DIY Wavebox Tutorial from start to finish!

[disaster999]

i bought a tunze 6100 and single controller off someone hoping i will get some nice waves, but i found out the single controller dont create wates but pulses of water movement...i was kind of disappointed. stumbled across this DIY and i thought i might try it

i too fell victim of the uncorrected post about the 1uF and 10uF cap. i went out and bought the 1uF cap as per the parts list. it wasnt until i start searching for the said updated schematic for the LED that i found out i have the wrong capacitor. but still went ahead and put it together and tested the wave maker out. besides the pump cycling every 1 second due to the wrong cap, everything worked. i got the LED wired in and its happily blinking away.

 

[lcf425]

i bought a tunze 6100 and single controller off someone hoping i will get some nice waves, but i found out the single controller dont create wates but pulses of water movement...i was kind of disappointed. stumbled across this DIY and i thought i might try it

i too fell victim of the uncorrected post about the 1uF and 10uF cap. i went out and bought the 1uF cap as per the parts list. it wasnt until i start searching for the said updated schematic for the LED that i found out i have the wrong capacitor. but still went ahead and put it together and tested the wave maker out. besides the pump cycling every 1 second due to the wrong cap, everything worked. i got the LED wired in and its happily blinking away.

erm bro i am using 6055 with single control too just wondering do i attach this circuit to the single control? And where do i place this 6055 and does it work for a 2ft by 1ft tank??

 

[jesserettele]

tagging along here. Thanks for the build

 

[Acid Rain]

I cant find parts anywere what watt is the resistors ? every thing from all electronics looks different !

 

[Norbi71]

Hello,
we are preparing project of the new tank (63x23x22). We would like to mount 2 waveboxes with tunze 6055 (2psc). Waveboxes and overflow will be mounted outside of the tank. Will these pomps be good enough in your opinion?

Thank you
Norbert

 

[Sharpie_]

Hey guys, I'm setting up a 125 (4x2x2) and am debating whether or not to do a closed loop, or this. If I were to do this I would like help picking out a pump and whether or not a front to back wave would be nice or a side to side on would be better. Thanks in advance.

 

[jesserettele]

I am planning the same design (extrenal). What are the dimensions of your box? I am afraid that the open top could spill over if not deep enough. Could you post some pics of the outside and top of the external wave box? Thanks!

I did an external box on my 225 gallon I just set up. I used all of the parts from a tunze box and and welded an acrylic box to the outside of my tank. Works great and throws a 2" wave with no sacrifice in space.

Here are a couple of pics...sorry for the color, its hard to get a good picture with 3 400 watt MH and another 400 watts of VHO actinic,lol

 

[MattFrancis]

Hey guys, I'm setting up a 125 (4x2x2) and am debating whether or not to do a closed loop, or this. If I were to do this I would like help picking out a pump and whether or not a front to back wave would be nice or a side to side on would be better. Thanks in advance.

I am also setting up a 4'x2'x2' and I'm wondering what Tunze pump to get and what dimensions the wave box should be. I would like at least a 2" wave. Btw, this is an awesome diy.

-Matt

 

[Sharpie_]

I am planning the same design (extrenal). What are the dimensions of your box? I am afraid that the open top could spill over if not deep enough. Could you post some pics of the outside and top of the external wave box? Thanks!

Do you feel the powerheads are still necessary even with all of the tanks water moving?

 

[kttran_2005]

Hi All,

I fellow XTM's instruction to build it. I have 75 gal tank and from what i read, I might don't need a box. Anyway, my controller is working but not making much waves. I have a few questions about it and hope that someone could help me on this.

1. How many seconds does it turn on and off? Mine turns ON for about 6 seconds and then OFF for about 17 seconds for next restart. It seems to me stop time for 17 seconds is too long. that's why IMO it won't make much waves.

2. From videos on youtube that I saw, the LED light is flashing whenever tunning the 500k dial. Mine never flash at all. It's ON all the times.

3. Does anybody have this problem and know how to fix it?. I saw one person had this issue but it was the wrong resistor used. I am using all the materials that listed in xtm's list with 10uf instead correction.


If you have any suggestions or comments then please let me know. I really appreciate that.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[xtm]

** ERRATA: (C2) Confusion **

** ERRATA: (C2) Confusion **

All,

I get a lot of PM's asking about the discrepancy between the value of C2 on the parts list and the schematic. The answer is BOTH WILL WORK --- with minor exception:

IF the value of C2 = 1 uF, the on/off switching is faster, like this: - - - - - - -
(suitable to shorter tanks, or tanks 75g or smaller)

IF the value of C2 = 10 uF, the on/off switching is slower, like this: --- --- --- --- --- ---
(suitable for longer tanks, or tanks 80g or larger)

on a side note, tanks that are 8 ft- 15 ft long could use a C2 value of 47 uF - 100 uF, that will make a VERY VERY SICK powerful wave, because of the length of the tank.

