Combining new and old lights in daisy chain...any problems?

Blue Robotics Products Lights
1

Hi,

I have a set of 4 of the original blue robotics lights and have had to replace 2 of them. Only the newer (R2) lights were available to order on the website. Is it okay to daisy chain the older and newer lights on the same chain?

cheers,

2

While it is possible to daisy chain the R2 and R1 Lumen lights together, there are a few reasons why you may not wish to:

  • The newer Lumen lights are able to maintain much lower light output levels than the R1 lights, which means that at lower brightness levels (as displayed in QGC) there will be a disparity between the brightness of the R1 and R2 lights; the R2 lights will be much dimmer than the R1 lights. This is less of a problem near 100% output.

  • The R2 lights will also react more quickly to changes in the desired brightness than the R1 lights.

  • The R1 housings and cable penetrators are more susceptible to leaking than their R2 counterparts. Should they leak at pressure, they could potentially flood your new lights as well.

  • You will probably need to extend the wires at the free end of your R2 lights when daisy-chaining them, as the new cables leave less wire inside the housing than the R1 Lumen boards generally require.

In short, it is possible to daisy-chain R1 and R2 Lumen lights together, but I would advise moving entirely to R2 Lumens if possible because they are technically superior. We have been slowly upgrading all of our own ROVs to the R2 Lumens when we have had the chance for this reason.