DIY Wavebox Tutorial from start to finish!

UPDATE:

Well last night I hit a road block.. I put the wavebox in my shallow tank (24x36x18) and it BARELY made a wave. BARELY. It did make a nice smooth wave but it was too mild. I need something that will spill water on the sides.

That experiment leads me to these conclusions:

1. For a wider tank, I will need a more powerful pump, like a 6200. (I was using a 6100) If you're satisfied with a 1" wave then a 6100 is fine but I felt that it was having a hard time pushing water out of the box.

2. I think the length of the tank has a lot to do with it also. I could never perfect that "see-saw" on this 3-ft tank like I used to on my old 4-ft 75g tank.

3. The depth (front to back) plays a huge part. 24" vs. 15" deep. Narrow tanks are easier to displace than wide tanks.

4. I think if I used an additional wavebox (two on the same side) that pumps at the same time, I can spill some water. but until then I will have to settle for a 1" wave.

5. The more cube-ish the tank, the harder it is to make the wave.

6. I also felt that a "fine adjustment" knob might have helped in this situation. I'll work on that this weekend.

I will post some new videos tonight when I get home.
 
Yes you can easily modify the circuit so one output turns ON when the other turns OFF and vice versa. Lookup "alternating LED flasher" circuit on Google, that should give you an idea on how to modify this circuit.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12764953#post12764953 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Deuce67
xtm, I know that this is a wavebox thread but, do you have any ideas on a diy controller that can alternate the pulse of 2 pumps on and off?
Click to expand...
 
Tuning the resonant frequency on a shorter distance is harder. Because you need to operate at shorter wavelength(the wave has less distance to travel before it reflects back) the problem may be that the box can't fill fast enough during the "off" period, and the subsequent "on" period is too short to displace enough water to get the amplitude that you need.

I think you need a higher amplitude (bigger pump) but not because of the tanks water volume so much as because you have a narrower window of time move the water, so you need a pump with a higher flow/time ratio to move the same amount of water in a shorter space of time.

I'd bet that you could pull the pump out of the box and get very similar results. That would tend to support the idea that the shorter shorter wavelength is hindering your ability to displace enough water at the current amplitude.

BTW, I found this from the SoCal forum, and have to say that it's an awesome thread. If I had the space in my cube, I'd consider building one of these. I will always have a cube or cubish tank , but maybe the next build could incorporate an external box and overflow.

Does the displaced water get affected by aquascaping? As an example, lets say you had a 60g cube with an external wavebox. If the aquascaping was essentially a central pilar of rock with coral branching out, would it disrupt the wave? My thought is no, and the wave would actually provide good movement on the side of the pilar oposite the outlet of the box; but I figgured I'd ask as I know you have experience with 60g cubes, and now waveboxes ;) 60g cubes are an odity with regard to flow because the relatively short dimensions don't allow higher flow rates to disperse before hitting the glass and running down to the sandbed causing all sorts of problems. A wavebox could really help with that issue, allowing the use of gentler powerheads/cl outlets for suplemental flow.

Keep up the good work, and if you decide do do a pulse width version of the controler, PLEASE post up schematics and a "how to".

Chris
 
hey Chris!

Tuning the resonant frequency on a shorter distance is harder. Because you need to operate at shorter wavelength(the wave has less distance to travel before it reflects back) the problem may be that the box can't fill fast enough during the "off" period, and the subsequent "on" period is too short to displace enough water to get the amplitude that you need.

correct. You are dead-on about the box not filling up fast enough - I felt that this is a very limiting factor if you want a good wave. Two waveboxes should solve this issue.


I'd bet that you could pull the pump out of the box and get very similar results. That would tend to support the idea that the shorter shorter wavelength is hindering your ability to displace enough water at the current amplitude.

I did and the result was phenomenal! It didn't have the seesaw motion though but the waves it created without the box was insane.


BTW, I found this from the SoCal forum, and have to say that it's an awesome thread. If I had the space in my cube, I'd consider building one of these. I will always have a cube or cubish tank , but maybe the next build could incorporate an external box and overflow.

thanks. It will be tough to implement these on a cube.. but we can always try a nanostream for that.


Does the displaced water get affected by aquascaping? As an example, lets say you had a 60g cube with an external wavebox. If the aquascaping was essentially a central pilar of rock with coral branching out, would it disrupt the wave? My thought is no, and the wave would actually provide good movement on the side of the pilar oposite the outlet of the box; but I figgured I'd ask as I know you have experience with 60g cubes, and now waveboxes ;) 60g cubes are an odity with regard to flow because the relatively short dimensions don't allow higher flow rates to disperse before hitting the glass and running down to the sandbed causing all sorts of problems. A wavebox could really help with that issue, allowing the use of gentler powerheads/cl outlets for suplemental flow.

