NanoBox Repairs?

[BadCrab]

Going through boxes of old equipment and found two smaller NanoBox fixtures from around 2014.
I know Dave has moved on to other things in life, but I'm hoping someone in this community has both the mechanical inclination and the experience to get these fixed up.

The green fixture (along with a matching Synergy x NanoBox acrylic pico tank) is particularly sentimental to me, as I received it from Dave at a MACNA event.  It's also not working.  It's also in terrible condition.    

The grey and blue NanoBox works, but has had a missing (sheared off) bolt since I got it.

If possible, I would be interested in modifying both so that they're controllable through the 0-10v Apex ports.

 

 

[mitten_reef]

those are really old…

there is a recent thread about new updated nanobox design by @braaap(?). Maybe he can help you with controller and repair question?

 

Also @Reefkid88

 

 

[PootiNe]

Assuming the drivers & LEDs are still good, you'd need a 0-10V dimming to PWM chip, Steve's LED sells an "Aquarium Controller Interface Harness" that may fit your needs.

[Reefkid88]

On 4/29/2023 at 11:59 AM, BadCrab said:

Going through boxes of old equipment and found two smaller NanoBox fixtures from around 2014.
I know Dave has moved on to other things in life, but I'm hoping someone in this community has both the mechanical inclination and the experience to get these fixed up.

The green fixture (along with a matching Synergy x NanoBox acrylic pico tank) is particularly sentimental to me, as I received it from Dave at a MACNA event.  It's also not working.  It's also in terrible condition.    

The grey and blue NanoBox works, but has had a missing (sheared off) bolt since I got it.

If possible, I would be interested in modifying both so that they're controllable through the 0-10v Apex ports.

 

 

 Yeaaah,those are INSANELY old and finding the plug in chip to make them Apex ready is probably IMPOSSIBLE to find. I could be wrong though. 

 

 I know Apex makes a module,but honestly it may or not be worth it depending on what you wanna spend. 

[BadCrab]

Fully understand that these repairs wouldn't be a cost-effective move.  These lights (particularly the green one) have sentimental value beyond their function and I would be comfortable paying more than is probably reasonable.

If anyone's interested in it as a paid project, I'm happy to discuss it with them further.

From reading some of the threads here it would appear that @braaap is cloning that Nanobox plugin chip intended for Apex interfacing - that's really a secondary goal of mine, but I'm very interested in that project now, too.

[Reefkid88]

Probably your best bet,there isn't many options for this light or diy in general anymore. 

 

 But why go this route when you have a Storm controller ? Save money on buying modules and all that needless stuff ? As for thr arrays as you know there is one option. 

 

 If you swap the arrays,I will take the old ones if you don't have a use for them. 

[BadCrab]

43 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

But why go this route when you have a Storm controller ? Save money on buying modules and all that needless stuff ?

I work for Neptune, doing customer service, so my home office is geared out with controller stuff already.
So it's really more "because it's cool" and less "because it's good."

I'll let you know if I end up swapping the arrays.  I don't have a lot of time on my hands so it's probably a project that will stay on the backburner unless/until I can find someone to restore them.  I'm pretty ignorant about most of it, so I'd need some time to learn how everything works if I go DIY on the repair

[Reefkid88]

That makes sense then. You should be able to get your hands on everything you need then at this point. 

 

 If I had spare arrays I would offer to do it for free. But I don't,and haven't gotten a REAL response on pricing and or a link to the new arrays to take a look at them. I personally wanna swap them mine out in my duo and both Tides but 🤷

[PootiNe]

One quick thing to try potentially is to connect the array in the green one to the driver of the blue/grey ones (I'm not too sure how easy it is to disassemble). If the LED array works fine, then the drivers can be pretty easily replaced. You would be able to find the drivers (Meanwell LDDs I believe) and breakout boards from vendors selling DIY LED components.