Pixels | 12v | 50 Count | Bullet | 4 Wire Redundant

Top quality, tried and tested pixels from our  partner factory in Shenzhen.

• True 18AWG cable
• Strings are 50 count (50 pixels per string)
• All black cable
• Build A Light Show weatherproof 4 wire pigtails
• 4"/100mm wire spacing between pixels (unlike 3"/75mm seen elsewhere)
• Real world failure rate was less than 1 in 1000 (based on testing scheme below)
   

We have tried and tested this factory repeatedly. The pixels have been frozen (whilst running), submerged, over volted, under volted, and then run at 100% white ramp for a month - only then did we put them in our own display, and run a season on them. At that point we had enough faith in the factory to offer them for sale here.

What are 4 Wire Redundant Pixels?

Despite us being in the 21st Century, we still have not overcome the age old issue with christmas lights where when one fails, the rest fail. It is a small miracle that this has not been overcome! Until now.

These pixels carry a 2nd data wire, which will allow the data to pass to the next pixel in the event a pixel fails. Perhaps more importantly, and this is something that is overlooked by many, these pixels are what we are calling "native 12v". This means there are no resistors, no regulators or other things dropping the voltage inside the pixel. The result of this is that these pixels are just as, if not more, efficient than 5v pixels - so all you 5v efficiency lovers, these allow you to have the same efficiency but at 12v! Because of the 12v nature of these pixels, they can go longer but are a bit sensitive to voltage drop, we recommend any runs over 250 pixels to be power balanced, but don’t panic, we’ve put together a t-piece and 2m extension in one  package to make it really simple to do! https://buildalightshow.com/cables-extensions/1714-4-wire-pixel-power-balance-add-on-pack.html

So that is all the good stuff. Whats the tricky stuff around these?

Firstly, the colour order on these is not the standard RGB. So your controller will need to be able to support non standard colour order - in this case they need to be BGR. Most controller support this nowadays, so this shouldn't present a problem but you do need to consider it.

Secondly, when wiring these to your controller, you will find yourself confused. 4 wires on your pigtail, and 3pins on your controller!
The power pins are easy/obvious - Red to 12v/+ and Black to Neg/GND/-.  The data however is as follows. Blue which is the primary data wire goes to the controllers data pin/output, and green which is the backup/secondary data wire joins the ground/neg wire in the ground connection. This may seem odd, but have a little faith - it is what happens at the controller end. Do not ground that green/secondary data wire anywhere else!!! Please note this *DOES NOT* apply to seed pixels, where the primary and secondary data wires both go to the data pin

PLEASE NOTE; IF YOUR REVERSE POLARITY THESE PIXELS (connected + and - the wrong way around), YOU WILL IRREVERSIBLY DAMAGE THE ENTIRE STRING! SO PLEASE EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN CONNECTING THESE UP!! This includes making sure you have the pigtails in the correct orientation when connecting them - ensure the locating lugs line up before joining.

Dom has done a little video on them here: