Best way to control RGB LED Strip Lighting...?

I want to install RGB LED Strip Lighting around a few accent places (about 3 or 4, lets assume 4) and want to be able to change and vary the color of each accent location individually. I'm looking for the most cost effective and clean installation for this setup.

Typically, there are three components to this strip lighting:
A

1. Power Supply (transformer that lowers to 12 or 24 volts)
2. Controller (to change lighting)
3. RGB Strip Lighting

I know there are several options for doing this:

• CBUS to DALI to 0-10v to Controller [using SLC5502DAL]
• CBUS to DMX to CT305R Controller [using 5500DMX]
• CBUS to IR to CT305R Controller [using 5034NIRT]
• CBUS to 0-10v to Controller [using SLCLE5504TAMP]

Also, do I need to control the power supply on and off for these units or sending a "0" signal effectively does this? My thoughts would be to use one of two 24 volt power supplies. If need be I can put it on a relay output, would just need to program c-bus to keep it on if any one of the 12 channels is > 0.

Any advice from anyone who has used any of these or other methods is appreciated!

 

Have you tried a PAC controller ?

 

Do you have more info on this?
How would it hook up to the LEDs?

 

Can you indicate how the LED lighting is controlled under normal circumstances. That would help me to interpret what CBus would do in that instance.

 

I had looked at doing this for a client a little while ago. It all depends on the Controller that your LED suppliers can provide. Some i believe have 3 x 0-10V inputs to control the colours, while others could use DMX comms.

 

Have scene lighting setup but also have the ability to go in and control each color via a slide bar of some sort.

 

The 4 options I listed below are what I have out could do the job. What I'd like to know is what other folks have used and their experiences have been to point in one of the 4 directions.

Don't know if i want to rely on IR. So it may just be DMX vs analog voltage. Any input?

Anyone ever use the DMC module 5500DMX ?

 

I tend to think that manual colour mixing is too hard. I think it needs to have a preset point which can be addressed with a microprocessor and give an input level. Then it needs a transition between presets.

In other words. The LED controller needs to have its own software. That software needs to have its own dry contacts. So it needs some level of simple interpretation.

For example. You could use a video camera and make the LED reflect the colours of the clothing of the people in the room. As an example.

It is not clear if we are dealing with a staged colour, automatic colour, transitions or part of a scene.

 

That idea is nice, but far more complicated than what I want to achieve. I want to have several zones of complete manual color control of the led a trips. As I've stated above, there are 4 ways that I have thought of how to do this and have already found the matching hardware to perform these methods. There are pros and con to all of them, but it looks like the users here have not used all of these methods or just don't care to comment.

Although im leaning toward the clipsal DMX module and DMX led controller met ed, it looks like the clipsal DMX module is not available in the united states, which makes this a more cumbersome/expensive solution. As a result, I think I will go with a standard 0-10v output module ( SLCLE5504TAMP ) and the corresponding LED controller.

 

It is a matter of cost.

I have used the the DMX module to control a led projector/illuminator used in conjuntion with a fiber optic fixture. It is very easy to install and program.
All the options you have outlined will work. If I were you I would focus on the economics. My sense is the answer will depend on the number of fixtures you want to control independly and on the cost of the interfaces. For example if you are using DMX enabled fixtures, the DMX module will be best. One module can control 12 DMX channels. If your fixtures are RGB, each will use 3 channels so one module can control 4 independ RGB fixtures. However if your fixtures don't have DMX built in you will need to add the cost of the DMX interfaces on the fixture side.

CAB

 

Yes, the DMX module is available is the US.

If you contact Square D, they can supply the DMX Module as they did for me. Since it is a low power module, it is not a big issue for them to import. If your goal is to control 4 led strips and you have identified the appropriate DMX driver, the DMX module is a good solution. With 12 channels available, the module can control 4 indenpedent RGB outputs.

 

CT305R is very easy, cheap and good controller, the only bad point i have found is that it works on the same range of my remote controls from my TV, so in any room where there is a TV its useless. I am searching now for another controller as i go in every room Led strips, if you put it in the white color its almost the same light of an TL-lamp.

 

1/3rd the price: HERE

 

So I was browsing around and found this WS201 WiFi LED controllers.
I wonder how difficult it would be to integrate into a Wiser setup...

 

Hi Poldim,

I use a Wiser to control my Pool's RGB lighting. It is very simple as I have an L5504AMP analogue module giving 3 x 10v outputs to an LED module controller from Osram. Each line is controlled just like a dimmer

I would be concerned using the module you suggest as it seems it need apps for IOS and Android to control it. These apps cannot be directly controlled from Wiser and the app manual would likely be written/coverted to English in part by whoever wrote this:

possibly making it difficult to work out.