Correct, the wave is not affected by your aquascaping. When I had my 60g cube, I was able to get away with one 6060 in the corner and a coarse sand. Looking back, I think that you can make some serious waves in a 60g cube with one 6000 and a pulsing controller - without the box.
 
Yup I spoke with a tunze rep and he said the 6100 would be good for a 3/4" to 1" wave in a 180. Their box uses a 6201 with a 6100 transformer.

A 6200, or a second box would definatly fix your problem.

Would you mind posting up a pic of the layout for a schematic that has a 24v input and simply varies the output(0-24v) rather then connect to the tunze DIN plug?

The resun pump I have just takes a simple 24v input that can be controled. You may want to look into one as well since the flow is about the same as the 6200, and they can be found on ebay all day long for well under $100. Plus you can get the 220v ones cheaper since you will basicly just cut off the controller and the pumps are 24v.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12766766#post12766766 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by energy_crisis
I noticed that your wave rises above and falls below your overflow. Does this affect your overflow rate?
Click to expand...

i assume that his overflow box holds enough water that when the wave is away the box dosent run dry....

on a side note i have seen that the overflow in the centre of the wave seems to have a continuous flow over it as the water in the centre of the wave dosent really seem to move..
 
This is impressive and im wondering if something can be done with a 6055 Nano stream for a nano box.. I have one if you would like to try XTM.. I could ship it to you.

I know Tunze is coming out with the nano boxes in december, but no clue on which pump they are going to use.
 
So how could one make a 7095 (multi controller) DIY like this XTM? PM me if needed! I'd like to get one but they are TOO much money!

Lunchbucket
 
xtm,

The signal you are giving the controller is just a Digital signal to the Turbelle driver box ( pin 3 of the 555 = Output ).
It just goes from HI to LOW.

Is the Driver Box capable of analog input?
I have never had one, so I cant experiment.

I believe the box allows speed control. If we took advantage of that, maybe we could tune the system to any resonance.

Are these pumps reversible? I cant tell from the online docs.

Stu
 
i see that koralia just introduced their DC pumps onto the market for 10$ more than their AC pumps.


anyway to use a small koralia pump on this?

ive got a 36" x 12" x 12" tank, i would love to have a wavebox instead of a bunch of bulky PH's
 
"anyway to use a small koralia pump on this?"

Absolutely. That's why I was suggesting the above. With a DC motor, you have speed control & direction switching.

Stu
 
aries70

"the new Koralia pumps are 12 VAC not DC"

If that is true then I am truly disappointed. I have been waiting for a DC power head so that we can really control it the way we want to.

DC motors can be precisely controlled ( speed AND direction ) with DIY levels of electronics. Controlling the speed of AC pumps is difficult ( to say the least ).

WHY CANT SOMEONE BUILD A DC POWERHEAD?!?!

Oh...... I guess that's my que.... off to the workshop ;-)

Stu

P.S. I have been assuming all along that SOMEONE makes a DC powerhead.......
 
"Hydor Koralia DC Powerheads
Koralia 12V pumps connect to the WaveMaker control system to provide a safe and easy wave effects ideal for the well being of marine and reef aquariums. "

^straight from aquabuys-.-com


im officially confused.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12781767#post12781767 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stugray
aries70

"the new Koralia pumps are 12 VAC not DC"

If that is true then I am truly disappointed. I have been waiting for a DC power head so that we can really control it the way we want to.

DC motors can be precisely controlled ( speed AND direction ) with DIY levels of electronics. Controlling the speed of AC pumps is difficult ( to say the least ).
Click to expand...

stugray,

I just quickly skimmed through that thread posted above by aries70, so my question is -- do Koralias have brakes/clutches/mechanism that prevent them from spinning backwards? I would assume that they do since they are 12VAC. If this is the case then they can NOT be used on the wavebox as the prop need to fully stop and doing this will kill the brakes prematurely.

I need to get ahold of these Koralias and study them... maybe we can try to build a controller for it.. but I would assume it goes something like this:

AC > Step down transformer > bridge rectifier > PWM > [DC] >inverter > Koralia.

If all you can do with a Koralia is alter the AC freq. to change the speed, couple that with the brakes I mentioned above then you won't be able to do much with these pumps.
 
"Hydor Koralia DC Powerheads
Koralia 12V pumps connect to the WaveMaker control system to provide a safe and easy wave effects ideal for the well being of marine and reef aquariums. "

^straight from aquabuys-.-com


im officially confused.
 
im typing up a quick e-mail to the product director of hydor.. talked to him previously about getting a replacement prop.

basically im going to flat out ask if the new "DC" pumps are actually dc, so we can settle this once an for all.
 
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