Help with a relay

[dcarwile]

So i got my lights set up to dim from 0-100%. At 0% the lights are still on because thats how the circuit works on the drive. I need to take the dimming supply and connect it to a relay to cut the lights off at <1vdc signal from the dimmer. I'm using 0-10vdc analog instead of PWM for this dimmer. Can someone suggest a relay? I got an autoparts relay and the dimming signal wasn't powerful enough to throw it. Ideas?

 

Thanks.

[jedimasterben]

I would just run it on a timer (the driver main power). The Bluefish doesnt give a lot of power on the dimming circuits, I think it is 30-40mA.

[dcarwile]

Thats my current solution but it takes away from some of the special features the bluefish controller offers. Sure its not a huge deal but it is worth the extra effort for me. I couldnt get a read on dimmer current with my meter so i assumed it was very low. 30mA sounds like a good starting point

[jedimasterben]

I'm assuming that your 0-10v drivers cannot dim below 10% anyway, so there aren't really any more features of the controller that they can take advantage of.

[dcarwile]

Natural sunset and lunar timings were what i was thinking

[SpencerShepard]

Do you have a spare channel? You could drive the relay with a transistor, like this kit from SparkFun: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11042

[dcarwile]

Yep thats the concept im after but my load is only 12vdc, 60 watts so 5amps?

[jedimasterben]

 

Do you have a spare channel? You could drive the relay with a transistor, like this kit from SparkFun: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11042

If it takes 5v to trigger the relay, how will the Bluefish do it? It cannot force a channel to be full on for a set time period, correct?

[dcarwile]

He is saying to use a spare xhannel. Can set blue fish to pwm, 0 to5 or 0 to 10. Yea u can set when each channel goes on or off. Its a peetty intense controller.

[jedimasterben]

He is saying to use a spare xhannel. Can set blue fish to pwm, 0 to5 or 0 to 10. Yea u can set when each channel goes on or off. Its a peetty intense controller.

Yes, I'm one of the beta testers for the controller

 

I'm saying that unless something has changed, there is no way to force a channel to 5v.

[dcarwile]

There are 3 prongs inside the controller with a 2 prong jumper. You just switch the channel from 5v to 10v by moving the jumper over. I don't know if that's answering what your saying or not. I just found it on the first page of the quick guide.

[jedimasterben]

There are 3 prongs inside the controller with a 2 prong jumper. You just switch the channel from 5v to 10v by moving the jumper over. I don't know if that's answering what your saying or not. I just found it on the first page of the quick guide.

Yes, you can change the voltage, but you cannot force one channel to send 5v constantly (the relay needs a constant 5v signal), all channels are variable, especially if you have 'natural sun' selected, all six channels act as one.

[dcarwile]

i thought it was a bell curve across each channel. so if I had 1 channel set to always at 100% but night time it would send 5v all day until it started night mode - allowing me to cut off my white lights entirely when it goes into night mode. I could be entirely wrong about this though.

 

Just measured the current at different settings. 10v, 40amp at full blast. 10% was about 5mA.

 

I am thinking I would need an SSR with >5mA throw and provide 12v. The ones i'm finding are 12vdc >5mA throw but specced for 24-240vac. not sure if that would cause issues.

[jedimasterben]

Natural sun does a bell curve, but you cannot set any channel to full on all the time, all channels on the controller come on at the same time and dim the same. The relay will need a specific amount of voltage, which is the problem, not the amperage (though that can be a problem, too).

[SpencerShepard]

I can't think of a way to use it accurately with Natural Sun. However, with natural sun off, it should be as easy as setting your relay channel night to zero, and daylight periods to 100%, with ramps at zero.

[jedimasterben]

I can't think of a way to use it accurately with Natural Sun. However, with natural sun off, it should be as easy as setting your relay channel night to zero, and daylight periods to 100%, with ramps at zero.

Next update should include the ability to exclude a channel from natural sun.

[dcarwile]

I'm really excited about the future of this product. Its been flawless out the box. I'm going to keep searching for a relay that might work. And for anyone reading this - the issue is with the lights driver, not the bluefish - just to be clear. I'll update if I can come up with a solution.