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RC4 Knowledge Base

RC4 Series 3 Connector Specifications and Details

All RC4 Series 3 Harmonized Design™ devices share many technical specifications.  Most models share the same connectors and pinouts:

  • DC input voltage range: 6V – 35VDC.  In fact, devices continue to function down to 5V.  This allowance was made to ensure useful running time when 6V battery voltage drops under load. You can operate the DMXpix with 5V pixel strings and a 5V power supply, provided power does not drop significantly below 5V.
  • Idle power draw: 0.4W.  The digital regulator circuitry in Series 3 devices is very high efficiency. Current draw is related to voltage: at double the voltage, only half the current is required; at half the voltage, double the current is required.  Thus, we rate idle draw in Watts.  For the draw in amps use 0.4 / V.  For example, 0.4W / 12V = 0.033A, which is 33mA.  At 6V the draw is 67mA.
  • DMX data port, 3.5mm tip-ring-sleeve (TRS):
    DMX pin 1 = ground = sleeve
    DMX pin 2 = DMXB(-) = tip
    DMX pin 3 = DMXA(+) = ring
    If you build your own XLR or wire-tails adaptor and it does not work, try swapping pins 2 and 3.

All Series 2 and Series 3 small dimmers (those equipped with screw terminal connections) share additional specifications. Devices in this category include RC4Magic DM2dim, 4dim and 6dim; LumenDimM2, M4 and M6; as well as the W-DIMm3:

  • The UL/ETL current rating for the screw terminals is 16A.  Early devices used terminals that were UL rated for 10A, and product labels reflect this. The manufacturer of the terminals has tested and published that they are safe to 24A.  At RC4 Wireless we have done extensive high-power testing and confirmed this, and we found no difference in performance between old 10A and new 16A terminals.  You may design your applications accordingly.  You are not pushing limits at 16A, there is proven headroom up to 24A.

All Series 2 and Series 3 large dimmers (those equipped with colored Anderson Powerpole connectors) share additional specifications.  Devices in this category include RC4Magic DMX4dim-500, DMX6dim-500, LumenDim4, LumenDim6, W-DIM4 and W-DIM6:

  • Each RC4 item listed above is supplied with one set of connectors.
  • Additional connector kits are available from the RC4 online store. Kit #1 (DMX4dim-500, LumenDim4, W-DIM4) or Kit #2 (DMX6dim-500, LumenDim6, W-DIM6)
  • The maximum current rating for the input Powerpole connectors is 45A.  The input connectors are equipped with heavy-duty 45A pins.
  • The maximum current rating for the dimmer output Powerpole connectors is 15A.  This exceeds the recommended continuous load rating of individual dimmer electronics.  If all drivers are loaded equally, each one should not bear more than 11.24A.  At 12V that is 135W per driver, a total of 540W for the device.  At 24V it is 270W per driver, a total of 1080W for the device.  There is considerable headroom to accommodate surge currents.  The shorter the surge, the higher the peak may be.

All RC4 pixel drivers, including RC4Magic DMXpix and LumenDimPix use FK-MC 0,5/ 4-ST-2,5 Phoenix Connectors for power input and data output:

  • Each RC4 item is supplied with one set of mating connectors.
  • Additional pixel connector kits are available from the RC4 online store.
  • Phoenix 1881341 mates with the pixel driver outputs (2 per unit)
  • Phoenix 1881325 mates with the pixel driver power input (1 per unit)
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