I wasn't happy with the lighting control on my outer orbit fixture so I decided to dig in and make some modifications.
Stock setup had:
One cord & switch for the 4 T-5's
One cord & switch for the 2 MH's
One cord & switch for the White LEDs
One cord & switch for the Blue LEDs
I wanted to get more of a dawn/dusk effect and having all 4 T-5's come on at the same time was just not doing it for me. On one of my trips into the fixture, I noticed there were two ballasts for the T-5's, and that got me thinking. One ballast was for the two "front" bulbs and one ballast was for the two "back" bulbs. I rewired the ballasts so that one was now for the front and back "outer" bulbs and one was for the front and back "inner" bulbs. I also put each ballast on it's own switch and added a power cord so I can turn each on/off by my controller.
Two Outer Actinics:
Two Inner "Daylights":
All 4 on:
I removed one of the plugs for the LEDs and drilled the fixture for the new power cord:
I decided to make the LEDs an A or B option for white/blues so I found a SPDT (single pole double throw) rocker switch that matched the stock switches and spliced the LEDs to work on one power input. The two switches on the left are for the T-5's and the top right is the MH's and bottom right is now to switch white or blue LEDs.
White LEDs:
Blue LEDs:
As you can see I am missing one bank of 3 blue LEDs. One of the wire sockets on the circuit board has a broken lead. They don't sell these replacement LED modules any more, so my only option is to fix the one I have. After an hour of searching I found a place that sells the Straight 2-Pin 2.5mm JST XH-style shrouded connector I need to repare the LED board.
My next step will be to ditch the 6V power supply and connect the LEDs to the ALC module on my Reef Keeper allowing me to Dim the moon lights!
Stock setup had:
One cord & switch for the 4 T-5's
One cord & switch for the 2 MH's
One cord & switch for the White LEDs
One cord & switch for the Blue LEDs
I wanted to get more of a dawn/dusk effect and having all 4 T-5's come on at the same time was just not doing it for me. On one of my trips into the fixture, I noticed there were two ballasts for the T-5's, and that got me thinking. One ballast was for the two "front" bulbs and one ballast was for the two "back" bulbs. I rewired the ballasts so that one was now for the front and back "outer" bulbs and one was for the front and back "inner" bulbs. I also put each ballast on it's own switch and added a power cord so I can turn each on/off by my controller.
Two Outer Actinics:
Two Inner "Daylights":
All 4 on:
I removed one of the plugs for the LEDs and drilled the fixture for the new power cord:
I decided to make the LEDs an A or B option for white/blues so I found a SPDT (single pole double throw) rocker switch that matched the stock switches and spliced the LEDs to work on one power input. The two switches on the left are for the T-5's and the top right is the MH's and bottom right is now to switch white or blue LEDs.
White LEDs:
Blue LEDs:
As you can see I am missing one bank of 3 blue LEDs. One of the wire sockets on the circuit board has a broken lead. They don't sell these replacement LED modules any more, so my only option is to fix the one I have. After an hour of searching I found a place that sells the Straight 2-Pin 2.5mm JST XH-style shrouded connector I need to repare the LED board.
My next step will be to ditch the 6V power supply and connect the LEDs to the ALC module on my Reef Keeper allowing me to Dim the moon lights!
