticable to my eyes

 

[Scurvy]

What I found was that you need to be running the lights above a certain intensity before the cloud feature will work. Not sure how high.

 

[gatorbait01]

So it's normal when you go back into the clouds menu after previously setting it shows it disabled?

 

[Scurvy]

Yes, Mine always shows off whenever I go into the settings.

 

[Mortie31]

Yes, Mine always shows off whenever I go into the settings.

And do the clouds still work? even though it shows OFF in the settings? sounds strange to me, wonder why it doesn’t just remain showing the ON position. I think orphek have missed the mark with these gateways and the software on the V4

 

[Scurvy]

And do the clouds still work, even though it shows OFF in the settings, sounds strange to me, wonder why it doesn’t just remain showing the ON position.

Yes, so long as the set intensity is above whatever the minimum is then the cloud function works even though it will show off if you go back into the settings after sending the command to turn it on.

 

[Mortie31]

Yes, so long as the set intensity is above whatever the minimum is then the cloud function works even though it will show off if you go back into the settings after sending the command to turn it on.

Thankyou, do all 4 channels have to be above the minimum intensity? Or can 2 be above and 2 channels below and the clouds still work? I still think it showing clouds as OFF after saving is bonkers and some very idle code writing by orphek

 

[Scurvy]

Thankyou, do all 4 channels have to be above the minimum intensity? Or can 2 be above and 2 channels below and the clouds still work? I still think it showing clouds as OFF after saving is bonkers and some very idle code writing by orphek

I think its cumulative. Here’s a link to the manual. It says 80% for light clouds, 50% for heavy clouds. Page 23/24.

https://orphek.com/led/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Orphek-Atlantik-V4-Atlantik-Compact-V4-manual.pdf

My guess is because you are connecting to the gateway and not directly to the fixture you see the default set point which is off regardless of what the last command sent to the fixture was. That’s just a guess though.

 

[Mortie31]

I think its cumulative. Here’s a link to the manual. It says 80% for light clouds, 50% for heavy clouds. Page 23/24.

https://orphek.com/led/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Orphek-Atlantik-V4-Atlantik-Compact-V4-manual.pdf

My guess is because you are connecting to the gateway and not directly to the fixture you see the default set point which is off regardless of what the last command sent to the fixture was. That’s just a guess though.

Thankyou... it must be all 4 channels above 50% as I can’t get clouds to work... I’ve always wondered why light clouds have a higher setting I would of thought heavy clouds would of worked better with higher light settings as you would get a bigger change from light to dark...

 

[Scurvy]

Thankyou... it must be all 4 channels above 50% as I can’t get clouds to work... I’ve always wondered why light clouds have a higher setting I would of thought heavy clouds would of worked better with higher light settings as you would get a bigger change from light to dark...

I agree. The logic with those numbers seems backwards to me too. I wonder if it was misinterpreted during translation. Here’s my schedule running heavy clouds from 12-8pm and I visually see the change.

 

[Mortie31]

I agree. The logic with those numbers seems backwards to me too. I wonder if it was misinterpreted during translation. Here’s my schedule running heavy clouds from 12-8pm and I visually see the change.

Interesting you have one channel that appears to be under 50% and yet the clouds still work

 

[Scurvy]

Interesting you have one channel that appears to be under 50% and yet the clouds still work

Yep. That why I assumed a cumulative 50% was adequate. Pretty sure Ive had channel 1 under 50% with channels 2/3 near or at 100% and channel 4 up towards 75% and had the clouds work then too but it’s been a while since I messed with my settings.

Are you pressing send while still on the clouds page or going back to the light channels page and sending from there? I always send the command from the clouds page.

 

[Mortie31]

Yep. That why I assumed a cumulative 50% was adequate. Pretty sure Ive had channel 1 under 50% with channels 2/3 near or at 100% and channel 4 up towards 75% and had the clouds work then too but it’s been a while since I messed with my settings.

Cool thanks, pity orphek can’t be bothered ever answering posts and explaining things...