Jump to content
Light-O-Rama Forums

diagram for 5050 RGB LED setup


dito

Recommended Posts

I didn't buy my PS from Ray, but they all come from China....so it's almost the same. Mine are actually 30A / 360-watt. The one you linked it 29A / 350-watt....but who's cares about the 1A difference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought mine from a supplier in the US...in CA. I can't remember exactly who...it was off eBay. The reason Im mentioning this is because one of my PS went out 2 days before Halloween. I emailed the supplier and they overnighed me a replacement the next day and I had it back in service the following day. You wouldn't that type of service nor turn around time from China. Lesson learned...keep spare PS for these type of situations. I now keep on hand backup for every light, controller, PS, connector, nut, bolt, ect, ect I use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

bob_moody wrote:

I have read people discussing not using converted PC supplies and I fail to see the reasoning. For example, the one on my bench is rated for 15A on the +12VDc output. I do have the ability to utilize the other outputs (-12, +5, -5, and +3.3) but I'm not in this case.

Read my post on 12 volt power supply, in which I found some inexpensive, but well-built 12v ATX (EPS actually) power supplies that should work well for our use.

The biggest disadvantage to using a PC power supply vs the ones pictured above, is the fan on a PC power supply always runs, and some our loud. The 12v power supply I bought from Ray Wu only turns its fan on when it gets hot, which is almost never. (That is, I never heard it while the show was running.)

Am I missing something in "switching" supplies
All modern power supplies are "switching". The term "switching" comes from the way that transistors on the input switch the ~150VDC on and off really fast, which allows for a much smaller transformer than you would find in a "linear" supply.

Here's some basic power supply information:
A "linear" (legacy) power supply is laid out like this:

AC (mains) input -> Transformer -> Rectifier (usually full-wave) -> Filter (capacitor(s)) -> optional voltage regulator -> DC output.

A "switching" (modern) power supply is laid out like this:

AC (mains) input -> Rectifier -> Filter (capacitors) -> Switching transistors -> Transformer -> Rectifier -> Filter (capacitor) -> DC output.

A switching power supply also has a regulator feedback loop where the voltage on the DC output controls the switching frequency or duty cycle.

The reason modern power supplies are switching is that the high-frequency switching frequency allows the transformer to be much smaller and more efficient. A linear power supply is also less efficient because the regulator must dissipate energy caused by its voltage drop.

or is it the need for some DIY work to convert an ATX PC supply to run as a bench supply (aka.. no motherboard supplying the signals to turn on).

The only work to get an ATX power supply to turn on is to connect the PWR_ON pin to COMMON. The other issue is you can't use a single 12v wire from the supply because the Molex connector can't handle that much current. That's why an ATX12V supply has 4 wires for 12v, and an EPS supply has 6. Also, a PC power supply has all those other (+5v, -12v, +3.3v, PWR_OK, +5VSB) wires that aren't needed and look messy.


Are there different types of switching supplies that I'm not aware of?
There are countless different types. Someone expressed a concern that an older ATX supply (pre-ATX12v) may not function properly if the +12v line is used without also having a load on the +5v line. For this reason I would stick with ATX12v, EPS, or at least ATX v2.0.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hey Cracker, looking at your post (#78) in the picture you have the 5 black cords that are your 5 channels. What is that connected to? It looks like a pin connector from what i can tell, but where does it go?

Obviously they go to your RGB strips, but how is it connected? Can you provide a part number or link, or show a picture of how the strip connects?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

drivemewilder wrote:

Hey Cracker, looking at your post (#78) in the picture you have the 5 black cords that are your 5 channels. What is that connected to? It looks like a pin connector from what i can tell, but where does it go?

Obviously they go to your RGB strips, but how is it connected? Can you provide a part number or link, or show a picture of how the strip connects?


You get them from "Ray Wu". He's the man! He sells them in white or black. Just email him if you need back. That's what I did, and I got all black. Here is a link to it.

http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209889132-493016946/10-pairs-4-Core-White-Waterproof-Line-15cm-long-each-male-and-female.html
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please forgive my ignorance on this issue. I am trying to learn as well.

I am considering Lighting up my roof eves with RGB Strips.

I have two eves that need to be lit.
(see eve-picture)

Upper Eve is 12 meters
Lower Eve is 18 Meters

Would a single 12v power supply be capable of powering all 30 meters + the length of wire required connect from the PS to the Strip without loosing too much voltage..

Am I correct in assuming you run one 12+ and 12- the entire length of the strips and just tap off that?

