LED Strip Light Installation
- Thread starter Paul Carr
- Start date
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This is all unravelling.
Firstly my diagram was just a generic one to show Eric how RGB amps fit into the general scheme of running LED strips - it has absolutely nothing to do with your requirements, your design, or any products you may have identified or bought so far.
Secondly, and most importantly, you seem to be adopting a pretty scattergun approach to asking questions as and when they occur to you, which isn't a very good way of advancing you from the position you are currently in which is, let's face it, one of not really knowing enough about how LED strips are constructed, how they are driven and how they are controlled. You would be better off contacting major suppliers (proper UK resident companies) and asking them if they have any comprehensive guides to how their products are used so that you can buy the appropriate stuff. They might even help out if you tell them what you want - how many strips, how long, where, how far apart in relation to each other, of far away from where you can put the drivers etc, what sort of controls you want and so on. For example you've bought constant voltage power supplies rather than constant current LED drivers. Is that what your LED strips want, or will want? You've bought power supplies which need to be used indoors, and inside another case, probably with forced air cooling. So how will you use those to power external lights? Remember that voltage drop is much more of a problem at 12V than it is at 230V but you may not be able to attach large cables if you need to run them over some distance.
Thirdly, scouring Amazon and eBay for the cheapest Chinese made junk you can find is likely to be a recipe for failure, particularly when trying to integrate products from different manufacturers.
Firstly my diagram was just a generic one to show Eric how RGB amps fit into the general scheme of running LED strips - it has absolutely nothing to do with your requirements, your design, or any products you may have identified or bought so far.
Secondly, and most importantly, you seem to be adopting a pretty scattergun approach to asking questions as and when they occur to you, which isn't a very good way of advancing you from the position you are currently in which is, let's face it, one of not really knowing enough about how LED strips are constructed, how they are driven and how they are controlled. You would be better off contacting major suppliers (proper UK resident companies) and asking them if they have any comprehensive guides to how their products are used so that you can buy the appropriate stuff. They might even help out if you tell them what you want - how many strips, how long, where, how far apart in relation to each other, of far away from where you can put the drivers etc, what sort of controls you want and so on. For example you've bought constant voltage power supplies rather than constant current LED drivers. Is that what your LED strips want, or will want? You've bought power supplies which need to be used indoors, and inside another case, probably with forced air cooling. So how will you use those to power external lights? Remember that voltage drop is much more of a problem at 12V than it is at 230V but you may not be able to attach large cables if you need to run them over some distance.
Thirdly, scouring Amazon and eBay for the cheapest Chinese made junk you can find is likely to be a recipe for failure, particularly when trying to integrate products from different manufacturers.
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You buy a produce and once you have done that you have little you can change you have to wire as that package is designed. From description it is a cheap and nasty produce, but if already bought nothing you can do now.
As to 360W divide by 230V = just under 1.6A times 3 = 4.8 amp can't get a 4.8A MCB so would need a 6A. My house 58W + 24W kitchen, 48W dining room, 28.6W living room and 18W stairs and landing 18W * 5 bedrooms office and bathroom so whole house 266.6W so your garden using more than my whole house.
Don't know why, but 320 mA seems to be a common current for LED's and white LED's are around 3 V since over 75 volt DC or 50 volt AC becomes low voltage it seems 48 volt is a common maximum voltage so strips tend to have 16 LED's a strip to get maximum LED's per driver. Problem with multi-colour the voltages are not the same so built into a 12 volt package the red uses less power than other 2 colours so as a colour changing package they are inefficient. Having a short 10 meter length is one thing, but 40 meters is going a bit OTT. However you say you already have them so stuck with them.
Top of an enclosure needs to be IP4X or IPXXD and sides and bottom IP2X or IPXXB most computer cases would comply with this. Also you must need a tool or key for access. There is nothing to stop you building all the units into one case, but 360W at 230V is just 1.6A however at 12V that's 30A which will need at least 4mm² cable and will have quite a volt drop. So length of run becomes important once down to 12 volt. So it may be better not to have the low voltage stuff central but to spread it about a bit.
It is a case of designing the system not simply trusting to the Lord. You need to work out where you can put items to hide from view and what cables to use. BAS has given you a good diagram on how connected, but that does not show where connected. It's just some simple maths in the main. Plus a little thought you know end of run will be dimmer than start so make sure they are not close enough so you can see this difference.
As to 360W divide by 230V = just under 1.6A times 3 = 4.8 amp can't get a 4.8A MCB so would need a 6A. My house 58W + 24W kitchen, 48W dining room, 28.6W living room and 18W stairs and landing 18W * 5 bedrooms office and bathroom so whole house 266.6W so your garden using more than my whole house.
Don't know why, but 320 mA seems to be a common current for LED's and white LED's are around 3 V since over 75 volt DC or 50 volt AC becomes low voltage it seems 48 volt is a common maximum voltage so strips tend to have 16 LED's a strip to get maximum LED's per driver. Problem with multi-colour the voltages are not the same so built into a 12 volt package the red uses less power than other 2 colours so as a colour changing package they are inefficient. Having a short 10 meter length is one thing, but 40 meters is going a bit OTT. However you say you already have them so stuck with them.
Top of an enclosure needs to be IP4X or IPXXD and sides and bottom IP2X or IPXXB most computer cases would comply with this. Also you must need a tool or key for access. There is nothing to stop you building all the units into one case, but 360W at 230V is just 1.6A however at 12V that's 30A which will need at least 4mm² cable and will have quite a volt drop. So length of run becomes important once down to 12 volt. So it may be better not to have the low voltage stuff central but to spread it about a bit.
It is a case of designing the system not simply trusting to the Lord. You need to work out where you can put items to hide from view and what cables to use. BAS has given you a good diagram on how connected, but that does not show where connected. It's just some simple maths in the main. Plus a little thought you know end of run will be dimmer than start so make sure they are not close enough so you can see this difference.
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