ChrisBMacon Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 :?I was actually looking at building a control central in a trailer that would enclose the PC, controllers and power supply hook up’s. I have a shop in back with its own panel. Would it be wise to run power from this panel to a trailer about 300 feet away and what would I use on the trailer to hook to? I wanted it mobile because I want to use it for advertising also. My only issue would be power source at someone’s business to tap into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 How about a generator? The Honda EU2000 is a voltage inverted (ie clean power) generator that is very quiet and effecient (in other works, not cheap). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBMacon Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 I didn't thank of that. In fact, my brother owns his own rental business. I have a source. I was worried about the distance at home also as my topic. It's about 300 feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Chris D. Brooks wrote: I didn't thank of that. In fact, my brother owns his own rental business. I have a source. I was worried about the distance at home also as my topic. It's about 300 feet.That just takes big expensive wire...I'll also note that we had success running 20 LOR controllers for a couple of days on a 175KVA generator.. Way more generator than needed, but it was the smallest one that the event rental company had. Nice and quiet. Could be configured for three phase, or single phase (which we used)Big generators are probably more likely to work OK with LOR than small generators. Without the homeowner market as potential customers, they are less prone to cutting corners that could impact LOR.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 What are your power requirements? This will dictate the size of cabling needed to plug er in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBMacon Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 I haven't bought any controlers yet, but I'm starting with 32 channels, PC, UPS and lights in the trailer. I assume I would calulate the max amps of 8 for each controller and another 10 amps for the PC, UPS and misc lights in the trailer. I don't know what light amps I will have yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 At 350 feet, I think you are going to be well beyond a typical extension cord. In fact, you would have to build your own cords. You might have to wire a temporary/permanent sub panel by your trailer. At full draw, you could need 80 + amps. In reality, you will probably need much less than that.Without knowing your electrical needs, it's going to be hard to make any recommendations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hertig Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Getting more than 15 or 20 amps to your trailer from 300 feet away is going to be a real challange. They make 50 amp cables for RVs, which are actually 2 out of phase circuits which provide 100 usable amps. But a 30 foot cord costs about $150, and finding the special outlet to plug into most places (except RV parks) will be a challange.Generator is probably best. The EU series Honda's are very good for computer uses, since they put out 'true sine wave' which is 'indistinguishable' from wall power. Other generators are 'modified sine wave' or worse, which can cause some electronics trouble.They have a 2000 watt unit which is very small, and will provide you 15 amps (max). You can get 2 of them and hook them together (they are designed that way) to get 30 amps (max). There is also a 3000 watt unit which will give 25 watts, but it is bigger than the 2 of the 2000 units. I think they have a bigger one in this series. but am not familiar with it (the 2000 and 3000 are popular with the RV community). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Also, the controllers themselves don't draw any power to speak of.. They are just limited to not more than 8 amps per channel, and not more than 15 amps per bank. The actual load is pretty much just your lighting load.You may need to make sure you adequately size your cord for voltage drops. There were several issues that while they got blamed on communications issues, they also sounded like they could have been under voltage resets... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Krasley Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I think the rule is every 100' you need to up the cable size. According to your estimates of 8amps per controller and an extra 10amps for lighting and stuff, your initial load is 26amps which is 31.2amps at 120%. Using a SO type of cord, you already are at a #8 to insure the total load with no loss at 100'. SO cord is not the same as the building wire used in homes. The insulation is heavier and lowers the value of the maximum amps. To use this scenario, you would need to go to a #4SO cord which costs around $3 a foot. Unless your pockets are deep, don't run it from there. Your looking at around $900 for the wire, then you need a good connector to hook it up. A quality connector for that would cost around $100 each!Drop back and punt! Make your controllers movable and use them in the mobile trailer when you want to drive them around. It just makes more sence and less cents! You could build them into a Hoffman can like I did. Although mine is not movable with 12 controllers and all the wire in it makes it around 300lbs.Good luck! Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBMacon Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 Do you use the dual-power controllers and plug them into this panel? If I understand correctly, the best scenario is to keep the power source for the control at a minimal distance and for each channel, the power cords can be lengthy…when I say lengthy, around 100’ using #12 as long as the 2 amps are not exceeded.Bare with me, I’m learning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cray Augsburg Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 John:Please tell me where to get that 50-AMP RV cord for $150. Last (and only) time I checked, my dealer wanted well above $300 for a 30' extension for my Jayco. That certainly ended my desire for such a cord.Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clueless Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Cray Augsburg wrote: John:Please tell me where to get that 50-AMP RV cord for $150. Last (and only) time I checked, my dealer wanted well above $300 for a 30' extension for my Jayco. That certainly ended my desire for such a cord.Thanks.This is one I looked at a while back..http://www.adventurerv.net/amp-extension-cord-camper-foot-whandle-p-1412.htmlRyan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisquit476 Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 If you are a member of the president's club at camping world, here's a deal alsohttp://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/extra-heavy-duty-50-amp-6-3-8-1-stw-cord-30-/24489although it's only 30 foot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hertig Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Camping World is where I got mine when they were on sale for $100, normally $150. But this was a couple of years back when I was looking, so can't say what they are now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Constantino Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Chris,I use Feeder cable. It cost a lot more but it's what the pro's use. I get most of my Power Distro stuff from Motion Labs. You can get everything you could ever need from them. Here is a link to the feeder cable page.http://www.motionlabs.com/c-18-cam-feeder.aspxI would suggest that you design you power system with some head room so you can expand your system in the future. You don't want to buy 300ft of cable more than once.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cray Augsburg Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Well, I can certainly see now that I am looking for my accessories in the wrong spot. Suddenly the possibility of getting the cord is looking brighter!Thanks!Cray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts