F16 v5 controller no data signal

[Noah]

Hi everyone, I’m new to all this and could use some advice!


I did a little bit of Christmas lighting last year with a cheap controller. Since then, I’ve bought a Falcon F16V5 controller and two receivers. I’ve decided to start getting everything set up now so that, hopefully, it’s all ready to go when I put the lights up in a few weeks.


I powered up the F16V5 with a 12V power supply and connected a single strand of WS2811 lights. I put it into test mode, but nothing happened.


I double-checked the wiring, power supply and data. Power to the live pins but no data, then spent quite a bit of time changing settings and troubleshooting with ChatGPT, but still couldn’t get the lights to work directly from the controller.


I then connected one of the receivers, and the lights worked fine. I could turn them on and off, and when I connected it to xLights, it played a show through the receiver without any issues. However, I still can’t get the lights working when connected directly to the F16V5.


I’m using a three-wire WS2811 strand, wired as follows:


● Negative to ground


● Green wire to data


● Positive to 12V


I might have missed some important information, but I’d really appreciate any pointers on what I should check or what I might be doing wrong.


Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Notenoughlights]

You probably already know this, but double check you're actually connecting the data input end of the string of pixels to the controller and not the output end.
Measure voltage to be sure you're getting voltage at your terminals, and make sure you aren't clamping the terminals down on to the plastic insulation instead of the copper wire.

 

[Noah]

I doublecheck that I also jump the data cable from the receiver and connect it to the strand of lights just with the positive negative connected to the main controller and the lights turned on fine so the connection seems fine. I don’t know if there’s something in the settings of the controller that would stop it from turning the lights on. I spent most of the afternoon on it.

 

[burnt]

can u post pic and screenshots. eg controller output page.

 

[warsome]

Just a thought, did you configure the port correctly, you need to log into the F16 and enter in the details for the pixels. (or have Xlights upload it)
even for testing, if the pixel count on a port is 0, they wont work.

also given the F16 board have 4 wire connectors, make sure your connecting the data wire to the correct port.
i have attached a picture i had on my phone you can zoom in to see how i have them wired up.

 

[Noah]

can u post pic and screenshots. eg controller output page.

Hi hope this helps i still can’t work it out i have checked over everything i the im just over looking something so basic.

When I ues the test button on the main controller with the long range receiver connected the light connected to the receiver work fine go through the colours fine works fine but nothing plugged into the main controller. Does anything they might flicker on for the slightest and then nothing.