Germany 220v

[mejohnm]

Hello all,

I love these setups. I makes me miss living in America even more! I like to bring this to Germany. I like to know if these can run under 220v or will I need a transformer? I just need a 16 channel since I just wantto setup our balcony. If I had a house, I probably would go all out. I would most likely run led lights which I haven't bought yet. Just need to figure if I am going to run the system under 220v, 110/120v or combination of both. Any help is appreciated and thanks

[vipzach]

I know the LOR boards are capable of running on 220v. If I remember correctly, there were some different resistors or something that had to be soldered on the board.

Shoot the support team an email, they are smarter than me!

[mejohnm]

I will do that. I have no problem running like a 200watt or 400watt transformer to the unit as long as the lights get their power from that. Shoot, most of my lights are already from the USA...

[Geoff Harvey]

Hi

The LOR AC boards run from either 110 or 220/240V - just set a jumper on the board - no soldering. Of course, when running at 220V, the outputs are 220V also so you need 220V lights. Usually when LOR ships to a 220V country, the jumpers on the boards are preset at 220V.

Note also that the AC supply to the boards can be split so you can run 8 channels at 220V and the other 8 at 110V (or other eg 24V AC as some do in Australia).

Regards Geoff

[mejohnm]

Do you know when the voltage is split, is this the controllers with two plug-ins? So kinda one plugs into the 220v power and the other 110v?

[Geoff Harvey]

The CTB16D and CTB16PC controllers each have two banks of 8 channels which can be supplied independently, either to provide a greater current capability than you can get from 1 AC outlet, or to use different voltages. One side of the board must be supplied by either 120 or 220/240 as set by the voltage selection jumpers - this side supplies the on-board electronics. The other side can be at any suitable AC voltage providing the AC is in-phase (not from an alternate supply or another phase from a 3 phase supply.)

Using 220/240V gives the capability of supplying twice the power ro lights for a given current and you are unlikely to reach the board current limits. In Australia where a lot of lights are 24V for exterior use, the currents at 24V are 10 times higher than at 240V for the same power and some users have unexpectedly hit the board current limits.

Regards Geoff

[mejohnm]

I really appreiciate the replies. Now I know I can get a controller, yea just one to start out with but I already have plans that will require more controllers. Of course all I can setup is my balcony, but it will be one nice setup once I am done with it



Also, I was looking at some other post and something was mention about the safety of 220v led light used outside... are they okay for outdoor use?

I could go like this with the controller:

220v to 110 step-down -> controller -> 110v led christmas lights (16 sets : 1 set per controller )

or

220v -> controller -> 220v led christmas lights ( same as above)

[Geoff Harvey]

I personally prefer not to use 220V LED lights outside for safety reasons. I do have a couple of sets but only use them in a protected location (under eaves) which is only accessible by ladder. A lot of the sets available on e-Bay are stated as suitable for outside use, but they do not carry Australian approvals. The big department stores and some specialist light suppliers have 240V sets with approvals, and their insulation and waterproofing is superior to the typical e-Bay lights.

I have opted for low voltage sets which I feel happy about setting up in accessable locations and Which I can run from the DC controllers.

Regards Geoff