How To - Make Custom Pixel Extension Wires
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
- In this video, I show six different types of wire that can be used to make custom pixel extension wires. This includes how to wire them up, testing how well they can run 200 12v regulated pixels at 30% brightness across 40’ lengths of each type of wire, and comparing the cost to make them. These cables can be made to handle power and data for pixels, and they can also be used for power injection.
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Timeline
00:00 Intro
00:49 Six Custom Pixel Wire Extension Options
02:10 Custom Extensions Where to Use Them
03:39 40’ Vendor Pixel Wire - Internal Resistance
05:13 Wiring Network Cables
11:11 40’ Stranded Cat5e - Internal Resistance
12:32 40’ Solid Cat5e - Internal Resistance
13:36 40’ Solid Cat6 - Internal Resistance
15:19 Wiring Monoprice 4 Core Speaker Wire
17:58 40’ Monoprice Speaker Wire - Internal Resistance
18:54 Wiring 16/3 Green Extension Cords
24:05 40’ 16/3 Extension Cord - Internal Resistance
24:51 The Test Setup
26:16 Testing the Six 40’ Extension Options
30:16 Testing 40’ Vendor Pixel Wire
31:02 Testing 40’ Stranded Cat5e Wire
33:39 Testing 40’ Solid Cat5e Wire
34:51 Testing 40’ Solid Cat6 Wire
36:08 Testing 40’ Monoprice Speaker Wire
37:14 Testing 40’ 16/3 Extension Cord Wire
39:20 Analysis of Results
44:36 Cost Comparison
46:39 Wrap Up
Music Credit:
Better by Anno Domini Beats
Referenced Videos and Links:
Custom Pixel Extension Wiring - Data Results Excel File
drive.google.com/file/d/1ZRdn...
Ethernet Cable Wiring for Pixel Data and Power - Reference Image
drive.google.com/file/d/1yuz9...
Combined Effective Wire Gauge Calculator
www.wirebarn.com/Combined-Wir...
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Testing 40’ Extensions for the GE Rosa Wreath, contained in the “How To - Setup a GE Rosa Wreath (or Other HD Prop)” video
• How To - Setup a GE Ro...
Video - NiFamilyLights - Behind the Scenes - Snowflakes on Garage
• NiFamilyLights - Behin...
Various methods to repair pixels including the XHF lever nuts, contained in the “How To - Pixel Show Setup and Repair Gear” video
• How To - Pixel Show Se...
Volt/Ammeter Test Setup Wiring, contained in the "Testing the Specs of 12V (Regulated) Pixels (Part II)" video
• Testing the Specs of 1...
Self Power Injection Wiring, contained in the “How To - Chain Pixel Props Like a Champ - Part II” video
• How To - Chain Pixel P...
Video - "How Far Can Pixel Data Go With and Without a F-Amp"
• WS2811 Pixel Data - Ho...
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1) Standard vendor 10’ 3 core pixel extension cables (not pure copper) (not a comprehensive list of vendors)
• DIYLedExpress
⁃ www.diyledexpress.com/index.ph...
• Wired Watts
⁃ www.wiredwatts.com/ex3c10k1-1...
• RGBMan
⁃ www.rgb-man.com/online-store/...
• Wally’s Lights
⁃ www.wallyslights.com/collecti...
• HolidayLighting.Shop
⁃ www.holidaylighting.shop/prod...
2) Monoprice Cat5e Pure Copper Stranded Bulk Cable 1000 ft (can make 25 - 40’ extension cables)
www.monoprice.com/product?p_i...
3) Monoprice Cat5e Pure Copper Solid Bulk Riser Cable 1000 ft (can make 25 - 40’ extension cables)
www.monoprice.com/product?p_i...
4) Monoprice Cat6 Pure Copper Solid Bulk Riser Cable 1000 ft (can make 25 - 40’ extension cables)
www.monoprice.com/product?p_i...
5) Monoprice 4 core 100% pure copper 18 AWG
Nimbus Series 18AWG 4-Conductor 500 ft (can make 12 - 40’ extension cables)
www.monoprice.com/product?p_i...
6) 16/3 Green Holiday Extension Cords - Big Box Stores
100’ of 16/3 Green Holiday Extension Cord (can make 2 - 40’+ extension cables)
www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-100-f... 
