D120 Black Box to Apex - Unmarked Terminals

[CaLevi]

In the process of DIYing my old set of Chinese LED black boxes to work with the Apex VDM, my potentiometer doesn't look like any Youtube videos or online posts I've found. It's an old D120 style, square edges. Opening the driver to look at the board made for some more confusion. From the driver picture, the 4 wires from the pot connect starting from the 3rd pin from the bottom. (counting from the bottom, wires start at terminals 3,4,5 and 6). Looking to identify which ones are Grnd & Power (to jumper together) and then VDM+ and VDM- to connect to the VDM module cable.

[Tinkanator2000]

A post I did some time ago using the D120 from ReefBreeders:


That's right, you can control these light fixtures with either and Apex and VDM module, or an Aquacontroller and AquaSurf module.

You wouldn't believe how simple it is! If you open the light and look inside you'll see 2 big black drivers on either side. You'll see connected to those the dimmer pots via a 4 pin connector. All you have to do is unplug that connector, short the 2 pins on the left (not labeled) together (this turns the light on), and then supply a voltage between 0-10v to the pins labeled + and -.


Depending on the voltage supplied, the light will dim and brighten accordingly (0.5 being lowest brightness and 9.6 being highest). This can be achieved with the VDM module, or an older Aquacontroller and AquaSurf module.

Let me see if I can find the old pic

[Tinkanator2000]

[CaLevi]

Thanks!!
By chance, anticipating the drivers don't last forever.... have you had to replace any and if so, with what? Given the drivers in the boxes also control the fans, unless I'm mistaken, ordering a standard meanwell doesn't provide the output wires to support an even swap.