Optic for NanoBox array's.

[Reefkid88]

So I am looking at adding optic(s) to my NanoBox V3 arrays,at 9" off the water surface at 100% I am getting about 100 par. So I am looking to add optics to get that PUNCH I am looking for. 

 

 Anyone ever ran these at all ? 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/295519206142?chn=ps&var=593599954995&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=593599954995_295519206142&targetid=1262779895929&device=m&mktype=&googleloc=9051554&poi=&campaignid=14859008593&mkgroupid=130497710760&rlsatarget=pla-1262779895929&abcId=9300678&merchantid=6296724&gclid=CjwKCAiA3KefBhByEiwAi2LDHApNWaIZmd6vVUqSY3_rfoh1CRT9mN1GrHzs5kT5vKHM0b-wDAW3IRoCBvcQAvD_BwE

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Never ran one, but I don’t think it will work well with a Nanobox array.  It’s designed for the highly concentrated LEDs (like Kessils). With a Nanobox it won’t evenly spread the colors out (look what it does to the person’s fingers in the photo).

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Also… somethings not right with that PAR reading. Two arrays at 100% should be cooking everything in you tank. 
 

I run a Duo + 2 T5s over a 34 gallon and the highest LED channel peaks at 45%. 

[Reefkid88]

6 hours ago, Tom@HaslettMI said:

Also… somethings not right with that PAR reading. Two arrays at 100% should be cooking everything in you tank. 
 

I run a Duo + 2 T5s over a 34 gallon and the highest LED channel peaks at 45%. 

 

 I know,like I said its a phone app called Photone and PPFD Meter apps I used. I want to use a real par meter but locally I cannot find one to use. 

[mitten_reef]

3 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

 

 I know,like I said its a phone app called Photone and PPFD Meter apps I used. I want to use a real par meter but locally I cannot find one to use. 

so maybe before you went and frankenstein the darn thing, shouldn't you know for a fact what's wrong with your array output, if any?  is the conversion factor, assuming you had to use one, reliable on that app? 

 

@Tom@HaslettMI brought up a good point.  I was just assuming your driver(s) may be the 350mA variant causing everything to be at 50% of max output potential....I think Dave built them with 700mA on most channels, maybe even 1000mA in one.  Can't recall if any of them even run on 350.  tbh, they were never consistent across all the units I've received, so I can't say for certain which channels get what, lol.  

 

do a search on here for the nanobox mini or duo to see Dave's original PAR maps (they're on here somewhere) - I'd just go off of that if you're using his original driver board.

[Reefkid88]

1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

so maybe before you went and frankenstein the darn thing, shouldn't you know for a fact what's wrong with your array output, if any?  is the conversion factor, assuming you had to use one, reliable on that app? 

 

@Tom@HaslettMI brought up a good point.  I was just assuming your driver(s) may be the 350mA variant causing everything to be at 50% of max output potential....I think Dave built them with 700mA on most channels, maybe even 1000mA in one.  Can't recall if any of them even run on 350.  tbh, they were never consistent across all the units I've received, so I can't say for certain which channels get what, lol.  

 

do a search on here for the nanobox mini or duo to see Dave's original PAR maps (they're on here somewhere) - I'd just go off of that if you're using his original driver board.

 

 So everything is NB original,lowest driver is 350mah or 500mah for the whites everything else is 700mah. Checking the PSU I got from you,I have the correct one for the Duo. Controller is a Storm,only thing I haven't done is put a volt meter to each string to see what everything is doing electrically. 

 

 I still need to track down a par meter,to test my retro and other projects I have built. The conversion factor I got from a LED guru on R2R was like 8.1 or some shit. I can't remember off the top of my head. 

 

 According to Dave's old Duo thread @ 9" I should be getting 550-200 at full blast but measuremenrs aren't 110% clear cut on height,depth ect. 

[braaap]

Don’t trust that phone app. There is absolutely no way it is accurate. 
 

There is a apex par meter on R2R you could buy.
 

 

You should be baking your tank. Don’t use optics. Nanobox arrays aren’t made for optics. 
 

 

All that said. I am reviving Nanobox arrays. Version 4.0 should be in testing very soon. 
 

Small teaser below. 
 

 

 

[mitten_reef]

47 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

Controller is a Storm,only thing I haven't done is put a volt meter to each string to see what everything is doing electrically. 

And you’re aware that the Storm scale goes to some random number, not 1-100. So to max your channels, you just have to crank it til the number stops?

24 minutes ago, braaap said:

Don’t trust that phone app. There is absolutely no way it is accurate. 
 

There is a apex par meter on R2R you could buy.
 

