Kessil

Electrical advice - lighting fixtures - needs professional help (potentially)

Alexander1312

Alexander1312

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I am using the two Quanta Light Helix bars and two ATLAS with the Hydros Control X4 and its 0-10V connector.

For months, there are on and off issues with the dimming through the 0-10V connector, which leads to any of the ATLAS or Helix bars turning on and off at random constantly thoughout the day.

These events seem to be triggered by pulling out other cables, e.g., for gyre cleaning and replacement of equipment, etc - potentially impacting the (rather flimsy) wiring of the lights.

We were able to resolve most of these issues by improving the wiring stability/connectivity of these, except one of the light bars' wiring seems to be still not strong enough, and every time we have to remove some equipment, it goes back into that on and off mode until we play around with it for hours after which it can hold the connectivity stable.

This state is not sustainable and I would be curious if you know any other methods to keep these copper wires together, or if someone knows of an electrician who could revamp the entire setup.

(FYI - if the dimming is removed, the light turns on at maximum power, so it is not an issue with the power brick in my opinion).

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Video with the rear Helix light bar turning on and off.

 
Do you own a multimeter? The most direct way to debug would be unplug both ends, connect the multimeter to both ends of the cable, and start wiggling things.

When set to resistance mode, you should see it register 0 when the multimeter is connected to both ends. If the connection breaks, it'll switch to say the equivalent of infinity. If it shows up as a number in the middle, then a connection is bad or a wire is bad, but more likely you'd see it bounce between 0 and infinity.

If you don't see that happen, then it likely is electrical in the controller.

To debug further you'd need to describe the wiring more, possibly with pictures. What's connected to what, how many things are sharing a connection, and so on.
 
richiev said:
Do you own a multimeter? The most direct way to debug would be unplug both ends, connect the multimeter to both ends of the cable, and start wiggling things.

When set to resistance mode, you should see it register 0 when the multimeter is connected to both ends. If the connection breaks, it'll switch to say the equivalent of infinity. If it shows up as a number in the middle, then a connection is bad or a wire is bad, but more likely you'd see it bounce between 0 and infinity.

If you don't see that happen, then it likely is electrical in the controller.

To debug further you'd need to describe the wiring more, possibly with pictures. What's connected to what, how many things are sharing a connection, and so on.
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You lost me with this, but I am sure it would help. I just think the Hydros 0-10V quad cable and extension are not properly connected but we struggled with finding better and stronger ways to keep the connection.

We have now soldered the particular one together which seems to have done the trick (for now). Still, I might need to re-look at the entire wiring for the lights at one point to have this setup properly.
 
dangalang said:
Just a thought, maybe your lighting issue is a contributing factor to your higher nutrients? Less light than normal = less photosynthesis/corals as nutrient export?
Click to expand...

Good thoughts. The two ATLAS do the heavy lifting. The bars are mostly just for blueish optics. PAR measures around 500 on top, 300 on the bottom. I actually believe the tank might get in some cases too much light tbh.
 
Several yeas ago I was gifted a well thought out system. Included was a Furmen line conditioner. (Not a power backup)
With all the current needed to run these tank the power should be “smooth” and accurate.
 
Sorry. Late to the party.
Yea you can use line lock connectors. If you want a permanent solution. Then solder it and shrink tube it.
Or a cold weld crimp. I’m a fan of the cold weld crimp if done correctly.
 
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