First order with Ray Wu, any advice?

A few changes (amended in earlier list/post)


5V nodes
Square 100pcs - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DC5V-WS2811-LED-smart-string-addressable-with-all-rgb-wire-IP68-rated-epoxy-resin-filled-50pcs/32277653753.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.264.LxMCSM
Round 200pcs - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Promoion-DC5V-50nodes-WS2811-pixel-light-12mm-diameter-IP68-rated-256gray-scale-all-black-wire-epoxy/1549446292.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.261.LxMCSM


Meanwell PSU
5V - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NES-350-5-5V-350W-meanwell-switch-mode-led-power-supply-AC100-240V-input-5V-350W/2037991063.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.270.LxMCSM
12V - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NES-350-12-12V-350W-meanwell-switch-mode-led-power-supply-AC100-240V-input-12V-350W/2037997604.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.273.LxMCSM
 
No idea whether those are genuine or not. There are fake ones around and that does seem a bit cheap. The NES is not a high end MeanWell anyway. The problem with Ray's "MeanWell" supplies is they're not commonly used here we don't know what'll happen.

You can use DC-DC converters (which Ray sells) to convert one voltage to another and not require separate power supplies. Get more powerful converters than you need because they can fail and damage your lights if you push them to their limits. They are supposed to be slightly less power efficient than having a separate supply but they should be more efficient than 12V pixel nodes. Not something I've compared myself though.
 
i13 said:
You will get voltage drop happening within the cables too which may or may not be enough to cause a problem. Hopefully someone who has used them will post here. I make my own cables.
Click to expand...
Interested to know what you use to make your own cables, do you have loose connectors and terminate your own or do you use the pre-terminated pigtails and join these to the cable? What type of cable do you use?


I've seen a video demo from David Pitts of Falcon where he uses cat5e (or possibly cat6) to run pixels up to 60ft from the F16V2 controller. Anyone have experience with this? I'm interested to find out, if there where a few sets of pigtails in the cable, what sort of length could be achieved?
 
After having discussion with benbrown over his range of pixels and power supplies I have doubts about whether the Meanwell supplies are genuine Meanwell supplies. Meanwell are made in Taiwan, Ray Wu is based in China. I can't remember the exact wording from ben but it was something along the lines of him being shot if he imported stuff from Taiwan into China.
I've never had any problems with the $20 supplies from Ray (or from benbrown) but I have always made sure that I have spares.
 
I just buy the single connectors from Ray and solder them up with my own cable. It lets me choose the length and wire thickness that suits the particular situation. I use this cable most of the time and double it up if it is too thin because it is just so cheap http://www.bt-online.com.au/cable/cable-figure-8-24-020-100-meter-roll/
You can get it a bit cheaper here http://www.mjselectricalsupplies.com.au/cable/figure-8-speaker-cable/24-0-20-figure-8-cable-100mtr-roll.html
Both of these sites have other cable rolls available too.

If doubling up the cable still isn't enough I just go to any electronics store and buy the required amount of significantly thicker cable. Not the cheapest way to get it though.

Ray's cables might be fine for your purpose. I'm really hoping someone who has used them can comment on how well they worked and what cable thickness they are. It would work for small numbers of pixels but you couldn't power a big matrix or megatree with them for example.

Data loss over distance is different to voltage drop. Coaxial cable works similarly to the CAT5 cable to fix this problem. I've seen it done with coaxial but not CAT5. It doesn't work with every type of controller but with the F16v2 it does. The CAT5 cable is for the data and not the power; you would usually still need a separate power source at the pixels when they're this far away from the controller.
 
Just remember Chinese new yr is approching soon, so larger orders may be slightly longer than normal. Yet ray does communicate during this time.
 
Hi David. Some of that gear looks quite familiar :)
Are you sure 10pcs of PI T-Type connectors will be enough for all your elements? I thought it was for mine but I was incorrect and had to source some from another member just before Dec 1st. Pays to have spares of everything, just in case, PSUs & lights included. I've not used Meanwells and I'm told they are the bees knees regarding Australian standards, but I cannot justify the price for this hobby. I've used the Ray PSU's and so far no issues.
 
Hey Graham, same gear you used for your outline? Yours looked great so if mine turns out similar I'll be very pleased. What sort of distance did you get before you had to inject power?


