Dimming Ballast Fitted to RSM?
- Thread starter Jof
- Start date
Dweezil
Well-Known Member
Ya know, at first I was thinking..Why would you want to do something like that? But..the more I thought about it the more I am thinking that if you could do it, it would actually be more natural. When it's time for the lights to go out you could start dimming them until completely off. This would be more like a natural sun going down type of thing than just "poof" it's dark now. 
Jof
Member
Thats the plan!
But its an area I'm not expert in.
I'd like to control it via a GHL Profilux Light Controller which can deal with dimming of DALI ballasts.
But thats my first stummbling block. As I haven't got my 130D yet I can't see the factory fitted ballasts to read their rating or see their phsyical size / how much space is available to retro-fit dimming ballasts.
I can find lots of dimmming ballasts but not yet for 2x55W T5.
I'll keep with this until total success or failure!
But hey, a sunrise and sunset in the RSM? That'll be some mod, huh?
But its an area I'm not expert in.
I'd like to control it via a GHL Profilux Light Controller which can deal with dimming of DALI ballasts.
But thats my first stummbling block. As I haven't got my 130D yet I can't see the factory fitted ballasts to read their rating or see their phsyical size / how much space is available to retro-fit dimming ballasts.
I can find lots of dimmming ballasts but not yet for 2x55W T5.
I'll keep with this until total success or failure!
But hey, a sunrise and sunset in the RSM? That'll be some mod, huh?
I was looking at doing this for my 250. I sort of lost interest after a lot of searching for ballasts that would fit. I saw the YouTube videos in my searching but never found the information on the ballasts.
I found quite a few ballasts that would do the job and I even have a couple for other projects, but all of them are too large to simply swap out inside the 250 hood which is a definite requirement. All the ones I've found are 2-6" too long and won't fit.
I found quite a few ballasts that would do the job and I even have a couple for other projects, but all of them are too large to simply swap out inside the 250 hood which is a definite requirement. All the ones I've found are 2-6" too long and won't fit.
Jof
Member
Oakhouse: Yes it would need to be a ballast operating on the DALI protocol to use with the Profilux controller. Found this, it may help with what I cannot explain too clearly.
Digitally Addressable Lighting Interface
(DALI)
The Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI),
international standard prlEC929 is a communication
protocol and method to interface lighting units on a 2-
wire network. The DALI protocol is 16 bits and supports
addressing up to 64 ballasts individually Aside from
the protocol, DALI supports fading, logarithmic dimming,
scenes, and FAULT detection.
Auritania: There does seem to be a limited amount of Manufacturers that build components supporting the DALI protocol.
Were you looking to use the dimming effect with the Profilux controller or something else?
There could be a couple of potential ballasts, but until my 130D turns up and I can get inside the hood I'm kinda wee'ing in the wind with specific ballasts at the mo......
Digitally Addressable Lighting Interface
(DALI)
The Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI),
international standard prlEC929 is a communication
protocol and method to interface lighting units on a 2-
wire network. The DALI protocol is 16 bits and supports
addressing up to 64 ballasts individually Aside from
the protocol, DALI supports fading, logarithmic dimming,
scenes, and FAULT detection.
Auritania: There does seem to be a limited amount of Manufacturers that build components supporting the DALI protocol.
Were you looking to use the dimming effect with the Profilux controller or something else?
There could be a couple of potential ballasts, but until my 130D turns up and I can get inside the hood I'm kinda wee'ing in the wind with specific ballasts at the mo......
Oakhouse
Member
From the research I did a while ago... you wouldn't need to go DALI. Not sure in the 130, but in the 250 you could go with 3 dimmable ballast
T5 High Frequency Twin Ballast 24-39 Watt
In the case of GHL this would need to be three seperate controls.
GHL-Profilux Dual 1-10V and Socket Interface Expansion Card
or go DALI using
PLM-Dali - Interface for Dali enabled ballasts
I did look into just setting up a small DIY Arduino board to run this, but trying to sort out an opamp to raise the outputs to 0-10v is not that easy..
It may well be cheaper to use the GHL..
T5 High Frequency Twin Ballast 24-39 Watt
In the case of GHL this would need to be three seperate controls.
GHL-Profilux Dual 1-10V and Socket Interface Expansion Card
or go DALI using
PLM-Dali - Interface for Dali enabled ballasts
I did look into just setting up a small DIY Arduino board to run this, but trying to sort out an opamp to raise the outputs to 0-10v is not that easy..
It may well be cheaper to use the GHL..
Jof
Member
Mmmmm...
This subject is definately in its early days.
It will be cracked at some point, its just a matter of time.
Personally, its important that apart from working fully from 100% to 1% dimming on a program that the installation still fits within the original hood without looking 'mutated' in anyway.
Research, research, research.........
Thanks for the info supplied Oakhouse.
This subject is definately in its early days.
It will be cracked at some point, its just a matter of time.
Personally, its important that apart from working fully from 100% to 1% dimming on a program that the installation still fits within the original hood without looking 'mutated' in anyway.
Research, research, research.........
Thanks for the info supplied Oakhouse.
Oakhouse
Member
One other thing that might be a useful suggestion is to get hold of a spare hood, build it all into that and then swap..
Was thinking of doing this and building in all the modifications, including changing the timer section to a small touch screen, to read and control the Arduino board. Was also looking at building in temp and ph into it.
Arduino Forum - My Arduino Aquarium Controller
Was thinking of doing this and building in all the modifications, including changing the timer section to a small touch screen, to read and control the Arduino board. Was also looking at building in temp and ph into it.
Arduino Forum - My Arduino Aquarium Controller
Oakhouse
Member
Well thats what happens when "Techies" get salt water in their circuits! lol!:laughroll
Jof
Member
Lol,
Terry: it's gonna take a little technical knowledge to lay the path for dimming the RSM T5's, but once done successfully by somebody and fully documented it'll be fairly straight forward to follow on I'm sure.
Oakhouse: wow, you've definatley spent a bit of time on this! Think I can see where your thoughts are heading and it appears more exciting than mine!
For me I'd be quite happy to just have the RSM T5's dimming, controlled by the Profilux and use their periphal devices for other controls.
Only for the simple fact that they can develop faster and better than I ever could.
Though I don't know how popular the GHL Profilux is Stateside or elsewhere in our RSM Community.
But by bouncing all of our ideas and findings I'm sure that we will all advance our plans and dream systems!!
Terry: it's gonna take a little technical knowledge to lay the path for dimming the RSM T5's, but once done successfully by somebody and fully documented it'll be fairly straight forward to follow on I'm sure.
Oakhouse: wow, you've definatley spent a bit of time on this! Think I can see where your thoughts are heading and it appears more exciting than mine!
For me I'd be quite happy to just have the RSM T5's dimming, controlled by the Profilux and use their periphal devices for other controls.
Only for the simple fact that they can develop faster and better than I ever could.
Though I don't know how popular the GHL Profilux is Stateside or elsewhere in our RSM Community.
But by bouncing all of our ideas and findings I'm sure that we will all advance our plans and dream systems!!
Oakhouse
Member
Just trying in to dig through some of the research I did, and here's another link that may be of interest.
Retro fit Dimable lighting in a Red sea max 250 - Nano-Reef.com Forums
Retro fit Dimable lighting in a Red sea max 250 - Nano-Reef.com Forums