RaceMedic Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Hello Everyone ....Starting some early thinking for my 2013 show ... I am converting 10 channels of normal lights on my house to dumb RGB strips and using the LOR DC controller.A couple of questions ... and also if someone can point me to a DC controller 101 area as I am having trouble getting basic info.1. From what I understand ... the 16 channel DC controller can control 5 RBG channels ... what is the longest they can be ?! I have a peak of the house that is 13' long on each side .. I assume I will have to use 2 channels for that.2. Any suggestions on how to wire a window ?! ( See diagram ) Would I need more than 2 channels ?!3. What is the longest wire I can have from the controller to the RGB strip.Thank-you for your time !!Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 One reel of 5050 ribbon LED's are 16.5 feet long. So... the longer the wire, the bigger the gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Since most of what I do is DC, I should be able to help.> 1. From what I understand ... the 16 channel DC controller can control 5 RBG channels ... what is the longest they can be ?! I have a peak of the house that is 13' long on each side .. I assume I will have to use 2 channels for that.The16 channel DC controller can control 16 channels. If those channels happen to be RGB devices, you can control 5 RGB devices with one channel left over (which CAN be used for one of the 3 channels for another RGB device). The DC controller can easily drive a 5 meter 12V RGB strip so your 13 feet is no problem at all.> 2. Any suggestions on how to wire a window ?! ( See diagram ) Would I need more than 2 channels ?!If you are planning on putting RGB strip on all the lines of that drawing, you would have a total of about 40 feet (or 13 meters). You can not run 13 meters of the RGB strips without power insertion in multiple places. However with the layout you have, that would be easy. HOWEVER, depending on your strips, you would need to carefully look at the current draw. You might exceed the current capacity per channel if you run it as a single RGB group - or the capacity of one half of the board. With heat sinks, the DC controller can handle 8 amps per channel with a limit of 20 amps for each half of the controller. > 3. What is the longest wire I can have from the controller to the RGB strip.It's just a matter of voltage drop. There really is no limit as long as the wire you are using can keep the voltage drop to an acceptable level. There are several on-line voltage drop calculators available. If you have a long run, it just means that you need to use larger wire.Any other questions, feel free to ask... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 If you add heat sinks to a DC controller, the heat sink has to be electrically isolated from the mosfet. It's not the same as the PC controllers. The board as is can handle 4 amps per channel. The board as is should handle 40 meters at 30 leds/meter. But 40 meters as one RGB channel is not smart (pun intended). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 For the sake of discussion, cause I do not understand your statement Jim. Why is 40 meters of Smart RGB not so smart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dknahoolewa Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 For the sake of discussion, cause I do not understand your statement Jim. Why is 40 meters of Smart RGB not so smart?b/c they are actually Dumb (strips) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dknahoolewa Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 (edited) Sorry want to jump in b/c this is the same things I'm looking at doing and trying to figure it out also.So may largest run that would be on one(three) channel would be about 34'.so if i'm understanding this correctly do you typically only power one strip (5050 30LED/m) with three of the channels or could you power multiple adding power at each new strip? Edited December 28, 2012 by dknahoolewa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 (edited) Rough rule of thumb is that the12 Volt 30 LEDs per meter 5050 strips have a current draw of about 1 amp per 5 meter strip per color, so for your 34 foot length, I would assume you would use two 5 meter strips. That should not be a problem for the controller. For the sake of this discussion, let's say that you have one 5 meter strip from 1 foot above ground to 17 feet up and the second strip from 17 to 33 feet up. What you would need to do is run two power cables from each controller channel - one would connect to the lower strip and one to the upper strip. Hopefully the drawing below will show what I'm saying. Of course I am only showing 2 RGB channels here, but each one has two 5 meter strips. Assuming 1 amp per strip per color, each channel would be supplying 2 amps which is easily within the capabilities of the channel, and if fully loaded, each half of each controller would have a maximum load of about 16 amps which is also within limits of the controller. You would need a power supply of just over 30 amps capacity. Ray Wu has a $20 switcher that is just slightly under that, and would likely do fine UNLESS you will ever bring the tree up to full bright white and leave it there for very long. If you just run 5 RGB groups per controller (and leave one channel unused), that power supply should be able to handle it. I would check specs and measure the actual current for the LED strips you end up using.http://www.aliexpres..._289599951.html Edited December 28, 2012 by k6ccc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceMedic Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 OK ... Two DUMB questions here .. and I am sure there are more to come .....1. Looking at AlieExpress .. there are a LOT of different RGB strips ... 12V vs 5V ?!2. I see that power supply being used a lot .. it has a fan .. it you are enclosing it in a waterproof box like the PC controllers will it not over heat ?!Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dknahoolewa Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 (edited) Awesome thanks Jim.I think I'm a little past Dumb now.Now I need to find a good source for 4core wire. Edited December 28, 2012 by dknahoolewa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 RaceMedic, no it will not over heat per say, unless you live in the south. The waterproof boxes that LOR uses and many more of us use the 1500 box. The seal is not air tight and will allow some air exchange. I have two DC controllers with similar fan in the P.S.DK,, here in the USofA we say 3 conductor cable. If your in Asia it might be better known as core. But I am in the US of A and will continue to use the standard that was put in place long before the internet. A wire is a conductor. And a cable with more than one conductor is known as a multi-conductor cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dknahoolewa Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 RaceMedic, no it will not over heat per say, unless you live in the south. The waterproof boxes that LOR uses and many more of us use the 1500 box. The seal is not air tight and will allow some air exchange. I have two DC controllers with similar fan in the P.S.DK,, here in the USofA we say 3 conductor cable. If your in Asia it might be better known as core. But I am in the US of A and will continue to use the standard that was put in place long before the internet. A wire is a conductor. And a cable with more than one conductor is known as a multi-conductor cable.noted...I'll remember that for future reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMaris Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Awesome thanks Jim.I think I'm a little past Dumb now.Now I need to find a good source for 4core wire.I used this for my dumb strips this year along with the waterproof connectors Ray has. If someone knows a better price than this, I would like to see it. http://www.ebay.com/itm/251150932719?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceMedic Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 RaceMedic, no it will not over heat per say, unless you live in the south. The waterproof boxes that LOR uses and many more of us use the 1500 box. The seal is not air tight and will allow some air exchange. I have two DC controllers with similar fan in the P.S.DK,, here in the USofA we say 3 conductor cable. If your in Asia it might be better known as core. But I am in the US of A and will continue to use the standard that was put in place long before the internet. A wire is a conductor. And a cable with more than one conductor is known as a multi-conductor cable.Thanks Max-Paul ......That is what I was thinking as there would obviously be air movement out the bottom where the wires exit the box.Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve synek Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 RaceMedic, no it will not over heat per say, unless you live in the south. The waterproof boxes that LOR uses and many more of us use the 1500 box. The seal is not air tight and will allow some air exchange. I have two DC controllers with similar fan in the P.S.DK,, here in the USofA we say 3 conductor cable. If your in Asia it might be better known as core. But I am in the US of A and will continue to use the standard that was put in place long before the internet. A wire is a conductor. And a cable with more than one conductor is known as a multi-conductor cable.I would say you need 4 conductor cable.................. ............just saying...............SteveMaris...........thanks for the heads up on the cable, from what I've seen, that's a very good price!Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts