Need advice on basic RGB light setup

[myoung84]

Hey guys, first time post here and I'm looking for some insight on changing up my basic Chrimstmas light setup. The past few years I have used C9 size LED bulbs for the roof line of my house. I have four 25' sets of lights, three connected in one strand, and one single strand. What I'm thinking of doing is using the 6803 5050 Dream Color LED strips this year but I have a few questions that I can't find answers to. I've posted a link to the lights I'm looking at below. I have a couple reasons for this change. First, they would (should) be easier to install, don't have to clip them every foot. They will look a little better with motion, new colors, etc compared to my traditional LED multicolor lights. I'm not looking to get into the synching them with music or anything, the preset animations that come with the basic 6083 controller would be just fine.

 

Here's some of the questions I have:

1. I have a basic home automation setup with z-wave controlled outlets outside. My HA system controls these outlets to come on and off when needed, along with the rest of my outside decorations. Using this controller, what happens when you kill power to the controller and power it back up the next day? I don't mind manually setting the color/pattern manually, but I do want them to come on to the last state each time the controller is powered up.

2. How many can be run off a single chain? I would need to connect four 5m strips together for the main run of lights then have two sets connected together for the second run. Injecting power in the middle of the 20m chain one or two times won't be an issue but I would like to keep four strips on one run. I have a smaller peak that will require two strips together.

 

If this isn't the best setup for me, what else will work? Not looking to spend a ton of money here, no more than a few hundred. Like I said, not looking to do any custom annimation with music or anything, just a cool looking setup that's a little better than standard C9 lights.

http://www.amazon.com/XKTTSUEERCRR-Dream-Waterproof-Change-Remote/dp/B008L9YXJG/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t

[Premier]

1. I have a basic home automation setup with z-wave controlled outlets outside. My HA system controls these outlets to come on and off when needed, along with the rest of my outside decorations. Using this controller, what happens when you kill power to the controller and power it back up the next day? I don't mind manually setting the color/pattern manually, but I do want them to come on to the last state each time the controller is powered up.

 

Supposedly they should fire back on at the last setting they were on, but numerous people have tried these ribbons and have had a lot of difficulty with the controller.

2. How many can be run off a single chain? I would need to connect four 5m strips together for the main run of lights then have two sets connected together for the second run. Injecting power in the middle of the 20m chain one or two times won't be an issue but I would like to keep four strips on one run. I have a smaller peak that will require two strips together.

 

According to the manufacturer you can daisy chain up to 6 sets of these strips together, but again lots of reports that anything beyond two strips runs into technical/design flaws that make the strips behave erratically.

 

Here is a copy of just one of the reviews of this product:

 

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

You get what you pay for

By James M. Barkeron September 10, 2014

Style Name: Strip w/ 133 RF Remote + PowerVerified Purchase

This is the cheapest set of color changing strip lights I could find, and now I know why.

I bought two separate kits and neither worked as advertised. If you want to run two reels on manual control, this product is fine. But if your planned installation requires using the remote control or more than two reels, this is the wrong product for you.

First, the remote doesn't communicate with the controller. Despite trying two different new batteries in two separate remotes, the remote has no effect on the controller or the light display. The LED on the remote lights up to say it's transmitting a signal when I press the buttons, but nothing changes on the controller display and the lights are unresponsive. The only way I can turn on the lights or change the program is to manually adjust things on the controller. That's no use if you're putting the lights in a ceiling/cove location.

Second, each controller is supposed to support up to six reels of lights, connected as three in series from each output port. I tried running just four reels with no success. First I connected two reels in series from each port, but the second reels on each side would not react to the controller; they remained a fixed color regardless of what program was chosen while the reel in front of it was operating properly. As an alternate setup I ran three reels from one port and one from the other, but the second reel in the 3-reel series would go dark while the third reel would be a constant color. And if turned off the controller the last two reels would light up for some reason. I tried different ordered combinations of the four reels to see if the problem was the controller or the reel, but I got the same results every time regardless of which reel was where, indicating the problem is in the controller. When my seconf kit arrived I ran into the exact same issue with the second controller, so it appears to be a design issue.

Third, there's a length button on the controller that tells the controller how many LEDs are attached so it can control the entire string of lights. I tried adjusting the signal length in case that was the problem, but unlike the sample Youtube videos that show someone pressing the length button and extending the controller range up and down the strip, my length buttons were unresponsive and had no effect on the controller's display. Both the first and second controller I ordered had the same problem, so again, this appears to be a design issue.

I emailed the manufacturer with some questions but got no reply. I returned the first set and will be returning the second. The lights are very bright and colorful, but they're useless without a functioning remote or a controller capable of running the length I need. There are other options for more money, so I'll be trying them instead.

