Dimming problem with Meanwells and Apex

[adnup]

Ok my friend has an Apex and 3 HLG-185H-36B drivers we programmed the ramp up and ramp down as well as the on/off times. He is running a DIY LED set up with 80 LEDS on each driver. Cat5 cable Verspd 1 & 2 are on 1 cable to 2 of the drivers. Wht Orange/ Orange for one and White Green / Green for the other. A second cable Wht Orange/ Orange is for the 3rd driver. The drivers are NOT plugged into the EB8 but the cat5's are plugged into the controller. These LED's are too bright for the corals and at 100% are bleaching them so we set the whites to ramp up to 50%. Plug everything in and turn on the ballasts and ALL of the whites go on at the same time they are running at 100% instead of running at 50%.
All clues to what we're doing wrong?

[RussM]

Post the programming and profiles being used.

What happens if you set the VarSpd ports to manual off?

[adnup]

Plug everything in and turn on the ballasts and ALL of the whites go on at the same time they are running at 100% instead of running at 50%.

To clarify even if I unplug one of the ballasts ALL of the whites are on instead of half

[adnup]

Post the programming and profiles being used.

What happens if you set the VarSpd ports to manual off?

Ill have to check that

[reefrubble]

I'm The friend . One more thing , half the white LEDs are on one driver , and the other half are on another driver . When the cat 5 cables are plugged into the Apex and power is supplied to only one driver all the white LEDs come on , but they look like they are running at only 50% . When we supply power to both of the drivers they jump up to 100% . Why would the set of LEDs that are connected to the driver that is not receiving line voltage come on , when the cat 5 cable is connected to the Apex ?

[RussM]

There has got to be miswiring. The Apex VarSpd ports do not put out enough current to actually drive anything. It's just a control signal.

[reefrubble]

What I don't understand is if you unplug the cat 5 cable , when you only have one of the white drivers powered up , half the white LEDs go out . the other half goes to 100% .

[Snootch]

I cut the black cat5 cable that came with the apex controller


VarSpd 1
orange/white +
orange -

VarSpd 2
blue/white +
green -


works fine

[adnup]

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d183/ADNUP/ScreenHunter_01Jun261059.gif

I followed these instructions:
First cable - Both ballasts driving the whites
Pin 1 & 2 VarSpd 1 - Wht/Orange (+) & Orange (-)
Pin 5 & 6 VarSpd 2 - Wht/Green (+) & Green (-)

Second Cable - driving the blues ballast
Pin 1 & 2 VarSpd 3 - Wht/Orange (+) & Orange (-)

I would assume that the second cable can use the same pin#s as the 1st cable being its a different outlet

[peiloy3196]

Have a look at this post: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2036716

I think that your pin 5 and 6 colors may be the issue.

[lifesworksataol]

I ordered my Apex today and still need to order my ballast. I am looking at using a meanwell ballast that can run alot of led's, any suggestions?

[schudini]

I'm The friend.

Hi Friend :wave:

[Gold Stripe]

Check your plugs very closely. I believe that you will find that 5&6 are miswired. Most standard plugs start with Green and Green/White in the middle and then Blue and Blue/White outside of them. Then Orange and Orange/White on one end and Brown and Brown/White on the other end.

So it should be something like Orange/White, Orange, Blue/White, Green, Green/White, Blue, Brown/White, Brown.

V1 is Orange/White+ and Orange -
V2 is Green/White+ and Blue-

Just built mine this past weekend and is working perfectly that way. Good luck.

[dad1st]

oops

[reefrubble]

Thank you everyone for your help . and thank you adnum , for your help with everything . The system is working great now . When everything is set up correctly it is awesome . You can adjust your white , and blue LEDs to get D to D , and the color temp. , you want . I love my DIY LEDs , and Apex . I think this is the biggest advance in aquarium lighting , in a long time . Ted