Pigtailing 'dumb' RGB modules

[jrock_at_rons]

I'm going to adding dumb RGB modules to some snowflakes I purchased on clearance this year.  This will be my first experience with RGB. 

 

Here's my question... as each snowflake has 6 'arms', can I install each arm of the snowflake (4 RGB rectangles) independently and then have them all terminate/pigtail in the center (where they would then be attach to wire back to the controller)?...   

 

... or do I need to install them in sequence and use wire to jump from the end of one 'arm' back to the center and then onto the new 'arm' (one continuous chain/sequence)?

 

I got this idea/inspiration from Ken Benedict's post in the 'Coffee Shop'

 

http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/34954-converted-retail-snowflake-to-rgb/

 

These are the modules I'm planning to use. 

 

http://www.holidaycoro.com/product-p/56.htm

 

Thanks.

[Darryl Lambert]

I don't see an issue with it. Thats how I did the center of some stars I built. All 5 spokes of the star were connected together at the center.

[sax]

So with dumb rgb, you can get the rgb to work no matter how you connect them as long as you have r,g,b and the positive wires matched up. Order doesn't matter and you can put them all at one connection point or daisy chain.

One thing to keep in mind. When you bunch a lot of lights up to make a connection it gets a little harder to solder. Solid connection at the pigtail is made harder. And since it is going to be constantly pulled and yanked on to plug in or unplug your element that solder connection is important.

Here are the ones I use.

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Waterproof-RGB-LED-LED-Module-3-pcs-5050-SMD-RGB-LED-20pcs-a-string/701799_291745854.html

[gmacw]

So with dumb rgb, you can get the rgb to work no matter how you connect them as long as you have r,g,b and the positive wires matched up. Order doesn't matter and you can put them all at one connection point or daisy chain.

One thing to keep in mind. When you bunch a lot of lights up to make a connection it gets a little harder to solder. Solid connection at the pigtail is made harder. And since it is going to be constantly pulled and yanked on to plug in or unplug your element that solder connection is important.

Here are the ones I use.

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Waterproof-RGB-LED-LED-Module-3-pcs-5050-SMD-RGB-LED-20pcs-a-string/701799_291745854.html

 

I also bought some snowflakes and think it's a great idea how Ken used both the rgb as well as the default ones with the snowflake!

 

Sax, That's some great info.  Thanks,  Has anyone combined the Holiday Coro rgb modules with the ones Ray Wu sells?  Or is it better to keep them separated?

 

Sax, could you tell me what controller you used and how it links to LOR?  Thanks.

[sax]

I use holiday Coro and Ray mixed all the time. I even have some seasonal entertainment rgb in there.

If you go with Ray be sure to message him before you buy to get cheaper shipping. He ships fedex for less than shown Hong Kong post price.

I have a LOR DC controller that I use for some rgb and 4 DMX 27 channel controllers that I use for others. I also have pixels with a sans devices E682. (And for full disclosure, I have 4 LOR AC controllers and 3 LOR CCRs as well).

Dumb rgb is connected via a holiday Coro entec pro compatible dongle.

Sans is connected direct to my show pc lan card.

LOR is connected via high speed USB dongle.

[gmacw]

thanks for the info!!!

[Darryl Lambert]

If you have a sandevice or pixlite controller they also have a standard DMX output on the board. So you could use E1.31 to your pixel controller for pixels & output to your DmX devices eliminating the need for a entec pro compatible dongle.

Thats the route I'm using this year for some Dumb RGB items controlled with those little 3 channel DMX devices

[sax]

Yes you can. But on the e682 you loose 4 outputs. So if you can spare the ports you can do that.

I had the dongle already from previous years and plan to continue using it.

I will fill the sans with more pixels.

[jrock_at_rons]

What type of solder should i be using when soldering the wire and modules?  60/40 rosin core?

[George Simmons]

What type of solder should i be using when soldering the wire and modules?  60/40 rosin core?

That should be fine. Just make sure the solder is fairly new and hasn't expired.

I never knew solder expired but last year when someone told me that it made a huge difference in my soldering skills immediately after replacing my old solder.

[jrock_at_rons]

So I've been 'teaching' myself to solder and I have started to build out my first RGB snowflake.  Where the 'arms' of the snowflake converge, I'm essentially pigtailing 4 RGB modules together (one pigtail for each wire color). 

 

Because they are not soldered in-line, how to I keep the pigtail water proof?  I've used shrink tube over the pigtail, but no matter how much I heat it, the open end with the wires coming in will never be fully watertight.  Is this ok?... does it need to be 100% watertight, or is the main objective to keep the exposed joints from touching and shorting each other out?  

 

I thought of adding hot-glue to the open end, but I'm worried that if its not completely sealed the water would never drain/evaporate.  

 

I'll try to post pic tonight when I get home.  

 

Thanks. 

[k6ccc]

There are a couple things you can do to improve waterproofing.  You can squeeze silicone or hot glue into the wiring before shrinking (I prefer silicone), or use the heat shrink tubing that has the goo inside that melts when you heat it.  Sorry for the mile long link, but the link below should give a filtered search on the DigiKey site for that has that tube.  The heat shrink tubing with the goo is far easier to work with than squeezing silicone into normal heat shrink tubing and then shrinking it because the latter method makes a mess to clean up.

 

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?pv5=6009&FV=fff4001a%2Cfff800b0&k=heat+shrink+tube&mnonly=0&newproducts=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25

[Mr. P]

When you solder the individual wires together they should be end to end and slightly overlapping. Each individual wire should have a shrink tube over it then there should be a larger shrink tube over them which covers both cables. So for a 4 wire RGB splice you should be using five shrink tubes.

[Cdanna77]

I plop some liquid electrical tape over the joint. The heat shrink over it. Has worked out well so far.

[jstorms]

I do some pig tail soldering, heat shrinking and some liquid tape sniffing in this video.

Edited August 20, 2015 by jstorms

[sax]

When you solder the individual wires together they should be end to end and slightly overlapping. Each individual wire should have a shrink tube over it then there should be a larger shrink tube over them which covers both cables. So for a 4 wire RGB splice you should be using five shrink tubes.

This is what I do. Water stays out no problem. How do I know? I live in Oregon. Rain rain rain.

Been using the same cables and pigtails 3 years. No issues.

For connections that do not get shrink wrap and then shrink wrap on top....like my singing faces where I put 2 wires into rope light...I do use silicone. I put the shrink wrap in place...then squeeze silicone into the heat shrink....then heat it up. This can be messy because you want the silicone to come out as you heat the shrink to be sure there is protection in there. I do this because this is an AC connection.

For DC connections, I like the double heat shrink method.

Sax

[jrock_at_rons]

I'm using the 5 shrink tube method for all my end-to-end connections. I'm more concerned about the ones in which 4 sets of 4 wire connect. I'm going to try the liquid tape with shrink wrap over it method to start. Maybe I'll pick up some silicon if I go to Menards today. Thanks everyone.