 

If this isn't the best setup for me, what else will work? Not looking to spend a ton of money here, no more than a few hundred. Like I said, not looking to do any custom annimation with music or anything, just a cool looking setup that's a little better than standard C9 lights.

http://www.amazon.com/XKTTSUEERCRR-Dream-Waterproof-Change-Remote/dp/B008L9YXJG/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t

 

 

You can check into LED Morphing light strings, like on the bottom of this page: http://www.lawnlights.com/catalog/  But you are back to "bulbs" rather than strings. With these or something similar you can stay within your budget and get something more durable, or you can spend more to get better quality led strips that what will actually work for you and last, or if your a gambler you can order them through Amazon, hook them up all together on your lawn, or garage...and try them out first before you go climbing up on the roofs. If they work ..Great!, If not Amazon has a great return/refund policy. You can also invest a bit more money and get the LOR RGB FloodlightsSet at $339.99 http://store.lightorama.com/10wrgbfl8pa.html plus you will need a 30 dollar power supply.  RGB Floods look great, add a nice touch to displays and gives you the option of if you want to get into sequencing down the road, you wont have to "Re-Buy" lights

Edited October 15, 2014 by LORAdmin
Attempted to clean up post.

[myoung84]

So, I ordered me some lights from Ray Wu. Let's hope they get here in the next few weeks. I did chose DHL shipping so as long as he ships within the 8 days that's shown on his site, I should be good. Here's what I ordered:

10 each LED Strips
2 each LED string. Not sure what I'm going to do with these yet, but I've got them coming!

For the power supply, I will probably go with something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Regulated-Switching-Computer-Project/dp/B00D7CWSCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413471378&sr=8-1&keywords=30a+power+supply

Now I need some serious help with the controller. I think I can handle this once I get all the right pieces, I just need help getting to that point. Note that I might not use all of these strips right away. I got some extras in case I want to add something after I get all of this figured out. For now, I will just need about 30m of the strips. The pixels strings will be used as bush lights once I get the house lights going.

[sticks4legs]

My personal preference on controller is one from Sandevices. I've had great luck with them and the support is fantastic. I'm in my first year with RGB as well.

If you want to save some time you could order one of their PS1 systems. Pre assemebled enclosure, controller and power supply.

I don't have experience with the other controllers, lots of good discussion about the Joshua systems.

[sax]

So, I ordered me some lights from Ray Wu. Let's hope they get here in the next few weeks. I did chose DHL shipping so as long as he ships within the 8 days that's shown on his site, I should be good.

I hope you sent an email to Ray asking for how much shipping will be. If you didn't then just know that in the future if you do this step you will save a good chunk of cash. Ali express shipping tools always jacks up the shipping charges. Ray has always been nice to reduce it. But you have to contact him first.

I get my power supplies, dumb RGB lights, pixels, strips, cable and connector ends from Ray.

I use DHL as well. Fedex Hong Kong is slower than fedex everywhere else.

Sans devices is my pixel controller too. A 6804 is a 4 port card that works for most. I have the bigger 682 but will be adding the 6804 this off season. One disadvantage to the sans has been distance from controller to element. I am only able to get 20ft max on pixels and 15' max on strips using the 4 pin extensions Ray sells. At that point I am able to add a null pixel which allows a second and third extension so it is not a deal breaker by any means. But you will need to use null pixels which requires the pixel, cable ends and manufacturing.

I have heard that the Joshua system controllers can go much further (50' without null pixel).

I use cg 1500 cases to protect my power supply and card. One case for the card and ps. My vendor of choice for the case is diyledexpress.com. Many other vendors sell it though.

[myoung84]

Got a nice little email this moring from Ali Express saying my credit card was rejected. Not sure what's going on there, but whatever. They had a chat button on the website so I thought I'd give that a try and see if I could pay with PayPal. Sure enough at 7:00 AM CST, there was someone on the line! They had no problem sending me a PayPal invoice and gave me a great price on shipping. I even added 10 waterproof pigtail connectors and two more LED strips and it was just a few dollars more than the original purchase. Hopefully they go out soon so I can start building! Not sure what I'm going to do with 30 extra meters of light strip, but I'll figure something out!

 

What's everyone's thoughts on the PixLite 16 controller compared to the SansDevice? I can't seem to get ahold of the Sans guy to purchase one.

 

For the mounting, I think I have decided to toss everything into some pex. I can get the straight 10' sticks at Lowes so I don't have to deal with curved pipe. My main peak of the house is right at 20' on each side, so that would work out well. I can also store 20' runs pretty easily in my garage for easy deployment next year. The smaller peak will have a couple of 12.5' sticks and the gutters will have a 22' and 10' stick.

 

Now for another question. What I'm invisioning is having a waterproof connector pigtail at each end of light sticks (as I am calling them). For the 20' sticks, the LED strip is 16', will it be an issue to have 16' and 4' connected together (soldered inside the pipe), then a weather connector that jumpers over to the second stick with the same 16'/4' setup?

 

So to recap on the main roof peak, I'll start off from the controller with 12 gauge wire (have a lot of it on hand) to the beginning of this channel. This will be about a 30' run. Then at the beginning of the 12m run I'll have the incoming pigtail, 16' strip, 4' strip, pigtail to pigtail of next stick with 16', then 4'. I'll run the 12 gauge power wire through the first tube and inject power at the second 16' run. Will this work? Figiuring 10 pixels per meter, I'll set this channel up as a 120 pixel element in Vixen.

 

I've also been playing around in Vixen and I think it will work very well for what I want.