WS2815 12V Seed Pixel Purchase Query

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Luckyphil32

New elf
Joined
Dec 23, 2015
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Location
Brisbane
Hi Everyone,

Another newbie here with a question probably already asked here. I am about to puchse 3,000 seed pixels from Ray Wu with a 5cm pitch to build a mega tree. Description here.

"DC12V 1000ct Pixels 2cm-20cm Pitch WS2815/WS2818 Dual Signal 4Pin LED Seed Pixel String Light RGB IC Addressable IP67 Clear Wire"

Are these suitable for my project, as they are on special at the moment for $100.69 for a 1000 count, plsu $13.00 delivery?

Also, which 4 chanel controller would suit this small project? WiFi if possible? There are so many that I am getting lost in the details.

Thanks All.

Phil
 
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You won't be able to drive 3000 seeds off one port so you will need to cut up the pixels on the roll and add some pigtails or cable to go to the controller over a few ports. The pixels will work, assuming you have a 12v power supply. They are also 4 cable, which has additional redundancy built in but need a slight change in wiring to the normal 3 pin cables.

For controllers a Baldrick8 will cover it but it doesn't have wifi. I'm not really across boards other than HE123 and Baldrick so can't help.

Have you figured out your layout for the tree, IE how many strands and height?
 
Hi Jackson,

Not trying to run 3,000 pixels of one channel, that is whay I was going to split the load over four channels.
Yes, a 500w 12 volt supply available.
Plan to build 30 strands of 100 pixels each controlled with the four channels.
A simple controller to control this tree only is what I am after.
I will be using Xlights on here.

Thanks
 
Just to expand on my post, just to give you a bit of visibility on what I am planning and have done with a seed mega tree the past few years. I've probably got a somewhat unique tree as I am near the ocean so get wind, salt and rain. I've got a 24 x 72 seed pixel mega tree (180 degrees) at 10cm spacing. I got a few rolls of pixels, cut them into 144 seed runs and soldered some pigtails on the end of them. The seed themselves start at the bottom of the trampoline, work their way up some guy wires, up to the topper and then back down again. So each 144 run, is 2 strands and take up one port. I did it this way because I had heaps of ports and thought it would be easier to repair 1 x 144 strand than 2 x 288 pixel strand. I've had it for 2 years and I can tell you, the worst part of my display for me as the owner is the tree with seeds. The tree itself looks pretty good, everyone else loves it but I find it a pain to manage. When a seed breaks I have to get on the ladder, go up with some crimps, make a repair, which at 10cm spacing is okay. Then the next day, pull the wire down, solder the crimp in, climb back up, then plug it in all again.

So what am I doing this year? I'm replacing 2 x 144 up and down runs with 5cm spaced pixels so each up and down will be 300 pixels. I'll order 100 pixel runs and just plug and plug as I go and replace 100 at a time. I've found the rolls, on guy wires are just too flimsy, none of my other pixels that were on rolls have the same issue, so it is definitely a problem with having the seeds flapping about in the wind and rain.

Again the tree looks awesome but I am just calling out some issues I have had and what I am going to do.
 
G'Day @Luckyphil32, nice to correlate who I was talking with on the comments of my seed pixel mega tree video :).

Strands flapping in the wind is an occurrence. Certainly they flap around more than a pixel mounting strip.
The biggest issue is not all pixels face forwards, unless you have mounting strip, which I wanted to correct but didn't.

I like the unique look of not having mounting strip. Makes the tree more 'transparent' to see the house pixels behind.

auschristmaslighting.com

Mark's seed pixel mega tree - Smaller and cheaper!

My seed pixel mega tree - Smaller to store and turned out cheaper to make. Can't be bothered to read? Here's the video: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGL6h4FvXdo The inspiration In 2017 I created a mega tree with 'seed lights' purchased from eBay. I choose these lights because the...
auschristmaslighting.com auschristmaslighting.com
 
Mark_M said:
G'Day @Luckyphil32, nice to correlate who I was talking with on the comments of my seed pixel mega tree video :).

Strands flapping in the wind is an occurrence. Certainly they flap around more than a pixel mounting strip.
The biggest issue is not all pixels face forwards, unless you have mounting strip, which I wanted to correct but didn't.

I like the unique look of not having mounting strip. Makes the tree more 'transparent' to see the house pixels behind.

auschristmaslighting.com

Mark's seed pixel mega tree - Smaller and cheaper!

My seed pixel mega tree - Smaller to store and turned out cheaper to make. Can't be bothered to read? Here's the video: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGL6h4FvXdo The inspiration In 2017 I created a mega tree with 'seed lights' purchased from eBay. I choose these lights because the...
auschristmaslighting.com auschristmaslighting.com
Click to expand...

I just want to add onto this. Any solder joints done on a seed pixel string (unsupported) like this, where it's flapping around in the wind, may not survive. Solder generally shouldn't be used as a mechanical support.
 
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