ebrown1972 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 This year I added 800 cosmic color pixels. Next year I plan on adding more pixels and plan on going with a pixcon or similar controller. I know that some strings are rated 5 volt and others 12 volt. What I don't know is what are the advantages and disadvantages between the two? My hopes are to add another pixel tree (360) and possibly outlining my house and windows and such with pixels. Some of my runs might be longer due to outlining the house. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I think most use 12vdc pixels for most applications simply because they will allow longer runs and less current. I use both 5 and 12's for different things and they all look very nice. Example are two pixel trees here with identical programming. One is 5vdc Ws2811's and the other is LPD6803 strips at 12vdc. Both look great and yes, I keep both close to the controller. Now I'm also using 5vdc WS2811's on two firesticks and four arches. The arches were the worry at 40-50 feet away but using Ray Wu's extensions, they work just fine and again, at 5vdc. I think its 20awg wire in the extensions. Just for information, I also use a CMB24 DC card with dumb strips which run at 12vdc. My longest run there is 75 feet but I use identical 16awg wire to each strip. Nice and bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivemewilder Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I was just looking for this very question yesterday! My hope is to add a pixcon as well and do a 16 string tree. I see a lot of posts regarding power injection and was wondering if a 16 string tree needed additional power. I think I got the answer I was looking for, but it spawned the question of whether or not I needed to use 5v or 12v pixels.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Boyd Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I use mostly 5v. I don't mind putting a bit more power injection. I do have some 12v strips that I use and I do so because it's easier to have the strip control 3 LED modules as one pixel rather than to tell the controller to do that. Now for my reasoning.It is my understanding that all pixels are 5v. The 12 volt pixels have a drop down converter in them to drop 12v down to the 5v the pixel needs. A couple of years ago, there was a 12v product came out and failed miserably. Turned out, it was that same drop down converter that caused the pixel failures. As far as power injection, 5v will need power somewhere around pixel # 50 or so, give or take a dozen and the 12v will need power around pixel # 70 or 80. This is an estimate, I'm sure there are others that have gotten more. As a personal preference, I prefer the 5v simply for the reason, there's less power running through them, and in my simple mind, that says I have less chance of failure at the lower voltage. The electricians may or may not disagree with me and that's fine. It's just the way I think. I was just looking for this very question yesterday! My hope is to add a pixcon as well and do a 16 string tree. I see a lot of posts regarding power injection and was wondering if a 16 string tree needed additional power. I think I got the answer I was looking for, but it spawned the question of whether or not I needed to use 5v or 12v pixels....As far as this is concerned, I run my 16 x 50 pixel tree from a single 5v, 300w, 60amp PS. On the third output of the PS, I had 160 more pixels for the topper. However, I had to change them to 12v, simply because that's the extra pixels I had on had on hand. The 5v I had there originally, worked just fine, that is until the water intrusion failures. That's the reason for the replacement.The tree is 16 strands of 50, each coming from an output on the Pixel Board. If you do an Up-Down-Up configuration, you'll need power for each string anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebuechner Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I use both. But with my 5v pixels I run 12 volts out to the pixels and use a voltage regulator to drop down to 5 volts. The thing about using 12 volt pixels is there is a lot of options. If I was you I would try to stick to 12 volt 2811 pixels. Keep in mind this is a very general statement each different pixel type and voltage has its place in different display elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KStatefan Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I use both but all I purchase now is 12 volt. If I coule start over my pixel tree would be 12 volt instead of 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivemewilder Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 If each string of 50 is coming from a different output on the pixcon, does each string need power injection? When you say you need to add power around every 50 or so....am I correct in assuming that is every 50 if your string is longer than 50? Or do you mean that I need to inject power to every 50th pixel (give or take) whether it's on a new string/output or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 No, only if you start connecting strings end to end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I have 24 strings of 50 pixels in my pixel tree. I use 8 outputs from an E682 board, which means each output drives 150 pixels with the signal going up to the top, down the next string, and up to the top again. I inject power at the bottom, meaning that all the pixels at the top are the same distance (50 pixels) from the power supply. The pixels, and the power supplies (2) are 5v. I have had very few problems, with only a few pixels that died shortly after powering them up. This is the 2nd year for this tree. The pixels still work, but the colors are way off, if the power injection is disconnected (pink when they should be white). Due to the nature of LEDs, 12v pixels will either be more complicated than 5v pixels, because they will either need DC-DC converters to reduce the voltage, or they will dissipate the excess voltage as heat, which could reduce their lifetime and require bigger power supplies. Dumb RGB strips, on the other hand, run 3 LEDs in series, which allows them to use 12v efficiently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Dumb RGB strips, on the other hand, run 3 LEDs in series, which allows them to use 12v efficiently. Many of the smart ones do as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Many of the smart ones do as well.Good point. This includes the CCR (which I assume runs on 12v). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 If I am not mistaken the CCR's are 12v and the CCP's and CCB's are 5v. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1983ss454 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I run both kinds, my pumpkin pixel arch I'm running 12v as I'm running it off the same power supply that runs my 10w floods. For Christmas I'm running 5v on my pixel tree and 5v on my Itwinkle pathway lights that I used to outline my yard. The only thing I found with the Itwinkle(GECE) lights is they needed much more power injection then your typical 5v pixels to keep the white consistent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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