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Squimboos
12-13-2017, 12:21 PM
Alrighty I've been waiting to see if anybody puts up an example since the connectors have been released but no such luck yet. Anyway, on the hilt side, there are 2 positive holes and 2 negative holes(one for each stripe). Should there be a wire connected to each from the board (4 + 1 for data) ? Can I use just one hole for each (2 + 1 for data) or can I bridge them? Any help would be great. There isn't a lot of info on these yet.

Forgetful Jedi Knight
12-13-2017, 10:14 PM
I’ll see what I can get for ya.

Squimboos
12-14-2017, 12:50 AM
Oh thank you FJK!
My plan was to wire both + and both - individually then join the wired farther down in a larger gauge wire. But then, I found a photo on a sabersmiths Facebook showing a picture of the pcb up close. It appears that only the holes directly next to the data line hole (again this is hilt side pcb) have a wire connected. This could make sense I guess, as the holes do seem to be connected ( at least based on the shadows or raised parts indicating where the circuits are on the pcb). Is this correct? I also ran across a post on another saber forum in which somebody mentioned what appeared to be this method as well. If that's the case, what are the other + and - holes for?

Dbase123
12-14-2017, 07:16 PM
I just ordered myself this connector and hopefully, by then someone can go into a bit further detail as to how to properly set up these pieces. I have no clue were to put the resistor or if I need to bridge anything at all. So any kind of help would be much appreciated. If anyone has completed one of these builds with the connector maybe even a peek at the wiring could really clear up some confusion. Or if you figure it out Squimboos, please share how you did so! Thanks :)

Squimboos
12-14-2017, 11:45 PM
Well I'll be setting it up tomorrow. But the basic wiring of the wires to a board are on the manual of whatever board you're using. I've seen a few wiring diagrams on here for other hilt to blade connectors. I do know the 2 little square pads have to be bridged on the blade side where the data line goes. Or you can wire your 330-470 ohm resistor there. I think either way you have to bridge the smd pads (I believe another spot you could choose to place your resistor? maybe?) next to the data line on the prizm v5 board. I dunno what the nano board looks like. Check out the manual. Good luck dude. I'll be posting some pictures tomorrow or Saturday if all goes well and I get it to work. So stay tuned.

Forgetful Jedi Knight
12-15-2017, 04:51 PM
Oh thank you FJK!
My plan was to wire both + and both - individually then join the wired farther down in a larger gauge wire. But then, I found a photo on a sabersmiths Facebook showing a picture of the pcb up close. It appears that only the holes directly next to the data line hole (again this is hilt side pcb) have a wire connected. This could make sense I guess, as the holes do seem to be connected ( at least based on the shadows or raised parts indicating where the circuits are on the pcb). Is this correct? I also ran across a post on another saber forum in which somebody mentioned what appeared to be this method as well. If that's the case, what are the other + and - holes for?

The other (+) and (-) holes are for the current that the Neopixel strips need. The middle hole is the for data wire. I don’t what other forums you are mentioning. You mean FB pages?

Squimboos
12-15-2017, 11:12 PM
The other (+) and (-) holes are for the current that the Neopixel strips need. The middle hole is the for data wire. I don’t what other forums you are mentioning. You mean FB pages?

Fx sabers. In the Padawan training room. I saw a pic of them connected this way on a vendors FB page. Not sure if I can say the name.

Forgetful Jedi Knight
12-17-2017, 07:01 AM
I removed the post as the link wasn't working, and there was no actual picture. Please post the picture only.

Tom Tilmon
12-17-2017, 10:24 AM
On the hilt side adapater, you only need to wire one + and one - wire to the adapter. Both poles go to the same pin/ring on the adapter. On the blade side, it allows you do independently hook up each strip (some are using 2 some 3) individually to help reduce wire gauge. I'm bridging my strips, just as I did in my tests, and it worked out fine. I will have 3 wires going to adapter in hilt: positive, negative, data. I will have 3 wires going from the blade adapter to my strips: positive, negative, and data.

That worked during my bench test, and that is how I intend on wiring the adapters. Those poles are all extra, bonus, giving more positions to wire to, or to wire things independenty to get less amperage through a single wire. I am using heavier gauge wires than normal for positive/negative. My data line is 30 gauge. I hope to build my blade just after Christmas, ordering stuff for all my neopixel builds perhaps this week, depending on other bills. If you use 3 wires, I'd suggest a bit thicker gauge to carry the added amperage. There are charts for this available on the internet.

Tom

Squimboos
12-17-2017, 08:21 PM
On the hilt side adapater, you only need to wire one + and one - wire to the adapter. Both poles go to the same pin/ring on the adapter. On the blade side, it allows you do independently hook up each strip (some are using 2 some 3) individually to help reduce wire gauge. I'm bridging my strips, just as I did in my tests, and it worked out fine. I will have 3 wires going to adapter in hilt: positive, negative, data. I will have 3 wires going from the blade adapter to my strips: positive, negative, and data.

That worked during my bench test, and that is how I intend on wiring the adapters. Those poles are all extra, bonus, giving more positions to wire to, or to wire things independenty to get less amperage through a single wire. I am using heavier gauge wires than normal for positive/negative. My data line is 30 gauge. I hope to build my blade just after Christmas, ordering stuff for all my neopixel builds perhaps this week, depending on other bills. If you use 3 wires, I'd suggest a bit thicker gauge to carry the added amperage. There are charts for this available on the internet.

Tom

Thank you Tom. That's great stuff. I've seen that folks have 24 awg and smaller for 3 wires. Since it seems the ampacity for 20 awg is around 10, I'm wondering how you could safely use such small a small gauge as 24. Is it because of such short wire lengths being used?

Tom Tilmon
12-17-2017, 11:14 PM
Wire length is a factor when considering which gauge to use. My longest wires will certainly be in the hilt going from the board to the neopixel hilt adapter. But even then, you're talking about 6 inches. The wires from my blade adapter to my strips will be vey short, less than an inch in my estimation, as short as I can get them. I'm trying to get the strips as close to the adapter as possible so I get shine through on a Graflex 2.0 with the battery in the upper tube. We'll see if I can pull that off. I'm sure there will be a lot of contemplating, cutting, modifiying the chassis to get this to work out. Its fractions of an inch I'm trying to save. I must get the first pixel as low as possible in the blade to get that shine through! On the data line, its just carrying a signal, you're ok going thin there. Keep your positive and negative lines significant enough to carry the amperage. Good luck on your build!

Tom

Squimboos
12-18-2017, 01:48 PM
Cool cool. Time to experiment.

Tom Tilmon
12-18-2017, 05:13 PM
Madcow/TCSS just published a video about the adapters, just a few minutes ago. Favorite or subscribe to the TCSS youtube channel if you haven't. Rob didn't explain why he chose the thicker gauge wire, but he did say he is using 24 ga wire for his main feeds. The video confirms a lot of what I said already. Good video. Now I wish I wasn't as chicken, and ordered my adapters with loose pins. After watching him solder in the pins, I'm kicking myself. I am capable of that, easy. Doh. Now I know though.

Tom