Price on 12v bullet

C

chatzy

New elf
Joined
Jun 30, 2011
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Hi all,

I want to expand my display and need to purchase nearly 10000 pixels. I have 12v bullet 2811 pixels for a mega tree that were purchased from ray two years ago. Wondering if I stick to 12v or go 5v for the rest of the display. Trying to also decide what pigtails I should use (ray type or xconnect) What’s the average cost rate including deliver in AUS dollars that people are paying for pixels these days. I know that delivery is quite high. Looking for some feedback.
 
Question is...... what suits you?
Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

I'm hearing more about xConnect. Most suppliers sell each other's so connector type doesn't limit who to buy from.
 
I just bought 1500 12v bullets from ray, along with a bunch of sundry items (pigtails and such) and it cost me ~$840 inc shipping and all fees.
 
As Mark_M mentioned, pros and cons to both voltage types. I might add to the mix whether 12 volt resistor or 12 volt regulated.

My suggestions would be stay with 12 volt. There's less chance of connecting 5 volt devices to a 12 volt source and 'killing' something. I lean towards 12 volt regulated strings because I feel while they not more efficient they are more forgiving of voltage drop. I use xConnect but it was a 6 of one, half dozen of the other decision. Cheers.
 
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The choice is definitely yours. The logic of staying with one or the other is sound. If you do decide to go multi-voltage, make sure to use different connectors for each so there is no way you will let the magic smoke out of your 5v pixels - even by accident.
 
I personally went with both 5v and 12v pixels because the 12v makes better sense for the long roofline. But I used 5v for the front of my garage and house because they are closer together. So power injection will be simple and the Psu’s will go farther with 5v. I attached what ray sent for my order. That’s to the USA, so not sure how that converts or if the shipping will be more or less.
 

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  • Ray Wu light order.xlsx
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thank you all for the responses. I think I will stick with 12v with the same pigtails throughout. Does anyone know the difference between regulated and non regulated pixels?
 
chatzy said:
thank you all for the responses. I think I will stick with 12v with the same pigtails throughout. Does anyone know the difference between regulated and non regulated pixels?
Click to expand...
auschristmaslighting.com

12V Resistor and 12V Regulated WS2811 Pixels

Hi all, I noticed some of the commonly used Chinese vendors are now offering for sale both Resistor and Regulated types of 12V WS2811 pixels and there is a little price difference between the different types. Wired Watts has provided some information regarding this and some pictures to help...
auschristmaslighting.com auschristmaslighting.com
 
chatzy said:
thank you all for the responses. I think I will stick with 12v with the same pigtails throughout. Does anyone know the difference between regulated and non regulated pixels?
Click to expand...

The WS2811 is for all intents and purposes a 5 volt IC. World Semi's datasheet lists the IC's supply Absolute Maximum as 6.0 to 7.0 volt. Their datasheet is a bit ambiguous but it's fairly clear that anything higher than 7.0 volt is pretty much guaranteed to destroy the IC.

In a 12 volt WS2811 Regulated node, the node's 12 volt is regulated down to the IC's 5 volt. From the WS2811's perspective, it does not know and could care less that it resides in a 12 volt environment. It has the 5 volt it needs and plays happily. Mark_M has a video on this where he dissected a node; the regulator is a low power 7805. I'll not debate Katekate's 'regulated are better' but will state that regulated nodes are more tolerant of voltage drop, down to 7 volt for the most part.

In a 12 volt WS2811 Resistor node, the difference between the node's 12 volt and the 5 volt the WS2811 needs (7 volt) is 'dropped' across a resistor. RGB LED currents are also on their separate resistors. Giving each element its own resistor keeps the WS2811 happy at its 5 volt regardless of illumination levels and each LED at the commanded brightness as the other LEDs are commanded brighter or dimmer. However, any voltage drop will result in a proportioned current drop in the WS2811 supply voltage and any LEDs currently commanded On.
 
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