Greetings from Caboolture

[Freman]

Hi,

I'm setting up a show this year, pretty much all we have in the budget is the megatree, but it's a start. I have some classic white led props from a previous attempt at getting into the festive spirit so they'll be scattered out and about too.

Christmas spirit isn't something that comes naturally to us, my wife being from Taiwain and myself not having many fond memories of christmas, getting into lighting is me attempting to force myself to find some of that spirit and practice using it for when we have our kids - hopefully without breaking the bank.

So far I have 1000 bullet WS2811 LEDs and 100 meters of the plastic strapping for it along with vague plans of a 4 meter tall tree. I've also done re-done the math based on the ACTUAL hole distances in the stripping (sure would have been nice if I'd thought to do that first) and have now ordered another 1000 bullet WS2811 LEDs - Good thing I bought the 350 watt meanwell instead of the 200 watt lol.

I have been experimenting with the QuinLED board, but I have a F16 coming as soon as they have stock.

Once the mega tree is out of the way we're probably looking at installing permanent lighting around the trim but as it's a brand spanking new house I'm hesitant to do anything much with it, I'm wondering if I can get away with sticking some ip65 LED strip to the metal part behind the facier (the gutter connects to it, it comes down the front of the face, and the's like a 12mm lip) and skipping the aluminium channel. This would let the LED's reflect off the house.

 

[Cherie & Wayne]

Hi from Dayboro! We are having our first display this year too

 

[Freman]

Hi from Dayboro! We are having our first display this year too

Nice, does it feel like you've picked the wrong components yet?

I just learned everyone else is using "xconnect" pigtails, me, I went and picked 3 pin connectors that had wires rated for the current I was expecting and appear to be larger than xconnect lol

 

[Cherie & Wayne]

I went with 13.5mm 3 pin connectors (also known as Ray Wu style). It is a personal preference. Both x connector style and the 13.5mm style are hugely popular so either way you will have no difficulty in obtaining components for either style.

 

[Dreamin]

Nice, does it feel like you've picked the wrong components yet?

I just learned everyone else is using "xconnect" pigtails, me, I went and picked 3 pin connectors that had wires rated for the current I was expecting and appear to be larger than xconnect lol

Don't stress about the connectors they all do the same job. I have some bigger Zhang ones and RayW ones. They all do the job.
I'm North Sunshine Coast so nice to see some people nearby picking up the hobby.

 

[Freman]

Yeh I know, just figuring I'd try to be compatible. I already fear I've bitten off more than I can chew, I've just built 2 strings for my megatree and it's a lot heavier than I expected... now I have to figure out how to hold it all up

 

[djgra79]

Welcome to ACL
I've not heard of a QuinLED board before, but so long as its similar protocols already used by the likes of Falcon boards and it can receive/process the same data being given to it, I guess it should work!

 

[Freman]

Welcome to ACL
I've not heard of a QuinLED board before, but so long as its similar protocols already used by the likes of Falcon boards and it can receive/process the same data being given to it, I guess it should work!

QuinLED Dig Uno. https://quinled.info/pre-assembled-quinled-dig-uno/

They're good for poking around and experimenting, and they've gotten better than they were, but I'm not sure they can keep up with the fps on my tree, hence me splashing on the f16v4

I'll find a use for it somewhere, it does work with xlights, so yay!

Don't stress about the connectors they all do the same job. I have some bigger Zhang ones and RayW ones.

Which leads me to the question... which way around do I want these... looks like the T's I have have two females and one male so I'm thinking female on the leds input, male on it's output, male on the injection. (I'm calling males the ones with pins and females the ones with holes)

This makes the most sense logically in my mind, but a life time of not having power on pins makes me hesitate (I know it's only 5/12v but eh)

 

[Dreamin]

QuinLED Dig Uno. https://quinled.info/pre-assembled-quinled-dig-uno/

They're good for poking around and experimenting, and they've gotten better than they were, but I'm not sure they can keep up with the fps on my tree, hence me splashing on the f16v4

I'll find a use for it somewhere, it does work with xlights, so yay!