 

You should be baking your tank. Don’t use optics. Nanobox arrays aren’t made for optics. 
 

 

All that said. I am reviving Nanobox arrays. Version 4.0 should be in testing very soon. 
 

Small teaser below. 
 

 

 

Interesting, you have access to PCB printer?  That looks like a fun project 

[Reefkid88]

32 minutes ago, braaap said:

Don’t trust that phone app. There is absolutely no way it is accurate. 
 

There is a apex par meter on R2R you could buy.
 

 

You should be baking your tank. Don’t use optics. Nanobox arrays aren’t made for optics. 
 

 

All that said. I am reviving Nanobox arrays. Version 4.0 should be in testing very soon. 
 

Small teaser below. 
 

 

 

 Unfortunately I am in no shape to buy a par meter,and there was a thread going on lux apps with a conversion but I know they are not accurate. Hence why I am looking to try and borrow one from a local reefer. 

 

 I know,you messaged me on R2R trying tp see if I had any arrays for you to look at. 

 

 I'm excited to see how these new arrays you and BlueAcro come up with. 

11 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

And you’re aware that the Storm scale goes to some random number, not 1-100. So to max your channels, you just have to crank it til the number stops?

Interesting, you have access to PCB printer?  That looks like a fun project 

 

 Correct 255 is 100%,not 100=100%.

[braaap]

21 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

And you’re aware that the Storm scale goes to some random number, not 1-100. So to max your channels, you just have to crank it til the number stops?

Interesting, you have access to PCB printer?  That looks like a fun project 

 

No. Working with BlueAcro and a manufacturer. PCBs are cheap. Its the LEDs that are expensive.

[Reefkid88]

10 minutes ago, braaap said:

 

No. Working with BlueAcro and a manufacturer. PCBs are cheap. Its the LEDs that are expensive.

 

 So are you guys going to keep the same diode choices or switching diode selection ? I see the connection is going to be different as well ? 

[braaap]

On 2/14/2023 at 10:22 AM, Reefkid88 said:

 

 So are you guys going to keep the same diode choices or switching diode selection ? I see the connection is going to be different as well ? 

The LEDs Dave used are all end of life. So we are going to be using different LEDs but they will be same spec or better. Same color as well. Possibly a dedicated moonlight. But not 100% on that. 
 

Goal is to allow repair of your original fixtures. So we don’t want to stray off his colors much at all if people only want to replace 1 array of 4. 
 

That connector just changed today. It’s going to be a molex picolock connector most likely. Which will basically be a pigtail that you can hook to existing wires with wagos, wire nuts or solder. Just makes replacement easier as most people feared soldering. It’s also much smaller than the one on the picture. I should have renders of the finished array this month maybe. And then manufacturing starts soon after. 
 

There is a chance the connector won’t work and we will have to go with solder pads. But our goal is ease of repair. I'm not pro at this so I'm leaving it up to BlueAcro.
 

 

[Reefkid88]

Heck yeah,that is awesome. I cannot wait to see the end result. Do you guys have a general area for price point or not yet ? 

 

 Have you guys looked into the XP-G3's at all ? They look pretty good spec wise. 

[braaap]

19 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

Heck yeah,that is awesome. I cannot wait to see the end result. Do you guys have a general area for price point or not yet ? 

 

 Have you guys looked into the XP-G3's at all ? They look pretty good spec wise. 

No idea on price. Hopefully around $50 like Dave’s were. But likely closer to $80. Inflation. 
 

 

We have. I’ve left the choices to Yann at blueacro as he has way more knowledge on these things. 

[Reefkid88]

1 hour ago, braaap said:

No idea on price. Hopefully around $50 like Dave’s were. But likely closer to $80. Inflation. 
 

 

We have. I’ve left the choices to Yann at blueacro as he has way more knowledge on these things. 

 

 I tried getting with him to get a Shine array done up for my micro tank,but the cost he is asking for now compared to him older prices I just can't justify when I habe hundreds of mounted diodes begging to be asked lol. I judt wanted something small to mount inside of a Tide housing lol. 

 

 Either use my diodes or have Jeff at Steves reflow some shit for me since I have tons of Luxeon Rebel 3ups. 

[braaap]

4 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

 

 I tried getting with him to get a Shine array done up for my micro tank,but the cost he is asking for now compared to him older prices I just can't justify when I habe hundreds of mounted diodes begging to be asked lol. I judt wanted something small to mount inside of a Tide housing lol. 

 

 Either use my diodes or have Jeff at Steves reflow some shit for me since I have tons of Luxeon Rebel 3ups. 

