OO.com.au - 2012

David_AVD

Grandpa Elf
Community project designer
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Jun 12, 2010
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Victoria Point (Brisbane)
The ones I looked at did say 24V, but not specifically DC. I'd say the transformer is 24V AC, by hopefully they will run from approx 30V DC. :)
 

penguineer

Full time elf
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Feb 18, 2011
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Mount Tamborine, Qld
Guess we'll be finding out - going to order a few sets of the green strings today.......

My power supplies are set to 30V for the BigW strings, but I guess I can turn them down a little if needed....

Cheers!
 

BradsXmasLights

WiFi Interactive
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Dec 23, 2010
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Brisbane, Australia
The 300 LED strings were supplied with a 24VAC transformer. Usual 2 wire common negative multifunction controller, with every 10 LEDs in series.

29VDC seemed to match the factory transformer's brightness, unforeunately my lab supply maxes out at 29.9V - which had a 0.12A load.
 

penguineer

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Feb 18, 2011
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Mount Tamborine, Qld
Had a big box arrive today containing a few small boxes and a packet of jellybeans. Not bad for ordering on Monday!

Will be playing with cutting the 8-way controllers out tomorrow and running at 30V DC.

One minor point, the controller is at the lights end of the 10m lead, not the power-plug end.....

Cheers!
 

BradsXmasLights

WiFi Interactive
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Dec 23, 2010
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601
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Brisbane, Australia
I hooked up a switchmode and 30.46VDC resulted in 0.15A load, 31.something = 0.2A

Looks like they'll pair up against BigW strings no worries :)
 

kel

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May 12, 2010
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Tenterfield, NSW/Qld border
Are you guys doing a visual side-by-side comparison as well, e.g., BigW green 2011 Vs green from OO.com.au?


Edited because I meant 2011 ... the reason that I asked was because BigW don't have green this year (2012)
 

BradsXmasLights

WiFi Interactive
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Dec 23, 2010
Messages
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There is no Green from BigW this year - and i haven't got any other bigW green from previous years.

But i will be making RGB strings out of OO Greeen & BigW Red/Blue sets.
 

penguineer

Full time elf
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
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202
Location
Mount Tamborine, Qld
The box:
christmas-lights-oo-lights-box-800.jpg


Note the colours available:
- multicoloured
- white
- blue
- red
- green
- warm white

If you wanted a matching display you could probably use these lights for the whole display.

Box and contents:
christmas-lights-oo-lights-contents-800.jpg


There are no connectors in the kit unless you count the connection into the transformer.
Green coated wiring, lighter duty than the BigW lights, fewer/finer strands of copper.
Clear LEDs, not frosted.
Looks like good (green) heatshrink/seal on the LED connections.

Note that the wiring is arranged in the order: transformer, 10m lead, 8-way controller, light string. To my mind, the 8-way should be at the transformer end of the wiring, on the other hand, if you were determined to put connectors into the wiring, the spot where the controller is makes a logical sort of place.

To run the lights on DC the controller has to be removed(more later).

Comparison of lights:
christmas-lights-oo-lights-compare-bigw-800.jpg


From left to right: 2011 BigW Green on 240V AC, 2011 BigW Green on 30VDC, 2012 OO Green on 240V AC, 2012 OO Green on 30V DC

In the dark:
christmas-lights-oo-lights-compare-bigw-dark-800.jpg

(same order as above)

Controller cut out of wiring:
christmas-lights-oo-lights-controller-800.jpg


Wires in order top to bottom: 2-core power in, common(+ve), light-string1(-ve), light-string2(-ve)

To run all the lights on DC as a single string, light-string1 and light-string2 should be tied together and connected to -ve power, the single wire is connected to +ve power.

The 8-way controller box itself is a lighter plastic than the BigW controller. It was quite easy to overdo it with the hacksaw, I managed to nick one of the components(capacitor) while cutting the thing open.
christmas-lights-oo-lights-controller-opened-800.jpg


The back side of the circuitry:
christmas-lights-oo-lights-controller-circuit-800.jpg


The box claims that the controller remembers the last setting used when powered off(I think that's what the capacitor is for), but I'd probably look at nobbling this controller the same as the BigW ones anyway.

Not the same as the BigW lights, so I wouldn't attempt to match them up with old BigW strings in the same fixtures, but if they're used in different fixtures(not side by side) there shouldn't be an issue.

Cheers!
 

Adam007

Adam007
Joined
Nov 30, 2012
Messages
43
Location
QLD
Still have the 300 strings for $19.95 - ordered 3x green today for future mega tree :)
 
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