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Innovative Marine Aquariums

DIY Controller


Reefkid88

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Let me pick the builders brains,so I'm wanting to get a controller for my leds over my tank and for a possible up coming tank,but didn't want to shell out $135 or so for Storms and $100-$200 for Bluefish's. So reading thru some threads and partially hijacking the parts list from a led sellers website,I think I may have found everything ? I want the same form and function as the storm or the typhon and also the same look,no huge breadboards or have it all crammed into a clear container.

 

So here is what I have so far,let me know if I'm missing anything-

 

PCB/LCD,tact buttons,resistors and pins- $24

CR1200 RTC/Battery Holder and Battery- $15

10k Pot- $1

10k Resistors- .75

5v Regulators- .75

16Mhz Resonators- .75

0.1uf Capacitors- $2

10uf Capacitors- $2

 

$55 shipped ( Everything was sourced off of Adafruit.com )

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After the amount of time you are going to invest in this, you're going to be much better off just shelling out for one of the ones you listed. If you want a project to learn about all this, then you can do it, but by the time you prototype and respin you're going to spend at least as much as one of those.

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Let me pick the builders brains,so I'm wanting to get a controller for my leds over my tank and for a possible up coming tank,but didn't want to shell out $135 or so for Storms and $100-$200 for Bluefish's. So reading thru some threads and partially hijacking the parts list from a led sellers website,I think I may have found everything ? I want the same form and function as the storm or the typhon and also the same look,no huge breadboards or have it all crammed into a clear container.

 

So here is what I have so far,let me know if I'm missing anything-

 

PCB/LCD,tact buttons,resistors and pins- $24

CR1200 RTC/Battery Holder and Battery- $15

10k Pot- $1

10k Resistors- .75

5v Regulators- .75

16Mhz Resonators- .75

0.1uf Capacitors- $2

10uf Capacitors- $2

 

$55 shipped ( Everything was sourced off of Adafruit.com )

 

The Storm controller is $65 from Coralux, I think Steves LEDs has the Typhoon or Hurricane now for roughly the same amount. If you want to build it for fun sounds interesting but if you're trying to save money you might consider one of these other options.

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After the amount of time you are going to invest in this, you're going to be much better off just shelling out for one of the ones you listed. If you want a project to learn about all this, then you can do it, but by the time you prototype and respin you're going to spend at least as much as one of those.

Time isnt nearly as big if a factor as cost would be. Not to mention if i mamange to break anything with my clumsy self lol.

 

The Storm controller is $65 from Coralux, I think Steves LEDs has the Typhoon or Hurricane now for roughly the same amount. If you want to build it for fun sounds interesting but if you're trying to save money you might consider one of these other options.

The Typhon was $35 there for awhile,unless they still have some. Which I will have to email them about if so,I may go that route instead.

 

You will have to determine how much your time is worth

Here is one for under $30

 

http://www.buckeyereef.com/forums/index.php?/topic/3680-simple-arduino-pwm-led-dimmer/

My time is priceless,but if I could some what manage to only spend the price of one or a little over for 2 controllers that would be ideal. I mean for the meantime my light is good for control,but would love a little more control again. I'm using a digital time and a Makers 2 up basic with 2 ldd's atm.

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Time isnt nearly as big if a factor as cost would be.

Everyone's time value is different, that's for sure. I've been in places where I had more time than money and more money than time. I did a DIY LED light and while it was a lot of fun, I probably put 100 hours into it, for the couple hundred I saved by doing DIY, I was really paying myself less than half of minimum wage to work on it. I did it for the experience, not to save money so it was worth it. If I had done it to save money, I'd have come out horribly behind. Don't get me wrong, I still look forward to doing more projects in the future, but I have no illusion that I'll save money by doing so after I give my self a fair evaluation of what my time is worth.
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jedimasterben

You could more than likely find someone selling a Storm (non-X) for less than $55 shipped that they don't need anymore. Hell, Dave Fason probably has some that are returns from people that upgraded to Bluefish.

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I use an Arduino micro-controller to control my LEDs, but on my new build I will use a Wemos D1 Mini V2 combined with the Blynk application. Both micro-controllers are under $5 from China (AliExpress). I would say that controls are the cheapest part of the LED array but the most time intensive part of building them. I certainly spent more time writing my controller code than designing the whole system. If you don't have the time, components or tools to do the work, something for around $50 - $100 is worth it. My Weller WESD51 soldering station cost more than my first LED array.

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I use an Arduino micro-controller to control my LEDs, but on my new build I will use a Wemos D1 Mini V2 combined with the Blynk application. Both micro-controllers are under $5 from China (AliExpress). I would say that controls are the cheapest part of the LED array but the most time intensive part of building them. I certainly spent more time writing my controller code than designing the whole system. If you don't have the time, components or tools to do the work, something for around $50 - $100 is worth it. My Weller WESD51 soldering station cost more than my first LED array.th Wemos D1 Mini V2, do you have a build thread?

Do you have a build thread on using the D1 Mini V2, ?
Or point me in the right direct on using the Wemos D1 Mini V2
Thanks
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Do you have a build thread on using the D1 Mini V2, ?
Or point me in the right direct on using the Wemos D1 Mini V2
Thanks

 

 

I do not, but when I get to that part of my new array, I will create a build thread for those who are interested.

 

The Wemos D1 Mini V2 is essentially a carrier board for the ESP8266. On the carrier board is a USB interface and the required hardware to make the ESP8266 work. I usually mount them to some prototyping board using stand offs.

 

Generally, most pins on the ESP8266 are PWM capable. This is pretty handy but you have to be careful since some I/O on the ESP8266 serve more than one purpose so be sure to research which pins are best for this application. It is very important that you note that this micro-controller operates at 3.3 volts and the inputs are NOT 5 volt compatible.

 

In terms of control circuity, it depends on what you are interfacing to. In the case of the Mean Well LDD type driver, a simple 1K-ohm resistor between the chosen PWM pin on the Wemos and the LDD PWM pin is all that is required. I think with the LDD you actually want something like a 10K-ohm pulldown resistor to ground as well so the LDD doesn't come on when there is no signal.

 

If you have something that needs a 0-10V signal you can use a transistor with the signal coming from the PWM pin, again through a 1K-ohm resistor. I have used the MPS2222a transistor for this when interfacing my Arduino to the Mean Well LPV-60-48 drivers that I use on my current LED array.

 

The 1K-ohm resistors between the IO and the drivers or transistors are current limiting and serve to protect the IO ports. This is best practice to include them as well as decoupling capacitors near all micro-controller and IC power pins.

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I made a DIY typhon for $30 - I'm sure it would be even cheaper now as you can get arduinos for $10 pretty easily.

 

Just took an arduino, a DS1307 RTC, an LCD, some push buttons, and some resistors and made it. The code is open source and already done. When I initially built it I didn't make any modifications to the code at all and it worked great.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/321511-typhon-based-led-controller-on-the-cheap-seriously/

 

As it happens I did finally modify the code last night to add in a 5th channel for the lime LEDs I added to my array... Even modifying the typhon code wasn't too hard.

 

The nice thing about this is that it's a very simple lighting controller that has the features you need. Start time, end time, max brightness, and a ramp up/ramp down adjustment. No storms or cloud simulations or heater controllers, etc which add complexity as well as cost...

 

I would totally recommend a DIY approach if you're interested in the process and if you like doing things like this. On the other hand if you're just trying to save a few $ and have no interest in the process of actually building one I would just buy something.

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