Хобби
Excellent insight Steve…..I always wondered which would be the best option, as I’m quite proficient with soldering…..so from here on out, I’ll be making my own !
Great video, thanks for all of the information. I think I will go with extension cord when I make mine.
I love this video! Thank you so much!
Awesome and thanks, very useful! Thanks
such detail, thank you for sharing all that info
Thanks Mario!
By default, I'm all about vendor-provided cables, not only for less work, but also no weather-related points of self-soldered failure. This year, power-injection using the same 22 AWG as came soldered onto the lightstrips just didn't cut it. I'm glad this video perfectly justified my purchase of landscaping 16/2 for the power! (Next year I'm sure to be purchasing a pack of the F-amps!)
I was hesitant on the landscape wire, but bought some last week. It turned out very well.
Hey Steve, thanks for the helpful content. I wanted to point out that the little white string in the speaker and network cables is for stripping the outer cover. Just cut a little notch in the sheath, then you can pull the string to strip it back to the desired length without risking knife damage to the inner insulation.
You’re welcome. That’s a good tip to strip sheathing with the little string. Thanks!
Thanks for all your video's, I learn a lot from you.
You have a new subscriber.
Please be careful with the knife 😅
Greetings...
Thanks Steve...this was a great starting point...and took some of my stress down a few notches....I’m still confused about the self injection lines and how to loop them all the way to an end run on a string of lights...but I’m sure there is a video out there that will help me with that too.
Drew, check out the “How To - Chain Pixel Props Like a Champ”. That shows the benefit of the self power injection wiring.
Lot of information thanks. Looking for your information on making up your plugin power meters. Have not been able to find the video showing how to make them up.
Thanks Stephen. The video where I show how to make the V/A meter testers is here at 6.47. ruclips.net/video/z-UStFoIHY8/видео.html
Thanks Steve for this Awesome video!
Going to try the landscaping cord.
If I may ask. How or where you get the face's for your mega tree?
I would like to do the same for my mega tree.
Thanks Danny, I have to admit that I was surprised how well those worked!
For the megatree faces, hit me up on FB with the faces you are interested in.
Awesome thanks!
Thanks for the video. Do you think a vendor built 40 foot cable would be comparable to the custom ones you made? (Obviously more expensive)
Vendor custom made cables are all made in China. I guess it really comes down to the vendor how strict they are with quality and review. If you order a custom length extension cable, my guess is it’ll be made with the same cable as other pre-made extensions. The 10’ cables in this video were advertised as 18AWG copper. In testing them, they are nowhere near that performance spec, likely because this hobby and the products are not regulated.
Great video!
I'm new to all this Christmas lighting stuff and trying to educate myself in time for this year's holiday season.
Can you explain your distribution of the Cat wiring...why you use 4 wires for ground, 3 for V+, and 1 for data?
Why not use 3 ground, 3 V+ and 2 data? Is there a significant difference in performance?
Thanks Ronald! The distribution for the Cat wiring is based on the premise that the V+ and Ground wires carry the most amount of current, and thus they should be the lowest gauge wire to prevent voltage loss.
The data line draws a very small amount of current compared to the V+, so there wouldn't be much of a benefit of using two wires for data, as the voltage drop there wouldn't suffer like the V+ would. The Ground line benefits from having 4 wires, as it carries current that is shared with the V+ for power, and it also serves as the reference (and supports a small amount of current) for the data line.
@@NiFamilyLights but due to cross talk, stranded pairs, data corruption from being in same pair with power/gound could be the issue
I agree. Since pixel data doesn't have a differential data output, the next best is the use of a ground line wire with the twisted data wire. If you need to go significant distances, it's best to use a smart receiver (or differential receiver). That run (controller data only) from a controller to a smart receiver uses legitimate data + / data - serial communication to send data signals up to 300 feet through Cat wiring.
Great video... I love your attention to detail... Why not just use the actual plug of a 16/3 ext cord (as opposed to xconnect or RayWu)? Half the soldering needed and less waste :)
Thanks. Great idea just leaving the extension cord as is. I guess you’d have to make a standard plug to 3 core pigtail adapter to connect to the other ends. And, you would have to waterproof the outlet plug ends. I guess it would be less soldering if you wired the cable directly to your board. But if you’re using pigtails coming from the power distro board, I’m not sure that method would result in any less soldering.
