Bypass Flasher Controls

[MTT]

Hi guys. I have over 1000 feet of lights I want to incorporate into my light show. Problem is they have the power unit with the controller button to switch modes. Can someone tell me if/how I can set this to bypass the switching and stay constant to work with my AC Controller? Thanks!

 

[Juddge]

are you sure thats AC out ?
do you have the details from off the cover of the transformer ?

possibility for a controller based alternative is

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[Juddge]

if it is AC you may want a LOR controller to supply the lights

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[MikeKrebs]

Can you set the lights to be always on and they remember that and then use an ac controller? Likely won't dim but you could flash them on and off.

 

[Juddge]

With controllers will dim , flash what ever you need or just on all the time

 

[AAH]

Without seeing the outside of the case my educated guess based on the pcb and the cluster of 4 transistors around the output (Q1-Q4) I'd guess that this is a controller for the evil 2 wire 2 channel lights. I'd guess that they are 31V as that is about the most common voltage. The 4 transistors form a H bridge and allow the polarity of the output to be toggled and also pwm control of the output for fades. The options for controlling this style of lights are very limited. I make the DMX2-24 and 2811DC2-30 for this style of lights but it's no good to you in the US at this time of year.
If the lights stay at a function after powering off then you could use a relay board to power on the mains to the controller.
If the lights change function at power off then you could take the controller out of the equation and use an AC transformer of the right size to power the lights with a "steady on" function. This could also be turned on and off with a relay board.
If you want to dim the lights then you need something like my dmx2-24 that has the h-bridge output as part of it. Alternately you can use a low voltage AC dimmer and put up with some fairly clunky dimming. You would have to have a 24-30V transformer to an AC dimmer. It's going to be fairly clunky as assuming the lights are a 31V set they typically won't light at all below about 20V. From 20V to 31V they reach full brightness. A 24V transformer gives you a peak voltage of about 33V. Dimming a sine wave won't give you anything remotely linear when nothing happens until the voltage hits 20V.

 

[MTT]

if it is AC you may want a LOR controller to supply the lights

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Package Includes: Software License - Pro level License ShowTime Central Addon with miniDirector (1 Network) and FM Transmitter OR Showtime Central Addon with N4-G4-Mp3 Director (4 Networks) and FM Transmitter. The RGBPlus version of this card requires an N4-G4-MP3 Director for the closest...

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Thanks, @Juddge , I am running an LOR system, 16-channel AC Controller. That’s the problem with these lights. Because of the “smart” part of these lights, there’s a delay with them being activated in a sequence. I’m basically trying to make them standard, traditional plug-in lights.

 

[MTT]

Can you set the lights to be always on and they remember that and then use an ac controller? Likely won't dim but you could flash them on and off.

I can set them to be always on, but there is a delay. With the sequences being fast, sometimes they don’t come on at all.

 

[AAH]

Thanks, @Juddge , I am running an LOR system, 16-channel AC Controller. That’s the problem with these lights. Because of the “smart” part of these lights, there’s a delay with them being activated in a sequence. I’m basically trying to make them standard, traditional plug-in lights.

If you have a LOR 16 channel AC system and can afford to dedicate 8 channels to running these style lights then it's possible to hook 1 side of a LOR AC controller to a transformer. If you hook that up to the previously mentioned transformer of the right voltage you can remove the existing controllers entirely and have clunky control. I ran a bunch of low voltage lights from 24V transformers about a decade ago. You may need to put a resistor across the outputs as the triacs don't like switching off with a LED load. If you do run off a transformer make sure that you swap out the mains dangles with something else. I used 2 pin DIN leads as that was what was on my lights at the time.