Which leads me to the question... which way around do I want these... looks like the T's I have have two females and one male so I'm thinking female on the leds input, male on it's output, male on the injection. (I'm calling males the ones with pins and females the ones with holes)

This makes the most sense logically in my mind, but a life time of not having power on pins makes me hesitate (I know it's only 5/12v but eh)

female are the output off the controller, and the male are the start of your prop. So for my RayW the female is the on with the threads on the outside. The male is the one with the cap. 5/12V runs fine on these, never had one melt, just make sure stuff is fused.

 

[Freman]

female are the output off the controller, and the male are the start of your prop. So for my RayW the female is the on with the threads on the outside. The male is the one with the cap. 5/12V runs fine on these, never had one melt, just make sure stuff is fused.

Oh well, my mega tree is going to be backwards (the two females on the t junctions convinced me to do it that way).

I'm actually using 3pin big size 3x18AWG from this listing https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2024038085.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.2e464c4d2Ox7sW

(I have a background in not starting electrical fires - doesn't mean I haven't electricuted myself a time or two)

 

[Freman]

And done, first 150 pixels (2 strings) are on. Powered at both ends, voltage drop across that led wire is quite bad but the middle pixels don't seem to mind, at 75% brightness there's no flicker and I'm pulling about 1.6 amps.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW4PsJhYgWc

I haven't trimmed the power injection wires yet so I have that flexibility, might just tape them away for now.
I've left the stock connectors on at the two joints (when they die I can chop them out).
I need a heat gun too... using the blow torch to heat shrink has... drawbacks lol

 

[Jay.S]

Hey welcome! I am in Narangba if you need some help.

 

[Indigogyre]

Hello and welcome! I'm also working on my first light show this season and like you started off using some of the new digUno's and digQuads for initial testing. After doing tests and a few discussions decided to move to a F16v4 for the show to make sure there would not be any issues. Everyone here has been friendly and helpful.

 

[TerryK]

...
Which leads me to the question... which way around do I want these... looks like the T's I have have two females and one male so I'm thinking female on the leds input, male on it's output, male on the injection. (I'm calling males the ones with pins and females the ones with holes)

This makes the most sense logically in my mind, but a life time of not having power on pins makes me hesitate (I know it's only 5/12v but eh)

Yes, the connectors with pins are male, females are the connectors with sockets. The issue is confused sometimes by a manufacturer's housing design. In the industrial world I've actually had to order connectors based on either male pins or female sockets with either a female or male housing/shell (Good Grief-arrrgh!).

Not all TEEs are the same, I suggest you check to see what the internal wiring is. With 2 females and a male I would think the male would be the power injection and females the strings. That means however that the incoming string DO connector needs reversed. It also appears that the TEE does not power inject downstream (outbound string) only and not upstream (incoming string). That is, injected power is directed to both attached strings.

Edit: Unfortunately, thinking was backwards regarding power flow in the TEE. Corrected the wording to follow the typical powered connector standard of being female.

 

[Freman]

Hey welcome! I am in Narangba if you need some help.

I'm usually the one offering help, not sure I know how to ask lol.

Hello and welcome! I'm also working on my first light show this season and like you started off using some of the new digUno's and digQuads for initial testing. After doing tests and a few discussions decided to move to a F16v4 for the show to make sure there would not be any issues. Everyone here has been friendly and helpful.

I've been browsing for a while off and on, it's great to see everyone so friendly and patient. I guess it'd go against the spirit of christmas otherwise

Not all TEEs are the same, I suggest you check to see what the internal wiring is. With 2 females and a male I would think the male would be the power injection and females the strings. That means however that the incoming string DO connector needs reversed. It also appears that the TEE power injects downstream (outbound string) only and not upstream (incoming string).

Thank you so much for suggesting I check, I hadn't thought to do that, I have and all 3 connections simply pass through. I suspect that what I got isn't specifically for lighting, I specifically skipped the cheaper stuff because the wire gauge they were listing didn't match the math on the current I thought I needed - Now I actually have the LEDs in my hand, I can see my power requirements where almost 100% too high (The leds are only 35 mA all on, max brightness, not 50 mA)