What lights can you hook up to a 240v AC controller

BundyRoy

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I'm trying hard not to give up on my controller just yet. Looking at my options for suitable lights. Not keen on incandescent lights as don't want to be forever chasing bulbs and not sure if they can be waterproof anyway.

So far I've found my t brite LEDS. I can get some of these 2nd hand but also want to see what other options are available in the future.

I also think that I could get some LED rope lights. I found these but not sure if the 240v option is through a transformer.

My thoughts at the moment are maybe I could get some 240V LED strings/ropes and make some mini trees.

Any advice on options for suitable 240v lights would be greatly appreciated.
 

Kaden

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Talk to this guy http://www.christmascreations.net.au/ he sells motifs and stuff like that, maybe he can tell you what he has that is 240v and/or dimmable
 

BundyRoy

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Thanks Kaden,

I did contact them and they don't have anything. They said to talk to mytbrite. I also contacted Ray and he has some strip lights that run on 240v. They are not listed in his store (that I could find anyway). I have attached the details.

What is the difference between SMD 3528 LED's and SMD 5050. The 5050's cost more so I assume better quality maybe?
 

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Kaden

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5050 is actually the size of the led module 5.0mm x 5.0mm and 3528 is 3.5mm x 2.8mm


There is not enough room in 3528 to fit 3 LEDs (RGB) so 3528 is one colour per module (ie can't colour mix).


5050 has enough room for 3 LEDs so you can mix coulours together. Naturally this makes 5050s brighter (and they consume more power).


Actually this page explains it pretty well with pictures.


I would not bother with 240v strip from Ray, you are better off spending that money on 12/5v strip as that is a better investment long term.
 

BundyRoy

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Thanks Kaden. Wasn't going to buy the 240V strip anyway. Like you said it is a bit of a waste of money when on an AC controller that can only turn it on and off.
 

bretheron

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I purchased a lot of lights off of Ebay and from bunnings last year to use on my 240V controllers. I did not think of it at the time until they turned up with the inbuilt controller that does all the different patterns. I was lucky with most of them after a bit of searching found out how to change the inbuilt controllers so that I had full control and the lights would not be set back to their own pattern.
Courtesy of this site. http://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/Bypassing_Multi_Function_Controllers This is how I found the site. Thanks guys.

I only ended up with a few that I could not change and they where the ones with the controller as part of the transformer. These where 25m rope lights from Bunnings. They still worked fine, I just had to adjust the timing in the sequencer because of a little delay. I actually found the cheap ones off of Ebay the best to be able to change so that I could dim them and everything.
I pretty much ended up with everything purchase through this mob.
http://www.ebay.com.au/usr/clearancebrokers The Christmas presents worked fantastic and looked unreal stacked up under a fake tree in the garden.
Basically you can use any 240V lights on the controllers. I only had 2 rope lights that were full 240V, the rest were all through their own transformer that plugs into the 240V. It all depends on what you are try to achieve with appearance.
 

bretheron

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Obviously take all the safety steps into consideration for 240V and IP rating for outdoor lights though.
 

fasteddy

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bretheron said:
I purchased a lot of lights off of Ebay and from bunnings last year to use on my 240V controllers. I did not think of it at the time until they turned up with the inbuilt controller that does all the different patterns. I was lucky with most of them after a bit of searching found out how to change the inbuilt controllers so that I had full control and the lights would not be set back to their own pattern.
Courtesy of this site. http://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/Bypassing_Multi_Function_Controllers This is how I found the site. Thanks guys.

I only ended up with a few that I could not change and they where the ones with the controller as part of the transformer. These where 25m rope lights from Bunnings. They still worked fine, I just had to adjust the timing in the sequencer because of a little delay. I actually found the cheap ones off of Ebay the best to be able to change so that I could dim them and everything.
I pretty much ended up with everything purchase through this mob.
http://www.ebay.com.au/usr/clearancebrokers The Christmas presents worked fantastic and looked unreal stacked up under a fake tree in the garden.
Basically you can use any 240V lights on the controllers. I only had 2 rope lights that were full 240V, the rest were all through their own transformer that plugs into the 240V. It all depends on what you are try to achieve with appearance.

I would avoid these 240v ebay light strings like the plague. they are not even aprroved for Australian use.
 

bretheron

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It certainly does come down to research and a bit of electrical knowledge. I did notice that quite a few I got from there are the same as what you can buy from the retail stores. But I did stick to the ELV ones just in case.
 

LEDelusional

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You can order them direct from a manufacturer in China, just got to know what to ask for ;)

This year (as directed by Electrical Engineer) we ordered these specs;
  • SAA Certified Australian Plugs (I think it had to be post 2013 version or something)
  • AC to DC Rectifier
  • 0.75mm wires
240v strings meeting the above, with single colour LEDs @ 10cm spacing cost about 50 cents per metre. Order them made exactly for what you are installing = so much easier. They can have t-junctions and extension options, or be made into curtains that can have different lengths to fit your display etc.

Try here. Don't know if they have minimum orders or stuff (I'm sure there is a bulk purchasing thread here somewhere).

(that's generic advice there partner, get someone qualified to check it for you)
 

LEDelusional

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No. Sorry if it appeared that way (my english that bad?).

Just saying, that if you order to spec, shouldn't be as much of a problem as ordering off Ebay.

(Edit: Fixed that link)
 

AAH

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It's mainly that there's a bunch of spammers that pop in with messages like yours and a fair portion have either a signature that points to a Chinese led seller or else it's in the text of the message. Yours had a link in the body of the text.
Ebay is horrendous and they are probably the lowest quality and most unsafe of any lights you can find.
 

LEDelusional

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Yeah, I've admin'd a few forums before... they always seemed to want to sell shoes on mine :D

We've run no-spec lights before on LOR AC and they are pretty spectacular when they go bang ... all the arcing and the smoke :eek:
 
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