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RapidLED Coralife BioCube 29 Retrofit
Contents
Overview ....................................................................................................................................................... 1
Hood Preparation . ......................................................................................................................................... 2
Fastener Removal ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Reflector and LED Strip Removal .............................................................................................................. 3
Ballast Removal . ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Transformer Removal ............................................................................................................................... 8
Right Side AC In Removal ........................................................................................................................ 10
Prepared Hood . ....................................................................................................................................... 11
Installing the Heatsink................................................................................................................................. 12
Attaching LEDs to the Heatsink . .................................................................................................................. 14
Wiring the LED Strings................................................................................................................................. 15
Inside Hood Wiring for LED Strings to V+ and V- ........................................................................................ 16
Outside Hood Wiring for LED Strings to V+ and V- ..................................................................................... 19
Wiring the Driver to AC Power . ................................................................................................................... 20
Adjusting Driver Current with a Multimeter . .............................................................................................. 22
Finishing Up . ................................................................................................................................................ 23
Overview
As with any type of lighting retrofit, there are many dangers, difficulties, and pitfalls that may
occur. The Rapid LED Coralife BioCube 29 retrofit should only be attempted by people familiar with AC
power and wiring, electronics, LEDs, LED Drivers, series circuits, and be comfortable with the fact that
this retrofit will require complete disassembly and removal of major components of the original hood. If
you are uncomfortable with or inexperienced at any of the prerequisites required for this retrofit, you
should not attempt this retrofit. NOTE: These instructions are for installing individual LEDs in your hood.
If you are using the kit with the Aurora Array, refer to the instructions located here: Coralife Biocube 29
Aurora Array Instructions
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Summary of Contents for RapidLED Coralife BioCube 29 Retrofit
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Page 1: Table Of Contents
RapidLED Coralife BioCube 29 Retrofit Contents Overview ............................... 1 Hood Preparation ............................ 2 Fastener Removal ............................. 2 Reflector and LED Strip Removal ...................... 3 Ballast Removal ............................ 4 Transformer Removal .......................... 8 Right Side AC In Removal ........................ 10 Prepared Hood ............................ 11 Installing the Heatsink.......................... 12 Attaching LEDs to the Heatsink ........................ 14 Wiring the LED Strings.......................... 15 Inside Hood Wiring for LED Strings to V+ and V‐ .................. 16 Outside Hood Wiring for LED Strings to V+ and V‐ .................. 19 Wiring the Driver to AC Power ........................ 20 Adjusting Driver Current with a Multimeter .................... 22 Finishing Up .............................. 23 Overview As with any type of lighting retrofit, there are many dangers, difficulties, and pitfalls that may occur. The Rapid LED Coralife BioCube 29 retrofit should only be attempted by people familiar with AC power and wiring, electronics, LEDs, LED Drivers, series circuits, and be comfortable with the fact that this retrofit will require complete disassembly and removal of major components of the original hood. If you are uncomfortable with or inexperienced at any of the prerequisites required for this retrofit, you ... -
Page 2: Hood Preparation
Hood Preparation Ensure everything is unplugged. In this portion of the retrofit we will remove the hood from the tank, a transformer, the fluorescent bulbs and ballasts, the reflector, the LED strip sockets and some wiring among other things. Fastener Removal To begin, you must remove three fasteners from the rear of the hood to get it off of the tank. We found it easiest to insert a hex wrench into one side of the fastener and gently tap laterally with a hammer until it releases. The fasteners release easily, little power is required. Repeat this for all three and remove the hood from the tank. After the hood is removed, unscrew and remove the plastic cover that protects the fluorescent bulbs and then remove the fluorescent bulbs. ... -
Page 3: Reflector And Led Strip Removal
Reflector and LED Strip Removal Next, we will unscrew the reflector and LED sockets from the hood. Reflector removal requires unscrewing the two metal fluorescent bulb holders and the LED strip socket in the middle of the hood. The reflector should lift out easily. Cut the green grounding wire from the hood to completely remove it. ... -
Page 4: Ballast Removal
After removing the reflector, unscrew the four LED strip sockets included with the tank. Eight screws hold them down. After unscrewing the LED strip sockets, unplug all five of them from the circuit board, and remove: Next, we will remove the two fluorescent bulb sockets. Unscrew the four mounting screws as indicated by the arrows in the photo below, unclip, and remove the sockets. Ballast Removal The end goal of this section is to remove the ballasts and the right side AC line in (two power cords) from the hood. We will be left with one original power plug that will power the original fans. Removing the ballasts requires cutting an AC line in. To avoid any problems, double check and confirm all power to the hood is disconnected. This portion of the retrofit has its own section because problems ... - Page 5 can arise resulting in electrocution and possibly death. Please have a licensed electrician double check all modifications performed on your entire retrofit, and especially the ones in this section. Please note that modifications on this step be and look different depending on manufacturer modifications out of our control. Keep in mind the actual goal of the step as opposed to the photos. To begin, with the hood facing up with the back of it nearest your body, cut the AC line and neutral wires coming from the rightmost ballast. If you cannot locate them, the ballast has a wiring diagram on its label indicating ACL and ACN for the driver. ...
- Page 6 Next, strip and tightly cap the AC wires cut from the ballast with wire nuts. ...
- Page 7 Next, unclip the power connector for the left ballast: ...
