MattJ Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 Hi folks I'm running into a few issues with power injection and I'm looking for a few pointers. Here's the set up: DIY Pixie 8 powered by a 12V 600W Switched mode power supply All 8 ports running between 50 - 100 pixels - there's about 600 pixels hanging off this pixie. When the pixels are connected to the pixie directly... all is good. To get them where I want them... 3strands (270 pixels) are on the end of 25' of pixel extensions (Hooray for stars at the roofline!) When I add in the 25' extension and the pixles are at full power (white) they flicker. I think "low voltage" and add a 12V Constant voltage LED power supply (this one) for power injection following the instructions for multiple power supply injection here. The +ve wires are NOT connected between the power supplies. The -ve connectors are. It's a mess - the pixels flicker and jump all over the place - it's like the power injection is adding noise on the data line of the pixel string and acting like a random controller. I will continue to troubleshoot but my question here is... have I purchased the wrong type of power supply for power injection... or should this work? Open to any ideas! Thanks in advance. Cheers MattJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 (edited) 18 minutes ago, MattJ said: Hi folks I'm running into a few issues with power injection and I'm looking for a few pointers. Here's the set up: DIY Pixie 8 powered by a 12V 600W Switched mode power supply All 8 ports running between 50 - 100 pixels - there's about 600 pixels hanging off this pixie. When the pixels are connected to the pixie directly... all is good. To get them where I want them... 3strands (270 pixels) are on the end of 25' of pixel extensions (Hooray for stars at the roofline!) When I add in the 25' extension and the pixles are at full power (white) they flicker. I think "low voltage" and add a 12V Constant voltage LED power supply (this one) for power injection following the instructions for multiple power supply injection here. The +ve wires are NOT connected between the power supplies. The -ve connectors are. It's a mess - the pixels flicker and jump all over the place - it's like the power injection is adding noise on the data line of the pixel string and acting like a random controller. I will continue to troubleshoot but my question here is... have I purchased the wrong type of power supply for power injection... or should this work? Open to any ideas! Thanks in advance. Cheers MattJ If that is all of the distance you shouldn't need PI. I have a plethora of pixie controllers and some are 120' distance to the first pixel. I have built 100% from my beta pixie to current. I have no PI In S5 you can turn down the intensity. Remember all white is usually not used that much. Are you making of buying the extension? Check your green terminal lugs to ensure they are properly secured with the wires sandwiched between the metal tabs and not resting below. JR Edited December 15, 2020 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 15, 2020 Author Share Posted December 15, 2020 28 minutes ago, dibblejr said: In S5 you can turn down the intensity. Remember all white is usually not used that much. Are you making of buying the extension? Check your green terminal lugs to ensure they are properly secured with the wires sandwiched between the metal tabs and not resting below. Fair call on the intensity - white is not used much and I can turn it down in the sequence - this would likely solve my issue! Buying the extensions (Ray Wu) making the power injection Tees. I will check the terminal lugs tomorrow (right now it's cold & dark! :) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 (edited) 1 minute ago, MattJ said: Fair call on the intensity - white is not used much and I can turn it down in the sequence - this would likely solve my issue! Buying the extensions (Ray Wu) making the power injection Tees. I will check the terminal lugs tomorrow (right now it's cold & dark! :) ) You can turn down the intensity on the controller for good. Prop Def, under title drop down. That way you dont have to change the sequences. JR Edited December 15, 2020 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 15, 2020 Author Share Posted December 15, 2020 5 minutes ago, dibblejr said: Prop Def, under title drop down OK yes, that sounds like a plan but sorry - I don't follow. Which application? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 15, 2020 Author Share Posted December 15, 2020 OK I think I have it - Set the dimming curve option to Pixel Curve 90% in the prop definition in preview design window of sequence editor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, MattJ said: OK I think I have it - Set the dimming curve option to Pixel Curve 90% in the prop definition in preview design window of sequence editor? You may want to try 40% all of mine are 40% and plenty bright. I have a video posted in the Christmas show section of the forums. Edited December 15, 2020 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 15, 2020 Author Share Posted December 15, 2020 Thanks JR - I'll play over the end of this week and if I can make it work I'll happily leave the power injection stuff for now! Appreciate the help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 2 minutes ago, MattJ said: Thanks JR - I'll play over the end of this week and if I can make it work I'll happily leave the power injection stuff for now! Appreciate the help. My longest run on my roof 152 pixels no pi and 120' from the controller. My cable goes through the wall, up through 3 stories of joists , in to the attic, around the 14' ceiling , out the vent and to the first node. I do use at least 700 watts in my pixie 16's and 500 in my 4's and 8's. Best of luck and update your findings. JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 1 hour ago, MattJ said: To get them where I want them... 3strands (270 pixels) are on the end of 25' of pixel extensions (Hooray for stars at the roofline!) When I add in the 25' extension and the pixles are at full power (white) they flicker. I would agree that this appears to be a power problem. One easy test. With the pixels at full white, measure the voltage at the far end of the strip. Are those 270 pixels connected via the extensions to the Pixie or are they at the end of other strings? In other words, is a controller directly driving them or is another pixel driving those pixels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 On 12/14/2020 at 11:21 PM, dibblejr said: update your findings. Ok - here's the update. It would appear that I also had a water issue... that was not making anything easier to troubleshoot! With the water gone... the flickering was still there when using PI (but not as bad - not anywhere near as bad) I took JR's advice; I removed my power injection and cranked my longer runs down to 70% max brightness. That solved my flickering problem. I never measured the voltage and at this point I don't need Power injection, so I'm leaving that for now. PS - Jim: On 12/14/2020 at 11:47 PM, k6ccc said: Are those 270 pixels connected via the extensions to the Pixie or are they at the end of other strings? In other words, is a controller directly driving them or is another pixel driving those pixels? Extension/Direct - no other pixels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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