Thanks for the video. It was very informative, and I have a question for you: What type of F-amp are you using? when I search for them All that comes up is a multiple output unit, thanks again for the videos, Dale
Thanks for the comment Dale. The F-Amp used in this video is a Falcon product from PixelController. pixelcontroller.com/store/accessories/54-famp-xconnect.html
@NiFamilyLights thankyou for getting back to me. I really appreciate it. I have 5 of them on order. I will be checking out more of your videos to try and get a light show organized. Dale
I use RCA 3 conductor rotor wire 75 foot spool $14 ish from menards 22 awg stranded but i have not tested the loss of it.
Question about custom extensions. I am looking to add power injection next year (some flickering and voltage loss this year due to new extensions). To do this I planned on using 3-2-3 tee's to 2-core pigtails out of my receiver boxes (modeled after yours). Unfortunately, I ended up with two female adapters (female pigtail from the box and female 2-core from the tee). Normally this is frowned upon in the electrical world, a suicide cable, but does it matter in this use case as long as my extension is V+ to V+ and V- to V- since this isn't a true male electrical plug? Its not the end of the world if I just order new tee's but the only vendor I can find with a male 2-core male is in China so I would have to deal with international shipping :-( Thanks again for all your great content as I would have been lost without your channel :-)
Did you use normal solder for each twisted pair/data? Then shrink wrap over the 3 sets? I'm looking for a video on how to do the solder/seal.
Yes, I used normal solder for each set of wires connected together which were then heat shrieked. Initially, I put heat shrink on all three wires so they were together, but as I did more of them, I didn't bother with that step, as it was one more thing to do that wasn't really necessary.
There are many good videos on RUclips showing how to solder two wires together and apply heat shrink over it.
Hey Steve, I’m wondering how to measure the current of my strips/pixels? All the multimeters I see have a 10A limit. What do you use?
Hi Nate, see this video. I show how I wire up the volt/ammeters. There’s a link to the item in the description of that video. 5A or so is as high I need to go as my pixel outputs aren’t more than 5A. I believe there’s a link to a higher amperage ammeter in the description that has a shunt for higher current measurements.
m.ruclips.net/video/z-UStFoIHY8/видео.html
great video do i have to use a f-amp if i run 40 ft of wire
Thanks. 30-40 feet of wire is right at the edge. It’ll depend on the gauge wire of the extension, the number and type of pixels, and the output brightness configured for the lights. Most pre made extensions will work at 30 feet for most pixel runs. If it isn’t a lot of pixels (less than 125) or so, it’ll probably work without without an Famp. Give you’re on the edge, it’s best to give it a shot before putting your props out.
I have 5ft extensions and I need to a 5 more feet to them, so I was wondering if I could use 22 gauge wire for the extension wire. The actual wire that I am adding to is 18 gauge. So will that work or will it not?
GS, you want to use the same gauge or thicker wire when adding extensions, especially at the beginning of a run to reduce the amount of voltage loss the lights will experience.
I’ve been watching all your videos, they’re great. Question though, how far can I run the data after the 200 pixels if I was to power inject with a separate 12v power converter? I am looking at the Kulp 32A-B that can handle up to 800 pixels at 40 FPS.
After drawing several diagrams of my house and the placement of props I cannot figure out power injection placement to get my roofline done.
Is it better to buy the smaller Kulp 16A-B and get a separate smart board to reach the opposite side of the house, or can I power inject and still have the data reach the other side. Thanks in advance!
Bwhite, thanks for the comment. Regarding your question, the distance and total number of pixels will be highly dependent upon the quality of the V+ and GND for each power injection line. If you’re having to make a lot of long distance power injection lines, you would likely be better off finding a solution where you can put a smart receiver or two on the far side of the house to handle those pixels.
The differential receivers that attach to the 3 ports on a klup k8-b can go out to differential recivers at the remote props (distant part of house) and a seperate power supply can attach to the reciver there to run those lights and you can daisy chain them up to 3 per output on the k8-b that means 8 local ports 12 differential receiver ports and expansion board with 16 more ports locally thats 36 ports total. The differential receivers can be placed FAR away from the main k8-b.
Is only relevant for the data wire it doesn't tell you if the length will support the current after line drop
Hello again Steve. One more question for you, promise. lol. I’m making custom 16/3 cables using the 18awg pigtail connectors. Is this fine and can I connect the extension cable to a 18awg power tee?