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Page 8: Transformer Removal
After unclipping the left ballast, unscrew and remove both ballasts from the hood. There are two screws per ballast. Transformer Removal To remove the transformer on the right, we first unplug it from the circuit board. Simply unplug the two wires from their sockets in the lower right hand corner of the picture below. ... - Page 9 Next, we will remove the unnecessary power connections from the hood switches. Be careful to not damage the components or hurt yourself in this step – the connections can be very tight and difficult to remove. Please note that we will leave 4 connections as is, which will switch the fans on and off. Next, we remove the transformer on the right. Simply remove the two screws and remove it from the hood. ...
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Page 10: Right Side Ac In Removal
Right Side AC In Removal The last step in preparing our hood is to remove BOTH power cords from the right side of the hood. First, unscrew the strain relief holding down the right side power cords. Next, cut the ends off of the cords and pull them out of the hood. Replace the strain relief unscrewed in the above picture and replace the rubber grommet the AC inlet wires were removed from. ... -
Page 11: Prepared Hood
Prepared Hood Your prepped hood should look like the one below. You should be able to plug it in and switch the fans off and on. ... -
Page 12: Installing The Heatsink
Installing the Heatsink The heatsink attaches to the plastic posts already in the hood via 6 screws. The screws are the large screws included with the kit. Tighten gently until heatsink is snug. Tightening them more than this may strip out the plastic screw bosses in the hood at which point you will have fill the stripped bosses with a hard glue or epoxy and drill them back out so the screw will grip again, or find some other solution. Over tightening may also snap the screw bosses from the hood, in which case, you will have to attempt repair with super glue. For this retrofit, it is easiest to line up one of the rearmost screws and screw it in first. Next, rotate the heatsink around this screw until you can drop the other three rear screws into their mounting holes. Be patient, they will line up. Once they line up, screw them all in. Note the two screws furthest from the rear of the hood are not screwed in yet – they go last. Please note that newer kits will come with our green anodized nano tank heatsink instead of a traditional silver heatsink. The holes and installation instructions will be identical, and you can use this hole diagram for installation. ... - Page 13 After the four bottom screws are snugly affixed, screw in the top two screws. Ensure you do not make them too tight. Over tightening the top two screws may warp your hood (and then the cover won’t fit!). ...
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Page 14: Attaching Leds To The Heatsink
Attaching LEDs to the Heatsink The heatsink has many little holes in it. Two little holes are used to secure 1 LED to the heatsink – one at each end of each LED. We need to apply thermal grease to the back of each LED and then attach it to the heatsink. Thermal grease ensures proper thermal conductivity of heat away from the LED into the heatsink. A very small dab of grease on the back of each LED is all that is necessary. More is NOT necessarily better. Too little will lower conductivity and too much will create a mess. A thin layer works best. The photo below is about how much you should use. After the thermal grease has been applied to the star, screw it into the heatsink with two little screws, adjusting the height of the two fastening screws to center the LED between them. Once again, do not over tighten. The screws should be snug but not tight. When screwing down the LEDs, ensure the screw is not touching any solder or solder pads. This will ground the string at that point and cause strange behavior and possibly, damage. ... -
Page 15: Wiring The Led Strings
Wiring the LED Strings *****NEVER APPLY POWER TO THE LED DRIVER BEFORE ALL WIRING IS COMPLETE ***** Please watch our see our Solderless LED Tutorial at the link below before proceeding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=j7fwVP61kiM Wiring your LEDs is done as follows: Plug the driver jumper into the first LED in your string. Plug the LEDs together with the LED to LED jumpers and insert a terminal plug/jumper into the last connector of the last LED in your string. Remember to: Apply no power until all wiring is complete Ensure the minimum number of LEDs are attached to your driver Adjust SVR2 if necessary Do not install LEDs upside down as indicated by the red X in the second example above. Below are two photos of what your heatsink might look like if you are using Rapid LED Solderless LEDs: ... -
Page 16: Inside Hood Wiring For Led Strings To V+ And V
Inside Hood Wiring for LED Strings to V+ and V‐ Each driver has a V+ and V‐ output that powers the LED strings. Since we cannot put the drivers in the hood next to the LEDs, we will attach some wire to the driver jumpers and run that through the empty space left from removing some of the power cords. We start by running our wire through the void left by one of the cut power cords. ... - Page 17 Next, we run it through the rubber grommet separating the interior of the protected hood from the exterior. Tie a loose knot around the strain relief post to prevent damage to internal components if the outer wires get pulled too hard. Next, we wire the LED strings (jumpers) to the bulk wire we just ran. Here are wiring tables for this particular example: String 1 Goes to: Attaches to: Red Driver Jumper (V+) Red V+ on Driver 1 Black Driver Jumper (V‐) Black V‐ on Driver 1 ...
- Page 18 String 2 Red Driver Jumper (V+) Blue V+ on Driver 2 Black Driver Jumper (V‐) White V‐ on Driver 2 Last, tuck the wires neatly underneath the heatsink. ...
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Page 19: Outside Hood Wiring For Led Strings To V+ And V
Outside Hood Wiring for LED Strings to V+ and V‐ Now that the LEDs are connected to the LED strings, we have to attach the drivers to those wires to get power to the LEDs. The wires were attached according to the table above. If you have a constant current kit, ensure you connect the LPC‐60‐1050 to the white LEDs and the LPC‐35‐700 to the blue LEDs. If you haven’t already, strip the outside jacket off of both wires and then use a wire nut to connect them together. An example is below, but the colors differ. Using a wire nut, connect V+ from the driver to a blue (or red) wire coming from your hood and connect V‐ from the same driver to the corresponding wire according to our table, in this case it should be connected to the white wire from our hood. ...
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