DIY Wavebox Tutorial from start to finish!

Well done XTM for such a good article.

Have built the system and it worked first time :) I added the on off switch and an LED into the original circuit and these work fine.

I have used an old Juwel Filter box removed from a Vision 180 which it turns out is the right dimensions! Just had to cover up the vents at the bottom of the box using some acyrlic and silicone.

Been testing the wavermaker in my 5' tank and it works but sort of. I can get a wave effect but its very gentle so not sure what I need to do to get a better effect.

I get a variable pulse to the tunze 6100 that I am using but not sure the on then of time is long enough. The LED flashes at about 1/2 sec intervals on the lowest setting. The wave box level drops by about 2/3 inches before it refills as the pump switchs off.

The only differnce with the componets is that I have used is that I have a 470k Lin pot as the supplier I used dont have 500K.

So any suggestions on what I can do to increase the on /off duration? Change the pot for a bigger one say 1meg ?

Or is it that a Tunze 6100 is not big enought for a 5' x 2' x 2'6" tank?

Any help appriecated
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14216052#post14216052 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barry9590
Well done XTM for such a good article.

Have built the system and it worked first time :) I added the on off switch and an LED into the original circuit and these work fine.

(snip)

That figures. I'm just crossing my fingers that the 3rd time is going to be a charm.

I'm still waiting on my solderless breadboard.
 
If the LED is blinking properly in response to the potentiometer, then you probably have something wrong with the cable to the pump. Double check the pinout.
 
can someone recommend what pump to use to make one for a 29 gallon display tank??? 30w x 12d x 17t

would the diy controller use the same specs???

or would i just be better off ordering the nano wavebox 6206 complete setup????
 
Old driver - different pinouts?

Old driver - different pinouts?

Great idea, thanks XTM and others!

I built this circuit on a breadboard, the LED flashes and the pot adjusts the speed of the flashing. This is testing with a 5v DC supply.

When connected to the driver however the pump stays on and the LED does not light.

Using a multimeter I think I found out why - when testing each terminal on the DIN and using PIN 2 as ground I get these results :

PIN 5 = 0v
PIN 4 = 8v
PIN 3 = 7.1v
PIN 1 = 0v

In other words there's no voltage coming from PIN 5. The driver is about 6 years old and works fine when connected to a multicontroller. Could Tunze have changed the driver circuitry - ie the pinouts on the DIN? I can't see how this would ever work on my driver using PIN 5 to supply the voltage.

I tried connecting using PIN 4 instead of PIN 5 as the voltage supply. The LED lit and responded to the pot but the pump/driver ignored it and carried on running constantly.

Can anyone help me understand what's going on?

Thanks
 
Just to add:

I double checked which pins were which wire by peeling back the plastic cover at the DIN end and confirming wire colour<>PIN.

When testing the voltage output from the driver this was done with the pump on but no DIN cable attached. I then clipped the multimeter ground to PIN 2 took meter readings from the other 4.

I also tested with the circuit plugged in to the driver and confirmed that the voltage output at the PIN 1 terminal on the circuit was being switced on and off in time with the led . I think this proves the circuit is working correctly (even though it's not controlling the pump) ?

Driver model is 7240.26, manuf date is 2002.

Stumped now :(
 
I think there is a post on here that talks about wire color and where they lead to.

Has anyone used a Tunze Stream 2? I know they are controllable but I think they use a different controller so I was wondering if the DIN 5 was still in use.
 
Ok I figured it out...for those who wanted to know here is a list of Stream 2 pumps that are controllable.

6105
6205
6305

Apparently they are all compatible with the Single controller (7091) and the Mutlicontroller (7095) or the (7096).
 
Thanks, but as I posted above, I already know which colour wire leads to which pin as I opened the DIN plug cover to check.

The problem is that pin 5 is being used to supply v+ on this circuit but testing with a multimeter shows that my driver does not supply v+ on this pin. Pin 4 supplies 8v and pin 3 supplies 7.1v.

I'm guessing I have to use pin4 instead of pin 5. Pin 2 for ground is ok as that's the same. What about pin 1 (the control pin) though? If I use pin 1 as in the circuit it has no effect on the pump.

Does anyone know how I can work out which pin to use for control ( given that pin 5 is different on my driver and pin 1 has no effect) ?

Has anyone else had this problem after checking driver outputs with a multimeter?
 
so i'll ask again......

can someone recommend what pump to use to make one for a 29 gallon display tank??? 30w x 12d x 17t....still use the 6055 as recommended in the original post or is there another to consider??

would the diy controller use the same specs???

or would i just be better off ordering the nano wavebox 6206 complete setup????

how about mounting it externally??? i have extra area behind the tank.....

also, do you still have the video....the one in the original post seems to have been deleted
 
James it would be more cost effective to buy the nano box then to build unless you already have the 6055, IMNE but i'm not sure if the box will be very efective for a 29.

dram the 6100 should work it's has todo more with tank length and frequancy of the pulses then anything else and as I understand with 6' tank you should get a full wave instead of just one side up other side down.
 
Thanks aries, I'll get the materials and start construction probably today. I already have a 5x5.5x14 acrylic box which I think I would work fine, I'll let you know how it goes.
 
It really also depends on the width of your tank also. If you have a 48x36x20 foot print, you might honestly need two pumps boxes pending on what type of waves and flow you want.
 
This is my tank. It is 72Lx24Wx30H. It's kind of empty because I'm giving priority to the equipment.

21213901.jpg
 
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