Wireless LED and battery lighting for trucks - advice please

[musht]

C,mon guys, 10m of 30 led/m RGBW, (guess by current spec )and your up to 110Ah wet batteries...

People aren't dancing with lead acid batteries in their pockets

http://led-clothing.com/

Again ask OP if it's an issue with control that puts them off addressable LEDs?  or something else?

Edited May 19, 2023 by musht

[Barney]

Hi musht,
Thanks for your replies.

I'm not specifically against addressable LEDs, however the following are considerations for me in this case:
* I've never used them (or had to control them) so it would need a bit more effort on my part to get up and running
* All the LEDs will need to be on at the same time in the same colour, so the added complication of pixel tape seems unnecessary (?)
* I have all the RGBW LED tape and decoders etc already, so the only additional thing I need to get hold of is the 12V battery(s).

If there is a significant benefit to addressable tape in this case, I'd certainly look at it - if you have any thoughts that would be useful.

Guess I need to find some time to buy some new kit and start to play around with it!

Cheers,
Barney

[DrV]

An advantage of addressable tape is that the dimming is built in. However, as you already have dimmers available that's negated. Also the quiescent current drain of a length of addressable tape is likely to be higher than that of a dimmer, and of course it goes up with the length of tape, whereas with standard tape it is constant regardless of how long the tape is. It is fun to work with though so when you get a chance, buy a bit and have a play. We've just done a show with a lift in it and I made a very effective floor indicator! Easy 😁

[musht]

Appreciate the detailed reply ,genuinely interested in what issues people expect or experience.

 

* I've never used them (or had to control them) so it would need a bit more effort on my part to get up and running

Hardware is refreshingly simple, control integration getting idea is a problem(?), if your not running artnet/sACN natively seems an ask to add it just for some LEDs. A few controls have DMX controllable macros to call up a canned effect via DMX.

 

* All the LEDs will need to be on at the same time in the same colour, so the added complication of pixel tape seems unnecessary (?)

Pixel tape like moving lites dosen`t need to be flashing all the time, just because it can :-)

If it`s 2 runs of 5M straight off the reel ,only saving a couple of cores from driver to strip over pixel, start cutting the tape into chunks and pixel is less complicated. Heavy Power and Ground looped where convenient and light Data daisy chained thru. any length...

RGBW, 10m of 30/LEDs m (guess from previous spec) 5 cores of 0.5/.75 between each strip piece, double density of LED to 60/m ,10m is going to be max length before needing 5 core either end.

Beyond 10m, out of this topic, but in general need to move to additional drivers or RGB/W amps to stop colour droop on long runs, pixel regenerates data itself , just needs fed power at regular intervals and most importantly a solid well connected ground reference everywhere.

Bit of tie for RGBW there 😉.

 

* I have all the RGBW LED tape and decoders etc already

So do I..., it`s a bit like having racks of parcans and dimmers.  Would like to say high refresh rate dimming is better,  most pixels are fine even on HD cams, 16 Bit dimming , if you really need it , some pixels will do 12 bit.  4 and 5 core , lemon yellow white showing V drop, not sure entirely missing them, but they do make good colour tuneable white drivers, separate strips big diffuser, long fades, gotta find a use for them.

 

so the only additional thing I need to get hold of is the 12V battery(s).

Some of issues for 12V batteries been covered , lets have a look at 5V pixel as an alternative. 12V pixel also exists.

Taking use case of 10m 30 LED/m, 5m 150 LEDs, going to guess that in single colours , 150 is going to pull less than 2.1A at 5V at acceptable brightness, even with some dimming applied.

