5V mega tree topper?

1

1pet2_9

Active member
Hi,

Is anyone successful and happy using 5V pixels to top their mega tree? I just inserted 250 pixels on my topper, and now I'm thinking 5V was a mistake. I should have gone 12V and routed a wire from the PSU on the ground up to the top.

Or maybe sticking a buck converter on top is a better idea? I figure that might be lighter than a PSU and make it much less top-heavy.
 
I have a 5V 10' MegaTree with a three-layer star for a topper. It is only 88 pixels, but even a 250 pixel topper would only have 3 PI points (something like pixel 1,100,200) I have absolutely no issues with voltage drop using 16AWG. Some of the other props on my house have 5V PI runs in the 20-25' range with no issues again using 16AWG wire.
 
I use combinations of 16 and 18 gauge and have no issues for PI, depends on how it is used.
You wouldn't be using CCA by any chance?
 
Or maybe sticking a buck converter on top is a better idea?
Click to expand...

That's seems like a good idea to me. Run 12V to the buck VReg with the existing 18AWG. Then step-down at point of use (tree topper) to provide the 5V injection.

- Thomas
 
ThomasLED said:
That's seems like a good idea to me. Run 12V to the buck VReg with the existing 18AWG. Then step-down at point of use (tree topper) to provide the 5V injection.

- Thomas
Click to expand...

What I like about the buck is that it could potentially inject the entire tree from the top as well. Not just the topper. And it's not very heavy.
 
Yup, that was exactly it. Not just aluminum wire, but oxidized aluminum wire. Somebody donated some old stuff, that I guess was no longer working for him. Oxidized aluminum loses its conductivity, unlike copper. Even so, I found some awesome weatherproof boxes from China that just fasten on to the trunk using bungee cord, and the tree is holding up fine in severe weather even with the PSU sitting 7 feet up from the ground. Lets me not just just power the topper, but power inject all the strands' pixel #50's (counting up from the ground). A nice, circular, solid copper core running around the 7-foot mark helps the tree hold its shape.
 
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