3 Pin to 4 Pin

[Audiophile]

I am new to Christmas Lighting, so forgive me if this is a dumb question, but here it goes. I have a pixlite 16 controller that uses 4 pin round connectors. I bought a line of 12V bullet pixels that showed up with round 3 pin plugs. Is it possible to change or solder a 4 pin connector on the lights? Or do I need to return them and go a different direction?

[ben&bobbi]

most strings come with 3 pin connectors now. Maybe consider changing the connectors on the controller. I am not familiar with the pixlite.

[ben&bobbi]

keep in mind there are a few different types of 3 pin connectors.

[P. Short]

I moved this thread from Renard to here because this seems like a more appropriate forum.

[NavyGator]

I am new to Christmas Lighting, so forgive me if this is a dumb question, but here it goes. I have a pixlite 16 controller that uses 4 pin round connectors. I bought a line of 12V bullet pixels that showed up with round 3 pin plugs. Is it possible to change or solder a 4 pin connector on the lights? Or do I need to return them and go a different direction?

What chipset are the pixels you bought? WS2811, WS2812B, etc.

The product manual for PixLite specifies what protocols and chips it supports.

[MikeKrebs]

4 pin pixel connectors and the controllers that support them are for "clocked" pixels like WS2801. Your 3 pin pixels are not "clocked" and most likely WS2811. If your pixels came with 3 pin already attached, go back to same place you bought them from and see if you can get a set of 3 pin pigtails. The connectors between various vendors are not compatible. You need the same pigtails as you have for your pixels. Then check the pixlite manual or look on the pcb for markings. Starting at 1, the PixLite Mk2 User Manual shows V+ /clock/data/ground. You will use only the V+ data and ground. Then you need to configure the controller to use the appropriate protocol. There is piece of software you download from the advatek website that will allow to configure the controller.

[Kensington]

I have Pixlite 16 sitting on my desk right now. It has eurostyle four-wire blocks on each output (just like Falcon controllers). To connect a string of 3-wire pixels, remove the 4-pin connections by unscrewing the set screws on top of the blocks, then wire V+ to input 1, data to input 3, and GND to input 4 according to the diagram on the board.