Storm Controller : HOW TO & Help

[jedimasterben]

That doesn't make much sense. May be a bug in the firmware.

[Horerczy]

Mine did the same thing. I just set the controller clock back 4 hours to get the times where i wanted them.

[Mustang Boy]

Mine did the same thing. I just set the controller clock back 4 hours to get the times where i wanted them.

 

That is a freaking genious idea, I don't know why I didn't think of that to begin with.

[cindyp]

my mini tide is up and running!

 

the fan seems quite loud tho? and is on

even while low moonlights are on. any way to

manually turn off fan when bulbs are so low?

 

or at worst, would turning off all bulbs at

night (is that an option?) turn the fan off?

[jedimasterben]

The fan runs as long as it is given power. You'll need to cut power to it to turn it off.

[cindyp]

The fan runs as long as it is given power. You'll need to cut power to it to turn it off.

 

hrm. that'd mean turning the whole unit off, right?

 

it is pretty loud.

[cindyp]

i've never had a fan and believe that

might just be normal noise level? i've put the

unit on a timer so it is off for majority of night.

 

our living space is small so that effects.

 

thanks, JEDI!

[Mirya]

Yeah, the fans on the Minis are kinda noisy. Your choices are: a) wait and your ears will tune it out or forgo moonlights at night so you can power the fan off.

 

Option a is what worked for me.

[cindyp]

Yeah, the fans on the Minis are kinda noisy. Your choices are: a) wait and your ears will tune it out or forgo moonlights at night so you can power the fan off.

 

Option a is what worked for me.

 

our goldfish tank is loud but we've gotten used

to! option B works for us. don't see need for fan

going full speed for moonlight. still enjoying the

dawn and dusk settings tho.

[jedimasterben]

I know Dave already knows this (as this is basically what I'm doing with my build, in a nutshell), but it is possible to a Meanwell SCW circuit to power the fans, with the SCW being powered by the main power supply (so one less plug on the wall) and it would make the fan PWM controlled, so as your lights ramp up, so does the fan.

 

Caveat being that the SCW are $12 each and the circuit making them PWM controlled is surface-mount (so difficult to solder) and the PCB have to be larger to mount it, etc, so the cost involved might not be worth it to everyone.

[DaveFason]

i've never had a fan and believe that might just be normal noise level? i've put the unit on a timer so it is off for majority of night. our living space is small so that effects. thanks, JEDI!

Going from no fan to a fan can be weird at first.

 

You can however put the pain power ( 24v ) on a timer and it will turn off at night.

 

-Dave

[CSS Reef]

I am a bit confused. I setup the Storm controller inside setup module with my local time.

 

 

However, when I exit setup mode, my light is not on even if I am within the time I set under manual. After exiting setup I can manually toggle through, day, dark, sim, and manual and the light goes on accordingly.

 

How do I set it in "normal operation" so it just runs inside the time I have specified?

[cindyp]

I am a bit confused. I setup the Storm controller inside setup module with my local time.

 

 

However, when I exit setup mode, my light is not on even if I am within the time I set under manual. After exiting setup I can manually toggle through, day, dark, sim, and manual and the light goes on accordingly.

 

How do I set it in "normal operation" so it just runs inside the time I have specified?

 

it should be on if it's within the time you've set it to

be on. the controller is plugged in to the right pins to the light?

[CSS Reef]

Should it be set to the setting that says "Day? if it is within the specified day. I think this is the part confusing me.

 

I thought" day" was just showing me a peak at the day setting

[cindyp]

Should it be set to the setting that says "Day? if it is within the specified day. I think this is the part confusing me.

 

I thought" day" was just showing me a peak at the day setting

 

no. the last part of the programming is setting the

date and time. then you exit completely out of the

program, and it'll show you either DAY or NIGHT depending

on what time it actually is.

 

if you are still within the setting portion, then it won't

work as it should. so exit out. wish i could tell you

how i exited out, ha! i think i just clicked through to

the end.

[DaveFason]

Should it be set to the setting that says "Day? if it is within the specified day. I think this is the part confusing me.

