Using Thrusters as wave makers in aquariums

[ravi197699]

also, holy moses some of these take a lot of current, the Hydromea Diskdrive 50, which looks awesome, at 12V draws 15A. Sheesh! That means one powerhead... per breaker in your house. Brutal. I think the T200 is more less power hungry (but rats the diskdrive looks so cool).

T200 is more reliable but I have driven mine at 12v and too much thrust, so I dial it down to lower voltage to keep them at desired speed,

 

[sawdonkey]

This is probably unlikely, but could someone here with more electronics knowledge tell me if this could work? Could you wire one of the T200 thrusters to an maspect gyre controller and power supply and then get the functionality/programming of a gyre pulp? I’d be willing to sacrifice mine since it moves a pathetic amount of water. Or even do the same with a cheap Jeabao wave maker?

 

[vahegan]

This is probably unlikely, but could someone here with more electronics knowledge tell me if this could work? Could you wire one of the T200 thrusters to an maspect gyre controller and power supply and then get the functionality/programming of a gyre pulp? I’d be willing to sacrifice mine since it moves a pathetic amount of water. Or even do the same with a cheap Jeabao wave maker?

You can make a simple cheap circuit using 555 timer to control the thruster. Actually, if you search for old posts about building DIY wavebox, you could find the schematic diagram and building instructions. That said, I doubt that the thruster will be able to survive long being on and off every second or so. There is a lot of stress on the impeller when it starts from a standstill (this is one of the reasons Jebao pumps have started using "sinewave speed control" in their latest models, where the impeller does not stop completely but goes from fast mode to slower mode gradually). That thruster thing wasn't designed for work in constant On/Off mode, it is likely to fail mechanically, probably within the first month of use. It is possible to build an Arduino controller to control the ESC of the thruster in a similar mode, so that it would not stop completely between the pulses and would accelerate/decelerate slowly with a sinewave control signal. Shouldn't be hard to code.

 

[ravi197699]

You can make a simple cheap circuit using 555 timer to control the thruster. Actually, if you search for old posts about building DIY wavebox, you could find the schematic diagram and building instructions. That said, I doubt that the thruster will be able to survive long being on and off every second or so. There is a lot of stress on the impeller when it starts from a standstill (this is one of the reasons Jebao pumps have started using "sinewave speed control" in their latest models, where the impeller does not stop completely but goes from fast mode to slower mode gradually). That thruster thing wasn't designed for work in constant On/Off mode, it is likely to fail mechanically, probably within the first month of use. It is possible to build an Arduino controller to control the ESC of the thruster in a similar mode, so that it would not stop completely between the pulses and would accelerate/decelerate slowly with a sinewave control signal. Shouldn't be hard to code.

Suggestion above will be good idea to try, I have been using thrusters in my tank from almost a year now and so far so good, I use arduino board and built sketch to ramp thrusters up and down randomly and thrusters power on from 8am to 9 pm after and then at night they shut off and return pump flow is sufficient to keep flow and calm, but power of the thrusters is insane,

 

[sawdonkey]

I am not sure if Hydros wave engine can work to control this, but you will need thrusters T200 model or similar from underwaterthrusters dot com and you will need ESC 30a and power supply adjustable voltage from Amazon, 2 potentiometers and Ardunio Uno for controlling the speed. 3d Printed cage to be able to mount and secure with magnets, you will have to be creative but sky is the limit, this should be enough to get you going,

Thanks for all of the detail you’ve given. I’m about to pull the trigger on buying this stuff. I’ve been reading a lot on the Blue Robitics site. They have great guides. Couple of questions for you:

I assume the info you give above is for running two thrusters, right?

Why do you need potentiometers if the Arduino is doing the controlling? Is this just in case you want to manually adjust pump speed?

Are you suggesting an adjustable power supply because it would be easier to adjust the power supply than to adjust the arduino sketch? For example, if I want to tone down the pump, I could take the power supply from 20V to 12V rather than adjusting the arduino sketch from 1900 to 1700 microseconds?

Sorry to be an ask-hole…but I’m pretty excited about this!

 

[ravi197699]

Thanks for all of the detail you’ve given. I’m about to pull the trigger on buying this stuff. I’ve been reading a lot on the Blue Robitics site. They have great guides. Couple of questions for you:

I assume the info you give above is for running two thrusters, right? - it is for 2 thrusters but you can add more thrusters by changing the sketch,

Why do you need potentiometers if the Arduino is doing the controlling? Is this just in case you want to manually adjust pump speed? - You will need potentiometers for Arduino because you will "0" point for Arduino to ramp from down to 0 to what ever value you set in sketch

Are you suggesting an adjustable power supply because it would be easier to adjust the power supply than to adjust the arduino sketch? For example, if I want to tone down the pump, I could take the power supply from 20V to 12V rather than adjusting the arduino sketch from 1900 to 1700 microseconds? - that is correct

Sorry to be an ask-hole…but I’m pretty excited about this! - its ok to be ask-hole but ask any question no worries - lol

 

[sawdonkey]

I bought everything today. Starting with just one T200 on my 6ft peninsula. May get another down the road since the cost is just that of an additional pump and RSC.

