Tim P Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Hi All, I want to know a little bit more about how to hook up the MR16's to the dc powers supply and the . I also want to know how I sequence the MR16's My guess for hook up is: The dc power supply is plugged into an outlet in the wall > then I'm assuming 2 or 4 wires will come out of the 12v power supply and take the converted power to the ?? Am I right so far? Then I'm guessing the lights themselves are on a channel. IE 4 reds 2 green for a total of 6 MR16's. I can have all on channel 1 or I can have channels 1,2,3 and 4 for the reds and then channels 5 and 6 for green. Am I right?? Now I also am aware of the RGB color mxing,but if I ramp up/fade in 1 green and 2 reds it will create X color , or maybe ramp the 2 reds up to 100% intensity and the greens to 50% , and that may create a different color. Anyway I think you know what I'm asking?Also is the get set up like a normal 16 channels controller, does it appear like normal in the sequencing editor?? Sorry if I'm not clear.ThanksTim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 I think you're correct on all counts.Stay tuned -- I'm in the process of doing this all myself for the first time. I'm taking pics along the way, and when I'm done, I'll post a how-to.But basically (as far as I understand), you will sequence this just like any other controller. And like any other controller, you could put one light per channel, or many, up to the capacity of the channel (I have to look it up but if you're using LED's you're unlikely to exceed it...)-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim P Posted September 26, 2008 Author Share Posted September 26, 2008 Wow Tim, There is no way I could be right on all counts. Anyway, I hope so! I wish you well on your journey of this MR16/LOR DC card/ 12v power supply hook up. I am definetly looking forward to your pics and process. ThanksTim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Right on all accounts. 12VDC power supply to AC power. Hook MR16s to the channels of the CMB16D just as you would for a 1600, attach the cat5 cable as you would for any LOR board, and you are in business. Assign the unit ID using the dials on the board. I bought four during the sale, three for Wirekat's MR 16s and one that I have attached to an EZ Light Linker that I use in my train to control the lights and motors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim P Posted September 26, 2008 Author Share Posted September 26, 2008 Hey Jeff, I know your question is for the other Tim, But here is the link to the one I odered. I odered this based off of Kevin's (WireKat's) recommendation.http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/9099]It is 19.99Thanks Tim P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Jeff Millard wrote: Tim Fischer wrote: ....I'm in the process of doing this all myself for the first time. I'm taking pics along the way, and when I'm done, I'll post a how-to....-TimTim,What are you using for a D.C. power supply? I couldn't find anything reasonably priced that had alot of capacity. I looked for a bit, then shelved the idea for this year. I did see an HP DC supply on eBay that had 50 amps @10 volts. I think it was $50 but I don't recall... I wonder how that would work out....JeffPlanning on using an old ATX (PC) power supply. It's way overkill for this appication (I think it's rated 20A at 12V) but I had it in my parts box and it should work fine...There's a link floating around on how to convert one for general use. Basically you cut off all the connectors, sort all wires by color, and jumper the green wire to any black wire. Then you can get 12V between yellow and black.-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Those are the same ones that I ordered; they work great and you can't beat the price.I get a lot of my supplies from them; right now, they have good deals on clearance cable ties. http://www.circuitspecialists.com/search.itml?icQuery=cable+ties I bought 10 bags of 100 for 97 cents per bag. Bought my soldering station there also. If you are in need of a good multi-meter and you order is $50 or more, you can get one free, regular price is $30 http://www.circuitspecialists.com/level.itml/icOid/190(I have several of them, don't know what I will do with all of them, but hey, they were free!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim P Posted September 27, 2008 Author Share Posted September 27, 2008 Ahh, Thanks for the heads up on those deals Denny! Is there a heat sink required when I order the ???ThanksTim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted September 27, 2008 Share Posted September 27, 2008 Tim P wrot Is there a heat sink required when I order the ???Most likely not, if you're using LED's. The current version of the board supports up to 4A per channel without a heatsink. That's something like 24 MR-16's per channel...If you do use a heat sink, you need to take precautions. From the docu:Second generation CMB16Ds boards have transistors with metal tabs. Heat sinks are not required if the current draw per channel is 4 amps or less. The metal tab of the transistor is electrically hot and a TO-220 insulating kit (mica wafer and screw grommet) is required when mounting the transistors to metal heat sinks. Also, keep this fact in mind when using the board since it is possible to short out the metal tab transistors more easily than the plastic tab first generation board.Also of interest:CMB16D is almost always used to control LEDs or some type of relay/solenoid, so high current is not an issue. Trial and error is a reasonable way to go here. Connect up your load and use the Hardware Utility to slowly increase the intensity. See how warm the transistor gets, if you can’t touch it, it needs a heat sink.-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmturner54 Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I also use the power supply from circuit specialists. Plenty of amps for my MR16's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morrisonri Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 here is a link to my DC controler set-up.http://lightorama.mywowbb.com/attachment.php?id=9229 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim P Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 some great info, very helpful. Thanks for the pic Morrison.Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 I posted this in another thread, but just for reference, here's how I did my MR-16's including the power supply:www.plymouthlights.com/mr16howto.htm-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Dorr Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Tim P wrote: I also want to know how I sequence the MR16'sTim #3 chiming in. This is my first year to use the LOR DC board and Wirekat's MR16s. The thing I noticed, and I believe Kevin has mentioned, is that the MR16s ramp up and down differently than my mini lights. It was very evident when testing the board out for the first time. So you may want to take that into consideration when doing your sequencing.I also used an ATX PS that I got from Micro Center for $25. Has two 12V rails, one with 12 amps and the other with 14. So plenty of power to run a lot of MR16s. I did have to modify it as Tim F mentioned. Kevin has a how-to on his website, http://www.christmasinkent.com/howto/HowToDCboard.htm. Easy to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozemate Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I am looking at using a 12v car battery when running the show and recharge while in down time and a small power pack during programming do you think this is a good option:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Nope.When car batteries are fully charged, they are 13.8 volts.Kinda much for the 12 volt lights.They do make 12v incandescent MR-16s and 120volt MR-16s. Check Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 If you are concerned about over-voltage, you could always put two rectifier diodes in series with the battery. This will drop the voltage by about 1.4 volts, to 12.4 volts.If you have spare bulbs, you could also connect one to a channel and leave it turned on for a few hours at full voltage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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