 

I thought" day" was just showing me a peak at the day setting

It will either be on Day/Sunrise/Sunset/Night for the automated programming. When you first plug in the controller this should be the first setting to come up. If you click it will cycle through the other preset settings.

 

As well the time is on a 24hr schedule. Not 12 hour.

 

-Dave

[BigRed10]

Got my tide yesterday, and I was hoping some one could tell me how to set it up so it ramps backdown and not just go off? I have my ramp time set to an hour, and ch2 delayed 30 mins, I would like my whites to start fading out 30 mins before the blues start going down.

[jedimasterben]

Set the white channel times for an hour less than the blue channel.

[BigRed10]

I may be missing it, but I don't think that's one of my options. I can set when I want my sunrise and sunset, but I don't see an option for times on each channel.

[jedimasterben]

Sorry, I was thinking about the Typhon. You want to set that channel's ramp delay, page four. http://coralux.net/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/downloadables/Storm-Controller-Manual.pdf

[BigRed10]

Thanks so much Ben!! I think I just misunderstood the sunset time, I thought that's the time it would start the ramp down at that time and if I'm reading it correctly it ends at that time. So if I set it up for sunrise at 3pm (15:00) with a ramp time of 60 and delay channel 2 30 and sunset at 1am it will start dimming the whites at 11:30 and blues at 12 right?

[DaveFason]

Thanks so much Ben!! I think I just misunderstood the sunset time, I thought that's the time it would start the ramp down at that time and if I'm reading it correctly it ends at that time. So if I set it up for sunrise at 3pm (15:00) with a ramp time of 60 and delay channel 2 30 and sunset at 1am it will start dimming the whites at 11:30 and blues at 12 right?

Correct. Hope your enjoying.

 

Thanks ben!

[MeCasa]

I'm not currently raising coral so my questions have nothing to do with coral health. Since the scheme doesn't allow for full darkness can dedicated nighttime channel be dimmed enough to get close to dark?

 

Since the signal between the drivers and the LED's cannot be interrupted without malaise, can the signal between the controller and dedicated nighttime driver be interrupted utilizing a remote on/off switch to theoretically override this channel shutting down this channel until the switch manually turns this channel back on?

 

I know these questions seem foolhardy at face value, but I have another large manipulable RGBW array that I like to run at night. The Storm's job is to ramp up the aquariums main lights in the morning and ramp them down at night and if I'm not in town, the Storm will phase into night lights without interruption, if I'm home, I'd like to remotely shutdown the dedicated night channel and run my secondary night array which will have no connections in common with the Storm run system. I say remotely because this is a large built-in and the Storm will not be easily accessible once it's programmed.

 

Sorry for the complexity and Thanks for any help :-)

[jedimasterben]

I'm not currently raising coral so my questions have nothing to do with coral health. Since the scheme doesn't allow for full darkness can dedicated nighttime channel be dimmed enough to get close to dark?

 

Since the signal between the drivers and the LED's cannot be interrupted without malaise, can the signal between the controller and dedicated nighttime driver be interrupted utilizing a remote on/off switch to theoretically override this channel shutting down this channel until the switch manually turns this channel back on?

 

I know these questions seem foolhardy at face value, but I have another large manipulable RGBW array that I like to run at night. The Storm's job is to ramp up the aquariums main lights in the morning and ramp them down at night and if I'm not in town, the Storm will phase into night lights without interruption, if I'm home, I'd like to remotely shutdown the dedicated night channel and run my secondary night array which will have no connections in common with the Storm run system. I say remotely because this is a large built-in and the Storm will not be easily accessible once it's programmed.

 

Sorry for the complexity and Thanks for any help :-)

There is no 'easy' way to do that, cutting power to the Storm is really the only way.

[MeCasa]

Thank you Mr. Ben. If I shutdown the Storm, will the storm lose its timer ability. In other words, if I use a remote shutoff to power down the storm for 5 hours at night. Will the Storm still ramp up at 7AM the next morning........as long as I turned it back on before I went to bed or will it ramp up 5 hours later than normal to reflect the down time?

 

I would guess this depends on what powers the timer.