How to execute power injection?

petulka77

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Sorry for the stupid question (I am newbie to this hobby) but… How to correctly inject the power?

I don’t mean the power calculation but how to execute it? (with some pictures)
Are there any designed connectors for that purpose or is it all DIY?
Let’s say we have 3 5V strings (50 pixel/each). To connect them we would probably need to inject power between them (what I have read so far).

Can anyone provide any pictures how to do it correctly? (in details)

(The injection, wiring, the power source connection from a single DC source or multiple).

Any info would be appreciated. ;)
 

Madko

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Great question considering I was thinking the same. I'm also a newbie. I also can't find any actual connection methods photos etc.


I don't want to overtake your post but maybe another power injection question, do you need to power inject on a 128 pixel string running 12V? What is the Maximum number of pixels in a string of 5V and 12V before power injection is required?
 

petulka77

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Thank you for the quick reply. I read this manual a week ago and I completely forgot about this section. After that I read tons of other information. It's kind of overwhelming for a newbie to digest all the information.
Anyway, thank you for such a perfect manual. Great job!
1 more question: Do you just solder the power supply to the wire or do you use anything else to serve that purpose?
 

kane

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petulka77 said:
1 more question: Do you just solder the power supply to the wire or do you use anything else to serve that purpose?
Basically, you just need to get the additional power supply cable connected to the positive and negative lines between the two pixels.. You could use inline power splicers to do this (something like http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/50x-Scotch-Lock-QUICK-SPLICE-22-18-AWG-WIRE-CONNECTORS-/320679134297?pt=AU_Boat_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aa9f74459) but they won't be waterproof...

Easiest option is to cut the +ve and -ve wires between the pixel, strip the insulation off these four, plus the two from your power supply cable, and then solder together the 3 +ve and 3 -ve, and seal with heatshrink.

If you want to get clever, you could also try and strip the insulation off without cutting the wires (using a sharp razorblade or something), then wrap the injection cable around it before soldering...
 

fasteddy

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Madko said:
Great question considering I was thinking the same. I'm also a newbie. I also can't find any actual connection methods photos etc.


I don't want to overtake your post but maybe another power injection question, do you need to power inject on a 128 pixel string running 12V? What is the Maximum number of pixels in a string of 5V and 12V before power injection is required?

Before you commit to 12Volt string then you may want to know the differences between 12v and 5 v strings

now 12v strings would be 128 max and 5v strings will be 50 pixels max, each has a trade off and this is discussed here in this thread
 

Aaron Maue

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Dec 29, 2012
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Sorry for reviving an older thread, but...


If I have a string of 150 pixels on a megatree, with 50 up, 50 down, and 50 up again, will I need to inject power at the top of the tree (in between pixels 50 and 51)? Or will injection between 100 and 101 be sufficient? 5v pixels. I'd rather not have to run power to the top of the tree.


Thx.
 

fasteddy

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If not injecting up the top then i would ensure that your distance between the lights and pixels is as short as possible with at least a 16 guage supply cable to minimise initial supply cable voltage loss. I would also ensure that at the injection point between string 2 and 3 have their own injection so that is 3 supplies of 5V, all you are doing is back feeding strip 2.

This should work but milage may vary due to things like the length and guage of wire used in the string so i would hook one up like that to see if the colour is acceptable as you may get some pinking when all lights are white between string 1 and 2
 
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