First order of pixels, need advice.

[Dreamin]

Hi, me again.

Although I have lots of lights I’ve never actually ordered any and I see a few biting the bullet on here and getting orders ok, so I thought I should just get on with it. I know I have Daniel Zhang pigtails on my 5V stuff and I’m happy to continue 5v. I use the Ray pigtails for 12V so I don’t stuff that up. What I’m reading is a lot of people putting orders in customised to what they want. Is that right?

I’ve purchased a Boscoyo Penguin off Tory at ELD. Can I order that specific length of pixels with power injection wires and the pigtails all at the right length so all I have to do is push pixels? Is it really that easy?

I’m thinking that because I want the Daniel Zhang pigtails I’m probably better off doing with him. Is it best to order direct or is Alipress or something the way to go to find him? And any suggestions on what to specify wire gauge, length between pixels, etc? I power inject every 100 pixels for 5V so I assume I can specify that to save some soldering time cutting in.

I’m thinking of going up to 24 strings on my mega tree, so another 8 strands (next year), and adding my penguin, and another singing bulb (already have the coro) and maybe expanding my coro trees to 270 degrees (they are currently 180 but I have coro to make them 360 and will hide the control box inside) and my roof line is strip which is ok, but might be better long term as pixels too.

Any pro tips for a relative newbie (I am learning fast though), would be great.

I have no budget… scary statement but intend on expanding next door next year so this probably won’t be my last order, but if I over order it’s not a deal breaker.

TIA.

Dreamin

 

[xDevo]

The only question I can answer is regarding direct purchase or aliexpress purchase. I would recommend going direct as you will almost always get a better shipping price as aliexpress has a set shipping price for 1 quantity of the items if that makes sense. I got a much better shipping price from Ray after I emailed him and it is most likely the case for Daniel (cannot confirm).

 

[djgra79]

If you email the vendors directly you need to be VERY specific about what you need. Spacing (wire spacing between bulb centres or wire length used? You lose some length in the resin casings) waire gauge, number of nodes, pigtails to use (male or female on whcih end? 3 pin? Other?)
Use links to Ali pages to make sure they know what product(s) you are referring to. Double check the quote before buying.

 

[Dez]

I contact Paul Zhang directly via Facebook messenger. He gives me a much better deal than going through aliexpress.

 

[Dreamin]

Thinking about ordering this although I'm starting to wonder if I am biting off more than I can chew here. I'm struggling with sequencing and everything I got second hand needs something done to make it more user friendly.

2 x 5m/roll DC5V WS2812B Built-in ic Smart led pixel strip,30pcs WS2812B/M,7.2w/m,IP65 in silicon tube, Color: White PCB.

5m/roll DC5V WS2812B Built-in ic Smart led pixel strip,30pcs WS2812B/M,7.2w/m,IP65 in silicon tube,Black/White PCB - AliExpress 39

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

3 x Pigtails-3 Pin Paul Zhang 10 pack 18.5mm connector (30 pigtails in total)

Pigtails-3 Pin-Black-8 in-10 Pairs - AliExpress 39

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

4 x 500pcs 18awg DC5V 50nodes WS2811 addressable LED pixel module,pixel string;IP68 rated;RGB full color;256 gray scale Color: JST, Power Injection wires at beginning/end (2000 pcs total). https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32949679793.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.59023c00slHVWp&mp=1

It's all 5V, same as I'm using now, and prefer the colour wires to the black ones on some of my props that someone labels with the white dot dot lines incorrectly. Grrrr. I'll add 8 x 50 to my mega tree, wire my penguin which can handle 10cm spacing and has a long wire between 100 and 101 (that's handy!) and will probably do another bulb, so some soldering but I can cope with it. That will leave me some left over for spares and other "projects" to come.

Can anyone see anything wrong with what I'm getting a quote for?

Any ideas who to order this through? ETOP was one place the last owner got stuff from and they have all that? Any issues with them? I need Paul Zhang pigtails, which all my other 5V uses. I run Ray's on the 12V side.

Any help appricated, first order, I got all my other stuff local.

Edited: Added links

 

[Benslights]

I Use Ray and i would add links to the items you are looking to buy. as there is different prices and quality out there

 

[Dreamin]

Has anyone had success ordering via Aliexpress? I tried before and stuff just didn't turn up. Grrrr.

Contacted ETOP they are quoting more expensive that Aliexpress. The products are the same, the freight is discounted on Aliexpress via DHL. I figured that was best (if a little more expensive) but who wants to wait two months for stuff to arrive just to save $50!

 

[BAZMick]

G'day Dreamin,

Sorry, dunno. I only emailed Ray Wu direct last year as per others recommendation. Great communication and a little bit discount plus the shipping discount because he calculated everything as one shipment. It does take time through Ray because I think he makes to order (hint: customisable!) Ray I wouldn't think would let us down because he would get so much business through this forum and YouTube recommendations like Jeff Lacey at Canispator Christmas.
Cheers Bazzy

 

[djgra79]

Has anyone had success ordering via Aliexpress? I tried before and stuff just didn't turn up. Grrrr.

Contacted ETOP they are quoting more expensive that Aliexpress. The products are the same, the freight is discounted on Aliexpress via DHL. I figured that was best (if a little more expensive) but who wants to wait two months for stuff to arrive just to save $50!

I've always emailed Ray or Felix/Ben from Scotled directly when ordering pixels etc, never through the Ali sites. I'm a tight a$$ so yes, I'd be more than happy to wait for a couple of months to save a couple of bucks. Mind you, I plan and order early in the year leaving myself enough time to get the projects done. I know money is sometimes an issue and you might not have the cash spare at the start of the year.
At the end of the day, this is a hobby for 95% of us, so if we can't afford it, we can go without it and still get great results with what we have already.

 

[Dreamin]

At the end of the day, this is a hobby for 95% of us, so if we can't afford it, we can go without it and still get great results with what we have already.

hobby for me too, and wasn’t really intending on buying anything until I bought a penguin off Troy (kid loves penguins), and then realised a 24x50 tree would work better with some of the rub sequences I got And I’m rebuilding the tree, might as well do it right. I also have nothing as a back up if anything goes wrong so figured I would bite the bullet and go all in. I can use my 3D printing money I’ve built up over the past year selling on eBay.