Upgrading Nanobox Mini Tide Write up

[Horerczy]

Ok, before we get into this let me point out something important. If you are not comfortable with working with small electronics in tight spaces DO NOT attempt this type of work on your Nanobox. Just send it to Dave and his capable and nimble hands that easily navigate these tight spaces.

Before Picture:

This is my light as I originally received it. Solid Metal arm with an old 11 led configuration using the old 11 up board (only nine leds on the board) and 2 violets off to the side on the little slim board.

Newer than the original setup from when nanoboxes were 12 or 24 leds at a 1:1:1:1 rate of CW:NW:CB:RB pictured below but two generations behind the current layout. If you click the picture, it will take you to an old reef builder’s article. Dave has come a long way the last few years. Dave, seriously, take that photo and photos of each of the subsequent led layouts + Hybrid and merge them into a timeline photo to show the nanobox families evolution. It will look awesome.





Ok but onto business. Now first things first. Here are the goods I am using for the upgrade. A gooseneck, a bluefish mini to replace my storm and a 4x2 connector equiped controller wire, four driver control, and the latest nanobox array V3. You can see the older board in the background of the photo above along with my new toys.



Important to note is I sent this part to Dave. It’s my old driver box and drivers and the storm cable. Dave did not send me a new driver box with the new driver board so I made my own new one. Keep this in mind if you do the upgrades yourself. Dave did send me a new 4x2 connector based cable for my bluefish mini.



Speaking of that cable it did not have heat shrink tubing over the tech flex to keep it from unraveling. This is easily fixed with half-inch heat shrink tubing. The grill exhaust method of shrinking the heat shrink is ill advised and I was just having fun seeing if it worked. It worked very well.

This wire is also a lot harder to mess up than the old two channel wire as there are only five wires in it the four channels and one ground so the four metal tabs side should face the same side as the electric imp card and the single metal time side should face the information side.



Anyways getting into a nanobox isn’t that hard. Take a flat metal object like a knife and CAREFULLY slip it in between the end cap and the main body and twist sideways so the silicone lets go. Clear off any silicone left on the side cap and fixture now, as you will need the surface clean when you put the light back together. The older models with the bolts running through the side caps will of course need the bolts removed.

Once the side caps are free of the fixture, take a hex key/allen wrench/hex bit and unscrew the screws going through the splashguard. Those screws are what hold the heatsink in place. With the screws removed, push the heatsink out of the fixture gently. If the splashguard does not come off apply a small amount of pressure to it from inside the fixture to pop it off. Having access to the fixture from that window is invaluable when returning parts later.



At this point, I had to remove the fan as well as its bearing had failed. Simply remove the screws here with the same tool used on the splashguard screws.



For reference this is the model of fan Dave uses or at least used around the time he made mine. An Orion OF4010-24HSS. These are available on Digikey for a pittance if they break.

I replaced mine with an Orion OF4010-24HB, which has a sturdier bearing. That said I cannot fault Dave for using the HSS model, as it is half the cost of the HB model for nearly the same airflow at the same noise level and power. The difference in airflow being .3CFM in the HB’s favor for $5 more.

I can definitely hear the fan and for me that is fine. If I don’t hear the fan now then I know something’s wrong and I need to check it out. If you want a quieter fan, they are available but have less airflow.

I did not take any pictures of the board removal process but I will say it required careful application of a razor blade to the underside of the board to get that blasted thermal tape to let go. A quality product that is only bothersome when you need to get it off. I think for most new models Dave uses thermal grease and screws instead. If that is the case, just unscrew the screws holding the board down and slide the board off the heatsink.

In either case take another razor blade and scrape away any excess residue on the heatsink (and the led array if you are reusing it elsewhere). I ended up scratching the heatsink up pretty good when I did that so I took some 2000 grit sandpaper I had laying around and scuffed over the scratches. Not entirely necessary, but it helps make the heatsink look neater.

Tin the new board OFF of the heatsink. It’s so easy. There’s plenty of room between the pads and they take to solder like a mouse to peanut butter (put peanut butter on your mousetraps and see what I mean). Lead based rosin core solder is best if you can get your hands on it. Just don’t breathe it in.



After tinning, select your choice of wire and go to town making connections. The wire I used is from a nine wire 22 gauge set that I removed from its sleeve. Good quality stuff and I had nine different colors to work with. Very helpful in keeping me from getting the wires mixed up. It’s a little shorter than I would like but its high quality stuff so I’m not too worried.

The led board is bound to the heatsink with silicone based thermal grease and a dab of super glue on each corner. I recommend against copying that particular technique and instead opting for a high quality thermal adhesive. Of course, those of you that unscrewed your board can just get good quality thermal grease and screw your board back down.

