I am trying to backlight a 1’x10’ piece of plexiglass with 24V RGBW LEDs controlled via a DMX decoder and have several questions regarding this. I am trying to cram as many LEDs as possible into this 1’x10’ space, and have found a 24V LED strip that consumes about 24W/m and I can fit 40 meters of LEDs into my 1’x10’ area. I need this to be as bright as possible. Several questions about this:
1> Is my math correct in assuming that a 1000W PSU would not be enough? If I divide 1000/24, that gives me a possible 41.6 meters run on 1 power supply, which would not give me a 20% overhead.
2> If I use a 1500W PSU, I assume I would need to run multiple leads (I’m thinking at least 8) out of the PSU to split up the load on each set of LEDs, as I would imagine I can’t daisy chain with only one output from the PSU. How do I determine how many meters I can run in sequence, or is that usually limited to the typical 5 meters that the LEDs spools come in? How do I determine what gauge cable to use for this?
3> Keep in mind I have to use a DMX decoder here after the PSU….how do I determine if the DMX decoder is capable of handling that many LEDs? I see them rated as “4 amps” or “8 amps” per channel. I’m guessing if I can’t find a DMX decoder with a high enough rating I will have to use 2x DMX decoders, each handling half the load and running the Data Out of one to the Data In of another?
4> If I can’t find a 1500w PSU, can I use maybe 2x 600w PSUs, with a separate DMX decoder in line behind each of them, splitting the load between them?
Hopefully this makes a little sense. I’m trying to understand if I’m grasping the basic concept behind how this all works….I come from a theater background and this is very new to me. Thank You in advance for any help!
Watts = Voltage x Current
If 1 meter consumes 24 watts at 24 volts then it needs 1 amp per meter. 40 meters will need 40 amps supplied plus 10% overhead.
Looks like you will need several 5 or 6 8 amp channels. Depending on if that 8 amp rating is continuous,
Power wire size will be determined by the distance of the wire and how many amps are running threw it. There are several online calculators that can help figure the proper size wire. You need to figure out how many decoders you need to use then find the proper power supply for each decoder with the current used and distance of wire for each.
I purchased a 1000 watt switching power supply from Aliexpress a few months back, cheapest place I could find and they have lots of different power and voltage ratings. I can’t give much help on the how the decoder works.
Just my 2 cents
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One limiting factor is how many strips you can link in series before the capacity of the printed circuit built into the LED strip becomes a factor for power transfer and signal transmission. You might ask the seller just how many can be daisy chained. It may be as little as two 5M strips before either power or signal loss becomes a problem. That’s been true for the IC 6803 strips I use. They run 60W, 12V, for 5M and require power injection at the beginning of each strip.
You can use an RGBW amplifier to apply signal and voltage to each new set of strips. The cheapest version of the RGBW amplifier is under $2 on eBay from an international seller but even though rated at 16A the signal is only good for 10 meters of strip. You supply power to the amp and connect the amp between strips using two 5-pin male adapters.
One more consideration is heat. Yes, LEDs do give off heat and you may need to find a way to dissipate heat if this is in and enclosed space. It is a very large number of LEDs in a small space, especially if it in and enclosure.