question on lighting and reefkeeper lite

[james1990]

I just picked up a RKL 2nd hand (thanks James404 great guy) and also bought a new LED fixture from my LFS. The fixture does not have dimmable switches and the person recommended that I goto home depot and pick up some cheap plug in dimable lamp switches.

Is there a way of hooking up the dimmability and timer through my RKL? or is that function only for Aqua illuminations? would this be the part needed?

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store...mination-led-controller-digital-aquatics.html

 

[skene]

any led can be used as long as you have a dimmable ballast and you know how much or how little you want to control.
As per going to home depot... I would not suggest doing any experimenting that is beyond your comprehension without proper research on all products involved.

 

[james1990]

I was going off of the owner of the LFS that runs these lights on their tanks.

but question on the RKL, so your saying if i purchased a dimmable ballast AND the RKL LED controller I would be able to adjust intensity of the lights through the RK? im trying to get them to gradually increase and decrease to simulate sunrise/set

is this possible?

 

[skene]

Once again... you need to go through first what type of equipment is used on your LED unit before you think about anything other than on and off. Can it happen... Sure it can... Can you run the risk of damaging the LEDs that are in that fixture. Absolutely.
So unless you know what was used... Do not attempt anything unless you are fully aware of the repercussions of what you want to accomplish.

 

[james1990]

what do you mean what kind of equipment is used on my LEDs? sorry I dont know much about lighting. I dont have specs on the fixture as its my LFS own brand leds.

 

[skene]

Right now, from what I am understanding is that this is beyond your abilities and would be more work than you are currently capable of.
I don't want for you to take this as an insult, but you should not look into modifying the LEDs.

 

[edd]

rkl sells an ad on to your rkl.its called mlc-moon light controller to control led intensity

 

[qy7400]

LED dimming is a function of the drivers, you can not use 110V dimmer switches from Home Depot/Lowes. The ALC you linked in your first post is for ballasts/drivers that have the built in 10VDC dimming feature.

Start with this, what LED fixture did you purchase and is it controllable?

 

[james1990]

skene, im not insulted, but im not looking to modify the leds, just lower the intensity the way I was told I was able to when I purchased them. I did assume it wouldnt be easy, but was reassured it was nothing more than adding a switch, which is why i posted here for more knowledgeable help. thanks.

qy7400, thanks. my LFS (aquarium village) makes their own LED fixtures that they use on their coral tanks. I purchased their 12 inch.
Cree LED Light with white (12000k) blue (455nm) with 90 degree lens.

I went back to them yesterday and the guys there were more than happy to exchage my fixture out with one with dimmable knobs on it. So it all worked out.

now that I have your attention, would anyone mind telling me how I should be adjusting the intensity of the blues and whites during the day? Im @home alot and have time to adjust them depending on the time of day. Start with blues and go up with whites?

im nervous of burning out and washing out my corals, I dont know how high I can turn up the LEDs on my 10gal setup. The fixture is only 6' from water level

 

[qy7400]

OK I know the lights, Rich showed them to me when he got them and had some good PAR numbers when we tested them. On a 10G I'd start them around 30 to 40% to get the corals used to them and bring them up slowly until you reach the power/color you like.

 

[james1990]

thats hard data right there! great thats what I needed to know. I was running the 24 LED aquastyles kit before this and even dimmed down they seemed alot brighter. I had to turn this new fixture up to about 70% to see the same color. But the last thing I need is bleaching out my corals so 30% it is. Thanks

 

[lnevo]

I had the same questions for Rich as you, as far as how to dim these lights. His answers seemed a little light on details and confidence, so I confirmed the next time I was there with Jesse who has been very helpful.

He told me that this is exactly what they do with their appliances over the frag tanks. I also asked about 2 pin vs. 3 pin since all the current dimmers at home depot are 2 prong and he said they just use the grounding adapters. Not wanting to deal with grounding adapters... I tested out my lights with some old 3 prong Lamplinc X-10 modules I had laying around and was able to dim them fine.

I did have one problem with the X-10 modules as the lights kept turning on after I turned them off. Apparently this is a know problem with low voltage devices like LED and CFL lights and I had to turn off load detection allows you to turn the lights on/off with the local switch (which these don't have). They are working great now, and I plan on adding some X-10 to my entire setup!

I know this wasn't related to your question, but thought the experience might help others.