ROAMiQ RGBW Dimmer: wiring guide and FAQ

What this device does

The ROAMiQ RGBW Dimmer is a four-channel controller for 12V lighting. Use it to run one RGBW LED strip in full color, or as four separate dimmers for white strip lights, LED pucks and cabin lights. You control it from the ROAMiQ app, from automations, or from up to four wall switches. It fades smoothly, remembers your last setting, can recall three saved color scenes from a switch, and measures the current on every channel so it can shut off if something goes wrong.

Using the screw terminals

Strip about 7 mm (1/4") of insulation. Loosen the screw, insert the bare wire fully into the opening under it, and tighten firmly. Give each wire a light tug to confirm it is held. A loose power or light wire can get hot under load, so do not skip this.

The terminals and where each one goes

The terminal block has twelve positions. From left to right, as printed on the board:

Both V+ terminals are the same connection inside the dimmer, and so are both GND terminals. The layout above keeps power on one of each and leaves the other free for the lights and switches.

Power

• "V+" (position 5) goes to a fused +12V source. Your house battery through a fuse block is perfect.
• "GND" (position 8) goes to battery negative or chassis ground.
• Use at least 12 AWG for these two wires, and a fuse no larger than 25A. If your lights draw much less, a smaller fuse is fine.

Lights

The dimmer controls each light by switching its negative side, so the light's positive goes to "V+" (position 6) and its color or negative wires go to the OUT terminals. 16 AWG is plenty for each light wire.

One RGBW strip (Channel Mode RGBW, the default):

• The strip's common + goes to "V+".
• R goes to "OUT1", G to "OUT2", B to "OUT3" and W to "OUT4".

An RGB strip plus a separate white light (Channel Mode RGB + W):

• The strip's + and the white light's + both go to "V+".
• The strip's R, G and B go to "OUT1", "OUT2" and "OUT3". The white light's negative goes to "OUT4".

Up to four separate lights (Channel Mode 4x Independent):

• Join all the light positives with a lever connector or a small positive bus bar, and run one wire from there to "V+".
• Each light's negative goes to its own OUT terminal: light 1 to "OUT1", light 2 to "OUT2", and so on.

How much strip per channel? A typical 12V RGBW strip draws about 1.2A per meter on each color at full brightness, so one channel can drive about 5.5 m (18 ft) of strip. Check your strip's rating, and for longer runs split the strip across a second dimmer. Keep every channel under 7A and the whole dimmer under 28A.

Wall switches (optional)

Each switch is wired between its "SW" terminal and "GND". Switches do not carry any power; they just connect SW to ground when pressed or switched on. That is why any thin wire (18–22 AWG) is fine here.

Use plain, normally-open switches. Illuminated switches that need their own 12V feed are not supported on the SW inputs.

Choosing the Channel Mode

Set Channel Mode in the ROAMiQ app to match how you wired the lights. Changing it turns all lights off first.

Presets are saved color scenes for the strip. Set the strip the way you like it in the ROAMiQ app, then press Save Preset A, Save Preset B or Save Preset C. A press on that preset's switch recalls it right away. A preset you have not saved yet does nothing.

Want a switch to do something else? Each input has a Switch N Function setting (for example Switch 2 Function). Leave it on Auto to follow the table above, or pick Strip, Channel 1 to Channel 4, or Preset A to C.

Choosing the Switch Mode

Each switch input has its own Switch N Mode, so you can mix push buttons and rockers.

Hold-to-dim works only with a Momentary switch. With a rocker, adjust brightness from the ROAMiQ app.

Settings you can adjust

All of these have sensible defaults, so most people never touch them:

• Min Brightness (per channel, default 5%): the lowest level that channel will dim to. Raise it if a light flickers or goes out at the bottom of the range.
• Dim Ramp Time (per channel, default 4 s): how long a full sweep takes while holding a momentary switch.
• Power-On State (default Restore): what the lights do when power comes back. Restore, Always Off, or Always On.
• Auto-Off Timer (default off): turns the lights off automatically after a set number of minutes.
• Double-Tap Full: turns the double-tap-to-full-brightness gesture on or off.
• Current Limit (per channel, default 7A) and Total Current Limit (default 28A): you can lower these to protect smaller wiring. They cannot be raised above 7A and 28A.

Built-in protection

The dimmer measures the current on every channel continuously. If a channel goes above its Current Limit (7A by default), or all four together go above the Total Current Limit (28A), for example from a shorted wire or too much strip on one channel, it shuts the outputs off and holds them off until you clear the fault. A brief start-up surge when the lights first turn on is ignored, so normal LED inrush will not trip it.

To clear a fault, fix the cause first, then tap a push-button wall switch (one set to Momentary) or press Clear Fault in the ROAMiQ app. If it trips again and again, the dimmer stops accepting a clear. Find the cause, then switch the 12V power off and back on.

Each channel also has its own onboard fuse as a last line of defense. A dead short across the light wires can blow it before the electronics react, so double-check your light wiring before powering up. The onboard fuses do not protect the 12V feed, which is why the fuse at the battery is required.

Troubleshooting

The lights won't turn on at all.

Work through these checks in order.

1. Check your fuse on the 12V feed first. Replace a blown fuse only with one of the same rating.
2. Check power. Confirm "V+" has fused +12V and "GND" goes to battery negative or chassis.
3. Check the light wiring. Confirm the light's positive is on "V+" and its color or negative wires are on the OUT terminals. Tug each wire to make sure the screw is tight.
4. Check the Channel Mode. It must match your wiring. In RGBW mode, only the strip responds; in 4x Independent, only Channel 1 to Channel 4 respond.
5. Check for a fault. If the app shows a Hardware Fault or overcurrent, fix the cause, then tap a push-button wall switch or press Clear Fault.

One color or one light is stuck on at full brightness.

That channel's wire is reaching ground somewhere other than its OUT terminal. This is almost always a metal fixture housing bonded to its negative wire and mounted on a metal surface, or a wire landed on a chassis ground. Make sure every light wire connects only to its OUT terminal.

The colors are wrong.

The color wires are on the wrong OUT terminals. R goes to "OUT1", G to "OUT2", B to "OUT3" and W to "OUT4". Some strips print the order differently, so go by the labels on the strip, not the position of the wires.

A wall switch does nothing.

Confirm the switch is wired between its "SW" terminal and a "GND" terminal, not to +12V. Then check that its Switch N Mode matches the switch: Momentary for a push button, Maintained for a rocker. If it is set to Detached, the switch will not control the lights directly. If the switch recalls a preset, make sure you have saved that preset.

A wall switch controls the wrong light.

You do not need to rewire. Set that input's Switch N Function to the strip, channel or preset you want it to control.

I have to flip my rocker twice after using the app.

Set that switch's Switch N Mode to Maintained (edge). In that mode any flip toggles the light, so the switch never disagrees with the app.

A light flickers or goes out at low brightness.

Raise Min Brightness for that channel until the lowest setting is steady. Some LED fixtures cannot run at very low levels.

The lights keep shutting off by themselves.

Check whether Auto-Off Timer is set. If the app shows an overcurrent fault instead, a channel or the whole dimmer is drawing more than its limit. Shorten the strip on that channel, move a light to another channel, or check for a damaged wire touching metal.

Still stuck?

We are your installer on call. Reach ROAMiQ support and we will walk you through it.