AusChristmasLighting 101 manual - Feedback for first/second edition

[GoofyGuy]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Thanks Eddy for getting all this together. Ill bet you drop it in the rest of the forums LOR,LSP and such itll be downloaded about a million times. My question is why does it have to be for dummies, I know its for me but why dummy? Only joking with you. Thanks for the hard work you put into a hobby for the benefit for people like me.

 

[Slite]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Great work!

About the only objection I have is that I would like to be able to dowload it in epub so I can read it om my tablet

 

[Bird]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

About the only objection I have is that I would like to be able to dowload it in epub so I can read it om my tablet

Suggestion, download Calibre www.calibre-ebook.com it's a free download which converts PDF's and many others for tablets.

 

[MikeA]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Would someone try emailing me this PDF? I get an error that says "Bad encrypt dictionary"
tigermike83@hotmail.com


Thanks in advance.

 

[Bird]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Would someone try emailing me this PDF?

Sent

 

[hdracer]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Information overload... Wonderful job on the PDF!
Thanks for sharing!!!! I know doing this was like having a part time job with overtime!

 

[fasteddy]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Would someone try emailing me this PDF? I get an error that says "Bad encrypt dictionary"
tigermike83@hotmail.com


Thanks in advance.

It needs adobe 7 or later to work, that may be your issue

 

[bdeditch]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Just thought I would let you know page ~61~ is marked as 1~

 

[fasteddy]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Just thought I would let you know page ~61~ is marked as 1~

A last minute edit made the last couple of pages drop 1 line, so its actually 61 but has a text box covering the 6, already fixed ready for revision 1 which will come out in a few weeks. Additions to the manual in Rev 1 for now will be

Basic tools needed for the hobby
Definitions of words used
Layout diagram supplement
+ any fixes that are found


Im very glad that it seems to be helping a lot of you and i appreciate the feedback, Thanks

 

[bdeditch]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Just thought I would let you know page ~61~ is marked as 1~

A last minute edit made the last couple of pages drop 1 line, so its actually 61 but has a text box covering the 6, already fixed ready for revision 1 which will come out in a few weeks. Additions to the manual in Rev 1 for now will be

Basic tools needed for the hobby
Definitions of words used
Layout diagram supplement
+ any fixes that are found


Im very glad that it seems to be helping a lot of you and i appreciate the feedback, Thanks

I think we will have to call you the "Mark Twain" of Christmas Books Eddy

 

[AussiePhil]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

All

We should suggest Eddy take a well earned break from authoring and that like he spend some quality time with the family, it's all to easy to burn out.

Eddy, take a break my friend.


Goofy: the book is a member benefit for members of ACL and looking at a lot of the names on other forums asking about or discussing RGB many are members here already

Cheers
Phil

 

[chilloutdocdoc]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Eddy,
Great work and time put into the manual, I have a few suggestions after reading it however:
P11 Low Voltage & Mains Voltage Control.
I would have a section that explained the difference between low and mains voltage, what the implications are, and what the restrictions are. Low voltage is generally termed as “safer” within this hobby, but it can lead to an amount of carelessness compared to handling mains voltage lighting. Low voltage requires MUCH higher current which can lead to overheating, spot-welding, and other fire related issues if not handled properly.


“LED's only conduct current in one direction and if used without the DC rectifier that is inside the controller, then the LEDs will flicker with the electrical supply frequency as the current flows back and forth. This is why LEDs are better used with DC power”
It's my understanding that most rectified strings only rectify the current to a half wave, or a full wave rectified AC, not a smoothed filtered DC. LEDs are current based devices, and the actual amount of current flowing through them will vary drastically as the voltage rises from 0 to 170V (Pk voltage of 120V AC) AC is harder on LEDs also because there is the trade-off choice between over-powering them for a portion of the duty cycle, or choosing them for the peak voltage, and loosing brightness.


P20
You contast the difference between Constant Current and Constant Voltage, I would change it to instead of “ensures that the correct current/voltage” I would say constant. It might lead a false assumption that any design automatically accommodates any LED.


12VDC v 5VDC
I think a more expanded explanation on this topic is necessary, with the possible permutations of 1 LED per pixel at 5 and 12v, 3 LEDs per pixel at 12v. I would suggest highlighting that both 12V 3 LEDs per pixel, and 5V one LED per pixel are the “more” efficient lights.


P35
“LEDs also only conduct electricity in one direction so direct current (DC) is the ideal safe choice”
I would remove the word safe from this sentence. The fact that DC is a good choice for LED's is true, but there is no reason that I am aware of that AC is safer than DC at the same voltage.


