Changing the LED intensity

I think I forgot to forward you the e-mail with the instructions on moving the jumpers, here it is for all to see

Changing the LED board settings:

The LED boards have jumpers between each pair of LEDs, which allows you to increase the intensity of that pair once you have a base of growth. They come pre-configured in the "low" intensity setting (all LEDs are in "parallel" - which splits the current between the 2 LEDs of each pair).

The Blue pair should always remain in Parallel - do not change these jumpers.

Each red pair can be set to 'high' intensity by removing both jumpers and plugging one jumper across the middle two pins (the 2nd and 3rd pins, leaving the 1st and 4th pins 'empty'. This places that pair of LEDs in "series" so that each LED gets the full current of 700mA.

This is very important - DO NOT CONFIGURE JUMPERS WITH POWER APPLIED TO THE LEDs. Unplug the driver from the wall and let the fixture sit for 30 seconds, then unplug the driver from the fixtures before configuring jumpers.

To get at the boards, you simply remove one of the end caps from the MakersLED heat sink by removing the 4 screws, and slide the acrylic splashguard out of the way. Switch the jumpers, and re-assemble. Do not over-tighten the end cap screws - they just need to be snug.

I'll also move this thread to the appropriate forum...

 

Also, this should only really be done once you get a solid base of growth established. Setting the LEDs to full power on a non-mature screen will cause photo-inhibition, meaning that you will kill off the growth you do have by flooding it with too much light.

If you have low growth, increasing the intensity will not help! You need to let the screen mature before exposing it to higher intensity light.

Low or slow growth should be handled by actually decreasing the photoperiod for a period of time. Initial photoperiod should be 9 hours/day on the low intensity setting. If you still have problems getting growth, you should decrease it further, or break up the photoperiod into multiple shorter times, like 4 hours on, 2 hours off, 4 hours on, 14 hours off. Or even three 3 hour periods with 1 hours in between.

After you can scrape the screen, and growth stays in the holes, then extend the photo period. You can extend the photoperiod up to 18 hours or more, but only add 1 or 2 hours to the daily photoperiod each week. As long as you don't get light yellowish growth or tons of brown gooey slime covering the GHA, you're fine.

If you switch the jumpers and increase the intensity, you may have to reduce the photoperiod to make sure you don't photo saturate.

 

You can use a program such as IrfanView (google it) to reduce picture sizes for easier use, or you can change your camera settings for a smaller picture. In the world of high-res digital cameras and phones, many pictures can be easily 5-10MB. That is just too large for online use, you only need 300-500k size pics, if that.

 

It might be easier to get a photobucket account, or another similar free service, then upload the picture to that and copy/paste the IMG code that they provide you. You can also use these services to edit the photos, including reducing the size of the photo. If you upload a picture and the dimensions are really big, that means it's a high resolution picture. You can change the dimensions so something like 640x480 or thereabouts and it will automatically scale the size back.

 

Ted, when you click the "+Quote" button, it adds the contents to the Multi-Quote queue. You can then click the "Insert Quotes" button to add these to the quick-reply box. It looks like you were clicking the quote button several times - each time to click this, the banner at the top of the screen will pull down indicating that you added the text to the multi-quote. You don't need to quote a previous post to make a new post, unless you are wishing to reference something in that post - just add the link to the text box and post the reply

 

Ted, what service are you using to cut & paste the code? it looks like you are not getting all of it, or deleting part of it?

 

The information you need to enter will look like this when you paste it into the quick-reply box

Code:

[IMG]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/FloydRTurbo/Lights10000kActinic1.jpg[/IMG]

And when you post the reply, the picture will show up like this



Some sites, like Photobucket, will add a set of URL tags so that when someone clicks the picture, it will take them to the Photobucket website. you can leave these in, there is a way to disable them being automatically added, but only if you are a paid subscriber (to Photobucket)

 

Ted, what part of the code are you trying to insert? It doesn't look like you are actually pasting the link, or you are pasting the wrong thing, or you are inserting the same picture link multiple times and the code it overlapping.

Just find the box labelled IMG. Then click the box to the right of that to highlight the code (just click once). Then click your right mouse button, and select "Copy" (or hold down CTRL and hit C to copy). Then go back to the quick-reply window and right-click and select "Paste" (or hold down CTRL+V to paste). Then, hit Enter to go to the next line before you try to paste in another set of code.

In some of Photobucket's windows, just clicking the link will copy the link for you. When this happens, you will see it flash "copied" momentarily. Then, all you need to do is paste the link



You do not need to be a paid member to edit on photobucket. Just mouse over the picture, and a little wheel will appear in the upper right corner of the picture thumbnail. Mouse over that, and there will be an "edit" option. This will open the editor window, where you can do all kinds of things. You can then Apply the changes and save over the existing pic, or save as a new pic, then go back to your photobucket page and copy/paste the link

 

I looked at the code for your last 2 posts and what it looks like is that you pasted the link in twice, one right after another - so there is no overlapping code screwing it up, but there is extra code that is in there somehow - this:

Code:

[IMG]http://

at the beginning, and this

Code:

[/]

at the end. the system cannot figure out what to do with that sequence of code. Everything in between those 2 sections is correct. I honestly don't know where that extra information is coming from, because it is not part of the standard link that you can get from photobucket. You don't need to use the Insert Image button on the quick-reply toolbar when adding a link from an external site, just copy and paste the link directly into the reply window.

^^^I just figured out that this is what you are doing. Just paste the code.

 

You don't need to use the Insert Image button on the quick-reply toolbar when adding a link from an external site, just copy and paste the link directly into the reply window.

^^^I just figured out that this is what you are doing. Just paste the code.

 

oops I just deleted your post. sorry!!!

 

Ted, you have to be aware of where the cursor is when you paste the image in. If you quote a post and then paste the link in the middle of the [ and ] and the text in between, it screws up the code and it will not work.

Place the cursor at the bottom of the window, on a new line, and paste. Then hit enter a few times and start your typing or past another image. Read my other replies regarding inserting images, do not use the little picture icon to insert the IMG code. Just paste it directly into the reply window

 

But, to answer your question:

Just take it one step at a time. Increase the daily hours each week, and as long as you get green growth, keep increasing. You can also let the screen grow longer, add a day each growth period. If the growth underneath the top layer seems to be less firmly attached, then clean one day sooner the next time (and that will be your limit for how long you can let it grow). I have let screens grow 14 days on a regular basis, one time I waited 18 days and most of the algae in the holes let go. Now I don't go past 16 days max, but I try for 14 days. It all depends on your tank and setup. Some people have to clean at 6 days because they get so much growth so quickly.

 

yes, photobucket. I replied many times in this thread, but you only get an alert to the last post I make since you visited the site, so scroll up and review those posts. I have to go because I have 4 work deadlines that I'm trying to meet today, sorry!!