210 Upgrade Build with LED Build

[hardin4019]

That is a random pic I found from google I decided was worthy of keeping as a desktop. It is the only picture of the tank on the site. Basic idea is to leave a few inches of sand in the bottom front of the tank and put an sloped wall of rocks up the back wall... This tank in the shot has a single gap like a valley in between to 2 mountains. Wish I still had the book from my local library, there were several descriptions of different layouts like this sloped wall, peninsula's islands, etc.

 

[nuclearheli]

Ok, today was devoted to putting the wall back together, insulating the pipes in the wall, foaming the pipes and all openings, running electrical and USB for my Neptune.

The location of my sump in the basement on a portion of my bench allows me to use a dedicated 20Amp circuit to connect my Apex modules to. I decided I wanted the tank to all be on the same dedicated circuit. So I ran an electrical line along with the plumbing to the bench down stairs and put an outlet behind the tank. I also needed a clean way to connect my Apex units in the basement with the ones on my light and under my tank to control the three Vortec's so I ran a USB wall connector from the basement to the back of the tank.

Center bay of the tank, wall has first coat of Spackle.

When the wall is done and painted I have two decorative plates to put around the pipes where they meet the wall. I also have white foam sleeve to go around the pipes to further decorate them as well as keep the sound level down to zero.

Bad angle sockets are straight.

From the basement side of things.

And lastly, a shot of the tank with the back painted. Can't get a good shot without a reflection of me and the other tank.

That canopy is going to be sweet over this tank. Tomorrow I have plans to fill the tank with tap water from the hose to do a final leak check. Once I have it drained I can start planning the rock layout. My sump should be here next week some time so I can finish that. Once the rocks are all in place I can mount the canopy, fill it with RO and start making salt water.

Then it's on to phase two and three of this build. Automatic top off tanks, salt tanks and dosing system. All coming.

 

[hardin4019]

Local computer shop guys would shoot you. USB cables should not be longer than 15 feet without a powered hub to make a run longer than 15 feet. So, just in case that turns out to be accurate, watch out for issues with your USB connected devices.

 

[nuclearheli]

Local computer shop guys would shoot you. USB cables should not be longer than 15 feet without a powered hub to make a run longer than 15 feet. So, just in case that turns out to be accurate, watch out for issues with your USB connected devices.

That would be in fact true if I were using it as a USB port however the Neptune only uses the USB cable and also warns you very strongly about plugging it into a real USB port, severe damage will occur.

However, the wall plate connection has a 4' cable connected to it making it to the basment where you see it. On that wall I will be mounting a Neptune 8 port power plug. From the wall to under the tank will only be another 3' length maximum. Total length of any given cable between neptune modules will be at most 8' which will be the one from my canopy to under the tank.

No connection will ever exceed 15 feet in this setup. The computer boys can save their bullett.

 

[hardin4019]

Lol, thats a good thing then.

 

[nuclearheli]

That is a random pic I found from google I decided was worthy of keeping as a desktop. It is the only picture of the tank on the site. Basic idea is to leave a few inches of sand in the bottom front of the tank and put an sloped wall of rocks up the back wall... This tank in the shot has a single gap like a valley in between to 2 mountains. Wish I still had the book from my local library, there were several descriptions of different layouts like this sloped wall, peninsula's islands, etc.

Sorry, your original statement didn't register in my brain. Here is an evening shot of my 90. It's a little dated, much more going on at the moment but as you can see I agree, lots of places for everyone to swim and hide, very important. Lots of towers and caves.

 

[hardin4019]

You could probably do the sloped back wall, maybe do like 2 mountains building up toward the top more right around the overflows. I looked around and several people were saying that this idea creates dead spaces in the water, so you could do it but leave a way for water to flow through, use some egg crate or something to keep it hollow but still sturdy. I favor my arch and cave structure. I have a few pieces that are really showy looking pieces that stack nice to give me the arches, with a little space in between to create separate islands. I also have a pile that is all stacked up and makes a nice open cave.

My beginner tank:

 

[1Snapple]

Looks good so far, can't wait to see that canopy over it.

 

[aquamoe]

Excellent build

 

[nuclearheli]

Having huge problems getting my apex controller to work for my dimming signal. Anyone get this to work?

 

[Enjoy]

What exactly do you need help with on the Apex dimming? I have set-up my Apex to dim my diy LED fixture in the past and it wasn't too bad.

Refer to the new users guide if you haven't.

 

[nuclearheli]

What exactly do you need help with on the Apex dimming? I have set-up my Apex to dim my diy LED fixture in the past and it wasn't too bad.

Refer to the new users guide if you haven't.

Thanks. I did refer to the guide but I am still having no luck. First of all the pin out. I believe I understood the jack wiring, V1/V2 would be pins 1/2 and 5/6.

*** Does anyone have the color wire codes if I just take a straight Ethernet cable and cut off one end? That would eliminate some of the variables for me.

I set up a RampUp and RampDown profile. These configurations were just for testing and I was watching the voltage with a multimeter, not with the actual fixture.

RampUp: Start intensity 0, End intensity 75 Duration 60 minutes
RampDown: Start intensity 75, End intensity 0 Duration 60 minutes

Now for the outlet configuration:

1: WhiteLED_dim

If Time 06:00 to 09:00 Then RampUp
If Time 09:00 to 21:00 Then ON
If Time 21:00 to 24:00 Then RampDown

2: BlueLED_dim

If Time 06:00 to 09:00 Then RampUp
If Time 09:00 to 21:00 Then ON
If Time 21:00 to 24:00 Then RampDown

They don't ramp up or down. Sometimes the read 10 Volts, sometimes they don't. I have also read 14.95 Volts which is completely bizarre. I have also read 10 Volts on V1 and V2 when the green lights to the right and left of the plug are not even on. It's completely random and strange.

