l0chte Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I asked around to several suppliers about RGB lights. Here is what I'm currently looking at. What do some of these numbers mean? If I get any I would use it with a DC controller. I thought someone might find this helpful and some could help me out. What do you think?http://goo.gl/Pfmtl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 has anyone looked at this? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I don't think the SMD3528 will work with a LOR DC controller.Perhaps a little more research is in order to answer your question "What do some of these numbers mean?" I just don't have time to do it for you, sorry.I did my research and started using RGB products in 2009 and 2010. Have more on order from China right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 JBullard wrote:I don't think the SMD3528 will work with a LOR DC controller.Perhaps a little more research is in order to answer your question "What do some of these numbers mean?" I just don't have time to do it for you, sorry.I did my research and started using RGB products in 2009 and 2010. Have more on order from China right now.From what I've read recently, I thought that was in reference to the size, They work but are just smaller? Anyways, I know I'm going for 5050 due to brightness. Now I have to decide 30/m or 60/m. RGB should be fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul sessel Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 JBullard wrote:I don't think the SMD3528 will work with a LOR DC controller.Perhaps a little more research is in order to answer your question "What do some of these numbers mean?" I just don't have time to do it for you, sorry.I did my research and started using RGB products in 2009 and 2010. Have more on order from China right now.the 3528 is just a little smaller than the 5050. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edvas69 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 It appears that they have a minimum order quatity of 200 metres.If your unsure about RGB lights then you need to spend some time reading through this thread, watching the videos and looking at the presentation, im sure you will have a much better idea by the end of ithttp://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,1208.0.htmlAt a cost of 20 cents more per metre and no minimum order quantity you can get the 5050 30 LED per metre RGB strip that is the most commonly usedhttp://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209843764-329544925/5m-one-roll-5050-SMD-30LEDs-m-led-strip-waterproof-by-silicon-tubing-and-coating-RGB.htmlThe main thing is dont rush out and buy anything until you understand your choices, there is plenty of time and you dont want to end up buying something that you may regret later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Does anyone have any opinions on the different types of waterproofing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 And I have read all of the posts on that link and watched the video series. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edvas69 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 l0chte wrote:Does anyone have any opinions on the different types of waterproofing?I prefer to use the solid silicone coating as it has better light dispersion than the silicone tube. Its also much stronger than the tube and is rated for running underwater. But thats just mt personal choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edvas69 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 RGB strip LEDs only come in the 5050 LED and not the 3528. The 3528 is only single colours per LED package. It will still work with an LOR controller as long as it is common anode (common +) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 I really think I'm getting to understand this stuff, My question is how many amps can I run over CAT5? I want to do dmx over cat5 with power injected. How many strips at 3amps can I power without reinjecting power?thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 -adding to the above, If I doubled some of the pairs up for power would I be able to send more current?The reason I want to go cat5 is because it is readily available and I have the end connectors and crimper available through school. ThanksEric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edvas69 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Cat5 is only good for 1 amp per core, the common return will draw 3 amps and each colour will draw 1 amp per 5 metres of 30 led/m strip. Each strip should have power reinjected at every 5 metres. by doubling up the conductors you will be able to increase the current capacity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 If you're going this route, make sure you don't accidentally plug one of your 12vdc power cables into something that can't take the voltage.You will let the Secret Smoke escape, and it's very difficult to it put back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Ken Benedict wrote:If you're going this route, make sure you don't accidentally plug one of your 12vdc power cables into something that can't take the voltage.You will let the Secret Smoke escape, and it's very difficult to it put back in. Lol, I've had the secret smoke come out of a router before.. Very hard to put back in. ;p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_moody Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 edvas69 wrote: RGB strip LEDs only come in the 5050 LED and not the 3528. The 3528 is only single colours per LED package. It will still work with an LOR controller as long as it is common anode (common +)If the 3528's are only single colours per LED package, then what are we looking at here?http://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterproof-5M-RGB-3528-SMD-300-LED-Strip-light-IR-remote-controller-DC-Wire-/120853100389?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2367f765Is this basically a "multi-color" strip?Not being sarcastic .. just confused be the images and descriptions.Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edvas69 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Jeff Millard wrote:edvas69 wrote:l0chte wrote:Does anyone have any opinions on the different types of waterproofing?I prefer to use the solid silicone coating as it has better light dispersion than the silicone tube. Its also much stronger than the tube and is rated for running underwater. But thats just mt personal choiceEd,I have both styles and was wondering what I would do if a pixel failed on the solid cover. Have you had the need to repair any yet? I guess if you're very careful not to get silicone near the 5050 it probably wouldn't affect the way it looks in operation. The solid cover type does seem to be nicer as its more compact and doesn't deform when you wire tie it. I just wish they wouldn't put the 3M backing on it. I tried to take it off, what a mess that was.JeffJeff,I have had a few fail as this was my second year so I had to repair a few from 2010, generally what happens is just one colour dies, so i dont worry about it during the season because its only 100mm long and really is very hard to notice in the scheme of things.All my strip is mounted