It’s all good. You’re winning points by asking more questions.
Yes, you can use the pre-made 18AWG pigtails. I do the same so I can more easily plug things into the controllers and the pixels on the other end. The key is that your controller or power distro board output has a 5A fuse. So, there’s no concern about exceeding the capacity of any wires.
Note: In the tests in this video, all the pigtails used are the same 18AWG pre-made ones which then also go through the standard pixel pigtail to connect to the pixels.
@@NiFamilyLights Thank you, Steve. I can’t tell you how much of a help you’ve been. To be honest, without your videos, It would’ve been so much harder for me to start this journey, if I would’ve started it at all!!
You're very welcome, and I'm glad the videos have been so useful for you. I guess I'll continue to make them. ;)
@@NiFamilyLights yes, please do. But I know it’s hard making and putting these videos together.
Hi Steve. I have a question about a test run I did. I was messing around with power injecting at around 420 pixels and for about 9v at the end, but still had some flickering. Why was that if I had 9v? The first cable to the first pixel was about 15ft and the PI run was about 40’ and still was able to get 9v. Maybe I should use the 16/3 because I have a run for PI at 60’ or is that too long?
@zski1 Great question! Even though the voltage may appear to be sufficient at the lowest point of your pixels, that doesn’t always translate to having good data quality. The data signal uses the same V- line for reference as do all the pixels for normal power. If the quality of the V- line isn’t good enough, you can still get data corruption, especially when the pixels are drawing more power (on white).
If your PI run is 30’+, I would recommend using a custom cable, not standard pixel extension cables. Something like the green holiday extension cables that are 16AWG or better would certainly make a big difference in reducing power use noise on the V- line, and that should stop any flickering.
Additionally, you could add some good quality wire for V+ and V- between the first pixel and some place in the middle. That would also significantly improve the V- stability for the data signal, as power to the middle pixels would run through the power balancing wires instead of through the thinner pixel wires.
Let me know what you do and if it improves the situation.
@@NiFamilyLights Thank you. I’m running different testing scenarios and at 210 pixels with a 30’ injection at the end, no issue. But, I have to make my own custom cables because I have longer runs and I’m building a PI box to inject at the opposite end of my roof. Can I still use the 5a distro board with the 16/3 cabling?
Yes, you can still use the 5A bistro boards with 16/3 cables. The 5A rating is to protect the pixel wires. You can always use thicker wire and not change the fusing.
What you don't want to do is switch the fuse to a higher current rating (e.g. 10A) and not verify that the wires can handle that type of load.
For your situation, you're using a better quality cable, so it's no problem to do so and keep the 5A fuse.
@@NiFamilyLights I figured, since the 18awg is only a few inches in comparison. I have hopefully one more question, at least for this year, ;) I’m already planning on next years build and I’m planning on wiring 3 PSU’s to a falcon F16 board. I’m going to wiring them like you did with the smart receiver box build. I know I have to ground them to each other, but do I have to bring the ground back to the 1st PSU? For example, ground 1 to 2 then 2 to 3. But do I have to bring 3 back to 1?
If you have 3 power supplies in a build, if you connect the DC ground (V-) from 1 to 2 then connect the DC ground (V-) from 2 to 3, you don't need to add any additional wires to connect 1 to 3. At that point, all the DC grounds (V-) will be bonded together.
Various pigtails have different color wires. How do you know which is ground, V+ or data? Thank you.
Most pixels have clear or translucent epoxy, so you can see where the wires are soldered to the IC board in the pixel. Looking at the pixel IC board, one side has the data input and flipping it over, the other side has the data output.
On either side of the data line is either V+ or GND, and that information should be silk screen printed on the board.
Typically, data lines are green or yellow, V+ is red, and V- (GND) is blue or black. Some pixels use all black wiring with printing along the cable itself.
Can you use unshielded or do you prefer shielded wire?
You can definitely use unshielded cable. None of the wiring tested in this video is shielded.
Can Cat 6 or 5 really carry the current? Some say no. confused.
Yes, it can as long as you group together multiple wires for V+ and also for GND (or V-). 3 or 4 Cat5e wires used together equals wiring gauge sufficient or even better than most pixel wire. 3 or 4 Cat6 wires together is often better than pixel wire. By better, I’m referring to the electrical performance (conductance/resistance).
