driveway arches

thecrazylightlady

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this year i want to attempt having arches over my driveway. i will be using 5 x 5m 28112811 led strips, but just not sure how these should be wired up. can anyone tell me do these all need to be joined together or do they need to be individual
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
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It depends on which controller and how many arches.

Like a P2 can have 4 universes off each output so with power injection you could run 12 arches zig zagging off a single output if you used 10ic/m strip
 

thecrazylightlady

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Christmas @ the Myrtle (Michael) said:
It depends on which controller and how many arches.

Like a P2 can have 4 universes off each output so with power injection you could run 12 arches zig zagging off a single output if you used 10ic/m strip


have ordered a Raspberry PI 2 to use and will be doing 5 arches
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
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Do you know what controller. If it was me I use J1sys controllers and LSP so I would use 1 output from a p2 inject power between strips 2-3 & 4-5 and set it up in LSP as a matrix 5x50 in a zig zag. This will keep controller and power in one side of the driveway
 

i13

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What a great first pixel project!

The number 2811 turned out in really small font in your first post. Because of the 2811 I am assuming you've decided on 12V. This will be easy to power because 5m 12V strips powered at one end won't need any power injection assuming there is not too much voltage drop in the wires between them and your power supply.

The data connection is fairly straightforward. You connect it from the controller to the first strip. You then connect it from the end of that strip to the start of the next one (on the same side of the driveway) and continue doing so until all strips have data connected. How far apart will the arches be? This will determine whether you'll need null pixels or not; I suspect you won't.

The Power can be applied entirely from one side of the driveway. Connect each strip directly to the power supply. If you use multiple power supplies, connect their negative outputs (but not the positives) either directly or through the strips. If you see pixels with a pink tint when they are all turned on white, this means your wires connecting them to the power supply need to be shortened, thickened, doubled or a combination of these.

If you use the DP2 to control the arches you will not require the second output unless you choose to use it. These arches add up to only 250 pixels and the DP2 can support more than that on one output. This also means that you could add another pixel item at the end of your last arch to use the left over pixels the controller can support.

There are also options for wiring up the DP2. Don't rely on it to power the pixels. If you use the same power supply as for the pixels, I would connect the DP2's positive input to your power supply (be sure its jumpers are set up for the correct voltage input or you might kill it). I would connect its negative input and output to the power supply's negative output (not sure if they are internally connected). The only thing I would connect directly from the DP2 to the strips is the data output.
 

SmartAlecLights

Im a SmartAlec what can i say!
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1513828_892018897476511_886296172282660127_n.jpg


i just used them star-dropers for support.
PVC electrical pipe (20mm), i get in 3m lengths an driveway was 6m.
cabled tied the strip to that.
presto.. simple an easy arch's that work well..
also note i faced the strip towards the ground an i still got a super effect out of them
hope that helps
 

thecrazylightlady

Yes I admit it.....I have the C.L.A.P
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i13 said:
What a great first pixel project!

The number 2811 turned out in really small font in your first post. Because of the 2811 I am assuming you've decided on 12V. This will be easy to power because 5m 12V strips powered at one end won't need any power injection assuming there is not too much voltage drop in the wires between them and your power supply.

The data connection is fairly straightforward. You connect it from the controller to the first strip. You then connect it from the end of that strip to the start of the next one (on the same side of the driveway) and continue doing so until all strips have data connected. How far apart will the arches be? This will determine whether you'll need null pixels or not; I suspect you won't.

The Power can be applied entirely from one side of the driveway. Connect each strip directly to the power supply. If you use multiple power supplies, connect their negative outputs (but not the positives) either directly or through the strips. If you see pixels with a pink tint when they are all turned on white, this means your wires connecting them to the power supply need to be shortened, thickened, doubled or a combination of these.

If you use the DP2 to control the arches you will not require the second output unless you choose to use it. These arches add up to only 250 pixels and the DP2 can support more than that on one output. This also means that you could add another pixel item at the end of your last arch to use the left over pixels the controller can support.

There are also options for wiring up the DP2. Don't rely on it to power the pixels. If you use the same power supply as for the pixels, I would connect the DP2's positive input to your power supply (be sure its jumpers are set up for the correct voltage input or you might kill it). I would connect its negative input and output to the power supply's negative output (not sure if they are internally connected). The only thing I would connect directly from the DP2 to the strips is the data output.
thanks i13 im pretty excited, just did my first order with Ray Wu and wanted to have an idea of what to do with it when it comes. hopefully once we have done the arches we will finally understand how to set the rest of it up
 

thecrazylightlady

Yes I admit it.....I have the C.L.A.P
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Messages
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smartalec said:
1513828_892018897476511_886296172282660127_n.jpg


i just used them star-dropers for support.
PVC electrical pipe (20mm), i get in 3m lengths an driveway was 6m.
cabled tied the strip to that.
presto.. simple an easy arch's that work well..
also note i faced the strip towards the ground an i still got a super effect out of them
hope that helps
thanks for the pic and info Alec, do the cable ties damage the lights at all. I was reading somewhere that you can use shrink wrap to hold them on. would this be as good?
 

bigstott

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Dec 29, 2013
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Denver CO
I do strips for my driveway arches. I do 2 16ft strips. I zip tie them to the PVC and haven't ever had any trouble. Just zip tie it at the cut points not on the light or any of the electronics. For ease of connecting I have each arch connected up to its own outlet out of a pixlite 16... I will change it next year when I need more ports ut it was easy to d I this way last year.

I use 3 1-1/4 schedule 80 pvc to keep a good shape on each arch.

Here is one of a few videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5z9RvPhV5k
 

bigstott

New elf
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Dec 29, 2013
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Denver CO
You will be fine... Last year was my first year into RGB so if i can make it look good you will as well.
 

i13

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thecrazylightlady are you going to use strips with 30 LEDs per metre? A lot of what I said only applies to 12V 30 LED/metre strips.
 
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