Q: What does RGB-W actually mean, and why the extra W?
RGB gives you colour by mixing red, green and blue LEDs — great for mood lighting, but the 'white' you get from equal parts R+G+B is a muddy pale-blue that isn't real white. The extra W channel is a dedicated white LED, so when you dial up white you get true, clean white illumination instead of a colour mix. On rock lights this matters because you'll use the whites as actual work lights (under-vehicle visibility, reversing, camp) and the colours as accents — the W channel is what makes the same fixture do both jobs properly.
Q: Will this extension work with any RGB rock lights, or only Spectrum Pro?
Only the ALTIQ Spectrum Pro RGB-W range. The connector pinout is 5-core (R/G/B/W/Ground) and matches ALTIQ's factory harness — a standard 4-core RGB rock light connector from another brand won't plug in, and even if it physically mated the pinout wouldn't match. If you're running plain RGB rock lights (no dedicated white channel) or another brand's product, you need that brand's own extension.
Q: Is the connection waterproof? What IP rating?
IP67 at both the sealed connector and the PVC-sheathed cable. That's dust-tight and rated to survive temporary submersion up to 1 metre for 30 minutes — fine for underbody spray, mud, puddle strikes, wheel-well runs and full engine washes. Not rated for continuous submersion or high-pressure water blast (that's IP68/IP69K).
Q: What voltage systems does this handle?
Rated 9-24.2V DC per ALTIQ's published spec, so it covers 12V and 24V vehicle systems (with the input hold-up down to 9V for cranking dip). It's NOT rated for 36V or 48V systems — plugging one into a 48V rig will damage the lights, not just the cable.
Q: Can I cut and splice it for a custom length?
No — the factory-sealed connectors are what give this extension its IP67 rating. Cut it and you've defeated the seal, exposed the 5 conductors, and lost the plug-and-play interface. If none of the 1m / 3m / 5m lengths fit your run, add two extensions back-to-back for a longer total run (see the next Q for the max).
Q: Can I daisy-chain two extensions for a longer run?
Yes — each extension has the same male-to-female connector pair, so you can stack them (e.g. 5m + 3m = 8m). Practical ceiling is around 10 metres of total cable between the controller and the light before voltage drop on the 5V-ish LED lines starts noticeably dimming colours or de-saturating white. If you need more than 10m of run, ALTIQ's own advice is to relocate the controller closer rather than chain more cable.
Q: Do I need one extension per light or can several lights share one extension?
One extension per light. Each Spectrum Pro rock light plugs into the harness with its own connector — the extension sits in-line on that one connector pair, so it extends the reach to one light at a time. If you're extending three lights, that's three separate extensions (one per light run) rather than one extension feeding a splitter.
Q: How do I know which length to buy?
Measure from where your existing harness leg ends to where the rock light needs to mount. Add roughly 300-500mm of slack for chassis movement, cable-tie fixings and a small service loop. Round up to the next stocked length (1m → 3m → 5m) rather than pulling a shorter cable tight. Tight cable snags and abrades against chassis rails; loose cable rides fine.
Q: Do I need to reconfigure the controller after adding an extension?
No — it's a straight pass-through cable, invisible to the controller. Colours, brightness, patterns and dimming all keep working exactly as they did before. The only thing an extension changes is a tiny bit of voltage drop across the extra cable length, and that's below the level where you'd see any dimming difference on runs under 10m.
Q: What if a colour or channel stops working after installing an extension?
Eight times out of ten it's a connector not fully seated — pop it apart, check the pins are clean and dry, push it back together firmly until it clicks. If a single channel (say R only, or W only) is out on the extended light but works when plugged in direct without the extension, that's a genuine cable fault — swap the extension. Under warranty a defective extension is replaced.
