DMX Help

[EmmienLightFan]

I just got an RGB controller from Ebay for £31 (Something like $50). It has the DMX+, - and ground. I found a tutorial on which wires of Cat5 are the DMX ones when doing DMX over cat5. The wires, I am pretty sure, are correct. Somewhere I read how to set a RS485 adapter to output DMX into Cat5, but I lost that page and I am now unsure of how to set it up and I don't want to damage the controller, dongle, computer or anything.

http://i.imgur.com/LudpM4B.jpg

 http://i.imgur.com/rjHkmML.jpg

 

I thought I understood DMX, but the hillariously funny badly written Chinese instructions have now really confused me.

http://i.imgur.com/AhGxaN1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kH9gdpQ.jpg

 

EDIT: 

was where I saw this. Is it correct? How do I configure it as DMX in hardware/Sequence Editor

[EmmienLightFan]

After watching the video again, I think I have made a mistake. I was wiring it as DMX (DMX Side) but I should have been doing it from the LOR side. I still don't understand how to configure it though.

[Steven]

After you make the crossover cable, you need to configure LOR to send DMX over the RS485 adapter instead of the LOR protocol.

Since one RS485 adapter can't send both LOR and DMX, you should have 2.

Assuming your wiring is correct, you can plug them in before configuring. A mistake in configuration won't damage anything.

 

Plug both RS485 adapters into your computer. Start the Light-O-Rama Network Configuration utility.

 

In the LOR tab, you will see the networks and ports listed. To make sure both adapters aren't both configured for LOR, click the "Advanced" button. Make sure only the "Regular" network has a port assigned. If the "Aux A" network has a port assigned, then click on it, select "(None)", and click "OK" to save the configuration and exit the utility. If you had to do this, then you need to exit the utility so that it will find the 2nd adapter.

 

Then go to the DMX tab. Select the adapter (it won't have a "COMn" name), and select "Raw DMX" as the protocol. Click "OK" to save it.

 

Now you are ready to test. You may need to restart the LOR control panel to get the DMX listener to restart. When it does, start the sequence editor and enable light control. At this point LOR should be sending LOR and DMX network data on the respective adapters. To figure out which is DMX, attach your DMX fixture until it indicates that it sees DMX data.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Steven

[EmmienLightFan]

I'm really confused. The instructions have been badly translated and I don't have any experience with Dipswitches. I have put a few photos up of the setup I have. I can't work out whats wrong.

 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0Y0jDTbAow1WHVHWlRDZm1ZQTg&usp=sharing

[EmmienLightFan]

It is the only DMX device, so I don't mind which channel it is on. I'm used to the digital displays on intelligent lighting, and dealing with fixtures and addresses.

[EmmienLightFan]

Everything os working now, but I am unsure how. I was playing around, and I looked at the controller and realised it had stopped flashing. I have made quite a few changes and I don't know what made it work. There is now a program called LORCommsListner running as well.

[EmmienLightFan]

Woops

Everything was working fine.I connected some 24v lights (It says 5-24v Max, 3a per channel) on top.

There is a loud pop, and smoke. A capacitor popped inside and dropped a weird fur. It will either be repaired or replaced as soon as possible. Would this be a one off fault or should I not apply 24v in the future?

Pictures:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0Y0jDTbAow1WHVHWlRDZm1ZQTg&usp=sharing

Could it be a bad power supply? I tried one that normally powers static LEDs. It runs at 24v 1500ma.

Edited January 10, 2015 by EmmienLightFan

[dgrant]

Being that you are in the UK, just a first thought, the power supply input might have been set to the wrong voltage and you blew the input supply. The other possibility is that you have a dead short on one of the outputs and overloaded it. It sort of depends on where the cap was located in the supply itself.

[EmmienLightFan]

The power supply didn't fail. It was the dimmer itself. No load was connected at the time.

[cobra513]

I wouldn't recommend the rs485 doesn't work very well for DMX go with the actidongle from holiday coro I've used mine for 3 years with no issues.

[EmmienLightFan]

Being that you are in the UK, just a first thought, the power supply input might have been set to the wrong voltage and you blew the input supply. The other possibility is that you have a dead short on one of the outputs and overloaded it. It sort of depends on where the cap was located in the supply itself.

Oh I see what you mean. The power supply is a UK one. It normally works fine with lights. Could getting the polarity wrong cause the capacitor to go?

[dgrant]

Polarity on an AC input normally wouldn't matter for a power supply. The Caps are on the filtering portion of the supply after the bridge rectifiier. The caps filter the AC component down to a near DC level. Now this is in the supply itself. Now if the cap was located in some other part of the controller, then I would be looking for a dead short across the output. One other thing that happens to electrolytic capacitors is "age". They will dry out over time and evetually give up in a bad way. I wouldn't imagine yours is this old but it depends on what it is and its source. And lets add, stuff happens....maybe it was poorly manufactured cap or it was partially defective and finally it let go. If you see diodes adjacent to it on the circuit board, test those too with a DVM, if you know how.

[EmmienLightFan]

It is a Low Voltage DC Dimmer. Came from China so I guess it was just poorly manufactured. The Ebay seller asked for photos and said they will send them to an engineer and they will decide what to do. I guess they will just ship out a new one. It probably only costs them a penny to make the whole unit in China; it wouldn't be worth sending it back to them for them to repair it and then ship it back.

[Steven]

Could getting the polarity wrong cause the capacitor to go?

 

Yes, reverse polarity will cause an capacitor to blow up. Other causes are excess voltage, old age, or poor quality. Since you said it was working, I would say that it was not reverse polarity. It's impossible to see from your photos, but you may be able to see the voltage rating of the capacitor. It may be only a 25v capacitor, which is not enough safety margin to use at 24v. Since this is a Chinese unit, it could also be poor quality capacitors.