If you only use one or two conductors for V+ and or GND, then others are correct in that it is not sufficient. Hope that helps.
So 12V Pixels will run on lower voltage it appears. I did simiiar test with 5V Pixels and around 3.7V at 50% brightness, they don't work very well.
Thanks, that’s good to know. How many pixels does it take for the 5V to drop to 3.7V? I’ve played around a little with 5V pixels from a friend, and they didn’t get to too many pixels before having issues. I didn’t spend any more time with them.
Show the way you have the power injection wired in the control box please. Thank You
John, I show the contents of the controller box in this video, Falcon F16v3 Ammo Box Breakdown. The electronics are reviewed at about minute 7. m.ruclips.net/video/5ijZGRIW1tM/видео.html
Is it easy to do a pixel show
Well, that's a loaded question. There's a lot of DIY with doing a pixel show. If you've got the desire and broad skills, it can be done. But, I wouldn't venture to say that it's easy. Skills required include hands-on building of physical props and controllers, creating a show layout/vision, being somewhat proficient at computer networking, and ability to learn how to use the software tools. Having a background in music/music theory is a plus.
@@NiFamilyLights ok but I am thinking about in the future doing a pixel show later down the line
@vampirerodgers2890 If you're thinking of doing one, you should go for it. Do your research first so you don't end up buying a bunch of stuff you don't need or want to change. I researched for about a year before diving in. Feel free to comment/ask questions.
interesting video.
while i know what i am about to say is not the main topic of this video, it is something that should be noted.
i refuse to believe the data signal would remain the same comparing the power cord and ethernet cable, the lack of oscilloscope was a big issue honestly.
you are transporting a digital signal in either a power cable or an analog cable, which is bad in dmx installation for example
@DeverosTV, thanks for the comment. You are correct that I didn't go into the details of the data signal. The idea was to test various cables available for the DIY user.
That said, XLR and DMX (analog and digital respectively to keep it simple) are different cables designed to optimize different things. XLR (analog) cables used for microphones typically have low impedance (45 ohms) and high capacitance, while DMX (digital) cables used to send digital data typically have higher impedance (110 ohms) and low capacitance. Since the cables were designed to best match their loads, they perform sub-optimally when mis-matched. In addition, DMX data signals are differential signals, one line being data+ and and one line being data-, wired internally as a twisted pair. The differential signals aid significantly with noise rejection for long distance signal quality.
Pixel data does not use differential signal wires. It uses the data line (5V signal) and GND (or V-) to send data. So, it does not get to benefit from the noise rejection goodness of differential signals. Hence, what we are trying to do is get the best signal data line while keeping the GND (V-) noise to a minimum. This video imperially demonstrates how to mitigate both keeping GND noise to a minimum and maintaining the signal data above a minimum 3.3V for the WS2811 chip. Ultimately, what's analog or digital runs across an analog wire medium.
Last, to best match impedance to prevent signal data reflections (which causes data corruption), the lower the resistance of the cable, the better. That's because the pixel WS2811 chip is tuned to 33 ohms. However, some controller outputs (like the Falcon F16v3) have 100 ohm output resistor networks. Inherently, the 100 ohm falcon controller output trying to match to a 33 ohm WS2811 chip input (plus resistance across the extension cable) doesn't always work the best. Again, not covered in this video explicitly, but switching to a 33 ohm output (or using a pixel signal booster - which also uses a 33 ohm output), it better matches impedances with the pixels. By using a lower gauge wire (thicker wire) with lower internal resistance, that provides a more optimal impedance match between the controller and the pixels (with extension wires).
Does this make sense? If I had an oscilloscope to show the difference, that would certainly help. However, I don't. Keith Westley did perform oscilloscope captures of data signals coming from various controllers in the Virtual Christmas Summit in 2020. That was focused on the output quality of the signal based on those resistor networks. From that, I made this video imperically testing the output resistors to improve impedance matching of the data line. ruclips.net/video/Vg9gkWEO-hQ/видео.html
@@NiFamilyLights thanks for the detailed answer and the video link , i will watch it now
Honesty I'm confused about what you goal of this video is, if you method for attachment of wires is different (ie wago , solder etc ) your adding another veriable that will effect the results also the resistance
Brandon, the difference between soldering the connector vs. using the wago (for test purposes) is negligible compared to the resistance through the length of the cable.