on conduit or corex and so to repair the solid silicone strip i just cut that defective 100mm section out, cut the silicone off each end (make sure when cutting the silicone that you dont cut too hard or else you will damage the PCB) the silicone actually comes off very easily to expose the solder pads. i then ensure there is no silicone on any of the solder pads as this will make it hard if not impossible to solder. I then cabel tie both end and line up the strip pads and then just solder in the new piece with the correct orientation. I then use non corrosive silicone to seal it all up.Worked great as when the lights were up and on you couldnt tell the difference at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edvas69 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 bob_moody wrote:edvas69 wrote: RGB strip LEDs only come in the 5050 LED and not the 3528. The 3528 is only single colours per LED package. It will still work with an LOR controller as long as it is common anode (common +)If the 3528's are only single colours per LED package, then what are we looking at here?http://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterproof-5M-RGB-3528-SMD-300-LED-Strip-light-IR-remote-controller-DC-Wire-/120853100389?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2367f765Is this basically a "multi-color" strip?Not being sarcastic .. just confused be the images and descriptions.Bob what you see in this image is that each section is a different colour and this is why it is shown with a solid colours. because the strip is wound up the colours appear to mix to actually create other colours.But i can tell you this is not a true RGB strip and colour mixing would be very coarse at very least and from my experience as well pictures usually are not a good thing to go by, its the specs of the strip that is important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james campbell Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 edvas69 wrote: bob_moody wrote:edvas69 wrote: RGB strip LEDs only come in the 5050 LED and not the 3528. The 3528 is only single colours per LED package. It will still work with an LOR controller as long as it is common anode (common +)If the 3528's are only single colours per LED package, then what are we looking at here?http://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterproof-5M-RGB-3528-SMD-300-LED-Strip-light-IR-remote-controller-DC-Wire-/120853100389?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2367f765Is this basically a "multi-color" strip?Not being sarcastic .. just confused be the images and descriptions.Bobwhat you see in this image is that each section is a different colour and this is why it is shown with a solid colours. because the strip is wound up the colours appear to mix to actually create other colours.But i can tell you this is not a true RGB strip and colour mixing would be very coarse at very least and from my experience as well pictures usually are not a good thing to go by, its the specs of the strip that is important.here is a good video showing 3528 strips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_moody Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Thank you for the info and the links....I picked up a 5M 5050 reel today from a US vendor with free shipping for $24.95 just for testing and to see if Sandra will sign off it (she is NOT an LED fan) . The specs looked just like the ones I'm looking at from China and Hong Kong.I have a LOR 16 Channel DC board I bought a couple of years ago for another project that never made it to the developement table. I have several flavors of 12Vdc power supplies (switching and non-switching... actually that leads to another question... does it matter which PS I use? switching (aka PC pwr)? Non switching?I created an RGB channel with LOR S2 tonight and the light bulb (no pun intended) came on and it all started making sense.Since I have the LOR DC board, I understand I can drive 5 strips (15 channels) with what I have. Given that .. I dont think I am ready or at this point understand the need to run this DMX.GREAT POST guys .. thanks for the info... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edvas69 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 bob_moody wrote: Thank you for the info and the links....I picked up a 5M 5050 reel today from a US vendor with free shipping for $24.95 just for testing and to see if Sandra will sign off it (she is NOT an LED fan) . The specs looked just like the ones I'm looking at from China and Hong Kong.I have a LOR 16 Channel DC board I bought a couple of years ago for another project that never made it to the developement table. I have several flavors of 12Vdc power supplies (switching and non-switching... actually that leads to another question... does it matter which PS I use? switching (aka PC pwr)? Non switching?I created an RGB channel with LOR S2 tonight and the light bulb (no pun intended) came on and it all started making sense.Since I have the LOR DC board, I understand I can drive 5 strips (15 channels) with what I have. Given that .. I dont think I am ready or at this point understand the need to run this DMX.GREAT POST guys .. thanks for the info... You are best to use a dedicated switch mode power supply, using computer power supplies can give you issues as these are designed for computers and less fluctuating loads than what our lights do. As well normally the rating of a computer supply is a total wattage of all the different voltage supplies. and some power supplied do not like having current drawn from only one rail of the power supply. On saying that there is nothing stopping you from using a computer power supply.So basically use the switching power supply if you have it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_moody Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Eddy,Maybe you can clarify the PC supply vs Switching Supply for me.The Antec SL300S PS (Old PC PS) that I modified for a bench supply (modifcations so that the ATX PS runs without feedback from the motherboard) is listed as a switching power supply.The +12Vdc output is rated at 15Amps. I do see a label that says +5, +3.3 and +12 COMBINED max output is 220W.I also have an 5 amp/12V DC supply that came off an old Racom modem.Either of these OK or should I be looking for something else.I bought only one 5050 strip for "testing" but I'd rather not destroy it or my LOR board by taking it on the cheap....Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 All of the computer power supplies I will be using have a chart listed +12vdc = so many ampsI'm ignoring the (however many)W and listening to the chart, don't forget to stay a safe amount under the amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Also this is the strip I bought, Seller came down to 23$ after best offer:http://www.ebay.com/itm/180766428555?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_moody Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 That is EXACTLY the one I bought tonight ...But I am currently in PANIC mode. I watched the video that James suggested and while it was not the 5050 strip I did hear the words FLASH LED ... several times in the demo.Did we buy true RGB strips ??Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts