automatic dali dimming for thunderstorm

[evanm1978]

Hi All,

Does anybody know if you can or how to

Automatically dim down T5 tubes using the Dali card anytime the thunderstorm is manually activated.

I have 3 Osram Dali ballasts 2 x 54w. I also have the simu led stick.

I want the 3 ballasts to gradually dim down the six tubes to off when I manually activate a thunderstorm.

and when the storm has finished bring the t5 tubes back to 100%

Has anybody tried this or can it actually be achieved

[BigAl07]

Do you have "Thunderstorm" and "Dimmable" selected in the illumination channel for each ballast(s)?

Go to the Illumination page and check for each channel you're using and make sure the above are checked. This should accomplish your desired actions.

[evanm1978]

Good man,

Thats perfect, never realised thats what those were for I thought they were just to indicate what you wanted to label your illumination channel as.

Just another issue for you that you may know about.

Ive not had these dali dimmable ballasts running long, maybe 2 months.

at the start all was running fine and dimming perfect.

lately im having problems wth some of the bulbs flashing on full !00% rather than dimming.

say im dimming from 100% to 0%, well when the bulb gets to near 30% it will flash on to full 100% for a split second then go off. might do this a couple of times.
its even doing it when its practically off at say 5%, just randomly flashes on at 100%

other times when im going fro 0% to 100% I might get the same, will do nothing for a long time then jump to 100% on. other times it fails to bring on the bulbs
at all even though the profilux unit says its at 100%.


sorry for such a long post.

would the age of the bulbs have anything to do with it, they are near 12 months and due to be changed soon. I notice while they are dimming some of them flicker at the ends.

Its like when the starter goes in an ordinary lighting tube.

just curious to see if you have any experience of this.

Im not sure if its bad bulbs, bad dali card or an issue with the osram dali ballasts.

I dont think its in the software on the profilux as ive reasigned the channels and numbering of the ballasts several times and changed the lighting schedule.

thanks

[Porter.painter]

I wouldnt flash t5 bulbs like they, even if they would do it... Which I don't think they will tbh. It'll shorten the life of the bulbs and scare your stock.

If you have a simu stick, the just set the storm for when your main tank lights are off and that will be sufficient for the 'storm' effect.

[BigAl07]

I'm pretty sure the T5's wont flash. They don't have the "recovery" to be able to flash.

[evanm1978]

I dont think I have posted this correctly or people are not understanding what I say.

The problem I am having is that the t5 tubes are flashing during the dimming process and I obviously dont want them to.

what i was asking is whether anyone was having this issue with theirs.

my bulbs used to dim perfectly for a few weeks but now they are constantly flashing on to full power as they go through the dimm process at the end of a light cycle.

other times two of the bulbs will not be on at all even though the profilux says they are at 100%.

Im trying to figure out if its bad ballasts, old bulbs or a dodgy dali card!!!!



The other question I had was if their was a way to control an aquaray 600 duos set to flash the white leds during a thunderstorm

[GHL Support]

I dont think I have posted this correctly or people are not understanding what I say.
The problem I am having is that the t5 tubes are flashing during the dimming process and I obviously dont want them to.
what i was asking is whether anyone was having this issue with theirs.
my bulbs used to dim perfectly for a few weeks but now they are constantly flashing on to full power as they go through the dimm process at the end of a light cycle.
other times two of the bulbs will not be on at all even though the profilux says they are at 100%.
Im trying to figure out if its bad ballasts, old bulbs or a dodgy dali card!!!!

That the flickering is caused via the DALI-card is rather unlikely.
We guess that the tubes cause this, either since they have not been burnt in well or since they are too old.
So we recommend to try new tubes and burn them in correctly.
If this won't improve the behaviour, then there is still the possibility that there is something wrong with the ballast...

[Matthias]

and it is very important that the wiring between PLM-DALI and the ballasts is correct:
- distance to sources of intereferences
- cable not too thin or too long
- ballasts must be grounded

[evanm1978]

Is there somewhere to return the dali card to for testing because it is not working for me.There must be something wrong with it.

Is there any customer support or warranty with profilux products?

I put all new tubes in today and set them to burn in mode.
When the timer comes to where they are meant to dim they turn off completely.

Then after a while they will flash on again to full power for about 30 seconds to a minute and then go off.
it just keeps doing this all night when they should be off.


its like the dali card is not able to keep the ballasts off.

Is there a contact in profilux that I can send a video of this too so they can see whats happening.

is there an actual support department to deal with customer issues and problems with products

also how are you to know what length,size of cable etc. there is no instructions.

It cant be my bulbs as they are new and how can all 3 ballasts suddenly develop the same issue at the same time.

[Wirus]

I put all new tubes in today and set them to burn in mode.
When the timer comes to where they are meant to dim they turn off completely.

That´s the normal burn-in mode. As long as burn-in time is not over, the tubes will not dim but switch on and off (also described in the manual)

Then after a while they will flash on again to full power for about 30 seconds to a minute and then go off.
it just keeps doing this all night when they should be off.

This is not a normal behavior. Have you addressed all ballasts correctly?
Have you connected the ballast power to permanent power or to a switched socket?
Have you put DALI cable and power cord directly together?
Does dimming work if you use manual mode?