Dinushan Paranavithana Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Has anyone used LED strips longer than 5m? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Germs Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 yes , Philips Hue strips. Go up to 10m . a bit more expensive but works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 You can usually use them longer than 5M, but the brightness fades. If your power supply / controller can handle it, you can run R/G/B/Blk wires parallel with the RGB strip, to power the next 5M strip. RyanE c44me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Or power them from both ends of a longer strip. RyanE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Or put amplifiers every 5m. Google "LED light strip amplifier". Or just put a controller every 5m as this allows you to also control colours separately for each strip. RyanE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 16 hours ago, RyanE said: You can usually use them longer than 5M, but the brightness fades. If your power supply / controller can handle it, you can run R/G/B/Blk wires parallel with the RGB strip, to power the next 5M strip. RyanE I went about 50 feet, but the brightness faded significantly. It wasn’t super noticeable until the 2 ends came closer together. I went the route of adding a second power run. I have 2 full strips fed by one, then 1.5 strips fed by another. There’s a bit of voltage drop in the 2 full strips but it’s not bad. Neo1738, RyanE and c44me 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkimedes Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Look for 24VDC LED strips. Max run usually around 10m/32'. zaphod 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkkaiser Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Ryan's comment is how we do it. Just get a more powerful transformer and run as many wires as you need with the strip to power the next 5M, This leads to way more uniform lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c4toys Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 7 minutes ago, pkkaiser said: Ryan's comment is how we do it. Just get a more powerful transformer and run as many wires as you need with the strip to power the next 5M, This leads to way more uniform lighting. how would you wire the power into the 2nd strip? Do you just add 12v/24v on the black wire without ground?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkkaiser Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 need both power and ground, can use any 2 wire for white and 4 wire for RGBW. Can even run them out of transformer in parallel as long as you have enough power in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 6 minutes ago, pkkaiser said: need both power and ground, can use any 2 wire for white and 4 wire for RGBW. Can even run them out of transformer in parallel as long as you have enough power in it. Or out of the controller if the low-voltage to the LEDs is dimmed or color, since the ground wire for controlled LEDs is what's controlled. You need both the power and a ground for each LED channel, so as mentioned above, if it's white LEDs, you need to run 2 wires. If it's RGB, you need to run 4 wires. If RGBW/RGBWW, you need to run 5 wires. RyanE c44me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkkaiser Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 in terms of control for the colors, nothing beats the DMX solution. Fast, flicker free color changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 48 minutes ago, c4toys said: how would you wire the power into the 2nd strip? Do you just add 12v/24v on the black wire without ground?? Or use an amplifier as I said above. The amplifier would have both inputs and outputs for RGB(W) and then a Power + and - for the 12V or 24V DC. c44me and RyanE 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinushan Paranavithana Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Has anyone tried Lumilum ? https://www.lumilum.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Looks nice but very expensive at about $22/m. They also appear to be only single colour strips - no RGB(WW). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybuch Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 On 1/2/2020 at 11:10 AM, zaphod said: Or use an amplifier as I said above. The amplifier would have both inputs and outputs for RGB(W) and then a Power + and - for the 12V or 24V DC. Dont use this if you plan on doing lots a fades between colors, they have a bunch of lag and will change color at different rates, been there don't that. Power injection is your best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I would be surprised if this has any lag as this is just amplifying an analog signal on each of the wires. I haven't used this specific amplifier but I have used a cheaper version which is very similar that is the size of a stick of gum and it didn't have any lags when I was using some special effects Hue apps that simulate lightning, strobes and rapid colour changes - I have strung about 4-5 of these together without any lag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 But why pay for the extra amps when they're not really needed?? If the installation was wired accordingly, you can easily string up multiple reels of lights together to act as one, with each strand being separately powered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 3 hours ago, lippavisual said: But why pay for the extra amps when they're not really needed?? If the installation was wired accordingly, you can easily string up multiple reels of lights together to act as one, with each strand being separately powered. But doesn't each power point require a controller? The power goes to the controller which then controls power to each of the RGBW lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 The controllers are cheap. In my one little panel I have 1 PSU and 3 “controllers” daisy chained together. 2 are in the same channel so they act as one, the other is on a different channel so it acts on its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 13 hours ago, zaphod said: But doesn't each power point require a controller? The power goes to the controller which then controls power to each of the RGBW lines. They do. But you'd have to run power to the location of these amps anyways. Why not run all the wires to connect the whole thing back to your main controller and power supplies? Plus you have to now hide this thing somewhere. Doing cove lighting, that's not going to be easy. I use the Domadeo Response Box driver as my controller. I use these as my decoders: http://www.holidaycoro.com/30-Channel-DMX-Controller-for-RGB-Lights-12v-DC-p/43.htm These work with 12/24 VDC and cost $50. These get mounted in a structured wiring enclosure. Will work with any dumb light you throw at them. For each of my lights, I run a homerun 18/2, 18/4 or 18/2 + 18/4 back to this decoder board, depending on what lights I'm using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinushan Paranavithana Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 Has anyone tried Lumilum ? The line voltage solution ? According to specs, it would go up to 164ft. But I'm not sure whether the RGB LED strip is dimmable https://www.lumilum.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c44me Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Have been using some from Ikea of all places for years now. Work well and cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c4toys Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 I have a project with lumilum and dmx driver.. I extended the runs in between ceiling trays with electrical OS cable 18/4.. total 155-160ft.. Darkimedes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybuch Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 On 1/9/2020 at 3:04 PM, zaphod said: I would be surprised if this has any lag as this is just amplifying an analog signal on each of the wires. I haven't used this specific amplifier but I have used a cheaper version which is very similar that is the size of a stick of gum and it didn't have any lags when I was using some special effects Hue apps that simulate lightning, strobes and rapid colour changes - I have strung about 4-5 of these together without any lag. I have used these exact ones and trust me, they have lag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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