For fun, I took my old violet two up board and tied it into the violet channel of the V3 board. It works well and the power supply is more than strong enough to handle it.

Black silicone was applied over the solder pads to keep them electrically isolated and it looks cool when it is done right.



Random shot of my new NPS gorg because I need something to break up the verbosity.



After the wiring is done and the heatsink is slid back into place and screwed back down. I did this like 6 time because of odds and ends issues such as the solder on the small board being pressed against the body of the fixture or getting a wire caught.

In addition, in this particular photo, I forgot to put the gooseneck on first. Do that. It makes this part much easier. The wires should be gently pulled though the rest of the way one at a time leaving just a tiny bit of slack inside the fixture.



It’s alive but still in pieces. Test your electrical bits frequently throughout working so that you’re able to tell where something went wrong.



Time to put the main body back together. Black silicone was applied to the side cap in a very thin layer via a qtip.



One completed side cap. The extra thin layer of silicone allows for a quick cure and super strong bond.



Side caps are on. You can see the silicone on the solder pads in this picture. There is also some super glue on the smaller board’s connections to keep them electronically isolated from the fixture body, which did end up being a problem for me somehow.



With the main body complete, it is time to finish the rest of the fixture. I did not have any tech flex large enough for all 10 wires coming out of the gooseneck so I used half-inch heat shrink tubing. To get the wires through the heat shrink an extra length of wire was trimmed and wrapped to the fan wires. The other wires were taped to the fan wires in tapered order so the bundle stayed thin.

The photo above is the leftover clipping from the fan wires attached to the guide wire via electrical tape.



With the wire bundled, you slide the guide wire though the tubing until it pokes out through the end like so. Then gently tug the wires though. After you get the last wire out the end undo the wrappings and pull each wire the rest of the way INDIVIDUALLY and GENTLY so as to avoid breaking the wire.



This time the heat shrink is shrunk down with a hair dryer. It doesn’t look as good as tech flex but it’s still good. I should have braided the wires so they’d leave a pattern in the heat shrink tubing. The end of it on the gooseneck side was set over the threading before shrinking it down.



With the heat shrink shrunk I took the tank mount and slid it up the wire. I screwed it into the gooseneck with the heat shrink tubing caught in-between the threads too help keep the heat shrink bound nice and tight. I then set it over the tank to check the fit. Fit’s good.




Now for the new driver box. Just a simple project box. A seven sixteenths inch hole had to be made for the new power jack to get power from the power supply to the driver boards. I did this with various screwdriver bits and a set of crappy scissors. I recommend using a drill instead, it’s faster.




The lid I cut out a larger hole with the same method; again use a drill instead it’s faster and safer than what I did. Some more black silicone was used here as a makeshift grommet to keep any wires going in from rubbing the plastic and fraying.



For the bluefish mini I found this makeup box in my fiancé’s room and had to have it. Pathways for the wires were cut using wire cutters. The bluefish mini is held down in the box with a pair of command strips.



The wires for the controller and the leds were run through the driver box lid and then wired up. Thanks to my different colored wires I just needed to glance though the splashguard to make sure I got the order right.

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One last test before sealing up the box. Good thing to as I flip flopped the controller channels.



After a successful testing the driver box is sealed using it’s supplied hardware.



And our after project FTS.



This photo has nothing to do with this write up. Just pretend it doesn’t exist.

Final thoughts:

Color is definately better than what it was with the old setup and the lime make the fixture so much brighter.

With the four channel control I believe there is no need to get a moon light channel as well. The cool blue cyan channel is perfect for a moonlight. It's so dim at minimum setting that even with the mini being the only source of light when night mode it enabled I can't see anything in the tank hardly.

Gooseneck is so much better than the metal arm. Why didn't I go gooseneck sooner.

The bluefush mini is an excellent upgrade over the storm. I'm still trying to figure out all the settings but so far it's enjoyable adjusting the light from an ideal viewing distance.

Ball bearing fans are better than sealed sleeve fans.

Working inside that fixture body is a pain in the arse.

I love my nanobox.

I'm tired and going to bed. Goodnight.

[DaveFason]

If you need/want a new driver box let me know. As well I have sleeving for days over here.

-Dave

[knd107]

Thanks man, just what I needed to know so I can swap out my gooseneck with a longer one.

[Horerczy]

Wow I ramble a lot when I'm tired.

If you need/want a new driver box let me know. As well I have sleeving for days over here.
-Dave

How much would that cost me Dave?

Thanks man, just what I needed to know so I can swap out my gooseneck with a longer one.

You're welcome.

[jedimasterben]

How much would that cost me Dave?

[Horerczy]

 

 

How much would that cost me Dave?