Power buss bar?

fj

Apprentice elf
Joined
May 7, 2010
Messages
89
Hi everyone,

I have an idea which I think will work and it should save me having to run several power cables out to my display items.

For example, my leaping arches will have 8 LED strings on them which means I need to use 2 x 4ch DC-SSR's. To save having to run two power cables out to the SSR's I was thinking of just running one, then use some sort of splitter or buss-bar to split the power between them both in the case holding the SSR's. That would work pretty well I would think then all I need to worry about is two cables, one power, one data. This could cut some cabling costs, especially on larger display items where more channels are required.

Does that sound a reasonable thing to do or am I going to cause trouble for myself? The idea is to minimise cables running around the yard (without using wireless options).

What's a good buss-bar solution to use, especially for larger channel counts?

cheers, fj
 

Tabor

Full time elf
Joined
May 16, 2010
Messages
249
Location
Perth, WA
FJ

If I get what you are saying you will have two DCSSR's in one case controlling 8 channels.

It is more than reasonable to only run one power cable to the case and parallel the power out to both board boards.
There would be no need for a Bus bar.

However you will still need two cat 5 cables (data) coming into the case.

As Alec said make sure the power is capable of handling the current required for both DCSSR's.
 

fj

Apprentice elf
Joined
May 7, 2010
Messages
89
ah yes i forgot about the need for 2 data cables.

good to know it would work. as you say i'd just have to keep an eye on the current draw to make sure a single power cable could handle it ok. i'm using all LED's so current isn't going to be huge.

what about larger DC-SSR arrays, say on a mega tree or something that could use quite a few more than 2 SSR's. if the power cable is rated ok to handle it, how would you go about hooking up the power? parelleling them wouldn't be ideal in this case. is it worth the effort just to save a few dollars on cable and time to run extra power cables?
 

Tabor

Full time elf
Joined
May 16, 2010
Messages
249
Location
Perth, WA
In the case of larger SSR counts then for sure bus bars are a solution.

For my mega tree last year i ended up just moving a power supply out underneath the tree housed in a water proof case.

Saved all the need for cable runs.
 

AussiePhil

Dedicated elf
Administrator
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Jun 20, 2009
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Location
Canberra, ACT, Australia
fj

Jaycar carry the same thing.

Honestly a waste of money at the SSR End, just run a cable from each SSR to the closest point they meet up, join together with the main run back to the power supply.

If you know say your SSR's are 2 feet apart then make a cable with a pair of 2 foot tails on it.

Now at the SMPS end, you can only parallel power supplies that have been designed to be set up as N+1 supplies

Cheers
Phil
 

fj

Apprentice elf
Joined
May 7, 2010
Messages
89
not sure if i explained myself clearly so i'll try again.

i have a single DC SMPS that i want to power 16 SSR's off (which would be powering low current LED lights only). the SMPS i have from RayWu's has only two outputs on it though. so what i was thinking was to use the bus bars at the SMPS end to allow me to run my 16 SSR power cables back into the bus bars rather than the power supply. i was just going to hook up the postive from the SMPS to one bus bar, and the negative from the SMPS to the other bus bar, then hook all the SSR's up to the bus bars rather than direct to the power supply.

otherwise what other choices do i have? i don't want to buy a power supply per SSR.

i understand where i have SSR's close together, I can parallel them up to run off one power cable run.

hope that explains it better.

here's a link for the SMPS i have from Ray's:
http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209855560-289599960/350W-Dual-Output-Switching-Power-Supply-88-264VAC-input-24V-350W-output-CE-and-ROHS-approved.html
 
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