Electrical – have multiple outside LED strip lights coming from one driver

electricalledlighting

I'm in the process of buying LED strip lights and understand that I need a 'driver' (to convert from 240v to [whatever the strip lights are]).

I intend to have three strip lights, one for each step outside, so do I need three drivers or can one driver do all three?

Best Answer

If your strips are intended for "12VDC" then they require a constant voltage supply. This is the usual arrangement for strips. In this case:

check how much current each strip will use
multiply by the number of strips
get a 12VDC supply with more amps than what you need, like a wall wart or a "led driver" specified to output 12V (which is not really a driver in this case, since it is a constant voltage supply) .
wire all the strips in parallel

If your strips are not specified for 12V but instead should be driven by constant current then you will need a constant current driver per strip. This would be uncommon.

Related Solutions

Lighting – LED undercabinet lights but 240v inputs

Sounds like you should just get a transformer to transform your 240v main to whatever the LED drivers are looking for. Without more detail, I'm not sure what the LED's are designed to take in.

It sounds like your LED drivers are going to convert a less-then-240 voltage AC feed down to the couple of volts DC that the LEDs are going to use. Since you are putting these under cabinets, you could mount the transformer up and out of the way where you couldn't see it.

I'd look at one of the online electronic parts suppliers (like DigiKey or Jameco) to find the transformer you will need. You shouldn't have to get to big of one since you are only powering LEDs.

Lighting – How to connect the LED strip lights

Usually you use the two outmost connection points for +/- 12VDC on the strip ... and usually + and - leads are marked by printed labels on the strips at each seperation mark.

For connection from power supply to the strip you either use the premounted socket (if any is mounted at the end of the strip) or you solder the cables coming from the transformer / DC source onto the connection pads.

With the shopping list of your OP I would do the following wiring

            +-------------+              +-------------+                +---------.
           ~|             |+ ---------- +|  in     out |+ ------------ +|
 110/220VAC |  Mains/12V  |    12VDC     |   Dimmer    |   12VDC PWM    |  Strip  ....
           ~|  converter  |- ---------- -|             |- ------------ -|
            +-------------+              +-------------+                +---------.

The power rating of your ACDC converter is a function of the length of LED strip you want to use. If I am not mistaken - a single tripple of LEDs (the smallest separable unit) takes 60mA ... so all 300 LEDs (100 sections) would require as much a 6000 mA (6A)

The current limit of the dimmer is 12A which is fine for the whole strip.

If you are using more than -say- half of the strip I would consider more than 1 feed point to avoid voltage drops along the strip.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Lighting – LED undercabinet lights but 240v inputs

Lighting – How to connect the LED strip lights

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