2.1A conveniently max out on port of standard USB power bank, so 2 ports of a single USB bank, or 2 banks , grounds linked should comfortably run 10m of tape, with a well protected , long run, easily charged, long shelf life battery (lead acid of any form cannae tick any of those boxes) Price competitive

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerCore-13000-Power-Bank-Black/dp/B00Z9UY65G/

Need more current on a single output, slight underrun at 4.6V but 4S (series) give a 10Ah NiMH battery ,similar money by time add battery holders

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-Rechargeable-Batteries-10000mAh-4-Pack/dp/B07PHCWNH1/

18650 Cells , 4.2 running down to 3.7V  can drop below reliable operating Voltage for pixels unless its really a few.

 

If there is a significant benefit to addressable tape in this case, I'd certainly look at it - if you have any thoughts that would be useful.

Portable, low LED count, 5V pixel offers wider choice of power source with safety and less waste generated would be biggest commendation. Have to work hard to get anything 5V to go on fire.

Bigger pixel counts, 12V means lot  less power injection, but its only the power pair that has go round. Do not have to work hard to get 12V  to start a fire.

Guess I need to find some time to buy some new kit and start to play around with it!

It`s not just the easier wiring and wider control possibilities, there`s more, order now and get a new set of steak knives, er,  actually it`s also the more interesting range of outlines 12mm pixels, pucks , pebbles , seeds etc.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004652066637.html

The impressive  WLED  software 

https://kno.wled.ge/ on a fiver ESP8266  will run artnet/sACN over wifi , up to complete ESP32 boards with onboard wired ethernet and fused power outputs , supported hardware section on site.

Some 5V tape and a USB power source is everything needed to experiment.

[sunray]

I've not handled pixel tape so unable to comment on any part of that.

 

However the fire risk of a battery is the fire risk of a battery and assuming similar technology of the 5V and 12V systems the fire risk is the same.

Secondly the power bank quoted is rated at 13Ah, my experience of this particular device is zero but have played with maybe 30 different powerbanks and not yet found any that are anywhere near their rated capacity especially when pushing to the 2/1A limit.

The worse offender being a 22Ah which was able to supply ~600mA for ~4-5 hours (3Ah).

 

I'll be delighted if others are able to demonstrated different experience with specific devices.

[musht]

Agree battery of any kind needs care with handling, lot of stored energy available. 

Downstream of battery, the cabling and connections,been my experience that 5V has enough energy to heat things but rarely ignite them, 12V can be fast enough to heat things to melting point/ ignition before over current protection cuts the power. Not a rule , just an observation.

Other way, 24V has ability to sustain an arc.

5V has its own issues with needing short runs and fat copper, voltage drop and solid grounding are real things.

Unless fuse it every 0.5m , have to allow reasonable protection size per run, which may not, er, discriminate a fault from standard operating procedure.

Anker have a excellent reputation for power banks, blotted copy book for their Eufy camera privacy scandal, but would expect their power banks to be close to sticker claim.

Fair point that pulling 4A from 13Ah bank may not get full 13Ah runtime.

[DrV]

If anyone is interested in my setup, it was a 7Ah 12v battery with a wireless dimmer attached, set in non-dim mode. This was supplying 600mm of 12V pixel tape and an Arduino Nano which was pre-programmed with the light sequence so all I had to do was turn it on and off. One of the other channels on the dimmer was supplying a length of ordinary white tape inside a light fitting made to look like a fluorescent. The lift was simply painted on the back of a box on wheels, with the indicator at the top and the front was a toilet cubicle with full size porcelain! The battery and the dimmer were stuffed down the loo, out of sight but easily accessible (with the wires coming out via the soil pipe). I hasten to add it was a brand new unused article😁 Whole thing worked a treat. Battery life was not an issue as the total watt-hours used was negligible.

[Jivemaster]

Sadly til we have the precise current draw required by the lights and control gear there is no way of accurately guessing the battery size required.

lead acid is a well known chemistry and almost fire safe. BUT they don't work well for deep discharges at a high rate. Both the capacity and the battery life decrease severely when expected to be used for sub hour discharges.

Better discharge characteristics will come from the various lithium chemistries BUT will need suitable electronic battery monitoring. LifePO4 cells seem to be the present choice for safety.