LED Christmas Lights, Blue & Red and Green & Orange tied together?

[eveares]

Has anyone else noticed that a lot of multi coloured multi function Christmas lights made in the last few years have the the colours of Blue & Red and Green and Orange tied together. In other words there is 2 not 4 channels from the controller.

i.e. A lot of lights these days don't seem have just one of the 4 colours lit up at a time.

This bugs me and why are manufactures doing this?

You can get up to 6 colour combinations from just 3 wires if I am correct (3 pairs x 2 polarity's each), and thus having 4 channels from the controller should not be an issue.

Anyone else have a say on this niggle of mine?

 

[securespark]

Oi ain't bovvered!

 

[bernardgreen]

You can get up to 6 colour combinations from just 3 wires if I am correct (3 pairs x 2 polarity's each)

Sadly not with cheap mass produced LED elements used in cheap strings. They have little or no resilience against reverse voltages. A reasonable quality LED element will not pass any current when 5 volts is applied in the reverse direction. Some of the cheap ones seem to be the LED element in parallel with a diode that conducts when a reverse voltage is applied.

 

[ericmark]

The colour changes the voltage required.

but the current is the same. So by pairing the colours you can produce pairs which need the same voltage. So blue with red and orange with green will need about the same voltage so also will need the same current limiting resistor. Both pairs will run from 5 volt. If all the blues were on together then you would need a 6 volt supply for pair of blues with limiting resistor and 4 volt for the reds with limiting resistor.

 

[Iggifer]

I prefer white christmas lights myself, I think coloured ones look naff

 

[PBC_1966]

If all the blues were on together then you would need a 6 volt supply for pair of blues with limiting resistor and 4 volt for the reds with limiting resistor.

But there would be nothing to stop you using the 6V supply for the reds in combination with a higher value series resistor.

 

[eveares]

I prefer white Christmas lights myself, I think coloured ones look naff

I prefer multi-coloured multi-functional lights. Static and white are the worst and most boring kind IMO. I have about 20 light-up Christmas decorations in total, including lights sets and lights that are part of my Interactive Christmas Grotto.

The colour changes the voltage required.

But that still does not address the point that LED light sets from around 5-10 years ago had 4 independent channels of colour. Yes the controller would need to produce different voltage levels in respect to the 4 different colour LED's , but I don't see that as an issue due to as said before LED light sets from around 5-10 years ago had 4 independent channels of colour.

 

[JohnW2]

But that still does not address the point that LED light sets from around 5-10 years ago had 4 independent channels of colour. Yes the controller would need to produce different voltage levels in respect to the 4 different colour LED's , but I don't see that as an issue due to as said before LED light sets from around 5-10 years ago had 4 independent channels of colour.

It's very probably a cost issue. Did you take the precaution of buying "the most expensive you could find" for the recent ones?

Kind Regards, John

 

[eveares]

It's very probably a cost issue. Did you take the precaution of buying "the most expensive you could find" for the recent ones?

No afraid not, but when I am walking into shops in general and I see the display of the lights they are selling - they tend to be the type with two colour channels. Most of the older lights I have have either come from Homebase, Argos or B&Q; the newer ones I have bought on-line.

 

[JohnW2]

No afraid not, but when I am walking into shops in general and I see the display of the lights they are selling - they tend to be the type with two colour channels. ...

Are the ones you're currently seeing in the shops more or less expensive (in real terms) than the 'old' ones were? A lot of products of this type have got cheaper (hence more cheaply made) over the years - unless, as I said, you go out of your way to find expensive ones!

Kind Regards, John

 

[eveares]

Are the ones you're currently seeing in the shops more or less expensive (in real terms) than the 'old' ones were?

Have not looked that closely at the ones in the shops these days, but I think the old sets I paid between £20-£60; I have/had LED and Non LED sets as well as short and long sets over the years.