# Interpet Tri Spec 2 with a TC420 unit



## ozarun55 (21 Jul 2020)

Good morning everyone,

I have heard great things about the Interpet Tri Spec 2 Light but the reviews their controller gets to control dimming functions etc are less flattering.Apparently it is extremely unreliable. 

I am wondering if anyone has tried using this light with something like the S2 Pro Dimmer or the TC 420 off aliexpress with any success?

Kind regards
ozarun55


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## ozarun55 (25 Aug 2020)

Ah well, guess no one has tried it . What about with a dimmer such as the s2 pro?


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## oreo57 (25 Aug 2020)

What  does the wall wart (power supply) say on it regarding output?
Not familiar w/ the light but looks like any "strip controller" should work.

Key would be which polarity is the ground wire..  and of course matching plugs if you didn't want to DIY the wiring.

Case looks like they borrowed Fluvals design.


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## ozarun55 (25 Aug 2020)

Hi , actually it says 24v, 1.7a on the transformer. I tried it with an s2 pro dimmer I had lying around just then actually and the dimming function works a bit strangely. The s2 pro dimmer normally allows for dimming from 0-100 but basically when I try run it on this light the led's dim from 0-15 only, and at 16% it goes to full brightness and stays that way between 16-100%. I know the LEDs are dimmable though given interpet have their own app for dimming the lights (which has shocking reviews hence why I didn't get it). Also I hear a bit of a high pitched noise up until the lights reach full brightness. I'm not knowledgeable about electronics at all but wondering if there are any other options I can try such as the TC 420.


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## ozarun55 (25 Aug 2020)




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## oreo57 (25 Aug 2020)

ozarun55 said:


> Hi , actually it says 24v, 1.7a on the transformer. I tried it with an s2 pro dimmer I had lying around just then actually and the dimming function works a bit strangely. The s2 pro dimmer normally allows for dimming from 0-100 but basically when I try run it on this light the led's dim from 0-15 only, and at 16% it goes to full brightness and stays that way between 16-100%. I know the LEDs are dimmable though given interpet have their own app for dimming the lights (which has shocking reviews hence why I didn't get it). Also I hear a bit of a high pitched noise up until the lights reach full brightness. I'm not knowledgeable about electronics at all but wondering if there are any other options I can try such as the TC 420.



Think that it's just a non-compatible dimmer or just poorly made.
Whine while dimming is usually blamed on capacitor "singing".
PWM frequency is causing a capacitor to vibrate at an audible frequency.
That's my "limited" understanding of it.

Make sure you isolate the noise to the dimmer though.

As to the 0-15 then full thing.. Not sure but sort of points to the same incompatible/bad dimmer.
All these dimmers do is turn the light on/off at a high frequency using a MOSFET switch and a "pulse" from the
logic circuit.
I have no idea how the LED board is designed or wired though.

Err.. isn't the light 3 channels though and your dimmer has only one?
That could be an issue..
With the branded timer do you remove the switch and did you for this?
How many prongs/holes in the light cable end no switch or timer connected..
There should be 4



Any "strip" dimmer should be compatible BUT you need to know the wiring...


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## ozarun55 (25 Aug 2020)

Sorry you're talking to someone who is an idiot when it comes to electronics so I don;t understand what you are saying entirely. Basically the light comes with one switch for blue LEDs, and one switch for the white / red LEDS (combined). It definitely doesn't make any noise when I don't use the dimmer. Should I try another one? I'm worried the TC420 may be over my head. I didn't remove any switch as it's all wired in. There is a connector from the light switch to the LED light unit which has 6 pins.


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## oreo57 (25 Aug 2020)

ozarun55 said:


> There is a connector from the light switch to the LED light unit which has 6 pins.



That's the important bit...
OK here is the thing.. The light (according to the add on timer) must be 3 channels Red, Blue, and white.
The switch part is ganged to turn on the white/red channel or the blue channel

So once the switch is removed and replaced by their timer you can control red,blue,white separately.
To do that there needs to be 3 wires (one for each color) and ground.

Having a plug w/ 6 is a bit confusing atm though in a sense not rr unusual if one thinks a "set" of wired per channel.
No idea why it would be needed. Just extra wires.

The S2pro is one channel and def doesn't have a 6 prong end.. .again as far as I can tell.
With the S2 in you still have the switches in line too? Correct?
Only way I see that you can just plug it in.

So "ideally" one would figure out which wires go to which channel and polarity they have..
Usually the "common" wire to all three channels in these types of lights is the DC positive.
Kind of opposite of what most think "ground" is.

Yea without venturing into some electronics it would be difficult to replace their timer w/ some aftermarket stuff.
This diagram is how to run multiple single channel lights off a TC-420. Each light is a channel.
In your case each channel would be a color.





Power supply that you have would be wired to the TC . There is a plug on the tc that 'may" fit the one from your power supply.
Been awhile since I've used one so not sure if you can power the channels from the plug or not.
I'm pretty sure I hardwired to the "in" screws on the adapter, like my diagram.
I didn't use ch 1
anyways note (+) is common and one would hook the light common there.
Each channel is the negative side.
I know a bit confusing in the beginning..
Anyways you'd need a matching 6 prong plug w wires to wire to the tc 420.. or cut the plug off the light and rewire from there.

Of course prior to that one needs to determine which wires carry what which would be found by stripping back some of the jacket of the wire harness.
So lot of destruction w/ that method. Alternate would be to disassemble the light head (shouldn't be too hard) and see the wiring from that end.
Mot circuit borads mark what they are and where they go.


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## neilgcns (29 Dec 2020)

did anyone figure out how to connect a Tri-Sprc 2 led up to a tc 420 ?
im just trying to figure out what is going on in side the Bluetooth controller without much luck . any ideas would be appreciated.
I flipped the image to try to make it easier to figure out the connections.

red is 24v
blue and green are Neutral
so im trying to understand what brown red and yellow are doing ?


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## neilgcns (29 Dec 2020)

in the dum controller brown red and yellow are not connected.
red 24v is connected in common and the lights are switched on by a switch that completes the neutral side of the circuit.
green wire controls white and red LED channels and blue wire controls the Blue LED channel


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