Doug Fleenor Designs COLORWHEEL Users Manual

DOUG FLEENOR DESIGN, Inc.

396 Corbett Canyon Road
Arroyo Grande, CA 93420

[phone] Voice and FAX

Color Wheel Installation and Operation

Overview

The Color Wheel is a simple wall-mounted device designed to operate DMX512 based
LED lighting fixtures. It can be configured to operate 3, 4, or 5 channel fixtures. Active
channels may be increased or decreased individually, or all at once.

Electrical connections

All electrical connections to the Color Wheel are made through a removable five
conductor terminal block on the back of the unit. This allows all connections to be made
to the terminals without the Color Wheel unit present. The terminal block and wires can
be pushed into the wall box while painting, etc. are taking place. The Color Wheel can
then be plugged in and attached to the wall box when the installation is finished.

Power connection

The Color Wheel requires low voltage power to operate. This voltage must be in the
range of 10 - 24 volts AC or DC at 70-30 mA respectively. If such a power source is not
available, use Doug Fleenor Design’s model XFMR power transformer.

Power should be connected to the top Color Wheel terminals labeled ‘V’ and ‘C’. If low
voltage AC power is used, the polarity does not matter. If low voltage DC power is
being used, the positive wire should be connected to the ‘V’ terminal and the negative
wire should be connected to the ‘C’ terminal.

Cabling from the power source to the Color Wheel should be sized appropriately for the

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distances involved. Typically, two #16 AWG wires are used for this purpose. The low
voltage power cabling can be run in the same conduit with the DMX512 data cable.

DMX512 data connection

The Color Wheel produces standard DMX512 data. The DMX512 cable should be
connected to the ‘C’, ‘-‘, and ‘+’ terminals as shown in the table below.

Terminal Label Function Wire

‘C’ Common Shield

‘-‘

‘+’ DMX data plus typically blue/white

For reliable operation, a suitable DMX512 cable must be used. Examples include
Belden 9829, Belden 9729, and Alpha 9817.

DMX512 cabling must be wired in a daisy chain fashion. The last device on the line
must be fitted with a terminating resistor. If you are not familiar with DMX512 wiring
practices, we suggest that you consult with your dealer.

Installation

The Color Wheel can be installed in any standard single gang wall box with a depth of at
least 1.5 inches. Examples of acceptable wall boxes include Raco models 420, 611,
650, 660, and 674.

After making the electrical connections, screw the Color Wheel to the wall box using the
supplied screws.

Power Up and Configuration

The Color Wheel has three LED indicators, a rotary encoder with a push button feature,
and a square mode selection switch. The left LED is red. The center LED is a tri-color
device (red, green, blue), and the right LED is blue. This allows the Color Wheel to
display many color and control combinations.

DMX data minus typically white/blue

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