Question on LED fading

[scubado]

I just finished reading the last issue of PC magazine. There was an article concerning led fades that was interesting to me. Most LED's by their nature, have a very small voltage range window in which they will work, especially cheap ones. I'm currently working with the demo software until 'The Sale' I have three songs sequenced and now wondering if my lights are going to fade well or not. Half my LED's will be running on 12V DC that I will be hand wiring and expect them to fade fairly well. My led Christmas light strings that run on AC I'm not so sure. How do some of you set your fade tool for fading LED's?

[JBullard]

You ask some good questions.

There are three easy answers;

1: Experiment with the strings you have (of course you need your contollers for that)

2: Use all LEDs from the same vendor (ie: I use LEDS from Paul at CDI for the past 4 years) Makes #1 experimenting easier

3: Use Lynx Express controllers - they allow you to select the brand, length and color of most all LED strings on the market for perfect dimming ranges.

Some 1/2 wave rectified strings may require a "snubber" to dim very well at all. (Also some brands of Full wave rectified strings seem to also need one. I can't tell any difference with or without on my CDI supplied strings

[Tim Herberger]

In the past, you had to experiment with the different light strings to see at what intensity they would turn on and at what intensity they would appear be at full brightness and then use those numbers in your sequences ,if you wanted nice even fades. The problem is those numbers vary a lot and it can be a real PITA to sequence . Even if you use the same companies, 70ct Led light strings ,the reds will fade different than the greens, add different bulb counts ,different manufacturers and a mix of incandescents and it becomes a nightmare.:shock:

Well that is about to change, many will be pleased to learn that in the next release of S2 there is supposed to be upgrade to the hardware utility and firmware for the controllers. It will allow for custom dimming curves to be set, for each channel. You will be able to chose from a data base of curves sorted by Bulb type, count, color, etc.. and the ability to add custom curves. So now when you sequence, you can have all your fades the same in the editor and the controllers will handle the rest. I think this my prove to be one of the best improvements to date. That is until the Gen2 controllers with the built in snubbers.

[scubado]

JBullard wrote:

You ask some good questions.

There are three easy answers;

1: Experiment with the strings you have  (of course you need your contollers for that)

2: Use all LEDs from the same vendor  (ie: I use LEDS from Paul at CDI for the past 4 years)  Makes #1 experimenting easier

3: Use Lynx Express controllers - they allow you to select the brand, length and color of most all LED strings on the market for perfect dimming ranges.

Some 1/2 wave rectified strings may require a "snubber" to dim very well at all. (Also some brands of Full wave rectified strings seem to also need one.   I can't tell any difference with or without on my CDI supplied strings

What are you using for snubbers? Are they C6 bulbs as mentioned in the PC mag? If you have several strings end to end, Do you need only one at the end, or one at end of each string? Is there a way to tell what type of light string I have?

[JBullard]

scubado wrote:

What are you using for snubbers? Are they C6 bulbs as mentioned in the PC mag? If you have several strings end to end, Do you need only one at the end, or one at end of each string? Is there a way to tell what type of light string I have?

No, I don't use snubbers.

None of my LED strings are connected end to end.

From what I've read from people that have to use snubbers, you only need one at the end of a multiple string.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you what type of light string you have, having never seen it.

[George Simmons]

JBullard wrote:

From what I've read from people that have to use snubbers, you only need one at the end of a multiple string.

Does the snubber need to be at the end of the farthest string on a channel of LED's or does it serve the same purpose no matter where it is located on that circuit?

[b_Regal78]

Tim Herberger wrote:

In the past, you had to experiment with the different light strings to see at what intensity they would turn on and at what intensity they would appear be at full brightness and then use those numbers in your sequences ,if you wanted nice even fades. The problem is those numbers vary a lot and it can be a real PITA to sequence . Even if you use the same companies, 70ct Led light strings ,the reds will fade different than the greens, add different bulb counts ,different manufacturers and a mix of incandescents and it becomes a nightmare.:shock:

Well that is about to change, many will be pleased to learn that in the next release of S2 there is supposed to be upgrade to the hardware utility and firmware for the controllers. It will allow for custom dimming curves to be set, for each channel. You will be able to chose from a data base of curves sorted by Bulb type, count, color, etc.. and the ability to add custom curves. So now when you sequence, you can have all your fades the same in the editor and the controllers will handle the rest. I think this my prove to be one of the best improvements to date. That is until the Gen2 controllers with the built in snubbers.

You are just full of information -