 

Costs for components have gone up exponentially. Look at Raspberry Pi computers. Quadrupled in price. Have had massive shortages for over 2 years. It’s the same thing for LEDs and their components. They have gone up 30-40% in most cases. Some even more. Can’t just eat that cost especially when Dave wasn’t making very much. Those heat sinks alone were very expensive for him. 

[Reefkid88]

I totally agree. Dave was definitely a hobbiest and did it for us reefers. Especially with pretty often upgrades/updates and choices. 

 

 I'm surprised Steves just upped their 3ups from $10.99 to $12.99 which is not bad and still $5 cheaper than LedSupply. 

 

 I'm not to with the Raspberry Pi and the pricing but I would imagine with the microchip "shortage" they've gone up. Have you looked into Mouser and Cutter for diodes ? 

[braaap]

11 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

I totally agree. Dave was definitely a hobbiest and did it for us reefers. Especially with pretty often upgrades/updates and choices. 

 

 I'm surprised Steves just upped their 3ups from $10.99 to $12.99 which is not bad and still $5 cheaper than LedSupply. 

 

 I'm not to with the Raspberry Pi and the pricing but I would imagine with the microchip "shortage" they've gone up. Have you looked into Mouser and Cutter for diodes ? 

Im not sure who is going to be supplying them. Because we haven’t decided 100% on what we are using. But will likely source them directly from the manufacture. 

[mitten_reef]

On 2/14/2023 at 7:19 PM, braaap said:

Im not sure who is going to be supplying them. Because we haven’t decided 100% on what we are using. But will likely source them directly from the manufacture. 

Can you work on a driver board that doesn’t require an app?  Something with two channels, go out to two timer outlets? At least make it an option. With all the app-controlled power strips these day, have just a 2-plug driver would be plenty imo. 

[braaap]

21 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Can you work on a driver board that doesn’t require an app?  Something with two channels, go out to two timer outlets? At least make it an option. With all the app-controlled power strips these day, have just a 2-plug driver would be plenty imo. 

 

That could be possible. But then you would have no tuning of the light. It would be all on or off. No in between. Which basically negates the entire purpose of these awesome arrays with 6 channels of color control. It is an easy enough thing for you to figure out I would think. Because I don't think there is much of a market for it.

 

I am looking at a different controller offering instead of bluefish. But there isn't much out there either.

[braaap]

New teaser. @theatrus is getting closer and closer on this. I wish I had more skills in this area but I don't and I'm leaning heavily on him. But check it out!

 

If I have said anything wrong here I am sure he can clear it up. I came to him with this project and he got excited about it. I have some reefing knowledge, a desire to get myself some arrays and know there is a demand for these replacements or for new DIY arrays. He has the expertise to make it happen. So he deserves 95% of the credit for this. I just did the digging on array information to replicate the dimensions and specs.

 

 

[Reefkid88]

Man oh man that looks awwsome. 

 

 I do have 1 question,but 2 parts. Is there mint ? Is the violet all the same NM or have a mixture ? I feel like even if its just 2 diodes,having a 430 & 400 would covering s broad spectra nicely. 

[Tom@HaslettMI]

On 2/16/2023 at 10:52 PM, braaap said:

 

That could be possible. But then you would have no tuning of the light. It would be all on or off. No in between. Which basically negates the entire purpose of these awesome arrays with 6 channels of color control. It is an easy enough thing for you to figure out I would think. Because I don't think there is much of a market for it.

 

I am looking at a different controller offering instead of bluefish. But there isn't much out there either.

The six channels of control is key (for me).  I picked up one of the boards that allows you to use an APEX to control the channels from Dave a long time ago.  But it only allows 4 channels of control. Which wouldn’t let me keep my current settings.  So, I haven’t installed it. 

[braaap]

4 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

Man oh man that looks awwsome. 

 

 I do have 1 question,but 2 parts. Is there mint ? Is the violet all the same NM or have a mixture ? I feel like even if its just 2 diodes,having a 430 & 400 would covering s broad spectra nicely. 

We plan to use mint. We haven’t decided on the other diodes. But yes likely two different spectrums of violet. 
 

 

 

1 hour ago, Tom@HaslettMI said:

The six channels of control is key (for me).  I picked up one of the boards that allows you to use an APEX to control the channels from Dave a long time ago.  But it only allows 4 channels of control. Which wouldn’t let me keep my current settings.  So, I haven’t installed it. 

Same. Wanna sell that board? I’d like to replicate it for people as well. While it only allows control of 4 channels(apex limitation) it is still a nice offering for many people. 

[Reefkid88]

Depending the price point,I may swap my 2 arrays for these newer ones honestly. The limes in my arrays are just too much for my liking.