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Dumb RGB strips for next year's display 2013?


drums114

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I have a power question for anyone who can answer, sorry if it sounds very newbie, because I am.  Scubado in post #15 said he ran 20 strips with one power supply, but according to edvas69 post #18's calculation's this isn't possible.  When I plug my test strip (SMD 5050 150 LED) into a kilowatt meter I only show .4 amps with white, how is that possible?  and if the calculated amperage is 60amps, how does that draw at the breaker box?  Am I going to need a 60amp breaker for that circuit?  I'm looking to do my roof line this year so I bought a LOR DC Controller with the hope of running about 15 or so strips.  I plan on custom fitting each one to fit each part of the roof.  Can I do this with one controller or am I going to need a 2nd.  My lengths are as follows in feet: 55, 49, 20, 38, 30. I've read and understand the length restrictions and was going to max each length to 2 strips and use an amplifier on the longer ones. 

no you won't need a 60 amp breaker,,it's 60 amps at 12 volts totally different

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something you may think about trying is making dumb rgb strings with led strings.   it something i've done for a few years and its a cheap way to get some of the rgb effects without spending alot of money.

 

what you do is get a string of red, blue and green leds (same spacing is very helpful) and zip tie or twist tie the bulbs next to each other.  then you plug them into you control in 3 channels.  in the sequence editor create an  rgb channel and assign the came plugs and then the sequence editor will treat them as if they are an dumb rgb string.   i did it and connected them to pvc and made a "mickey" (3 circles) on my roof and got alot of complements.  you can get alot of colors and do alot effects as well. when you tell the sequence editor that you want white then all the leds go full power.  if you want to fade from orange to red to purple to blue then the leds adjust the brightness to get the desired color.  if your real close to it its hard to see some of the blended colors but with a little distance (say around a roof ) and if its darker, they turn out pretty cool.

 

its a cheap and easy way to get a feel of dumb rgb strings without alot of assembly or expense.

 

good luck

I already zip tie three strings of ican lights together for my roof line, with each set of string on its own channel.  My question is, with a CTB16PC, can I set one channel in the editor to be a RBG channel and have all three strings on one channel and saving the additional two, as long as I don't exceed the 8 amps on the channel?  Im not looking to color blend to make additional colors, I just want the original color of the string to be on one at a time. 

 

Im sorry in advance if my explanation is confusing.

 

Thank you,

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Yes, you can define them that way and will work OK.

 

FYI: zip tieing the strings together is known as a "Superstring" if you care to search the forum.

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Thanks James

 

After rereading my post I'm not sure what I was thinking, because I realize that AC and DC amps are going to be different. 

 

One more question for anyone out there, is there a difference between a dual power supply like the one Ray Wu sells, and a single power supply like off Amazon? Does the dual have 2 separate outputs or is it the same one?

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I already zip tie three strings of ican lights together for my roof line, with each set of string on its own channel.  My question is, with a CTB16PC, can I set one channel in the editor to be a RBG channel and have all three strings on one channel and saving the additional two, as long as I don't exceed the 8 amps on the channel?  Im not looking to color blend to make additional colors, I just want the original color of the string to be on one at a time. 

 

Im sorry in advance if my explanation is confusing.

 

Thank you,

 

I'm not sure I understand the question. You'll still have to have the 3 different strings plugged into 3 different AC outlets (channels) on the controller. What "channels" are you trying to save?

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Thanks James

 

After rereading my post I'm not sure what I was thinking, because I realize that AC and DC amps are going to be different. 

 

One more question for anyone out there, is there a difference between a dual power supply like the one Ray Wu sells, and a single power supply like off Amazon? Does the dual have 2 separate outputs or is it the same one?

 

Be careful when it says "dual power supply" because it's usually misleading advertising by having 2 or 3 terminal screws connected to the same output.

 

True "dual" power supplies mean separate circuits and usually different voltages, like 12v and 5v outputs at the same time.

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I'm not sure I understand the question. You'll still have to have the 3 different strings plugged into 3 different AC outlets (channels) on the controller. What "channels" are you trying to save?

 

Tony, I was thinking the same thing.

At first I thought it was just the editor channel but when amps were mentioned, then the channels might have been referred to the actual controller and if this is the case, NO, you cannot use 3 strings on one channel and expect to get 3 different colors seperately.

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Be careful when it says "dual power supply" because it's usually misleading advertising by having 2 or 3 terminal screws connected to the same output.

 

True "dual" power supplies mean separate circuits and usually different voltages, like 12v and 5v outputs at the same time.

 

Also, there might be 2 different 12v outputs on one power supply. So now you have to make sure not to max out those two outputs because one of them is usually very little output and hardly worth even messing with. So as Ken mentioned, be careful. Look at the ratings for each channel.

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  • 1 month later...

I took this idea and modified it a little for my install.  I used F- Channel instead of J. http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/10832-mounting-ccrs-to-a-roofline/?hl=%2Brgb+%2Bstrip+%2Binstall#entry93584 You'll see where he put it under the shingles and on the rain gutters, by using the F-Channel I put it all under the eaves of my roof to keep them out of direct sun and weather.

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something you may think about trying is making dumb rgb strings with led strings.   it something i've done for a few years and its a cheap way to get some of the rgb effects without spending alot of money.

 

what you do is get a string of red, blue and green leds (same spacing is very helpful) and zip tie or twist tie the bulbs next to each other.  then you plug them into you control in 3 channels.  in the sequence editor create an  rgb channel and assign the came plugs and then the sequence editor will treat them as if they are an dumb rgb string.   i did it and connected them to pvc and made a "mickey" (3 circles) on my roof and got alot of complements.  you can get alot of colors and do alot effects as well. when you tell the sequence editor that you want white then all the leds go full power.  if you want to fade from orange to red to purple to blue then the leds adjust the brightness to get the desired color.  if your real close to it its hard to see some of the blended colors but with a little distance (say around a roof ) and if its darker, they turn out pretty cool.

 

its a cheap and easy way to get a feel of dumb rgb strings without alot of assembly or expense.

 

good luck

I am running 3.70 and I do not see in the sequence editor where to create the rgb channel. Can you please give me some information on doing this.

thanks

John

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Hey John-  I'm running 3.9 so I'm not entirely sure if there is a huge difference or not, but if you right click on one of your existing channels it will give you the options to insert channels.  From there you choose how many and what type.  Hope this helps.

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Hey John-  I'm running 3.9 so I'm not entirely sure if there is a huge difference or not, but if you right click on one of your existing channels it will give you the options to insert channels.  From there you choose how many and what type.  Hope this helps.

Thank you. I found it and having fun making different colors. I will be going to pixels next year and I made up a string of RBG leds to play with now.

Thanks for the information.

John

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$$$ THIS ADDICTION OF MINE IS GETTING EXPENSIVE $$$  I think I'm going to play with the poor man's RGB idea in the house and see how that will work.  I like the idea for the roof outline.  I hate the idea of burning 3 more channels :-)  .

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