Wiring Connection of DMX Lighting System
Table of Contents
Introduction
A DMX lighting system consists of a controller and a few DMX light fixtures. How to connect them together? Many customers don’t have any idea at the beginning. Some DMX light fixtures have 2 cables, but some have 3 cables or even 4 cables. And the input voltage of these light fixtures might be high voltage 110V/220V, or low voltage DC24V/12V. If without the guidance from the supplier, the customers don’t know where to start. In this post, we will analyze the wiring connections for the DMX light fixtures with various kinds of specifications.
Daisy Chain Connection for DMX Lighting System
Daisy Chain is the most common connection for DMX lighting systems. In this way, the controller is connected with all lights in series as below.
In practical application, if a DMX light fixture only has 2 cables, then they can be simply connected as the above picture. These 2 cables have combined the power wires and the DMX data wires into one cable. Normally these DMX light fixtures are with low voltage input.
Some manufacturers, they will separate the power wires and the DMX data wires. Then there will be 2 input cables and 2 output cables as below.
In addition, if a DMX light fixture is with high voltage input, it normally has 3 cables. One cable is for high voltage input (110V/220V), and the other two cables are for DMX data input and DMX data output.
Parallel Connection for DMX Lighting System
Parallel connection is rare in the practical applications, unless the DMX light fixtures don’t have the DMX data output cable. Then the user has to consider parallel connection for the fixtures.
Cable Types and Connector Types
As we have mentioned above, a DMX light fixture might have 2 cables, 3 cables or even 4 cables. All these cables are different. We will take examples below.
If a DMX light fixture only has 2 cables, normally this light fixture is with 24V input, and these 2 cables are 5-wire which contains 2 power wires and 3 DMX data wires. The wiring connection is the most simple for these light fixtures with only 2 cables.
If a DMX light fixture has 3 cables, then it is normally with high voltage input. One is for power input, which contains 3 wires including the ground wire for protection. And the other two cables are for DMX data input and DMX data output. These DMX data cables normally have 3 wires or 4 wires. Our solution has 4 wires. Besides D+, D- and Ground wires, there is an extra address wire which will be used when you program the addresses for our fixtures.
If a DMX light fixture has 4 cables, then 2 cables are for power input and DMX data input, and the rest 2 cables are for power output and DMX data output. Normally these light fixtures are with DC24V input. This solution separate the power cable and the DMX data cable, which provides a higher flexibility for the customization of the power cable to let it have a larger current carrying capacity.
Normally these different cables will be with male or female connectors which enable the users to connect the light fixtures together easily. Depending on the type of the cable, these connectors also have 2-pin, 3-pin, 4-pin and 5-pin, etc. And the manufacturers make different shapes with different specifications for them. The following is some examples.
The connection of our Wireless DMX Lighting System
All the connections mentioned above are wired. Our company still sells a wireless DMX lighting system which combines wired DMX and wireless system. The DMX controller has to be connected to a transmitter which will convert the wired DMX data to wireless signal and spread it to each light fixture. The fixture also has a receiver to catch the signal and decode it to wired DMX data and commend the fixture to display the color or lighting effect accordingly.
Summary
Now, do you still have any questions about the wiring connections of the DMX lighting systems? Welcome to discuss with us together. We are a manufacturer specializing in DMX LED light fixtures and advanced DMX technology, producing and selling various kinds of outdoor LED light fixtures for more than 15 years. Welcome to contact us if you have any demands.
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