Killerbody LEDs not working in RC4WD controller

[Kennack]

Hi

Getting into RC crawling. Previous RC days were a long time ago with a Tamiya Manta Ray, which I’ve been repairing and updating a bit as well.

I’ve got an SCX10 UI UMG10 all set up and running great thanks to a lot of helpful info on this forum. My problem is LEDs. I’ve got 8 LEDs running fine using an RC4WD super bright scale light system. I wanted to put yellow LEDs in the bumper instead of white so bought a 5mm killerbody set of yellows as they were what I could find in stock. Plugged into the controller and they don’t light up (I’ve got the controller plugged into the rx). Made sure the sockets work with the existing LEDs and they’re fine.

Running a Hobbywing Crawler 1080 ESC and 3s lipo.

Killerbody LEDs are wired slightly different and only have 2 wires coming out of the connector then the 2 LEDs are wired between each other. The RC4WD LEDs have 4 wires out the connector (+ and - separately to each LED). I’ve tried to find answers and I’m guessing it’s down to parallel vs series wiring but not sure? I don’t solder so do I just need to try and find some RC4WD yellow LEDs so they’re wired the same and work with my controller? If the answer is yes I’d still like to understand why they don’t work as I’m keen to learn as much as I can. I’ve enjoyed learning about different set ups and the tech during my build.

 

[Ragenwraith]

I bought 2 of the Killerbody light kits from my LHS a year ago. Both of these did not work with the Axial SCX10-ll receiver. It does say on the included info sheet that the controller does not work with some radio systems. I reached out to Killerbody but at that time they had no fix for their system. Also the LEDs will burn out if you try and wire them straight to battery power. You might try messaging them on their Face Book page, maybe by now they have a fix for it.

 

[Kennack]

Ah ok that may be what's up then.

I'm running an Absima 6 channel radio and included receiver rather than an Axial receiver but could be the same issue. Either that or it's the RC4WD LED controller not playing nicely with the Killerbody LED wiring.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Make sure the polarity is right, they only light up one way. You might also want to check what voltage the controller uses and what the killerbody LED range is.

Also kind of regarding parralel vs series, I found on an old Axial controller that adding more lights was not possible as it only works when it sees a specific load, adding more LEDs increased this load and it wouldn't function. Take the extra lights out and it worked again. I have no idea if the Killerbody controller works the same though. Running them in series should in theory lessen the load, whether that will make is work or not I dont know.

Maybe try unplugging the other lights and trying these killerbody lights by themselves to verify they even work.


I'll just add that I'm a big fan of making my own light kits these days, just find some 12V LEDs (for 3S) and theres no controller needed. I just run them straight off of battery voltage.

 

[Kennack]

HumboldtEF you diamond! the polarity was the problem. Switched the cables at the plug and now they work :ror:

Thanks for the help

 

[HumboldtEF]

HumboldtEF you diamond! the polarity was the problem. Switched the cables at the plug and now they work :ror:

Thanks for the help

Thats great, easy solutions are always the best. I'm happy I could help.

 

[Kennack]