12V 8mA figure needs to be orange, 8mA can be dangerous and into the “no let go” range


P37 “Low voltage DC (under 50 volts) is fast becoming the power of choice, there are several reasons why this is the case. Low voltage DC is safe to work with”
I'm sorry to be harsh here but this is WRONG. Low voltage AC/DC can be just as dangerous, and will be more dangerous if handled without the proper precautions taken when handling any other voltage of power. DC current can cause things to BLOW UP (seen it) DC SMPS will BLOW UP if they aren't rated properly, wired properly, or used within spec. I've seen these things catch fire before. I've seen wires overheat, I've seen metal spot weld due to improper ratings and too high of current. I don't mean to direct this at particularly you eddy, but all in this hobby who say that DC is safe just because it's at a lower voltage. It's a false sense of security.


P47
The main difference between an AC mains controller and a low voltage DC controllers (grammar) is the addition of a DC Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS) which drops the main AC voltage down to a low voltage DC supply ...”
SMPS does more than ?
??drop” the current, it filters and smooths it out to a constant voltage, something I think would be important to note here.


“Low Voltage DC is safe to use and work with and is an ideal voltage for our hobby. The difference in the wiring of a DC controller to an AC controller is just the names of the terminals as in both cases you must ensure you have the correct wires connected to the correct terminals or else permanent damage may occur to the controller. So to sum it up in very basic terms
Mains Active Line (A) in the DC world is equivalent to Positive + Line
Mains Neutral Line (N) in the DC world is equivalent to Negative – Line
Remember that DC controllers will only work with a low voltage DC power supply and AC controllers will only work with an AC mains voltage supply. Never mix the two.


NO. NO. NO. (Yelling is impolite, but necessary here) This is fundamentally wrong! See my above comments referring to power, but honestly here you are asking for trouble, I would highly recommend that this be corrected as soon as possible. There is more behind the difference of AC and DC than just the naming of the terminals. I repeat: There is more behind the difference of AC and DC than just the naming of the terminals. You are completely overlooking the fundamentals of electricity and are asking for somebody to do something wrong! Saying that AC and DC terminals are only different in the name is asking for somebody that hasn't read or been taught how electricity works to want to hook up the two the wrong way. “Permanent Damage” is a term often used by manufacturers to scare consumers away from doing something so that they can make more money. The permanent damage we're talking about here is Fire, Explosion, and Electrocution.
Your very basic terms are incorrect. There is no equivalence between AC and DC lighting. You cannot say that the Hot/Active line of an AC supply is equivalent to the Positive line of a DC supply. You really shouldn't even say they're “Like” each other because they aren’t. There are fundamental differences in AC and DC voltage that this manual does not cover. I can't give any other comments other than this section is blatanty overlooking how electricity works.


Controller and LED notes:
3 Channel module from China: I've heard these have dropped from 4A/channel to 2A/channel, might need to look into that
Rainbow Flood specs are off by 3x factor


Overall the guide is a great compilation of information into one easy to read paper, but I think some information was overlooked in order to make it easier to understand. When it comes to safety I don't take matters like that lightly. I hope you don't find this as a personal attack Eddy, I just want to get across how serious electricity is and how dangerous misinformation can be.

 

[bdeditch]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Goofy: the book is a member benefit for members of ACL and looking at a lot of the names on other forums asking about or discussing RGB many are members here already

Cheers
Phil

I agree I I have told people to join this group to get a copy

 

[fasteddy]

Re: ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Eddy,
Great work and time put into the manual, I have a few suggestions after reading it however:
P11 Low Voltage & Mains Voltage Control.
I would have a section that explained the difference between low and mains voltage, what the implications are, and what the restrictions are. Low voltage is generally termed as “safer” within this hobby, but it can lead to an amount of carelessness compared to handling mains voltage lighting. Low voltage requires MUCH higher current which can lead to overheating, spot-welding, and other fire related issues if not handled properly.


“LED's only conduct current in one direction and if used without the DC rectifier that is inside the controller, then the LEDs will flicker with the electrical supply frequency as the current flows back and forth. This is why LEDs are better used with DC power”
It's my understanding that most rectified strings only rectify the current to a half wave, or a full wave rectified AC, not a smoothed filtered DC. LEDs are current based devices, and the actual amount of current flowing through them will vary drastically as the voltage rises from 0 to 170V (Pk voltage of 120V AC) AC is harder on LEDs also because there is the trade-off choice between over-powering them for a portion of the duty cycle, or choosing them for the peak voltage, and loosing brightness.


P20
You contast the difference between Constant Current and Constant Voltage, I would change it to instead of “ensures that the correct current/voltage” I would say constant. It might lead a false assumption that any design automatically accommodates any LED.