The IR controller shown in the picture can obviously be replicated using a 5034NIRT but this seems a bit of a waste of time as there are too many conversions going on. Best to keep it simple like the many earlier posts suggest being either Analog, DMX or DALI as required by a third party LED controller. Once being controlled as group addresses, it then just looks like 'a dimmer' to your Wiser.

Have a good one,

Brad

 

This site has a few controllers and they reference C-Bus compatibility as well.

http://www.superlight.com.au/index.php?mod=products&action=list&id=8

To use a PAC, find a RGB LED controller with RS232

e.g. from google search

http://rs232ledcontroller.com/


Mick

 

Hello bmerrick,

Just reading through the forums and found this regarding your pool rgb led lights. Can i ask where you got these fittings from? Any pictures of your setup would be great!

Cheers mate,
Dave

 

Hi Dave,

I don't usually like to promote my non-standard use of standard products in case someone else tries and it messes up for them and doesn't work satisfactorily, but I think I can make an exception in this case as there are now more commercial products available.

When I went to do my pool 6 plus years ago, the choice of LED systems was almost none. The one available / heavily promoted system in the Australian market at the time was the Aquaquip Aquastar Spectrum now replaced by the Aquaquip Evo2.

Although the Aquaquip Aquastar lights themselves are well thought out from a flush mounting and future maintenance access viewpoint, are sturdy and look good, particularly with the stainless surrounds, the early LED controllers were IMHO horribly basic (hopefully they have been updated) and very difficult for automation colour control thereof. It used a two wire cabling arrangement into the housing and in my personal opinion (IMHO) completely ridiculous to try to automate sequencing LED controller whereby you had to switch the power line on and off multiple times of 2 second on/off intervals to cycle it though the colour choices or modes of operation. So if you wanted a colour near the end of the cycle, it could take you up to 60 seconds of fudding around to get the lights displaying the right colour or set a particular mode eg sequenced colour change, and you could only select from a fixed set of colours like 4 bit Windows screen drivers eg cyan, blue, green, violet etc. I believe there are now more colours and to be fair, the controller seemed designed to allow the units to easily replace like wired halogens and for people to set the colour and not change it too often, if at all.

I never really considered using this inbuilt controller as I wanted full RGB colour control so it got summarily deleted immediately. See picture of LED board and controller beneath with the 2 wire inbound link. I just removed the lower board, cut off the 15m 2 wire cable (that became great outdoor speaker cables ) and drilled in a new 4 wire chlorine safe PVC cable, sealed with proper chlorine/chemical safe safe polyurethane. 4 wires only needed to the LED board gave RGB plus common.

I ran these to an Osram Optotronics OT RGB 3 channel dim LED dimmer unit that uses 3 x 0-10v analogue inputs to set the 3 LED output channels. They also have DALI and DMX version of the controllers if you prefer that way. I just connected this to the Clipsal L5504AMP Analogue output Module, 3 x 0-10v output lines and a common and a 12v DIN Rail PSU to run the controller and LEDs. The whole Osram LED catalogue makes fun reading too with all the things you can think of doing with the Dragon-eye LED strips etc.

Now for pools there is far more choice in LED underwater luminaire hardware. Another model is the Astral Pools Delta colour series of LED RGB drivers which now conveniently have the 4 wire driver cable already installed without the need for my housing modifications. You can now run these directly into their own simple internal LCD controller called the Viron (Hurlcon), or otherwise should be able to use the same controller/C-Bus gateway combination I used to treat the 3 RGB channels as 'dimmers'. See here for more info about these LEDs.

Can I just also add that anyone contemplating using LEDs in their pool should possibly also consider either adding a few normal halogen lights as well near the bottom, or far more LED heads than you would expect to bright it up a bit. This might sound crazy, but I have 6 heads in my pool and they are nowhere near bright enough in my opinion. The LEDs don't seem to convey as much light through/into the water as the neighbours halogen whites. I would like to have a 'brighter mode' for times when you are looking for something on the bottom. I think the newer LEDs might be brighter than mine. And remember R+G+B <> White. Hence a system with White LEDs (or added halogens on the 4th channel) will give you a much better useability IMHO.

The Colour LEDs do look nice though..........

Good Luck with your installation.

Brad

 

Brad,

I've considered using this type of solution, but it would get pretty costly if you wanted to have say 5 or 10 zones of places where you'd want to control the lighting. With the DMX unit mapping 12 addresses, each unit can do 4 separate zones. I'm just having a hard time getting one in the US.