Static White Pixel Show

[zvacman]

Last year I had the property light up all white static an hour before the show, in between shows, and an hour after.  I want to stay with that theme (check that, the other half wants to).  This coming Christmas I will have a lot of pixels in it, replacing most of last years white LED strings that were in the static show.  Is it hard on any of the equipment to run full white solid on for long periods of time?  Does it stress the controllers, power supplies, or pixels?  I don't want to shorten the life span of any of this stuff it's too expensive.  Comments???

 

Z

[PhilMassey]

There's nothing to say you have to run at 100%. I find most of the time I'm running my pixels at 40 or 50%. They're pretty darned bright IMO.

[k6ccc]

The only real concern is total power consumption and power consumption per control circuit.  Since you will be running solid white for an extended period of time, make sure you are not exceeding the power supply and controller board limits.  For short periods of time, you can generally push the limits, but for extended time, you can't get away with as much.  For example, let's say you are using a 30A power supply for some lights.You have enough lights that if everything is full on, the power draw is 35A.  In your show, you would likely be able to get away with that because generally not all channels are on full bright at the same time, and even if they are all full on, usually it's for a very short time.

[EmmienLightFan]

I always make sure that I only run my power supply at 80% even when full white. I don't want to have to worry about not using full white for an extended amount of time. I also make sure I have power injection wherever needed so no yellowing or pinkish pixels.

Next year, I will be adding fuses to my power injection connections for extra protection.