separate case fan control

Hi.. i have an aquarium light fixture that is a hybrid T5 and LED set up. the LED system consists of a bluefish wireless controller, a breakout board to convert 5v to PWM and 1000Ma meanwell drivers for 5 dimmable color channels.

all are powered by a meanwell ac/dc converter that puts out 48v 2.5A, 120W max. the T5 part is AC powered with traditional fluorescent ballasts with on/off functionality. there are also 3 case fans present that are powered by a separate adjustable voltage "wall wart"? power supply. I would like to move one of the fans to run in conjunction with the LED active status. basically i would like the fan to kick on whenever the LED's are on.

i have AC power and 48v dc power in the fixture that i can tap into. the bluefish also has an open channel (6 channels. 5 for led and one left open) but apparently not able to control the fan. can someone try and explain to me what i would need to separate the fan control? Fan only has red and black wires but i can replace it with a 3 or 4 wire PWM one.

thank you in advance.

If the bluefish is not able to drive the fan, then it can turn on a transistor which then carries power to the fan.

There's a question of specs about the bluefish outputs, whether it turns on a load by (a) supplying positive voltage, or (b) providing a path to 0V ground?

Your wall wart appears to have a slider switch set at 5v. Is that what the fans are rated for?

To tell the truth, the easiest and least risky method might be to have a photosensor detect when led's are lit. The photosensor conducts current to bias a transistor On, and turn on the fan.

BradtheRad said:

If the bluefish is not able to drive the fan, then it can turn on a transistor which then carries power to the fan.

There's a question of specs about the bluefish outputs, whether it turns on a load by (a) supplying positive voltage, or (b) providing a path to 0V ground?

Your wall wart appears to have a slider switch set at 5v. Is that what the fans are rated for?

To tell the truth, the easiest and least risky method might be to have a photosensor detect when led's are lit. The photosensor conducts current to bias a transistor On, and turn on the fan.

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Hi.. thank you for the reply. I got it down to connecting a stepper to the 48v power supply and reduce to 12v.

**broken link removed**

I can connect PMW fan to board and run to BF for control.

hi.. so i wound up just disconnecting the entire led rig from the chassis and shipping it to the guy who sold it to me. he did whatever he had to do, and i reinstalled everything without a hitch. but somewhere along the way, the fan power cable came unplugged and by the time i discovered something was wrong, one of the LED arrays was damaged (i think anyways). it started flickering and when it did light, it was at diminished intensity. sometimes for a brief moment it works as if nothing is wrong at all. honestly, i am a capable noob at this and i am positive i am just not following the correct procedures here. can you guys point me in the right direction using a multi meter so i can identify the bad component on the Royal Blue channel so i can replace it?

thank you.

second_decimal said:

sometimes for a brief moment it works as if nothing is wrong at all.

Click to expand...

Intermittent problems are a frustrating kind to track down, aren't they?

It could be overheated led's. It could be a bad contact. It's important to find out if the fault is in:
* entire led array
* one led in an array
* broken connector on an array
* broken or loose terminal strip
* defective wire.

As a first step to try, tighten all screw connections. Wobble the wires a bit as you power the led's. Avoid putting strain on the led arrays.

Test each array individually from a power supply in the simplest, easiest to diagnose hookup. Stay under a safe current level. (Your meter should be on the 10 Ampere setting, unless you understand whether a lower Amp setting will or won't blow a fuse.)

If you're lucky enough to find that only one single led is faulty, it may be possible to bypass it by soldering in a resistor (or wire), allowing remaining led's to light normally.

thank you for the reply. the guy who sold me the light sent me a new array, a board with 2 meanwell drivers and a dc converter so i could plug it in and with 2 lead wires, test each array by sending current through the RB channel. with this method, i was able to test array 1 then, sending current to the entry of array 1, test outgoing from each array until i hit a bad one. i was able to bypass the RB channel in the bad array and the issue is resolved for now until i get to soldering lol.

there must a be simple way to test latent current or whatever to tell the bad array with a simple multi meter measurement?