Question on 10 power cable for 300leds/5m 5050 strip

Archades

Archades

New elf
Joined
Nov 30, 2012
Messages
37
Location
Far North Queensland
This is probably a silly question but..

I have gotten some RGB strips 5050 5m each
60 LED per meter

30 LED per meter

Using this 30amp 12v Power supply

In the guide I see 4 core 14/020 security cable recommended with 4.5 amps capacity but would that actually handle my 60led per meter cable which is 1.2amp per meter for which I am guessing (.4amp per colour x5m) so 2amps per colour. Will doubling up be sufficient for this or do I need to go a larger cable, from what I gather the common return wire will be getting 6amps? Another option was get the 6core and use 3 for the return?

Also for 10 meters of power cable when doubling up, should I solder both to the start of the run,1 on each end, or 1 on end and 1 in middle?
 
Welcome to ACL Archades.
The distance between what you are controlling the lights with (and power supply) and the lights is 1 of the main factors when selecting cable. How particular you are about consistent colour is the other factor. Either 4 core or 6 will do the job and i'd tend to duplicate the connection from 1 end to the other. Make sure that whatever controller you are using is capable of the 2A per channel too.
 
Welcome to ACL and there is no such thing as a silly question here. :D

You can do any of those options, double up conductors, go a heavier guage cable or use the 6 core. The best option to ensure even power distribution across the whole strip is to supply from both ends.
 
Welcome.gif

to ACL Archades
Like already said, there is never a silly question here.
Always a lot of friendly people here willing to help.
 
Cheers. After driving around tonight n seeing everyone else's display I am even more keen.
I'll probably be either buying a premade controller or making one with arduino UNO and a PWM break out board, which gives another 16 PWM channels I believe.

Wish the addressible 5050's were cheaper, 100bucks for 5m :(

Thanks for the help :)
 
Archades said:
Nice, would a resistor work to drop the voltage to 5v or would it be better to buy a second PSU @ 5v?
Click to expand...

You would be loosing over half your energy in heat and need a decent resistor to drop the voltage from 12vdc to 5vdc with the current required. Better to buy a 5VDC power supply to suit
 
Most of us buy from Ray via email orders rather than the Aliexpress site. If you copy the url's for the parts that ypu want and send an email to Ray he will give you a quote which will include combined shipping. Ray can be paid via paypal that way too.
 
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