I've trimmed my shopping list quite a lot to get the cost down on this first order, the plan is to make a few more orders throughout the year and build up some of the common stuff along the way such as PI cables, pigtails, power supplies, etc. I thought it would be a good idea to buy all of the strip for my house outline in one order so that it is all from the same batch. This will cover the gutters/fascia and vertical lines as well as some spare. I'll likely add outline of the roof/ridge lines at a later stage but probably not critical if that strip is different.


I have ordered a Falcon controller and I picked up a great metal enclosure yesterday to house it all (that was a bargain I found on ebay, 600x600mm IP66 lockable for $50). Still need to get a bunch of conduit and mounts. Next Ray Wu order will be for some DMX/DC stuff, 27ch boards etc to integrate some of my existing lights.


My wallet hurts already!
 
I recommend you get your order to Ray ASAP. He will be closed for Chinese New Year from 31 January to 15 February. In my experience it takes around a week from confirmation of his Proforma Invoice/payment to despatch so if your order is not in Ray's hands this week you may not see your blinky until the end of next month.
Remember your tax threshold is AUD1,000 not USD. At the moment you will need to keep your order below about US$660 incl freight.
 
When I ordered through Ray for the uk, he was very accommodating to adjust the proforma invoice for customs [emoji106]
 
I Just Had both my parcels arrive 1 week from each other.
First parcel took 6days (inc weekend)
Second parcel was 4days .. (i cant even get local post that fast)

I split the order is cause i wanted it to stay under the $1000aud limit..
(costs more to split order, but cheaper than customs tax)

got the second parcel last friday.
 
DavidJ247 said:
Hey Graham, same gear you used for your outline? Yours looked great so if mine turns out similar I'll be very pleased. What sort of distance did you get before you had to inject power?
Click to expand...


The strip I bought is a different link: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5m-led-digital-strip-DC12V-input-WS2811IC-256-scale-10pcs-IC-and-30pcs-5050-SMD-RGB/701799_568458133.html
I can't actually see what the difference is tho? (an expert may be able to point this out)


As for power, I'm getting anywhere from 4-6m between injection points. It was basically trial and error on the mancave floor. I'd connect a couple of sections and if it was pink towards the end, add in an injection point and go a couple more sections. Most of my sections are around 2-2.5m long (only a couple shorter.) My roof outline had 6 PI points, including one at the start. The garage outline I only had 2.
 
djgra79 said:
DavidJ247 said:
Hey Graham, same gear you used for your outline? Yours looked great so if mine turns out similar I'll be very pleased. What sort of distance did you get before you had to inject power?
Click to expand...


The strip I bought is a different link: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5m-led-digital-strip-DC12V-input-WS2811IC-256-scale-10pcs-IC-and-30pcs-5050-SMD-RGB/701799_568458133.html
I can't actually see what the difference is tho? (an expert may be able to point this out)


As for power, I'm getting anywhere from 4-6m between injection points. It was basically trial and error on the mancave floor. I'd connect a couple of sections and if it was pink towards the end, add in an injection point and go a couple more sections. Most of my sections are around 2-2.5m long (only a couple shorter.) My roof outline had 6 PI points, including one at the start. The garage outline I only had 2.
Click to expand...
Thanks Graham, yes I had that strip on my list initially until I saw the cheaper alternative, there have been a few posts here about these two and the conclusion seems to be that they are essentially the same. I need quite a few rolls and going with the cheaper one saves around $100 overall, so worth a try I figure.
Good info on power injection, thanks. I had a novice guess and figured since the the strip is supplied in 5m rolls, power should be good for at least 5m, seems I'm in the ball park. I plan to make as much of the outline as possible in 2.5m sections so that it is modular if I decide to change the layout later and interchangeable if I ever need to swap out a section. I based my plan on injecting power every 2 sections (5m) to give me rough numbers for cabling etc. I can then adjust it as necessary once everything is in place.
 
I thought it was possible to get more than 6 metres from the injection point but no guarantee due to variations between orders. It may be that the injection cable is too long and thin causing voltage drop before it even reaches the lights. Remember that if the 5 metre strip can be powered at one end, you really only need to inject every 10 metres because each injection point can power in both directions. Just remember to have your cabling short and thick as possible. The more pixels you power from an injection point, the more it will be prone to voltage drop so you need thicker cable.

Your plan on being able to swap out faulty sections is a good idea. It is good practice to order slightly more pixels than you need.
 
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