Is there a way to make this trigger with the alarm app if someone opens a door they aren’t supposed to? Or to be able to trigger colors and such with IFTTT events (if thunderstorm running, turn on lightning a few times, watch allergy, flash green a few times, etc) This was in response to the little police mini app.
I’m using the stock controller and haven’t had any problems (although I do keep the power on).
I heard that anything over 5m is a bad idea, as lights at the end of the run will start to dim regardless of ampage as the LEDs at the start of the run will take more power and the spread will be uneven.
I have a soffit box ceiling with a loop which is a 12m run in total. I’ve run three separate lines from one Fibaro RGBW controller, two straight to LED which go round either side of the first bit of the box, and a third RGBW extension line to a third strip to fill in the gap. None of the strips are >5m.
I wonder if that 10m run might be the source of some of the problems?
I’m also running the latest from twack and have no crashing issues. I’ve been running for about 2 weeks now.
The color is definitely uneven. I notice it more on yellows than red and blues. Weird. But the color definitely changes and I’m running about 12’ of LEDs. I wonder if I need to add in an amp of sorts?
So I added this Smart App and It isn’t showing up in the IOS app, pardon my question if I am missing something I extremely new to SmartThings.
Nevermind, had a brain fart, realized I had to go into the Marketplace to find it… sometimes I wonder what they were thinking when they made this app.
@Alwas I’m running @twack’s Beta version and am not having any issues apart from mixed up wiring on my part. I can’t get the colours to match but they led’s weren’t the most expensive available. I have killed a controller though by connecting 12v to the white channel. Currently on-off is 100% reliable.
I seem to be on the way of isolating a culprit.
The 12v transformer that came with the led strip on Amazon appears to be responsible for the app crashing, it’s output is 5amps, I THINK the module needs 6amp minimum to perform, so I’ve ordered an 8amp transformer looking to test it when it arrives.
On my other 10m strip with a 12v transformer and 10amps is holding well, only issue is some of the furthest leds in the strip has wonky colours.
So with that I may un-join them and run a 5m led extension cable to the second 5m then go straight into the module with the first 5m together.
It could be cheap Chinese leds though.
I tried joining them all together and had the same result (wonky colour and brightness). Keeping the runs to 5m worked for me. If it’s powerful enough you only need one psu.
So if I understand you correctly, as long as I have a strong enough PSU, such as a 10A, I can hook multiple light strips into 1 Fibaro? I just need to keep them to 5M and below for best results? I plan on doing above cabinet lighting, which has multiple levels so I will need several strips, though the longest run will only be about 6 feet.
Well I’m no electrician, but as long as you operate within the tolerances of the fibaro, I see no problem with doing that.
ETA: This appears to be 12A, and a maximum of 6A per channel.
Yes, as long as your power supply can support the current draw and you do not exceed the Fibaro’s limit of 12A you can connect multiple strips to the Fibaro (this is called parallel wiring vs series wiring which is all connected end-to-end). Ensuring that strip is shorter than 5M should provide good results, more than that can cause too much voltage loss further down the strip causing strange results.
That’s easy enough. Thanks for the help!
Hello all, new to this community, and my experience with z-wave is as extensive as wiring a ceiling light to a z-wave dimmer switch and controlling it with a z-wave remote. I’m working on a project, and I want to include the Fibaro RGBW controller for its apparent capability to create a color gradient on RGBW led strip lights. I don’t have a SmartThings hub, but I would buy one if it makes this project work, especially with the other possibilities it affords, moving forward. Am I correct that with a SmartThings hub and a Fibaro RGBW controller, I can create a color gradient (in a defined stationary pattern, not moving or animated or anything like that) and be able to turn on/off and dim my led strip from my iPad or a z-wave remote? Do I need smart LED strip with IC chips? I have skimmed through this thread but it’s a lot for a beginner to take in; is there a setup guide for this anywhere?
Read through the whole thread. Very interested in getting addicted to yet another SmartThings project. I have an idea and wonder if the following is possible:
I would like to install a strip between the blinds and window for each of the street facing windows. I have about one inch gap between the blind and the start of the window frame. The widest of them would be 51" or so. This should light up the whole window area in a relatively solid color.
I would like to install a color changing bulb in each of the sconces adjacent to the garage door. (Alternately, and possibly easier to coordinate, a strip across the top of the garage door instead)
If the burglar alarm activates I would like the window strips to synchronize and flash on/off in blue. I would like the wall sconces to flash on/off alternating side to side in blue.
If the fire alarm activates I would like the window strips to synchronize and flash on/off in red. I would like the wall sconces to flash on/off alternating side to side in red.
For holidays/parties/annoying the neighbors I would like them all to randomly change colors in sync.
For fake sunlight effect, a warm white or light yellow color would look inside like light hitting the window from outside.
I understand that I would need to purchase separate setups for each window, and I haven’t even researched light bulbs yet. I believe I need a Fibaro controller, power supply, and sufficient length of led strips for each location.
Is some/all/any of this possible? If it works out, I’ll probably go all the way around the house just for the overkill effect.
Well, from my knowledge, some of that would be simple to do with a few minor tweaks to your requirements. Other things will require a bit of coding, or might be possible through Rule Machine or something similar.
Firstly, it’s worth knowing that the Fibaro has a few ‘built in’ effects. One of these is a strobing red/white/blue, called ‘Police’ which is likely to achieve your requirement for the burglar alarm. There would be no need to synchronise the units for this, because the colour change is so fast, it wouldn’t be possible to notice. This will certainly grab attention!
The colour changing in sync should be fairly easy to achieve, and is something I’ll need to do in future.
One point of note though - it’s definitely worth keeping the number of controllers down to a minimum. Not only does this give cost benefits, but it gives you less likelihood of colour sync issues. Also keep runs down to 5m maximum!
Quick question…does this controller/device have a “fade” function, where the light strip fades between different colors? I see in the device handler there is a ‘deepfade’ and a ‘litefade’ - is that what this does?
Thanks,
Mark
Yes, that’s exactly what it does. Not sure of the difference between the two though.
I believe the light fade stays in a certain color range, where the deep fade runs the gamut of colors.
Thanks guys! Ordering one 
Hi all. I am new to the community. So far I am enjoying everything home automation has to offer. I was hoping to gain some feedback for my setup to know if it will work properly.
I have 5 ceiling coves in my basement that I would like to illuminate with LED RGBWW strips. I will need an individual led strip for each cove that is 12 feet long. So a total of about 60 feet. I will be using 5 LEDENET 5M 24v RGBWW strips. I was hoping to accomplish this with a single Fibaro unit powered by a 24v 350 watt Mean Well power supply.
Would it be better to hook this up in series or parallel? And if in series, if I am understanding all of this, I assume I would need 1 in-line ampifier? Could that amplifier be run off of the same power supply or would I need a separate 24v wall wart? Thanks and sorry for the long post.
I think you will be fine running them all off a single Fibaro unit however I would connect them in parallel if it were me. I would just put the Fibaro somewhere kinda central to where all five ends will be and then just run wires from the Fibaro to each strip. Since the Fibaro unit itself will likely not accept 5 wires into the slots you will need to wire nut the 5 wires into a pigtail and connect that to the Fibaro.
If you choose to go the series route I think that in this specific setup you would be ok to share the power supply with the Fibaro and the amplifier since the total power draw will still be under the power supply limits.