Bad idea for power injection?

LightMyPath

New elf
Joined
Nov 19, 2022
Messages
19
beginner trying to understand. I am adding an element this year that has 222 total nodes. My controller current power supply is 111 max nodes per output. is it possible to use two outputs from the controller on each end of the 222 string to give it appropriate power? Or do i need to split the 222 and run a second connection to the controller midway through the string?
 

vk3heg

Full time elf
Joined
Dec 10, 2018
Messages
144
Location
Ballarat
Yes you'll need to run it off two ports, as two separate strings for the one prop.
 

uncledan

Senior elf
Generous elf
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Messages
545
Location
Buellton California
I run 200+ 12v pixels direct off the port with no power injection. You don't need to use two outputs. Seems like the perfect case for power injection if needed. You can lower intensity to 30% or so and should work fine if using 12v nodes. (edit) if you have a spare output you can power inject the end of the string that way. Just connect the V+ and V- on the output of controller and connect that to the end of the string with extensions, security cable etc. No power injection T's needed. Best if you pull the data pin on the male pigtails. It can cause data issues
 
Last edited:

fugley

Apprentice elf
Joined
Jan 7, 2022
Messages
78
After years of playing with power injection and all the messy cores lying around I've gone down the road of "power balancing" ever if it's just the model its self ... really wish id opened my eyes to it sooner
 

LightMyPath

New elf
Joined
Nov 19, 2022
Messages
19
After years of playing with power injection and all the messy cores lying around I've gone down the road of "power balancing" ever if it's just the model its self ... really wish id opened my eyes to it sooner
Will you give me a quick overview on power balancing. is it running only the power from another output to the end of my model string?
 

LightMyPath

New elf
Joined
Nov 19, 2022
Messages
19
I run 200+ 12v pixels direct off the port with no power injection. You don't need to use two outputs. Seems like the perfect case for power injection if needed. You can lower intensity to 30% or so and should work fine if using 12v nodes. (edit) if you have a spare output you can power inject the end of the string that way. Just connect the V+ and V- on the output of controller and connect that to the end of the string with extensions, security cable etc. No power injection T's needed. Best if you pull the data pin on the male pigtails. It can cause data issues
If I try and run all of them off one output will the lights just not come on or is there potential to damage components? All of my outputs are already connected to the controller including unused ones. Would I disconnect the data and leave the V+/ V- connected?
 

LightMyPath

New elf
Joined
Nov 19, 2022
Messages
19
@LightMyPath : A controller or power supply limited to 111 nodes seems a bit unusual. Out of curiosity, what controller and power supply are you using?
I am using the pre-built alphapix classic 16 from holidaycoro. It has one 350W power supply. Maybe I am misreading the chart
max nodes.jpg
 

merryoncherry

Senior elf
Generous elf
Joined
Apr 2, 2022
Messages
633
Location
Cherry St., Hudson MA USA
That is the info that caused me to use too many ports last year. Those power numbers are way out of date for HolidayCoro pixels, which are 12V resistor. You can run 222 on one port no problem, no PI at all.

If you get 250-300+ per port, you can put another controller port into the far end of the string... I do it a lot when I have 350-400+ per string... probably should come from the same bank of 8. But a lot of times, in the 250-350 pixel range, you can tee the power off the same port over to the far end.

You won't damage anything... except maybe a fuse. And then, only if you are using a tee, otherwise the pixels can't draw more than ~3.5A due to wire resistance.

Now, everything I said is based on 100% brightness. If you are doing less, or never use full white, or don't care how it looks if you do, you can do even more pixels.
 

LightMyPath

New elf
Joined
Nov 19, 2022
Messages
19
That is the info that caused me to use too many ports last year. Those power numbers are way out of date for HolidayCoro pixels, which are 12V resistor. You can run 222 on one port no problem, no PI at all.

If you get 250-300+ per port, you can put another controller port into the far end of the string... I do it a lot when I have 350-400+ per string... probably should come from the same bank of 8. But a lot of times, in the 250-350 pixel range, you can tee the power off the same port over to the far end.

You won't damage anything... except maybe a fuse. And then, only if you are using a tee, otherwise the pixels can't draw more than ~3.5A due to wire resistance.

Now, everything I said is based on 100% brightness. If you are doing less, or never use full white, or don't care how it looks if you do, you can do even more pixels.
If i run a cable from another port to the end of the string do I need to disconnect the data?

Another thought, if a universe maxes out at 512 channels can i have multiple universes on one port?

EDIT: ok quick look around and I see that I can have multiple universes on a port. I just need to change the configuration in the controller.
 
Last edited:

merryoncherry

Senior elf
Generous elf
Joined
Apr 2, 2022
Messages
633
Location
Cherry St., Hudson MA USA
Well, if you are using off the shelf cables you will find that the string won't plug in because both ends will be female. For PI purposes, you'd want 2 males, one with the data pin removed. Seems like you shop HolidayCoro so you can do this with their 3M-3M-3F xConnect tees quite easily. See how the T has pin pulled out (bottom of image)? You can then use a standard extension for PI from this tee.

20221116_195852.jpg

Now, as for the controller and how many pixels it runs per port... Consult the literature but I believe the Alphapix Classic and Flex will do 2 universes per port, 340 pixels. If you need more, swap for the HinksPix Pro...

I have one AlphaPix, and it is OK for what it does, bit Idon't get any more AlphaPix going forward... the other controllers are more potent and don't add much cost... be it HinksPix, or the BBB capes like WB1616 or Kulp... and Falcon is always popular (if you can find one).
 

LightMyPath

New elf
Joined
Nov 19, 2022
Messages
19
I appreciate the help.

Last year was my first go round and I started pretty late. I learned fast that if you do not get supplies in advance good luck finding them in time. The alphapix has worked well for me so far and holidaycoro has been good with shipping quickly. Last year I ran a 16x50 mega tree with minimal issues. This year I am adding another 300 nodes with a star and snowflake. Trying to understand how much I can run out of one controller and the best way to configure everything can get confusing. My original plan was to change my 16x50 strands into 8x100 to free up ports. Now I am thinking I only need to change one or two of them to free up the needed ports.
 
Last edited:

merryoncherry

Senior elf
Generous elf
Joined
Apr 2, 2022
Messages
633
Location
Cherry St., Hudson MA USA
Oh yes, Alphapix will be plenty for that.

Converting a few ports will be confusing and would have to be manually configured. If your strip mounting hardware would permit you to turn them bottom to top you could go up and back down out of each port, and that would free up 8 ports, be easy to configure, and give you a bit more room in the future.
 

LightMyPath

New elf
Joined
Nov 19, 2022
Messages
19
I have some pigtails for the 8 so I will go that route.

I ran a test of all 222 nodes on one port and the last 40 or so were not fully lighting. I split it into 100 and 122 on two ports but when i change the settings in the model on xlights I can only light the nodes in the first port when using test on the model. There must be some setting I have wrong. I can light up everything when I test through the controller ports but through the model, port 2 won't light. The visualizer shows the model split across both ports with correct amount of nodes and I have the model set as two strings with individual starting nodes at 1 and 101. I am stumped.
 
Top