I bought the power supply, RSC, Arduino R4, terminal block, wire connectors, necessary plugs/wires, and a box to put everything in.

I used the plans for the guards someone posted here and submitted them to on online printing vendor to get the front and rear printed. Cost less than $30. Now I just need to figure out how to mount it to my glass. @ravi197699 would you happen to have a 3d sketch of the mount you’re using?

I’m excited to build this thing next weekend!!!

 

[ravi197699]

I bought everything today. Starting with just one T200 on my 6ft peninsula. May get another down the road since the cost is just that of an additional pump and RSC.

I bought the power supply, RSC, Arduino R4, terminal block, wire connectors, necessary plugs/wires, and a box to put everything in.

I used the plans for the guards someone posted here and submitted them to on online printing vendor to get the front and rear printed. Cost less than $30. Now I just need to figure out how to mount it to my glass. @ravi197699 would you happen to have a 3d sketch of the mount you’re using?

I’m excited to build this thing next weekend!!!

I don't have 3d printer but I had someone design the rear cage with threaded part on the back and cup was printed as secondary piece that will screw on the threaded part and I inserted the magnet in the cup and sealed with 2 part epoxy, works well and water sealed completely, if some can print Jebao Rw20 bracket or know were replacement bracket can be bought, those are perfect for T200 pumps, I have 1 from Jebao RW20 pump and I tried using on T200 and it fits perfrect,

 

[Reef-Engineer]

I purchased all of the bits, have everything but the pump now. Going to enjoy getting it set up. I plan on gently increasing/decreasing speed to facilitate longest possible thruster life, hope to find a happy medium there. Ravi if yours are still running, that is a great indicator of decent longevity. I ordered a special T200 with a 3 meter cord to make it easy to stash away the electronics.

I'll now get thinking on printed cages and mounting options. It would be awesome to have it on a rotating arm, but thats a lot of load on an arm like that. Another challenge..

 

[sawdonkey]

I purchased all of the bits, have everything but the pump now. Going to enjoy getting it set up. I plan on gently increasing/decreasing speed to facilitate longest possible thruster life, hope to find a happy medium there. Ravi if yours are still running, that is a great indicator of decent longevity. I ordered a special T200 with a 3 meter cord to make it easy to stash away the electronics.

I'll now get thinking on printed cages and mounting options. It would be awesome to have it on a rotating arm, but thats a lot of load on an arm like that. Another challenge..

Awesome, we’re on the same schedule. I should receive everything but the T200 on Sunday and will start assembling.

I think I’m going to do a half attempt at mounting at first and get it dialed in before I have a mount made.

 

[ravi197699]

Awesome, we’re on the same schedule. I should receive everything but the T200 on Sunday and will start assembling.

I think I’m going to do a half attempt at mounting at first and get it dialed in before I have a mount made.

awesome, share some pictures please of your build

 

[sawdonkey]

I’ve begun!!!!

 

[Reef-Engineer]

I was programming the arduino last night, need to procure an electronics enclosure, excited to try and get a good smooth program set up.

Sawdonkey what are you going to use for a mounting setup? I am still on the fence there.

 

[ravi197699]

I was programming the arduino last night, need to procure an electronics enclosure, excited to try and get a good smooth program set up.

Sawdonkey what are you going to use for a mounting setup? I am still on the fence there.

Please do share the arduino sketch when you get chance, I will try this on my thrusters to see how it works?

 

[sawdonkey]

I was programming the arduino last night, need to procure an electronics enclosure, excited to try and get a good smooth program set up.

Sawdonkey what are you going to use for a mounting setup? I am still on the fence there.

Looking forward to seeing your Arduino sketch. I like Ravi’s with the randomness, but I might do something a little more deliberate?

To mount mine, I’m going to do something temporary for a while until I have someone 3d print something. For now, I bought a dust collector union that I will stuff the pump into and drill a bunch of holes. Then I’ll mount with a magnet from one of my other wave makers. The wave maker is 3.8 inches and the inside diameters of each end of the union are 3.98 and 3.76. One of the should work? Won’t know until I get my thruster in a couple days.

https://a.co/d/6EuYmE8

 

[sawdonkey]

I’ve got everything I need, but I’m fairly certain I got a DOA power supply. Once I get a replacement I should be up and running.

