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RC4 Knowledge Base

Connect RGB LED Tape to a W-DIM Wireless Dimmer (W-DIMm3)

I. Using RC4 W-DIMm3 with RGB LED tape

A. This is a three channel unit

B. The common on the vast majority of LED products is positive

C. Many times, manufacturers use colors of internal wires to indicate the colors of LEDs

1. red wire= red LED

2. green wire= green LED

3. blue wire= blue LED

D. The fourth wire is the common; in this case it is white, black is also common, but it could be any color

1. Even if the fourth wire is black, it will still be the common and the positive + connection

E. RC4 Dimmers are all common positive

F. The dimming action in RC4 dimmers happens on the negative terminals

G. Use a small screwdriver to loosen/ tighten connections

H. Connect the white wire to any positive + terminal on the RC4 W-DIMm3

I. Connect the red wire to the negative A terminal

J. Connect the green wire to the negative B terminal

K. Connect the blue wire to the negative C terminal

1. Note that negative C is located on the opposite end of the dimmer box

L. Connect a battery or power supply to the W-DIMm3

1. The power supply voltage must be correct for the LEDs being used.  If they are 12V LEDs, use a 12VDC battery or power supply

2. If the unit has already been paired with the transmitter, the blue RF connect indicator will be solidly lit

3. The COP LEDCOP LEDCOP means Computer Operating Properly.  On RC4 devices, the COP LED is an indicator that is constantly changing in some way to indicate the firmware is running and the device is functional.  In some cases, the COP uses blink patterns to provide additional information.
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 indicator should be blinking to indicate the dimmer is awake and active

4. The DMX data line will be on solid to indicates streamingStreamingStreaming is the continuous flow of digital control data.  Transmitters stream data out, while receivers receive streamed data.  RC4 transmitters process an incoming stream of DMX data and convert it to a proprietary wireless data stream that is secured with a digital system ID and error checking methods.
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data

M. If the W-DIMm3 is currently set to default (factory) settings, the 3 LED colors can be tested now using DMX channels 1, 2, and 3.

II. Setting the LED tape to a different channel

A. In this example, channel 13 is being used

B. For the ISL slow curveISL slow curveLEDs do not dim linearly: when dimmed to a linear 50%, they appear only slightly less bright than at 100%.  The level must drop to 25% to appear at half brightness.  To make LEDs appear linear, they must be controlled with the Inverse Square Law curve.  All good quality LED dimmers use this technique.  RC4 […]
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, bring channel 13 up to 30%, or absolute level 75/255 (anything in the range of 52 – 102)

1. This selects the   dimming  curve, the preferred dimming curve for LEDs

2. For fast blinking and strobing effects, the ISL Fast curve may be preferred

C. On the side of the WDIMm3, locate the Set A ButtonSet A ButtonAll RC4 dimmers have Set buttons for each individual dimmer output. The first button is the Set A button. On a 2-channel device these are Set A and Set B buttons. A 4-channel device adds Set C and Set D. The most common use of the Set button is to assign a DMX channel and […]
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D. Using a small tool like a paperclip, tap the Set A button

2. The red LEDs connected to Dim A will come on, controlled by DMX channel 13

3. Three contiguous channels have now been assigned

a. Channel 14 will light up the second color on Dim B

b. Channel 15 will light up the third color on Dim C

III. Changing DMX channels to be anything, they do not need to be contiguous

A. To change the Dim B channel assignment, bring up the desired console channel to 30% (or 75/255)

1. All channels below this channel must be down, at zero

B. Press the  Set B ButtonSet B ButtonAll RC4 dimmers have Set buttons for each individual dimmer output. The second button is the Set B button. On a 2-channel device these are Set A and Set B buttons. A 4-channel device adds Set C and Set D. The most common use of the Set button is to assign a DMX channel and […]
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on the RC4 WDIMm3

C. Put the second channel down, zero; raise the desired 3rd DMX channel to 30% (75/255)

D. Press the Set C ButtonSet C ButtonAll RC4 dimmers have Set buttons for each individual dimmer output. The third button is the Set C button. On a 2-channel device these are Set A and Set B buttons. A 4-channel device adds Set C and Set D. The most common use of the Set button is to assign a DMX channel and dimmer […]
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 on the WDIMm3

E. All 3 dimmers are now assigned to specific DMX channels

Channel assignments are stored in non-volatile memory and remain set until this procedure is repeated or the 2-button restore-defaults procedure is executed.

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