Power supply question

[Mr. P]

Need some help from someone with low voltage electrical experience. I have several 16 port controllers in CG1500 boxes and the two corresponding power supplies in other CG1500 boxes. I have always run two 12/2 cables from the ps to the controller, is it possible to run one 12/4 cable? It would be two wires from one ps to one side of the board and two wires from the other ps to the other side of the board but all in the same cable, any issues or interference? Recommendations?

I have four 16 port controllers I would like to do this with to cut down on cables. My ten 4 port controllers are a non issue since they use one power supply and sit in the same box.

[dibblejr]

Not specific to holiday lighting but.

I have used 16/12 for video camera power on my farm. It was shielded cable. It went through PVC conduit alongside the video coax. I had to use ballons every 1500'. Other than a direct lightning strike I never had any interference.

JR

 

[TheDucks]

2 hours ago, Mr. P said:

Need some help from someone with low voltage electrical experience. I have several 16 port controllers in CG1500 boxes and the two corresponding power supplies in other CG1500 boxes. I have always run two 12/2 cables from the ps to the controller, is it possible to run one 12/4 cable? It would be two wires from one ps to one side of the board and two wires from the other ps to the other side of the board but all in the same cable, any issues or interference? Recommendations?

I have four 16 port controllers I would like to do this with to cut down on cables. My ten 4 port controllers are a non issue since they use one power supply and sit in the same box.

Other that heating issues from running at FULL LOAD for extended periods (4+ hours is the rule), that should be fine since the whole purpose of LOR is to make that load change (a lot)

Do be sure to keep the returns (-) with their proper plus.  I would also make sure that the PSU cases are bonded with a short copper braid or 12ga wire and NOT rely on the Green wire cord U- ground EM prong for noise reduction

[dibblejr]

2 hours ago, TheDucks said:

Other that heating issues from running at FULL LOAD for extended periods (4+ hours is the rule), that should be fine since the whole purpose of LOR is to make that load change (a lot)

Do be sure to keep the returns (-) with their proper plus.  I would also make sure that the PSU cases are bonded with a short copper braid or 12ga wire and NOT rely on the Green wire cord U- ground EM prong for noise reduction

You ever see what happens when an over a mile 16/12 and Coax's for a camera system buried 3' underground takes a direct hit from lightning? Every place there was a junction box, there was a hole in the ground, shrapnel in the area and small burnt trees. 

All due to a floating ground caused by the wireless satellite comm company dish. They placed the dish on my barn service pole and instead of tying it to the grounded bare copper, they figured they would just put the bracket on top of the copper ground. Lightning hit the dish and travelled throughout my security system. The company was going to charge me for dish replacement. Sent their contractor out and he shared the problem on a over 45 min long video. After I shared the video with the company they decided to pay me the thousands it cost to replace my system. 

Took my best friend and I months to run the entire setup through the forest. The funny part. Being 55 acres I figured Id be safe with running low voltage and coax above ground. We finished everything was great. Went to sleep and when I woke up the cams were down. Instead of walking the line I took the rhino to each camera and couldn't find a problem. Decided to walk the line and in between a 1500' run a deer had gotten entangled in the wire. He trashed it. That day I got the tractor and started trenching. PITA.

So yes, a good ground is warranted. 

JR

[k6ccc]

6 hours ago, Mr. P said:

Need some help from someone with low voltage electrical experience. I have several 16 port controllers in CG1500 boxes and the two corresponding power supplies in other CG1500 boxes. I have always run two 12/2 cables from the ps to the controller, is it possible to run one 12/4 cable? It would be two wires from one ps to one side of the board and two wires from the other ps to the other side of the board but all in the same cable, any issues or interference? Recommendations?

I have four 16 port controllers I would like to do this with to cut down on cables. My ten 4 port controllers are a non issue since they use one power supply and sit in the same box.

Yes, you can use a 12/4 cable instead of two 12/2 cables.  I also have a little low voltage cleanup project for this year.  When I first built my pixel tree, it was wired with two red wires for plus 5V and two black wires for power return (the minus for you non-electricians).  All four wires were 10 AWG and less than 10 feet long.  This is 960 pixels at 5 volts so at full white, it's about 60 amps.

 

A couple years later when I put the GECE lights on the eves I moved the tree about eight feet north, the wires were not long enough.

When I discovered that, I did not really want to spend the money (read that - I was broke that week) to replace the wire so I just added three conductors of 12 AWG (what I had in stock).  That worked well since the power supply has three terminals for plus and three for minus, and the E682 has two.  If you look carefully at the third photo, directly above the last GECE light on the lower eve, the wire bundle has a little bend that is not natural.  That's the splice, so you can see that the original wire (connected to the E682 behind the star) would not reach the power supply.

This year I'm replacing the wire to "do it right".

 

[Mr. P]

Thanks all. I didn't think there would be any issues, just wanted to make sure.