And finally here is the latest bizarre twist. Yesterday I started getting Email's from my Apex around the time I was playing with the VDM. They are now coming every single hour to the minute. Here is the latest:

Alarm Statement: If Power Apex Off 000 Then ON

Mar 07 2011 13:14:40
Temp pH ORP
78.7 8.23 249
Var1 is OFF Manual
VarSpd2_I2 is OFF Manual
VarSpd3_I3 is OFF Manual
VarSpd4_I4 is OFF Manual
SndAlm_I6 is OFF Auto
SndWrn_I7 is OFF Auto
EmailAlm_I5 is ON Auto
T5Lights is ON Auto
LEDs is OFF Auto
Heater is OFF Auto
Halides is ON Auto
CO2 is OFF Manual
Chiller_3_6 is OFF Auto
CO2_3_7 is OFF Auto
Ozone_3_8 is ON Auto
Vortech_4_1 is VorDay Auto
Light1_6_1 is ON Auto
Light2_6_2 is ON Auto
BlueLED_pow is ON Auto
WhiteLED_pow is ON Auto
Light1_A1 is ON Auto
Light2_A2 is ON Auto
Heater_A5 is OFF Auto
WhiteLED_Dim is ON Auto
BlueLED_Dim is ON Auto
Var_3 is ON Auto
Var_4 is ON Auto
Var_5 is ON Auto
Var_6 is ON Auto
Power Failed: Mar 07 2011 07:13:45
Power Restored: None
Power OK: EnergyBar_90 (0 Days 06:00 - 4.7 Amps)


I posted in the Neptune forums but nobody has yet answered. I cannot stop the Emails. The outlet configuration sending out the Emails is:

Set OFF
If Temp > 82.0 Then ON
If Temp < 75.0 Then ON
If pH < 07.70 Then ON
If pH > 08.50 Then ON
If Power Apex Off 000 Then ON
If Power EnergyBar_90 Off 000 Then ON
If Power MP40_90 Off 000 Then ON

Its like this thing just lost its mind or something.

 

[nuclearheli]

Its like this thing just lost its mind or something.

I think I may have just found one of my problems. My module status page reports this:

VDM module 001 002(OLD) 007 LED_Dimmer

I just got the VDM module and I guess it was stupid to assume it had the latest firmware. I think I will start by giving that a try.

 

[Zoa Robber22]

very nice tank

 

[1Snapple]

Is it fixed?

 

[Heffe01]

Have you had any problems with heat buildup using the T-slots? I am very impressed with your build and am considering using them as well since I thing they give a better apperance over the standard heatsinks.

 

[nuclearheli]

Have you had any problems with heat buildup using the T-slots? I am very impressed with your build and am considering using them as well since I thing they give a better apperance over the standard heatsinks.

Not at all. In fact my fans don't even go on. I suspect at high noon all lights blazing I may need the fans now and then. These bars have a great deal of surface area, they are also hollow.

 

[nuclearheli]

Is it fixed?

No, in fact I just got royally screwed over by this module. I hooked this module up and tested each lead carefully before connecting it to my drivers. Somewhere along the way the module must have taken a dump and I believe that because it over shot my 10 volts by as much as 5 volts at one time I blew out 9 of my Royal Blue LED's in the first string of my series.

I am trying to figure out what went wrong. I already removed the first 9 LED's and tested the others and they are fine. I have 4 extras so I just ordered 5 more.

Now I need to figure out what happened to cause this mess. It could have been worse, I will be back in operation in no time but not knowing what caused this gives me grief. I ran for perhaps 50 or more hours on the manual dimmer with no issue. 10 minutes on the Apex and boom!

So I took the apex module out and tested it. At any given time it is putting out anywhere from 9 to 15 volts. I plugged it into my main Apex module.

Here is a shot of the VDM with V1 and V2 on. You can see the two green lights next to the cable as it enters the module. Notice the multimeter!!!

Now here is yet another kicker, again a shot of the module but this time V1 and V2 are off. Notice no green lights next to the plug however take note of the multimeter anyway.

So, my fixture is a little banged up but no big deal, it will be easy to fix. My worry now is what is wrong and how can I prevent this from happening again. Apparently, and this is only a guess, over driving the 0 to 10 Volt signal caused a current surge which went through 9 LED's before shutting the Blues down. Fortunately my patience paid off because I was testing only one string at a time so my whites were not even powered up.

Questions:

1. How did this happen.
2. What's wrong with the Apex? Which brings to light a second question, why since yesterday am I getting an Email error every single hour with this error:

Alarm Statement: If Power Apex Off 000 Then ON

I have no idea why this is also happening to the Apex and no idea how to fix it. So far nothing but silence from Neptune. I will get into this tomorrow.

3. What necessary circuitry do I need to install to make sure that I cannot get this type of surge again, even though it technically should not have happened anyway.

Bad day but still moving forward.

 

[Heffe01]

Not at all. In fact my fans don't even go on. I suspect at high noon all lights blazing I may need the fans now and then. These bars have a great deal of surface area, they are also hollow.

One more question. Did you have to mill down those ripples on the Aluminum stock that you mounted the LED's too? Or did you just fill it in with thermal paste?

 

[SethTheWineGuy]

Great stuff! You're giving me some great ideas