12VDC v 5VDC
I think a more expanded explanation on this topic is necessary, with the possible permutations of 1 LED per pixel at 5 and 12v, 3 LEDs per pixel at 12v. I would suggest highlighting that both 12V 3 LEDs per pixel, and 5V one LED per pixel are the “more” efficient lights.


P35
“LEDs also only conduct electricity in one direction so direct current (DC) is the ideal safe choice”
I would remove the word safe from this sentence. The fact that DC is a good choice for LED's is true, but there is no reason that I am aware of that AC is safer than DC at the same voltage.


12V 8mA figure needs to be orange, 8mA can be dangerous and into the “no let go” range


P37 “Low voltage DC (under 50 volts) is fast becoming the power of choice, there are several reasons why this is the case. Low voltage DC is safe to work with”
I'm sorry to be harsh here but this is WRONG. Low voltage AC/DC can be just as dangerous, and will be more dangerous if handled without the proper precautions taken when handling any other voltage of power. DC current can cause things to BLOW UP (seen it) DC SMPS will BLOW UP if they aren't rated properly, wired properly, or used within spec. I've seen these things catch fire before. I've seen wires overheat, I've seen metal spot weld due to improper ratings and too high of current. I don't mean to direct this at particularly you eddy, but all in this hobby who say that DC is safe just because it's at a lower voltage. It's a false sense of security.


P47
The main difference between an AC mains controller and a low voltage DC controllers (grammar) is the addition of a DC Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS) which drops the main AC voltage down to a low voltage DC supply ...”
SMPS does more than “drop” the current, it filters and smooths it out to a constant voltage, something I think would be important to note here.


“Low Voltage DC is safe to use and work with and is an ideal voltage for our hobby. The difference in the wiring of a DC controller to an AC controller is just the names of the terminals as in both cases you must ensure you have the correct wires connected to the correct terminals or else permanent damage may occur to the controller. So to sum it up in very basic terms
Mains Active Line (A) in the DC world is equivalent to Positive + Line
Mains Neutral Line (N) in the DC world is equivalent to Negative – Line
Remember that DC controllers will only work with a low voltage DC power supply and AC controllers will only work with an AC mains voltage supply. Never mix the two.


NO. NO. NO. (Yelling is impolite, but necessary here) This is fundamentally wrong! See my above comments referring to power, but honestly here you are asking for trouble, I would highly recommend that this be corrected as soon as possible. There is more behind the difference of AC and DC than just the naming of the terminals. I repeat: There is more behind the difference of AC and DC than just the naming of the terminals. You are completely overlooking the fundamentals of electricity and are asking for somebody to do something wrong! Saying that AC and DC terminals are only different in the name is asking for somebody that hasn't read or been taught how electricity works to want to hook up the two the wrong way. “Permanent Damage” is a term often used by manufacturers to scare consumers away from doing something so that they can make more money. The permanent damage we're talking about here is Fire, Explosion, and Electrocution.
Your very basic terms are incorrect. There is no equivalence between AC and DC lighting. You cannot say that the Hot/Active line of an AC supply is equivalent to the Positive line of a DC supply. You really shouldn't even say they're “Like” each other because they aren’t. There are fundamental differences in AC and DC voltage that this manual does not cover. I can't give any other comments other than this section is blatanty overlooking how electricity works.


Controller and LED notes:
3 Channel module from China: I've heard these have dropped from 4A/channel to 2A/channel, might need to look into that
Rainbow Flood specs are off by 3x factor


Overall the guide is a great compilation of information into one easy to read paper, but I think some information was overlooked in order to make it easier to understand. When it comes to safety I don't take matters like that lightly. I hope you don't find this as a personal attack Eddy, I just want to get across how serious electricity is and how dangerous misinformation can be.

i dont find this as an attack and appreciate your feedback.

But i think for some of this you are thinkling like an engineer which the intended reader is not so ive delibretly tried to keep it simple. The example of active/neautral and positive and negative are there so people can see that physically they are similar, not to show that they may be compatable or not, they are not.
I could have tried to be engineering correct but then it defeats the basic goals of the manual.

I do agree though that my description of low voltage being safe may be somewhat misleading, but generally this is the case and this will be changed in the next revision.

But please understand that this manual is not aimed at someone that has or is going to uni because it is being general and if it wasnt general then we are back where we started and thats people getting overloaded with info and then becoming confused.

 

[Timon]

ACL Lights for Dummies Manual - Feedback thread

Even though most of the information in the guide I already know where to find having everything all in one place will make the it invaluable for me.

Great work Eddy.

About the only objection I have is that I would like to be able to dowload it in epub so I can read it om my tablet

Which tablet? I've down loaded it to my iPad reader and can access it without any issues.