What of wire are you using to run from the Power Supply to the start the strips

Attached files 312832=17105-Eve-Picture.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crazydave wrote:

Would a single 12v power supply be capable of powering all 30 meters + the length of wire required connect from the PS to the Strip without loosing too much voltage..

Last year, I powered 40 meters (8 x 5-meter strips on my mega tree) with a single 300W power supply. 30 meters should be no trouble.


Am I correct in assuming you run one 12+ and 12- the entire length of the strips and just tap off that?

These are RGB strips, meaning you'll have one +12v wire and 3 negative wires, one for each color. These wires will connect to a DC controller.

If you substitute a 4-conductor wire for the 2-conductor wire in your diagram, it should be OK. However, since you've got to run separate wires anyway, why not put the upper eave on separate channels from the lower eave?

What of wire are you using to run from the Power Supply to the start the strips

Typical is 18-gauge stranded copper.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 LED/m strip has a listed current rating of 3 amps per 5 metre strip

3amps x 8 strips = 24 amps for 8 strips at 12vdc

Power used is 24amps x 12Volts = 288 Watts

Based on the 80 - 85% power supply load rule

350 watt PSU with 288 Watts load = 82.3%



So based on that i would only use a max of 8 strips per 350 watt power supply.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello All...

I've bought several of the 5050 led light strips, power supply and a couple of the LOR DC boards. I'm wondering if phone line wire (20 gauge or 22 gauge) would work okay between the DC Board and the LED light strip?

Thanks,
Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if there is a dfference but I used 22ga wire that is used for home security systems and it worked fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nsbear23 wrote:

Hello All...

I've bought several of the 5050 led light strips, power supply and a couple of the LOR DC boards. I'm wondering if phone line wire (20 gauge or 22 gauge) would work okay between the DC Board and the LED light strip?

Thanks,
Chris


Typically CAT5 and telephone cable are around the 24 guage area and can draw up to 2.2 amps total per core in optimum conditions, but then bundling cables will also reduce this rating amount. CAT5 is rated at around 1 amp per core due to the bundling of the cores. Im not sure about telephone cable.

The issue is if you are using full 5 metre 30 LED/M strip then this draws approx 1 amp per colour with a shared common return which will draw approx 3 amps. Telphone cable is only 4 core so you would have to have one core taking this return current which in my belief would be to much for the cable.

The reason 14/020 (21 guage) security cable is used because it has a rating of 4.4 amps per core which still leaves enough head room when running a full strip. I wouldnt use anymore than 3 amps and keep my distance from the controller to the lights with in a decent length to reduce voltage drop.

Also the distances run from the controller/power supply and the lights will need to be taken into consideration, the less head room you give yourself the more voltage drop you will experience and with 12VDC and 5VDC lighting this is an imoportant consideration.

The final thing is that most telephone and Cat5 cable are bought as solid core due to being cheap and not the more expensive stranded cores. Solid core cables are designed for one off permanent installation as in a non permanent installation the cores can easliy end up breaking if flexed or stepped on.

After saying all of the above, telephone cable can be used as long as the current draw, voltage drop and core type are taken into consideration.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi All,

I'm looking for an enclosure for a power supply and 1 LOR DC board like the picture in post 78 that Craker posted. Where I live I don't have a Lowes any suggestions?

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

CLD Kevin wrote:

Troy Mann wrote:
hdracer wrote:
What about your end caps?
I have not gotten that for because I am only planning on planning on using each strip individually.

How you plan to attach the ends? You really don't want to connect strips together equaling more 16.3 feet. When you go longer then 16.3 feet you get a power drop and the second strip. Meaning the second strip will be dimmer than the first.




That is not completely true. I actually double up my strips on the same controller for my display and had zero signs of dimming on the second strip. However, I did not double up on every channel...about half. I used the LOR DC board, 30A DC power supply, 18AWG 4-wire for the power feeds and only about 20ft of wire between. I also just recently did the same and the run was like 50ft...I was a little worried, but showed no problems.

Just make sure you do your own testing and take power reading. Hate for you to set up and then it doesnt work.
I just did a job where I used the standard 5m dumb RGB strips from Ray and it was very easy to see the color temp shift toward the end of the strips. I fixed that problem by feeding both ends with the + from the power supply. Not only did the over all brightness go up a bit, but the color temp looked much more linear thru out the entire strip. It picked up another 1/2 amp of drive as well. The anode buss (+ input from the supply) on those strips is not big enough, at least not on the strips I got.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fasteddy,

You use the term "core". Are you by chance calling a single copper wire a "core"? Here in America we would called that a conductor. Just trying to mess our terminology.

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...