crazyshaun Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 A client.has asked me for a 100M led white light to run around there outside of the building, sounds simple enough but they want it 12V powers any suggestions I know I could use led strips but the ones I know only have a maximum length of 10M and running 10 strips with power extension wire seems a costly and time consuming job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 EL wire ? *edit* I think the BR is broken - try as I might, I can't make the above into a clickable link. What I was trying to link to was http://www.surelight.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenalien Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Each 10m LED strip needs its own power connection - LEDs may be individually frugal with power, but put them in multiples on a flexible strip and the current soon adds up. The mounting ribbon can only handle a certain amount of current, and they can't usually be extended without feeding in extra power at regular intervals. You can buy 12v 20A switch-mode PSUs from China via Ebay for around £15, or use a surplus computer PSU. You'll need to put the PSU in a waterproof enclosure, and run separate 12v power to each strip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 seems a costly and time consuming job EL just isn`t bright enough. Common 60 5050 LEDs/m runs at 14.4W/m * 100 = 1440W @ 12V = 120A White LED rope a possible alternative but believe Clive has had some problems with longetivity with even big brand product. Old school method would be white cold cathode, glass tube , a relative of neon. Executive summary it is a costly and time consuming job..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyshaun Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 The led strip with power amplifier is my main thought at the moment, the pay idea sounds great however my problem with this is I have to power the lights from a 1000A battery so a 240V source for power isn't available Psu not pay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam2 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 100M of lighting that is bright enough to meet your needs will involve a fair bit of power.I have used LED light strip and been impressed with the light output, but 100M is a significant purchase cost and electrical load. I installed LED strip at work.Each 6M length used 30 watts, you will need (nearly) 17 lengths, so that is about 500 watts at 12 volts, or just over 40 amps.It would certainly be possible to power that lot from from a big enough battery, but you will need a big battery and some thick cables.A 1,000 AH battery would power it for 20 hours and a leave a small margin. 12 volt 1,000AH batteries are not readily available, though of course you could use a number of smaller ones. There are two main sorts of 12 volt LED light strip, some have a miniaturised regulator circuit for each group of 3 LEDS, these give constant light over a range of voltage from about 10 volts up to about 14 volts.The cheaper ones use a simple dropper resistance per group of 3 LEDs. The regulated sort gives some saving in cable since a bit more voltage drop is permissable.The non regulated sort has the advantage that two similar lengths may be connected in series on a 24 volt supply, if available. Whatever sort you use, each length should be fused at say 5 amps, and if useing a large battery also protect the battery leads with a main fuse of perhaps 50 or 60 amps as close as possible to the battery positive terminal. There is no significant electric shock risk at these low voltages, but there is a real fire risk if no or grossly oversized fuses are used.Take great care with large or multiple batteries, a mistake can kill, not by electric shock but by burns or explosion. Depending on the circumstances, you might be better off useing the purpose made LED power supplies, one for each length of LED strip, and a small generator if no mains supply is available.For short term use, a vehicle with the engine running is a possibility, the voltage will be about 14 volts which gives a bit more of a margin for voltage drop than does a discharging battery at 12 volts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 White LED rope: http://www.thomann.de/gb/eurolite_rubberlight_led_rl1_white_44m.htm 230V but at 2.93W/m under 300W for 100m run,though need 230V extensions for 3 runs, use a 12 to 230 inverter on your battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigclive Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 The led strip with power amplifier is my main thought at the moment, the pay idea sounds great however my problem with this is I have to power the lights from a 1000A battery so a 240V source for power isn't available Psu not pay Can you elaborate on why the 100m run of white LED strip needs to be run off a battery? That would involve a heavy 12V bus system with suitably protected taps. The flat LED strip widely sold as being waterproof isn't. Even the expensive versions have an issue with water permeability and internal corrosion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Google for flexible LED neon. This stuff consists of LEDs in an overall waterproof flexible covering. It can be mounted using some sort of track. The LEDs are wired in series in chunks, with power tracks running the length of the material. This means you can only cut it at the marked cut points, as we found out the hard way. They seem to have a little magic box between power and the strip. We used it for a sign, made like a bagatelle board with nails with the strip between the nails. For an example on of this material on AliExpress, see here, link may not be durable. But searching for flexible led neon will find the stuff. Distributing 12V over 100m will result in massive voltage drop unless you use copper the size of your arm, or will need many batteries distributed. A couple of centrally placed big batteries and inverters to go to mains with "normal" wiring will be much less hssle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xllx Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Is this a temporary or long term feature? GE do a really nice product for exactly this sort of thing, Tetra Contour, used extensively in the lighting of Tower Bridge in London. http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/emea/projects/tower-bridge.jsp I was involved with a related project this summer, and we used a lot of it. It's designed for long term use outdoors (IP66), and is really easy to install, bright and looks good, however it isn't cheap... Contour is 24v, so could be battery powered if you really wish to, but as others have mentioned, you really have to look carefully at your cable sizing and fusing etc. It's about 10w/metre, so you are looking at 1000w at 24v which is about 40A. http://catalog.gelighting.com/files/PDF/98233_led_tetra_contour_data_sheet_en.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Have a look at outdoor garden led rope lights fed from solar. These have rechargeable batteries so you could distribute them around the building as autonomous strips with provision to trickle charge them when needed. This will cut down the size of low voltage cabling required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 http://www.terralec.co.uk/rope_lights_and_accessories/48m_led_beanlight/31544_p.html it's mains though but a 48m reel to IP44 does begin to make the job sound possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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