Big W 2017 lights MFC newbie question

TheRichardsons

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Nov 22, 2017
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Hi everyone - please be kind I'm a new user!

I know there's heaps of info on store bought lights - but wondering if any one has had any luck with this year's Big W lights?

My wife bought a bunch LED MFC lights - I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck bypassing the controller?
She'd like to make them stay on and use them with LOR controllers - but they're the annoying 2 wire out of the box (4 wires throughout)

I have an image here.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/drPTUmZgJDaUPMKv1

Thanks for all the useful info on the forums!
Al.
 
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Dec 28, 2015
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Moranbah
Do you know what voltage they put out on the light side? Because if they are only running red and black to the lights, looks like it's just running straight DC voltage on the light side of the control box? (I could be wrong, I haven't had a play with these ones)
 

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
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If it's multifunction which it looks to be judging by the switch at the end of the pcb and it has 2 wires coming out then it's the same as the 2 wire 2 channel lights that have become common from Big W, Bunnings etc. Somewhere on ACL there's some posts about Lytworks or something like that and there's also a link to a video explaining how they work. To cut a long story short about the only way to get all the lights to work is to use the DMX2-18 boards that I make. I'm currently out of stock until probably Friday though.
 
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Moranbah
If it's multifunction which it looks to be judging by the switch at the end of the pcb and it has 2 wires coming out then it's the same as the 2 wire 2 channel lights that have become common from Big W, Bunnings etc. Somewhere on ACL there's some posts about Lytworks or something like that and there's also a link to a video explaining how they work. To cut a long story short about the only way to get all the lights to work is to use the DMX2-18 boards that I make. I'm currently out of stock until probably Friday though.
So you would wire them up similar to a dumb RGB? Just have V+ in one of the RGB channels and run it that way????
 

TheRichardsons

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Nov 22, 2017
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Cool thanks AAH! Send me a message with details if you like.

When I plug the multimeter in - it measures from -12 to + 12 DC
 

TheRichardsons

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Nov 22, 2017
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We hope to use LOR - my wife is making up a bunch of core flute Christmas trees and gift boxes she'd like to animate.
We've got 4 x 16 channel LOR boxes - been sitting in the carport getting dusty never been used!
 

TheRichardsons

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Nov 22, 2017
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Haven't used the DMX side of things yet - so will all be new to me!
I do have 2 x CCR ribbons and controllers - unfortunately they're a bit damaged in transit while moving house.

** how do I remove the 6 post limit on ACL?
 
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Last year I had to run a DMX dongle off my laptop as well as the LOR cable, but if you are going to put your LOR boxes into DMX mode they should daisy chain like that... I never ran my LOR boxes in DMX mode, just ran 2 usb connections off the laptop... and setup was a bit painful...
 

videoman3857

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Apr 21, 2016
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If you are using the 240 volt ac controllers all you can do is turn the MFC on or off.
No sequencing, no dimming. You will fritz the MFC and may even damage your controller
If you are using a 16 channel dc controller such as the CMB16 and bypass the controller only half of the lights will illuminate as the MFC alternates the polarity to the wires so they can use 2 wires instead of 3.
The only way to get them to function with a computer controlled controller is to use Allan's DMX18-2 with a power supply to suit the lights.
 
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