First Custom Build

Hey all,

I've read through tons of posts already and checked out your starter manual. Amazing community you have here.

Last year I had a bunch of Twinkly's which look great, but nowhere near as effective as a custom build.

This is my first year attempting to build a custom setup and would love a sense check and anything I've missed please. I'm just going to trace the lines door/windows/roof.

For simplicity, I've decided to stick to 12V, xConnect and Seed Pixels.

I have some of these Athom WLED controllers. And a bunch of these 12V 25mm seed pixels so far. But no proper PSU.

To pull it all together into a proper set up now...

I think I would rather run 3 smaller systems, than a single OP system!

1. So if I split my house up into multiple runs of ~1000 seed pixels. That is ~100W I need for each run?

Then I could just get a Mean Well 12V 150W for each run? Or would you just do larger runs on a larger wattage PSU?

2. I understand I need to power inject to overcome the voltage drop.

From my testing, even with a 3A wall brick, it could do 600 pixels at ~20% brightness without freaking out. So I just run a separate wire (18AWG?) piggy-backed off the PSU to the end of the run that should work for 1000 pixels? Or would you add another halfway? Or is the answer just to test it out?

3. I guess I could also reduce from 25mm pitch to cover more distance, but was trying to keep components consistent. Do you think 25mm pitch is overkill for a roofline?

4. With my wiring, can I just run the PSU into the controller? It says it is rated for 16A (1920 pixels?). Or would you just bypass that and wire PSU straight to the LED's?

E.g.
240V GPO > Controller > Data > 12V LED's
240V GPO > PSU > 12V LED's
(but tie off grounds so data has a return path)

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I will run out of time for programming them this year, but I'll be back!

I would go for larger PSU. The one I looked at the other day, the most efficient use of the PSU was at 50% load. And it would nice to more headroom if you decide to run additional lights off that controller.

I happen to think 1 inch spacing is overkill for outlines but do what you have. I am sure it will look great.

I would try to keep runs to 680 pixels instead of 1000. This will allow for more headroom in the time to update category

Power injection can be middle or end. When I did a test with a bunch of 12v resistor strings a number of years ago, end was better (improved color consistency better) and easier but it depends on the run you have. 18 AWG is good wire for injection but bigger would be even better. Many of us design for 100% (which adds a lot of PI) but you don't have to. Check out the pixel calculator. I like this one since it shows the potential drop in voltage over distance. Sometimes hard to get to do what you have in your head but play with it for a bit and you will be good. http://spikerlights.com/calcpower.aspx

If the controller can handle 4A per output and 16A total, go for it. Be safe and fuse your PI wire. If you need to use a second PSU, then you should be able to skip the controller power and just connect data and ground (V-) to strings.

Appreciate the detailed reply.

MikeKrebs said:

I would go for larger PSU. The one I looked at the other day, the most efficient use of the PSU was at 50% load. And it would nice to more headroom if you decide to run additional lights off that controller.

Click to expand...

Good point. Will do.

It's not a huge price jump, I was just thinking that it needs a bigger box and more ventilation, etc.

MikeKrebs said:

I happen to think 1 inch spacing is overkill for outlines but do what you have. I am sure it will look great.

Click to expand...

Starting to think it would make some of the longer roof-lines easier! But would be nice to just have 1 type of everything.

MikeKrebs said:

I would try to keep runs to 680 pixels instead of 1000. This will allow for more headroom in the time to update category

Click to expand...

Mine will be more like 900 (3 x 300). Running lines to every 680 pixels will be very painful, but noted.

MikeKrebs said:

Check out the pixel calculator. I like this one since it shows the potential drop in voltage over distance. Sometimes hard to get to do what you have in your head but play with it for a bit and you will be good. http://spikerlights.com/calcpower.aspx

Click to expand...

I did a test today with 900 pixels and it works at 10% brightness. Basically bang on with that calculator!

I didn't realise that injecting half way would be that much more better than at the end, but it makes sense with the curves.

MikeKrebs said:

If the controller can handle 4A per output and 16A total, go for it. Be safe and fuse your PI wire. If you need to use a second PSU, then you should be able to skip the controller power and just connect data and ground (V-) to strings.

Click to expand...

The controller only has 1 output.

I will run 3 of these setups independently:

350W 12V PSU
Athom WLED controller
900 x 25mm pitch Seed Pixels

Any particular fuses you recommend? Is a weatherproof in-line fuse with a blade fuse fine?

And just to confirm wiring, I can just run 2 sets of wires from the positive and negative on the controller? This will top up 12V along the line but obviously not double the ampage.

Or is there no benefit running power from the controller?

Edit: I just realised the data won't have a return line if I do that. So it needs at least the positive and negative to come from the controller, but I can power inject with just the PSU further down multiple times.

Any fuse appropriately placed and sized will work. I used a fuse block inside the enclosure when I tested power injection. Ultimately, decided to run off controller power so I didn't end up using power injection.

Date needs V- from the controller. It doesn't need a "return line" but needs the same reference voltage as your controller. But the V+ also need V- and with power injection, run both. So, if you don't use controller power, be sure to run V- from controller to the V- supplying your first pixel.

Two sets from the controller if within the fuse rating on the controller and adequate space to install two wires should work.