diagram for 5050 RGB LED setup

[CLD Kevin]

plasmadrive wrote:

CLD Kevin wrote:

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.

Your post doesn’t really state it, but did you use two 5m RGB strips from end to end or was this just for one? I’m guessing two otherwise you wouldn’t have quoted my post.

Well this is a perfect example where my results doesn’t apply in every situation. This is why it is important to do your own testing. Adding another PS at the other end is the way to fix this.

Curious what you used for your power supply, controller, wire and distance?


Kevin

[plasmadrive]

Your post doesn’t really state it, but did you use two 5m RGB strips from end to end or was this just for one? I’m guessing two otherwise you wouldn’t have quoted my post. Well this is a perfect example where my results doesn’t apply in every situation. This is why it is important to do your own testing. Adding another PS at the other end is the way to fix this. Curious what you used for your power supply, controller, wire and distance?

I was doing testing prior to supplying the install crew parts. What I did was connect 2 or 3 strips connected in a star configuration. ie.... connected one end of each strip to the same point on the RGB controller. (I actually did both 2 &3 for testing and the results were about the same just the current draw jump was different). The voltage drop across the controller was at about .2-.3V. While testing I used a bench supply so I had digital readouts of the voltage and current. In an attempt to obtain the highest output I also did not use the +12V output lead that passes thru the controller.

The RGB leads from the strip were connected directly to that small DMX-RGB controller and the anode to the power supply lead directly. The supply leads from the bench supply are standard flex leads and are not real large gauge actually. I set the supply to the voltage at the DMX-RGB controller was just above 12vdc under load. In the end for the install I supplied 12v 10a brick supplies. At 6 amps they put out 12.4 at the connector.

When testing with full RGB on to create white, the ends of the reels were must closer to the red side of the spectrum and dimmer than the input sides. I performed the test while still on the reels as this gives a much more visual picture of what is actually happening and doesn't fool the eyes so easily due to the distance if unwound.

Then I connected a one foot piece of #18 wire from the anode input to the anode at the end of the strip. The color temp and brightness became pretty much equal and the current draw went up. I was surprised at the amount of drop from one end of the strip to the other. I don't remember off hand what I measured but it was enough to cause the shifting in color and brightness.

http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209843764-499856268/5m-5050-30leds-m-RGB-IP65-strip-DMX-decoder.html

The attached drwg is what I wound up having them follow.


Attached files DMX Module.pdf

[edvas69]

Max-Paul wrote:

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

A core is a conductor, a conductor/core can be made of either solid copper or multiple strands of copper (or aluminium) So when i talk about 4 core cable, what im talking about is that the cable has 4 seperate conductors so you can run RGB using the 4th core/conductor as the common return wire. I hope that makes it clearer for you

[ClydeL]

I believe the best way to measure the load is using a multi-meter in series. I did this for every type of light I used, wrote down the reading and track it all on a spreadsheet so I wouldn’t overload my controllers/power supply. As many others have stated...its best to stick with the 80-85% rule. Meaning if you have a 30A power supply, 25.5A is the total max load you want on use on it.

For my test, a 12V 5M 150 RGB LED strip is 1.75A DC all-on (21-watts). The specs for the strips stated it was 36-watts and I’m guessing it meant the minimum power requirement is 36-watts...I’ll go with that. Someone else smarter can chime in why it states 36-watts and the actual is 21-watts. Also, I don’t have and never tested a 300 led strip so I can not provide any examples for this.

Each of my LOR DC board had one 30A power supply. I went with this because whether I used 5A or 25A...it didn’t matter. The power was there. I didn’t want to build my controller based on what I was going to do this year. I built it based on what I can do with it any year. This year may only be 5A, but next may be 10A. Do I really want to buy another power supply to upgrade or just know the power is there and ready to go? It may cost a little more upfront, but worth it in the end.

Some say not to double up, back to back, end to end...whatever you want to call it, more than one 5m strip. That each strip should have its own power supply. I’m not stating it wrong at all...fact is, its probably the best and sure way to ensure your strip is getting the proper power. But I’ve personally used two 5m strips end to end in my shows with no problems. I used 18AWG wire and my run was only 20ft, so I’m betting the large gauge wire played a role.

Based off my power test, my 30A controller can handle (14) 12V 5M 150 RGB LED strips which would be 24.5A DC. Also you need to take into account each channel can handle up to 4A DC or 8A DC with heat-sinks. My controllers are built as 5 separate RGB channels so I would only be able to control the 5 RGB channels and not all 14 individually. For this example, I could use 3 strips per RGB channel except one would only use 2 strips. I would NOT end to end all 3 strips...I would end-to-end 2 of them and split the power for the 3rd or split the power for all 3 strips.

So again, the best and sure way to determine proper power requirements is do your own testing. Do not rely on anyone else calculations or testing. Every manufacture, supplier, vendor may be different.

A word of caution...by me stating my personal experience doesn’t guarantee that it will work for you. You MUST do your own testing.

Kevin

PS...Picture of my LOR DC Board with 30A Power Supply inside enclosure. Each black output plug is a RGB channel (4-wire: 1 power, R, G, .

Attached files

So I'm looking at purchasing the CMB16D-QC during the LOR sale coming up.  Lots of info on this thread.  Wanting to get into RGB for 2014 and instead of using Ray's 27 channel controller, I see this one that should just hook up to LOR without any DMX converter.  However, one of these CMB16D-QC boards can only manage to drive 5 separate channels of RGB.  Is that correct?   Also, will these boards drive individual pixels or only work with dumb strips?

[dgtlpro]

You are correct about 5 RGB channels. It would only be for dumb pixels/strips, as it has no SPI driver chips.

[Bizywk]

Here's an interesting link that may help you.  http://blog.holidaycoro.com/2013/03/outlining-your-house-in-rgb-lights.html

[Ken Benedict]

The LOR DC boards can handle more power than most of the other ones on the market.

 

There's some DMX controller boards that can handle 16 amps per channel, if needed.

 

And there's others as well:

 

96 channel DMX dimmer/controller: http://usledsupply.com/shop/rgb-dmx-spi-decoder.html
3 channel DMX rgb controller: http://www.holidaycoro.com/3-Channel-DMX-Controller-for-RGB-Lights-p/37.htm
27 channel DMX rgb controller: http://www.holidaycoro.com/27-Channel-DMX-Controller-for-RGB-Lights-12v-DC-p/24.htm
60 channel DMX rgb controller: http://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/AAHmega60

 

There's another thread that discusses this topic: http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/25586-dmx-with-dumb-rgb-strips/

Edited March 30, 2013 by Ken Benedict

[Bizywk]

CLD,

 

Which enclosure model did you use in the picture you provided in thread #78 above?    It looks perfectly suited.

 

Thanks.

[CLD Kevin]

CLD,

Which enclosure model did you use in the picture you provided in thread #78 above? It looks perfectly suited.

Thanks.

I used the CG-1500.

http://www.store.creativelightingdisplays.com/CableGuard-CG-1500-Enclosure-CG-1500.htm