O Pixels Where Art Thou

[r0ckms0ckm]

Does anyone have a good source for 12V xConnect bullet node pixels?

WiredWatts is out of stock
https://www.wiredwatts.com/sn12v50bkp3

Wally's Lights is out of stock
https://wallyslights.com/collections/12v-pixels/products/12v-ws2811-xconnect-resistor-bullet-pixel?variant=39808961609886

LED Express has regulated not resistor based pixels:
https://www.diyledexpress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=42&products_id=906&zenid=933ff45836c1b9cc4643f33c3f0a307f

 

[MartinMueller2003]

Regulated is better than resistor (from a power efficiency point of view).

 

[iflights]

HolidayCoro has items in stock. For example: https://www.holidaycoro.com/12mm-Pixel-Node-12v-EasyPlug3-xConnect-p/711-wp.htm

 

[r0ckms0ckm]

My inexperience with electrical management led me to resistor pixels. Not sure if I want to use a mix, but I guess that should be fine.

 

[r0ckms0ckm]

Thanks, forgot to check them out.

 

[MartinMueller2003]

You can mix regulated and resistor pixels in a string. They would not have any interworking issues.

 

[MikeKrebs]

Regulated is better than resistor (from a power efficiency point of view).

I thought people that actually measured usage are finding regulated use more energy than resistor. What is power efficiency? Distance to pink?

 

[jchuchla]

I thought people that actually measured usage are finding regulated use more energy than resistor. What is power efficiency? Distance to pink?

Yes that's right. The regulated ones will all work/look the same as the voltage drops down the line. Once it drops below the regulator threshold, they will just stop working, they won't shift color.

A regulator and a resistor are both methods of dropping the 12V line voltage to the 5v pixel voltage. They both dissipate energy in the form of heat to drop the voltage. I don't know off hand which method is more efficient.

 

[MartinMueller2003]

Yes they both dissipate excess voltage as heat. The resistor mechanism will pink out sooner since the Pixel operating voltage is a percentage of the pixel input voltage. With regulated pixels you will see pinking start much later due to the efficient use of the voltage supplied to the pixel. If you are talking about power efficiency, many tests have shown that on average, regulated pixels appear to use less current to accomplish the same task as the resistor pixels. The math in that case makes no sense to me. I still use 0.06A as the max operating current.