How did I figure this? Well, when I moved from the 75g (the tank on the video) to a 67g, I put the wavebox on the shelf for almost 2 years.. and last week I just moved on to a larger 120g tank and realized I wanted to restart the wavebox again I was scratching my head trying to figure out why I couldn't for the life of me find the resonant frequency of this tank... then it hit me... the "discharge cap" (C2) need to be modified to fit this bigger tank. I replaced it with a 10 uF cap and it worked perfectly (video to come shortly)

Now a more refined way to do this mod is to put a switch between the 1 uF and 10 uF caps, to choose between a small tank and a big tank. That will be on the v2 schematic

So there... that is your answer to the 1 uF vs. 10 uF discrepancy.

 

[nowlan]

Whats the verdict on these?

Do the pumps last?
Are they noisy?

Still going strong?

 

[salty joe]

Somewhere in this thread it was mentioned that a coast to coast overflow will not work with a wavebox. Any truth to that?

Outstanding thread.

 

[salty joe]

All,

I get a lot of PM's asking about the discrepancy between the value of C2 on the parts list and the schematic. The answer is BOTH WILL WORK --- with minor exception:

IF the value of C2 = 1 uF, the on/off switching is faster, like this: - - - - - - -
(suitable to shorter tanks, or tanks 75g or smaller)

IF the value of C2 = 10 uF, the on/off switching is slower, like this: --- --- --- --- --- ---
(suitable for longer tanks, or tanks 80g or larger)

on a side note, tanks that are 8 ft- 15 ft long could use a C2 value of 47 uF - 100 uF, that will make a VERY VERY SICK powerful wave, because of the length of the tank.


Am I correct to assume that as the value of C2 goes up, a greater volume wave box will be necessary to avoid sucking air?

 

[indra]

for changing the R,C (timing component) value, try this application

 

[indra]

this my controller can adjust flow rate and duration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7FldHvjBiw

 

[salty joe]

I like that a lot! Did you make it? Looks real clean. What kind of pump is that?

 

[indra]

I like that a lot! Did you make it? Looks real clean. What kind of pump is that?

thanks, this the link i build it. i use resun 1500 wavemaker pump.

 

[salty joe]

Looks like a great link. Do you know if it can be translated to english?

 

[xtm]

also, my tank will be a 60x30x18. the wavebox will be on the left side. The tank will be rimless. I'm a little worried about that. Should I set my overflow at 16". That would give me 2" to play with. What size wave should I expect with two 6100.10's? XTM, help me out brother!!

Nothing to worry about - Re: rimless or not. Your STAND must be sturdy and must be able to take a swaying tank. No need for 2x boxes, 1 will do.

I cant find parts anywere what watt is the resistors ? every thing from all electronics looks different !

You can use 1/4 w, even 1/2 will do. 1w is overkill and unnecessary expense.

Hello,
we are preparing project of the new tank (63x23x22). We would like to mount 2 waveboxes with tunze 6055 (2psc). Waveboxes and overflow will be mounted outside of the tank. Will these pomps be good enough in your opinion?
Thank you
Norbert

Hey Norbert,
Sorry, I have no experience with the 6055's, but if they are weaker than the 6000's then I would say no.

Hey guys, I'm setting up a 125 (4x2x2) and am debating whether or not to do a closed loop, or this. If I were to do this I would like help picking out a pump and whether or not a front to back wave would be nice or a side to side on would be better. Thanks in advance.

My current tank is a 4x2x2 and it has this wavebox. Closed loop vs. wavebox... these are two different methods. I think that the wavebox complements the CL perfectly, but will not replace regular means of water movement. You should do both IMO.

Hi All,
I fellow XTM's instruction to build it. I have 75 gal tank and from what i read, I might don't need a box. Anyway, my controller is working but not making much waves. I have a few questions about it and hope that someone could help me on this.
1. How many seconds does it turn on and off? Mine turns ON for about 6 seconds and then OFF for about 17 seconds for next restart. It seems to me stop time for 17 seconds is too long. that's why IMO it won't make much waves.

No, that's too long. You want something around 1 sec on and 1 sec off... maybe shorter or longer, depending on your tank's resonant frequency.

2. From videos on youtube that I saw, the LED light is flashing whenever tunning the 500k dial. Mine never flash at all. It's ON all the times.

The LED flashes to signify "ON". It kinda helps you tune the frequency without looking at the actual box.

3. Does anybody have this problem and know how to fix it?. I saw one person had this issue but it was the wrong resistor used. I am using all the materials that listed in xtm's list with 10uf instead correction.

Check your caps. It seems to me like they are not discharging fast enough... make sure the polarity is correct, check the connections, and see if you used the correct values (uF mF, F...etc)

Somewhere in this thread it was mentioned that a coast to coast overflow will not work with a wavebox. Any truth to that?
Outstanding thread.

No truth to that. Go ahead and use a coast to coast... it will work.

Whats the verdict on these?
Do the pumps last?
Are they noisy?
Still going strong?

2 years and still going strong. To be honest, I'm somewhat surprised with my workmanship and circuit design... I'm not a pro technician by any means (I'm an accountant) but this thing seems to last forever. Here's my current 120g (4x2x2) and the same wavebox creating 4" waves 24/7. I'm still using the same controller that I originally used for this project. SPS LOVE this stuff!!!!