Power supplies and injection

[needbrew]

Hi All,

Been doing alot of reading and am having a hard time determining what to do about power supplies and power injection.  Since I am a total NOOB and am just getting into this, I would be interested to hear what others have done/used.  I was leaning towards 12V pixels and the display I am planning will be apporx 6000 pixels.  Would it be better to go with more smaller power supplies at each element in the show, a few larger ones scattered around the yard?  For power injection, is there a definitive HOW to or FAQ?  Would I be better off with 5V pixels since it seems they are more power efficient?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get my mind wrapped around this so I can hit the ground running in the new year.

[Phrog30]

Hi All,

Been doing alot of reading and am having a hard time determining what to do about power supplies and power injection.  Since I am a total NOOB and am just getting into this, I would be interested to hear what others have done/used.  I was leaning towards 12V pixels and the display I am planning will be apporx 6000 pixels.  Would it be better to go with more smaller power supplies at each element in the show, a few larger ones scattered around the yard?  For power injection, is there a definitive HOW to or FAQ?  Would I be better off with 5V pixels since it seems they are more power efficient?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get my mind wrapped around this so I can hit the ground running in the new year.

Here is a link for info on power injection: http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php?title=Power_Injection

I use 12v, all bullet pixels.  I usually start to inject after 120 pixels.  It really depends on the element you are building.  For example, I have some mini trees where one string of 180 pixels is shared across 3 minis.  After 120 pixels I can start seeing the voltage drop, but others may not.  Those minis will still work without the power injection, just the last several pixels aren't as bright and white starts to go pinkish.  So, if you don't notice, no need to inject power.

I would spend more time drawing up "plans".  Basically, what elements/props are going where, distances from controllers to first pixels, if you need power injection where those points are going to be, etc.  Once you have this map drawn, then things will start to fall into place.

Me personally, I have more controllers scattered around the yard.  I could actually do my house with 2 controllers, but I chose 8 because I wanted the segregation.  I wanted zones.  Just my taste.  Others may think this is wasteful (which it kind of is).  Just personal opinion.

Ask all of the questions you need.  Most are more then willing to help.

James

[jnealand]

My preference is to not go to super long strings that need power injection.  I run all 12v.  Both of my pixel trees have 120 nodes per connection to an F16v1 and have no problems.  I only have one longer string and that is 128 nodes on one section of gutter.  Again that one works fine with no power injection.  For simplicity sakes so not mix voltages (12v and 5v) in your display.  Pick one and stick with it.  You can go with longer strings if you need to with 12v.  I would rather add another connection that get into the power injection stuff.  Keeps my display simple and safe.  I have a car that can go well over 100 mph but I don't so am I being wasteful.  LOL  There is a difference between efficiency and waste.

[Lights On Fifth]

Lots of different opinions on this, I run almost all 5v pixels no powewr injection needed but I did make some pixel extenders with null pixels, the only 1w2v pixels I have are the pixel bulbs from Todd, they are on my roof lines and my yard border lights. I am running 178 pixel bulbs on my house with zero power injection my yard border lights are 250 and I inject power at the end the string with its own PS

[needbrew]

Thanks for the info.  Do you guys have links to the power supplies you use?  I was thinking smaller ones closer to the lights would be better and just run the data from the controller to them.  Is that what people do, or do people power them from the controllers?

[jnealand]

People do both.  Every display is different.  You have to look at where your stuff is in the yard or on the house and how the wires will run and how many lights you will have and where. There is no hard and fast rule.  Also the controllers you use will dictate some of that stuff.  Some controllers need to be close to the props, some can be quite a distance from the lights.  I suspect you are looking for easy answers but there are none per se.  Best suggestion is start small, buy a few things early and try them out.  The more you try the better you will understand and be able to make the next purchase / display decision in the best way that supports your vision for your display and how stuff fits in your yard or on your house.

[Phrog30]

Thanks for the info.  Do you guys have links to the power supplies you use?  I was thinking smaller ones closer to the lights would be better and just run the data from the controller to them.  Is that what people do, or do people power them from the controllers?

http://www.holidaycoro.com/350w-Dual-Output-Power-Supply-p/49.htm

They currently have a pre-sale. You can save some money. Some prefer meanwell power supplies. While those might be better, I have several of the HolidayCoro power supplies and haven't had one fail yet.

James

[needbrew]

Thanks for all the great information.  I will have to get a purchase going so that I can start to experiment.

[aERonAUtical96]

@jnealand or anyone...

what distance do you have between your controller (F16v1 if I read correctly) and your first node?  What about any DLA hw?  I'm thinking of placing pixels up on my roof eaves.  Calculations say my longest pixel count will be ~105, but my distance to my controller (DLA active hub) will be about 40 feet (SSC will be next to string).  I'm not worried about the data signal... just the power and whether or not I need to put a power supply or two up on the roof.

Thanks,

[jnealand]

My longest cable from F16v1 to 1st node is about 20ft

My longest cable from DLA Hub to SSC is 42ft.

[kentd]

Each person's layout and method of doing what they do is different and this was my first year doing anything with RGB. This forum and those on it were a big help.
Here is what I was able to do for this season and it worked great.
Mega Tree with 12 Strings of WS2811 12V Pixels length 160 pixels folded @ 80- No Power Inject OK
Ten Dalek Trees 50 Pixels each Stars 10 Pixels each - feed from east 4 into 5 Candy Cane Globes
Matrix 42 x 50 pixels.
Purchased Power Supplies from Holiday Coro on Pre Sale - Matrix uses 4 supplies - Mega tree and rest use 4
Two Falcon 16V-2 Controllers running show from a Raspberry PI B+ unit
Matrix has one and Mega Tree has one mounted at the base - 4 supplies in 2 CG1500 Boxes Controller in 1

The Power and Controller for the Tree is mounted on the tree and the power and controller for the matrix is mounted on fencing behind the Matrix - Ethernet cable from the PI to each mount, PI and Ethernet switch mounted in a CG1500 mounted by the front door.

Total of 8 Supplies and 2 Controllers - If total current was less than 5 amps then power came from the controller however if it was greater then only data came from the controller - Used 10 Ga Wire to distribute to fuse blocks and 14 Ga wire was used to send power from fuse blocks on to pixels.

I will attach a picture of the display

Next year I am adding Lights on the House, a Star and hopefully some Starbursts on the west side
Kent

[kentd]

So you can see inside of the CG1500 with wiring coming out this is the controller on the mega tree using one plug per strand on the tree and then feeding the dalek trees and Globes
Plug 1 thru 12 feed the tree
Plug 14 feeds the east 4 trees and the 5 globes
plug 15 feeds the west 6 trees

[mararunr]

So you can see inside of the CG1500 with wiring coming out this is the controller on the mega tree using one plug per strand on the tree and then feeding the dalek trees and Globes
Plug 1 thru 12 feed the tree
Plug 14 feeds the east 4 trees and the 5 globes
plug 15 feeds the west 6 trees

Holes for all the other wires but no hole for the blue ethernet cable? 

[kentd]

Just hadn't run it through the bottom rubber part of the CG1500, this was taken while I was plugging pixels and soldering connections to run the strings from the controller via a laptop.

You can probably see the 10 GA coming in through the rubber part of the bottom strip on the box

[needbrew]

where did you get you fuse blocks.  They make things nice and clean