Controller/Strip/Buck Converter Wiring

[George M]

Hello, new member to this forum. Joined after gleaning much info on the site- thanks all.

I have a simple project of adding LED strips to the sides of my pontoon boat. I've drafted my layout (I prefer 5V strips vs 12V for the power efficiency on the boat), and I'd like anyone knowledgeable to pass judgement or offer advice on the wiring plan shown below.

 

[AAH]

Welcome to ACL
Buck converters and most power supplies don't play well with others. Meaning that when you have both the -ve and +ve connected you can get very unexpected results. Due to slight voltage variations 1 supply may be attempting to supply all the current and others doing nothing.
Based on the fact that you're only running 2 strips and the fact that a single strip is designed to not need power injection I would do away with 3 of the 4 buck converters as I don't think you'd need the wattage (not knowing exact strip specs though) and running extra ones is just going to pull more juice out of your battery as they are more efficient at higher loads than at low loads. I would run a single buck converter at the join between the 2 strips. The additional ground connection wouldn't hurt but it probably isn't necessary.

 

[George M]

Thank you, Alan. It looked over complicated to me, but I really didn't know if these strips will do full white without V drop and yellowing. For what it's worth, I was going to put some Schottky diodes on the v+ lines, and thought that might help. But honestly they won't be at full white that often anyway, so simpler is better. 72W is the spec max power on these strips, so I'll probably just go with a single 150W or 200W buck converter and see where that gets me (would I gain/lose efficiency with an oversized converter?).

What "additional ground connection" were you referring to? Certainly the ground between the 2 strips is needed for data, right?

Thanks again.

 

[AAH]

Assuming that your drawing is indicative of how it's going on your boat I'd go with your 2nd drawing but run the gnd/0V connection from the bottom up to the 2 ends of the strips. It's quite probable that you wouldn't need it but if the cabling is running past then it shouldn't hurt to have the extra copper providing a better ground path.

 

[Derf]

How is your battery going to be recharged? and what type of battery are you using?

I would be mindful of the voltage that could possibly hit your controller and strip and implement a regulator or something of the like to keep the voltage at the controller end @12v +/- 0.1v if you are to keep that setup.

I would suggest placing the buck converter before the controller and running the controller @5v then plug your strip directly into the controller.

12-14.1v Battery -> Buck Converter (12V to 5V) -> Controller (5v) -> LED Strip (5v Powered by controller)

Just ensure your Buck can handle the maximum voltage that could possibly going into it (E.g if you are charging from an alternator or solar panel).

 

[AAH]

How is your battery going to be recharged? and what type of battery are you using?

I would be mindful of the voltage that could possibly hit your controller and strip and implement a regulator or something of the like to keep the voltage at the controller end @12v +/- 0.1v if you are to keep that setup.

I would suggest placing the buck converter before the controller and running the controller @5v then plug your strip directly into the controller.

12-14.1v Battery -> Buck Converter (12V to 5V) -> Controller (5v) -> LED Strip (5v Powered by controller)

Just ensure your Buck can handle the maximum voltage that could possibly going into it (E.g if you are charging from an alternator or solar panel).

The input to most controllers will handle 14V without issue which is about the highest charge voltage that it should see. Depending on the controller it may have 16V capacitors on the input but the input regulators should be good for at least 24V with 35V being reasonably typical.

 

[George M]

The controller has a 7-24V input rating, and it will be fed from the 12V battery source directly. There will be (2) 100Ah marine batteries (in parallel) backed up by a 19A alternator on the outboard. Given the battery sizes, I doubt there'll be any significant voltage transients (max range 12.0 - 14.8V).

The controller, strips, and 75W converters I'm about to purchase are:

https://superlightingled.com/dc724v...812b-ws2801-addressable-led-lights-p-438.html

https://superlightingled.com/ws2811...p68-300leds-164ft-per-reel-by-sale-p-509.html

https://superlightingled.com/dc12v2...trips-for-dc12v-car-dc12v-battery-p-1048.html

...if you have any particular feedback related to them.

Based on feedback, wiring is below (also more geometrically representative).