Diy Whole Tank Led Lighting Retrofit

[SteveyG]

Is there a simple way of making the PIC fade up over say an hour, stay on for say 7-8 hours and fade down again over another hour and stay off untill 14 hours has passed? This realy is my goal for it, and I know I can do it with a large capasitor and then current+voltage control using a resistor allongside a timer switch on the voltage supply, but smaller but more fidely and sofisticated (because of the programming mainly) PIC's being used for dimming is a bit of a new concept for me

Definitely. It's straightforward to create a clock to do this, but if you are planning on going down this route I would suggest you start playing and buy something like the PICkit2 which is a bargain IMO (http/uk.farnell.com/microchip/pickit2promo/development-programmer-promo-w/dp/9945350). If you have more money, perhaps look at the ICD2 or ICD3, but the PICkit2 is definitely a good start. MPLAB is free, and if you prefer programming in C, the C18 student version is available for free too (I think after 30 days optimisations are turned off, but you can still use it to make fully functioning programs).

 

[rabbut]

Excellent. Any idea if Python 2.5 scripts can be used for PIC's? I'm guessing not with it being an interpreted laguage

 

[SteveyG]

There probably is a compiler somewhere out there. I'd stick with assembly or C though. I favour assembly until you start using the bigger 16/32 bit PICs.

 

[rabbut]

OK, thanks a lot for that SteveyG, I now have a clear idea of what I'm looking at/for It's greatly appreciated

All the best
Rabbut

 

[rabbut]

My clear idea of what I need has now gone I've just been looking at PIC's and have no idea how I'm pinning an exact one down. I presume I'm only needing one output pin, so a smaller one is all I'll need, say 6-8 pins. Thing is, I've not looked into programming a PWM wave, and have no idea how much coding is needed and hence how much memory it will need... What PIC are you using SetveyG?

As an interest, I looked at the capasitor and resistor series I would need to do it... 30 ohm resistor on a 24V supply, and a 40F!!! capasitor..... Thats seems a little un-fesable now I look at it if I want a 1 hour fade. This said, my halide takes about 3 mins to come on, so a series of 1F capasitors could work OK if I come stuck on the PIC. They are available reasonably cheaply at Maplins.... A series of 5 should give a 2.5min fade-up and down, which would reduce the risk of Photoshock and stop the faffing with programming a PIC.... This route still looks moderately tempting...

Got 10 LED's today anyhow. I messed up the order though, and have 5 3W's and 5 1W's, so I've had to order more

If a decent PIC for this application can be had for a reasonable price, I'll go that route, but if it's more than £15, I'll probibly skip the novelty of extreamly long fade-up's and just go the (For me with no propper PIC programming facilities and a basic knowlage of how the things actually work) easy route that I've used before with LED light systems

All the best
Rabbut

EDIT, you need capasitors in parallel to get away with adding their individual capasitances to get the total of the set don't you, not a series. Woops

 

[SteveyG]

I'd look at something like the 16F628A or 16F88 as a starter. If the 18F architecture suits you better then look at the 18F1320.

I'm using the 18F6722, but it's a bit big for your project

 

[rabbut]

I'd look at something like the 16F628A or 16F88 as a starter. If the 18F architecture suits you better then look at the 18F1320.

I'm using the 18F6722, but it's a bit big for your project

Excellent, thankyou I assume to push 7000ma into 10 LED's in parallel at 3.5V I'll have to amplify the output with say a 741 op-amp?

My clear idea of what I need has now gone I've just been looking at PIC's and have no idea how I'm pinning an exact one down. I presume I'm only needing one output pin, so a smaller one is all I'll need, say 6-8 pins. Thing is, I've not looked into programming a PWM wave, and have no idea how much coding is needed and hence how much memory it will need... What PIC are you using SetveyG?

As an interest, I looked at the capasitor and resistor series I would need to do it... 30 ohm resistor on a 24V supply, and a 40F!!! capasitor..... Thats seems a little un-fesable now I look at it if I want a 1 hour fade. This said, my halide takes about 3 mins to come on, so a series of 1F capasitors could work OK if I come stuck on the PIC. They are available reasonably cheaply at Maplins.... A series of 5 should give a 2.5min fade-up and down, which would reduce the risk of Photoshock and stop the faffing with programming a PIC.... This route still looks moderately tempting...

