Big W Lights & LOR control boxes

thecrazylightlady

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This year i want to run LOR, but was just wondering will it work on lights i have purchased from Big W, or do they need to be modified in some way, eg: removing the control box off the lights so they no longer flash?? im quite excited about doing it, but have also found that i cant purchase the LOR control boxes with AU plugs at the moment as they have informed me that they are out of stock. Is there anywhere else to purchase them from or is it best to just get them from LOR online??
 

fasteddy

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thecrazylightlady said:
This year i want to run LOR, but was just wondering will it work on lights i have purchased from Big W, or do they need to be modified in some way, eg: removing the control box off the lights so they no longer flash?? im quite excited about doing it, but have also found that i cant purchase the LOR control boxes with AU plugs at the moment as they have informed me that they are out of stock. Is there anywhere else to purchase them from or is it best to just get them from LOR online??

You have 2 options here

Option 1, Use LOR AC controllers and bridge out the multifunction controller so the effects do not work. But this method has restrictions as you would be connecting the 240v power supply for the lights after the output of the LOR AC controller and thus things like dimming, fast on/offs, shimmer and twinkle can not be used effectively.

Option 2, Use a LOR DC controller and then cut off the multifunction controllers and connect directly to the DC controller using the appropriatly rated power supply. This will allow you to have full control of your strings and use dimming, fast on/offs, shimmer and twinkle.

AC control is so yester year and i reakon option 2 is the best option and is the way most are controlling their bigW strings
 

David_AVD

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Chopping the controllers off and using them with a DC controller is much better (and safer) and simple to do.

To use Big W strings on DC you'll need a 30V DC power supply. There are a choice of DC controllers available including the DC24 / DC48 boards I make and the AAHmega60 that Alan (AAH) makes.

List of controllers in the wiki: http://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/Controllers
 

Mm

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I have recently purchased 3 x 200LED Big W light strings. After removing the controller I have encountered a small problem. Only the RED lights work. The Blue and White lights fail to light up. I'm connecting this to a DC48 board using a 24V power supply with only 6.5A output. Is the power supply the problem? Why does only the red LED's light up?
Thanks,
Matt
 

fasteddy

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A bit more info is required.

Are the blue and white LEDS on the same string or are they on seperate strings?

LEDs conduct current in only one direction, so if you have mixed around the +V and the ground return wire then the LEDs will simply not work at all.

24vdc may be too low for blue and white LEDs, but i would still expect to see some life from them just i would expect them to be a bit dim. As David previously suggested a 30vdc power supply is more appropriate, but i dont think thas the issue of why your lights dont come on at all.
 

Mm

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3 diffrent sets. 1 of each colour.

Unless the manufacture wired the lights up diffrent on each set I can't of got the live mixed up. Any sure way of finding out which one is the live?
 

fasteddy

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Mm said:
3 diffrent sets. 1 of each colour.

Unless the manufacture wired the lights up diffrent on each set I can't of got the live mixed up. Any sure way of finding out which one is the live?

Try it the other way, it shouldnt cause ant damage, they just wont run if they are connected wrong
 

Mm

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I'll keeping trying different wire combinations to establish which wire is what. Thanks for the feedback.
 

aussiexmas

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Mm said:
3 diffrent sets. 1 of each colour.

Unless the manufacture wired the lights up diffrent on each set I can't of got the live mixed up. Any sure way of finding out which one is the live?

If you still have the Big W plugs on, the +ve is the pin opposite the mating spiggot in the plug. The other 2 pins are -ve. (You can power the string from either end (male or female plugs.)

Regarding blue & white sets not lighting, 24V is too low. To get normal brightness on all colours you need 30V. The reason red set lights is that the red LEDs need about 2V/bulb, while white, blue & green require about 3V/bulb. There are 10 bulbs in each segment. The strings include a resistor in each segment and the resistors differ between the red and other colour sets so they all work off 30V.

See previous BigW measurements at http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,362.0.html
 

David_AVD

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24V DC is too low for Big W strings in general. The red ones will work but most of the other colours need 27V - 31V to work correctly. I use 30V DC on all my Big W strings with no issues.
 

Mm

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ɟɐsʇǝppʎ said:
Mm said:
3 diffrent sets. 1 of each colour.

Unless the manufacture wired the lights up diffrent on each set I can't of got the live mixed up. Any sure way of finding out which one is the live?

Try it the other way, it shouldnt cause ant damage, they just wont run if they are connected wrong
Update: I have managed to get the blue up and running but they are very dim. Will be sourcing an alternative power supply.
 
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