Smithbuilt Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 This is my first time with DC power. I just got a CMB24 and 6 dumb strips. I have two 350w 12vdc power supplies. My question is how far away can I mount the power supplies from the controller? The ribbons will all be within 10ft of the board, but I would like to mount the power supplies under cover and not in the yard. If the power supplies were mounted about 22 ft away from the controller board and run an 18-2 SPT1 to each power supply, would I have troubles? I keep reading about distances and power injection, but is that more for after the controller? These power supplies have the ability to tune the voltage, if it measures lower at the controller could it be adjusted up a bit? Or could that cause other problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 You will be fine at that distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 The distance is not an issue, but that wire size is. 18 awg is way to small for the 29 amps that a 350 watt can deliver. If you are going to draw close to the full power from that supply, I would use no smaller than 12 awg and better yet, 10 awg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithbuilt Posted November 4, 2015 Author Share Posted November 4, 2015 Each ribbon is rated at 72w, so each side of the controller will have 216w on it. Would 14awg wire work or does it need to be 12awg. I have lots of #14 here already.Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Laff Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 What do you have the controller mounted in not enough room for a power supply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Yes. 14 awg should be OK. I would not go any more power than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithbuilt Posted November 5, 2015 Author Share Posted November 5, 2015 Denis,I have some spare enclosures that the CTB16 use. The power supplies I have are 4.5" x 8.5" x 2". To mount 2 p/s plus the board would be a bigger box than I have. But on my porch I have a big panel that I've mounted 7 CTB16 boards and this would work well to mount the p/s. I was hoping it would work. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithbuilt Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 I'm now thinking about after the controller, Can I use Cat5 to go between the controller and the ribbon? I was going to join each pair together to make 4 in the cable and use one for each leg. The longest ribbon might be 10ft from the controller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince4xmas Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I would mount the CMB24 and power supply in a watertight plastic enclosure as close to the lights as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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