Here’s my temp thruster housing using a woodworking dust collector coupling and a magnet from a gyre. I’ll replace all of this with a sexy 3d printed housing once I dial things in.

 

[Reef-Engineer]

I was able to make the change to the code and added reverse option, after random flow and very smooth ramp up and down it turns reverse slowly for seconds and then ramp up and down again,

#include <Servo.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
const int servoPin1 = 9;
const int servoPin2 = 10;
const int potentiometerPin = A0;
Servo servo1;
Servo servo2;
void setup() {
servo1.attach(servoPin1);
servo2.attach(servoPin2);
randomSeed(analogRead(0));
}
void loop() {
int potVal = analogRead(potentiometerPin);
int pwmVal = map(potVal, 0, 1023, 1100, 1900);
// Determine the random step size for ramping, not more than 30% of the range
int maxStep = (1900 - pwmVal) * 0.3;
int step = random(1, maxStep + 1);
// Ramp up
for (int i = pwmVal; i <= 1900; i += step) {
servo1.writeMicroseconds(i);
servo2.writeMicroseconds(i);
delay(150);
}
// Ramp down
for (int i = 1900; i >= pwmVal; i -= step) {
servo1.writeMicroseconds(i);
servo2.writeMicroseconds(i);
delay(150);
}
// Random step size for reverse ramping, not more than 10% of the range
int reverseSpeedLimit = 0.15; // Adjust this value to control the maximum reverse speed
int maxStepReverse = (pwmVal - 1100) * reverseSpeedLimit;
int stepReverse = random(1, maxStepReverse + 1);
// Ramp up in reverse
for (int i = pwmVal; i >= 1100; i -= stepReverse) {
servo1.writeMicroseconds(i);
servo2.writeMicroseconds(i);
delay(200);
}
}

@ravi197699
I noticed that blue robotics suggests a few seconds of servo.writemicroseconds(1500) in void setup to initialize the thruster ESC. Did you find that unnecessary?

Also, I think 1100-1500 microseconds is reverse and 1500-1900 microseconds corresponds with forward right? Working on a program for it this weekend hopefully with some smooth transitions, I'll let you know if I find any worthwhile departures from yours.

Also, having a buddy machine a housing from plastic, if it comes out nice, I am sure he would be happy to make a few more.

was looking at titanium tubes (4"ID thin wall Ti tubing is like $125 for 4 feet, only need about 6 to 8" per thruster, so could make several Abyzz style housings, but they laser cut theirs and i think machining it would stink, so thats why I'll start with plastic.

 

[sawdonkey]

@ravi197699
I noticed that blue robotics suggests a few seconds of servo.writemicroseconds(1500) in void setup to initialize the thruster ESC. Did you find that unnecessary?

Also, I think 1100-1500 microseconds is reverse and 1500-1900 microseconds corresponds with forward right? Working on a program for it this weekend hopefully with some smooth transitions, I'll let you know if I find any worthwhile departures from yours.

Also, having a buddy machine a housing from plastic, if it comes out nice, I am sure he would be happy to make a few more.

was looking at titanium tubes (4"ID thin wall Ti tubing is like $125 for 4 feet, only need about 6 to 8" per thruster, so could make several Abyzz style housings, but they laser cut theirs and i think machining it would stink, so thats why I'll start with plastic.

I know basically nothing about coding Arduino, but everything you said is also what I’ve gathered. I’m going to use the standard potentiometer/Arduino code from Blue Robotics until I can steal a cool program from one of you guys that I assume are more knowledgeable than me.

 

[ravi197699]

@ravi197699
I noticed that blue robotics suggests a few seconds of servo.writemicroseconds(1500) in void setup to initialize the thruster ESC. Did you find that unnecessary?

Also, I think 1100-1500 microseconds is reverse and 1500-1900 microseconds corresponds with forward right? Working on a program for it this weekend hopefully with some smooth transitions, I'll let you know if I find any worthwhile departures from yours.

Also, having a buddy machine a housing from plastic, if it comes out nice, I am sure he would be happy to make a few more.

was looking at titanium tubes (4"ID thin wall Ti tubing is like $125 for 4 feet, only need about 6 to 8" per thruster, so could make several Abyzz style housings, but they laser cut theirs and i think machining it would stink, so thats why I'll start with plastic.

that will be great if design comes out right then I will take some also and pay which will bring initial cost down, I would love to try your sketch as well to see how my thrusters behave the sketch,

 

[ravi197699]

I know basically nothing about coding Arduino, but everything you said is also what I’ve gathered. I’m going to use the standard potentiometer/Arduino code from Blue Robotics until I can steal a cool program from one of you guys that I assume are more knowledgeable than me.

I have few that I can share with you, all do different things, you can even have pulse mode that will give you back and forth pulse,