Dimmable Ballast Q

[banditpowdercoat]

I'm redoing my DIY LED's Mix of Multichip and 3w. Will be getting a Apex soon too. I want sunrise/sunset and the changing light times withthe season etc BUT, a Q on powering the Meanwell drivers. The Dimming will effectively turn them off, right? Do I still need them to be powered on a switched outled form the Apex? IE, Apex power outlet, then ramp up light's, then ramp down for sunset, once at 0%, shut off outlet? Or can I leave the drivers pluged into 110 and just off/dim/on with the 0-10v control? Would be much easier if I could leave them pluged in as I am planning 9 independant driver controls, as well as a LSM. Not only sunrise, but Rise at one end of tank, set at other.

[Delphinus]

Been wondering this myself, I'm eventually going to put my dimmable t5 ballasts on the Apex.

The answer might be buried in the Apex documentation, it's surprisingly thorough: http://www.neptunesystems.com/support/docs/

Let me know if you find out, or meanwhile I'll post back if I happen find the answer first..

[Delphinus]

OK think I found the info. On page 63 of the Comprehensive Manual (first link at the address above) I found this:

Programming for dimmable lights is a little different than regular lights or even variable voltage pumps. For
starters, you use two outlets for each ballast – an EB8 outlet for the 120vac power and a variable speed outlet to
control the dimming. This is true whether you have VHO or LED.

Guess it depends on the ballast, maybe 0 on the input doesn't shut the ballast completely off so you want to cut the power at the plug as well.. Weird because I don't think you need to do that for controllable pumps..

[banditpowdercoat]

Ya I read that in the manual. Completely read the Apex manual the past 3 nights here after shift. I guess it more a question for Meanwell. maybe tomorrow I'll appropriate the companies long distance and call them with an "electrical question" on their drivers powering our LED lights throughout the plant HAHAHA We do have lots, but there all Non dimmable Thats where I got 3 of my main LED chips from hahaha

[FragIt Dan]

You can power your drivers from a non-Apex plug while dimming them from your Apex.

I am dimming multiple Meanwell ELN 60-48Ds with an Apex (full unit) on DIY dimming cables. My LEDs are plugged into an external (non Apex) timer power bar that also powers my LED cooling fans. I set my power bar to power up fans and LEDs at 7:30am and off at 8:30pm but dim my LEDs according to:

Fallback OFF
Set BlueUVDn
If Time 08:30 to 19:30 Then BlueUVUp

My BlueUVUp profile is a ramp that goes from 10 to 80% in 30 minutes while BlueUVDn runs from 80% to 0 in 30min.

My second dimming channel is the same but for RedWhtUp and RedWhtDn

What does this accomplish?
1) I don't need to use up valuable outlets on my EB8
2) I move a bunch of power off my EB8 which is limited to 15A as is your circuit in your house.
3) My LEDs don't get power unless my fans also get power (can't accidentally turn them on unless my fans are running). This means you can't manually turn your LEDs on unless you are standing at the external power bar and manually switch it on to give your LEDs and fans power.
4) my fans run for an hr after my LEDs shutoff to cool things down. Realistically 5min would be enough.

Things you might want to know:
I am running multiple drivers off each Apex dimming channel.

My pH probe readings go wonky when my external power bar kicks on and even more when my LEDs kick on and seems to be wonky until the power bar switches off. (in the process of troubleshooting this).

The meanwell drivers 'leak' a bit of current into the LEDs when powered but receiving 0v dimming signal, lighting them up ever so slightly (barely noticeable). This has happened on multiple installs I have been involved with on both Apex and non-Apex systems.

DIY dimming cable is easy but don't hook up the wrong wires. This is from one if the Apex forums:

Good luck and ask if you have any questions ,
Dan


Dan

[banditpowdercoat]

Thx Dan! Answered pretty much all my Qs. Ya. Building a apex cable is nothing for me. I like the timer idea. I have some auto fan speed control circuits I built. Will vary the fans depending on heatsink temps. But a complete off would be good too. I kinda figured they would be lot just a little. Like ok for moonlights kinda light?

Your ph probe. Sounds like interference. Try separating your ph probe wire from your AC wires. The draw from the mean well switching power supply's is most likely inducing something in your ph line. Happens a lot here at work with comm and 4-20ma control cables near power cables


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[Delphinus]

So you just live with the LEDs being powered-on-but-super-dim if it happens?

[FragIt Dan]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

So you just live with the LEDs being powered-on-but-super-dim if it happens?

Essentially yes, but in my case when my power bar kills power to the drivers, obviously the LEDs completely extinguish. The amount of light that bleeds out of them is barely enough to tell they are even on and certainly not enough for the tank to notice. I would be curious to know if others have experienced this. I am running two parallel strings of x8 5W, 700ma (6-7V) LEDs in series. The drivers are gained up to about 52V and 1400mA.
Dan

[FragIt Dan]

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

Thx Dan! Answered pretty much all my Qs. Ya. Building a apex cable is nothing for me. I like the timer idea. I have some auto fan speed control circuits I built. Will vary the fans depending on heatsink temps. But a complete off would be good too. I kinda figured they would be lot just a little. Like ok for moonlights kinda light?

Your ph probe. Sounds like interference. Try separating your ph probe wire from your AC wires. The draw from the mean well switching power supply's is most likely inducing something in your ph line. Happens a lot here at work with comm and 4-20ma control cables near power cables

You're welcome! I will try moving my pH probe wire further away from other wires and see if it affects anything. The great thing with the Apex is that I can take a look at the graphs for the last week and easily compare to see if things are better. LOVE my Apex! Did I mention I have a second one for another one of my systems showing up today?
Dan

[banditpowdercoat]

Only thing I wish the apex had was dry contact non powered relays. For like integrating a auto fish feeder or other contact operated devices. It has the inputs for floats n switches but nothing for say a 12v control circuit


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