Got 10 LED's today anyhow. I messed up the order though, and have 5 3W's and 5 1W's, so I've had to order more

If a decent PIC for this application can be had for a reasonable price, I'll go that route, but if it's more than £15, I'll probibly skip the novelty of extreamly long fade-up's and just go the (For me with no propper PIC programming facilities and a basic knowlage of how the things actually work) easy route that I've used before with LED light systems

All the best
Rabbut

EDIT, you need capasitors in parallel to get away with adding their individual capasitances to get the total of the set don't you, not a series. Woops

Oh the hazords of doing maths after an 8 hour shift at work on a busy day... Need a 3 ohm resisitor and 400F capasitor this way... PIC is deffinately the cost effective method for dimming it, as well as space saving

AC, how is your repair going?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[SuperColey1]

Awaiting the drivers. Been a little busy this weekend. Making a nursery tank from an old window and doing a pico tank too. lol

Trying to forget about the LEDs until the drivers arrive so I have a 'second wind' and am relaxed about it this time. Also got to buy the silicon.

Will be buying Aquarium safe as I need it to stick the glass I cut together. lol

AC

 

[SuperColey1]

The replacement drivers came today and so this evening after I put the boys to bed I setup and took my time getting some soldering and wiring done and here are the results:

I left my living room light on which is directly above the board so you can see how bright these are in a normally lit room!!!

Here is the sequence from no lights to full lights. Look at the chair legs directly behind to see the brightness!!!

That is my sunrise effect To see sunset all you need to do is turn your monitor upside down and then scroll up on the mousewheel

And a couple of shots from above:

One question. I am thinking of using these 2 pin connectors so I can disconnect all the cables easily when removing the hood. They say AC only. Will that cause a problem using them on this setup?

So tomorrow I need to continue with my hood modifications before putting these lights in this weekend

AC

 

[MHunt]

Wow that's really bright. Ok not so easy to tell but must be brighter than comparable flourescents. Good job
Did you notice the different colour temps of the led's? Is that intentional or just a variance in the bulbs?

I can't remember seeing a parts list. Could you list the major components when this is all complete Prob not as comprehensive as your luminaire but I fancy doing something similar. Plus I can see other applications that could be useful too.

 

[rabbut]

Wow, tis good and bright

The box you are asking about, is it just a junction box, or something more fancy? If it's just a junction box, it should be fine IMO, but I would tin the wires going into each contact with solder if you are going to be removing them regularly. It just prevents the ends fraying as quick

MHunt has good eyes, I diden't notice a change in colours untill I read his thread. Are you using some "Warm Whites" with some "Whites"? My first thought was different drivers would account for it, but the third row in has an "odd lamp out"

Certainly looks good upto now

All the best
Rabbut

 

[SuperColey1]

Looking on the above view photo:

It must be the way the light is coming into the camera lens and the angle. The 3rd, 4th & 5th are actually the most equal and you can't really notice any difference in the colours.

Row 2 from the left is the worst, all 3 are slightly different and row 1 has 1 LED slightly different. They aren't as far apart as warm whites and daywhite but you can notice the difference. Yet to see if it makes a difference over the tank.

You can't look properly at these without giving yourself 'welders flash'. You have to glance and look away, glance and look away and then you still have a little headache for the night. I would say that 75% are the same white with a tint of blue and 25% are a little lower in that they are veering toward pink/yellow.

I think its the difference in the LEDs and not drivers or anything like that. I guess flouro will still win the day when it comes to CRI quality at the moment.

Parts list:

20 x 3W LEDs (5 spare)
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=015

5 x current controllers for each series of 3
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/3W-Power-LED-Driv ... dZViewItem

16 x heat sinks for the rear side of each mount (1 spare)
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=022

2 x double fans:
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=002


Plus 5 x 12V adaptors and 5 x timers

I broke the glass at the bottom of the luminaire whilst cleaning it today so I think I will revert to the original acrylic I had planned to use and see how it cleans up each time.

AC

 

[rabbut]

An old rigger's trick is to wear some shades if you have to look directly at a lamp (or behind it if there's some rigging going on behind it) while on.... It's still not recomended for a long time, but should reduce the headache issue

All the best
Rabbut

 

[SuperColey1]

I would've worn a welding mask if I had one. lol

On the connector part. It is one of those that you can pull apart male/female 2 pins/2holes. The wires won't be coming out once they've been inserted. the m/f parts will come apart instead.

Just wondered why it says AC only No DC?

AC

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Looking good !!. Would still love to get a PAR meter under these to see how well they are actually performing. Would love to build something like this myself but I'm not going to lay the money down on them until I know how they actually perform.