[Jeffdmc1]

Good afternoon.
After relocating the driver to a more centered location, I redid the calculations on the voltage drops. Very good exercise for the gray matter and certainly educational. Definitely have a better appreciation for the equipment and satisfying to know a little more of what’s going on.

The question now is, if the numbers add up to you, what voltage and wattage driver would be best in this application ?

Thank you,
Jeff

 

[Jeffdmc1]

Good afternoon.
After relocating the driver to a more centered location, I redid the calculations on the voltage drops. Very good exercise for the gray matter and certainly educational. Definitely have a better appreciation for the equipment and satisfying to know a little more of what’s going on.

The question now is, if the numbers add up to you, what voltage and wattage driver would be best in this application ?

Thank you,
Jeff

Im a little hesitant to ask, but did you see my last reply?

 

[RAL238]

Im a little hesitant to ask, but did you see my last reply?

I did see it, but got side tracked with some other things and haven't had a chance to check your numbers. I'll try to get to it later today.

 

[Jeffdmc1]

I did see it, but got side tracked with some other things and haven't had a chance to check your numbers. I'll try to get to it later today.

Thank you

 

[RAL238]

Im a little hesitant to ask, but did you see my last reply?

Your new layout is better than the previous one at evening out the voltage drops that each of the LED strips sees. You overlooked one step in calculating the voltage drops for some of the strips, but the resulting error is small because of the short lengths of the wires as well as the LED strips. With longer strips that would require more power or longer wire lengths, that error could be more significant.

When you calculate the voltage drop for a LED strip, you need to factor in the voltage drop that results from current that is used by any other LED strips that share any part of the wire all the way back to the power source.

The 30" and 36" strips are the simplest example here, with a common 3' wire feeding both. Each strip sees a voltage drop caused not only by its own current draw, but also caused by the current drawn by the other strip

Wire length: 3' x 2 = 6'
Ohms: 0.061
Current for 30" strip: 0,37A
Current for 36" strip: 0.44A
Total current: 0.81A (0.37A + 0.44A)
Total voltage drop: 0.0494V
Voltage that both strips receive: 23.95V

The 44" strip is a little more complicated, because the 6' wire segment closest to the driver carries current for both the 44" strip and the 14" strip, while the 10' segment closest to the 44" strip carries only the 44" strip's current.

Wire length that is unshared: 10' x 2 = 20'
Ohms: 0.203
Current for 44" strip: 0.53A
Voltage drop for this segment: 0.1076V

Wire length that is shared: 6' x 2 = 12'
Ohms: 0.1218
Current for 44" strip: 0.53A
Current for 14" strip: 0.17A
Total current for this segment: 0.7A
Voltage drop for this segment: 0.0853V

Total voltage drop across both segments: 0.0853 + 0.1076 = 0.193V
Voltage that the 44" strip receives: 23.81V

The calculation for the 14" strip is similar. It sees some voltage drop caused by the 44" strip sharing that common 6' segment of wire.

Overall, the differences in voltage drops here are very small. A difference of a few hundredths of a volt or even a few tenths of a volt in the total voltage drop isn't going to make much practical difference.

With these lengths of LED strips, you should be ok with a 24 Volt, 60W LED driver.

 

[Jeffdmc1]

Your new layout is better than the previous one at evening out the voltage drops that each of the LED strips sees. You overlooked one step in calculating the voltage drops for some of the strips, but the resulting error is small because of the short lengths of the wires as well as the LED strips. With longer strips that would require more power or longer wire lengths, that error could be more significant.

When you calculate the voltage drop for a LED strip, you need to factor in the voltage drop that results from current that is used by any other LED strips that share any part of the wire all the way back to the power source.

The 30" and 36" strips are the simplest example here, with a common 3' wire feeding both. Each strip sees a voltage drop caused not only by its own current draw, but also caused by the current drawn by the other strip

Wire length: 3' x 2 = 6'
Ohms: 0.061
Current for 30" strip: 0,37A
Current for 36" strip: 0.44A
Total current: 0.81A (0.37A + 0.44A)
Total voltage drop: 0.0494V
Voltage that both strips receive: 23.95V

The 44" strip is a little more complicated, because the 6' wire segment closest to the driver carries current for both the 44" strip and the 14" strip, while the 10' segment closest to the 44" strip carries only the 44" strip's current.

Wire length that is unshared: 10' x 2 = 20'
Ohms: 0.203
Current for 44" strip: 0.53A
Voltage drop for this segment: 0.1076V

Wire length that is shared: 6' x 2 = 12'
Ohms: 0.1218
Current for 44" strip: 0.53A
Current for 14" strip: 0.17A
Total current for this segment: 0.7A
Voltage drop for this segment: 0.0853V

Total voltage drop across both segments: 0.0853 + 0.1076 = 0.193V
Voltage that the 44" strip receives: 23.81V

The calculation for the 14" strip is similar. It sees some voltage drop caused by the 44" strip sharing that common 6' segment of wire.

Overall, the differences in voltage drops here are very small. A difference of a few hundredths of a volt or even a few tenths of a volt in the total voltage drop isn't going to make much practical difference.

With these lengths of LED strips, you should be ok with a 24 Volt, 60W LED driver.

View attachment 679827

Thank you so much.
I enjoyed doing the calculations and I will go back and get it right.Your explanation made sense.
Once again, I want to thank you for your expertise and patience. I’ll send you a photo when completed.
Take care,
Jeff

 

[Jeffdmc1]

Thank you so much.
I enjoyed doing the calculations and I will go back and get it right.Your explanation made sense.
Once again, I want to thank you for your expertise and patience. I’ll send you a photo when completed.
Take care,
Jeff

One other question:
Really don't gain much of anything by only running 1 wire to the 2 LED strips?
Maybe a little more time savings than running the 2 wires?

 

[RAL238]

One other question:
Really don't gain much of anything by only running 1 wire to the 2 LED strips?
Maybe a little more time savings than running the 2 wires?

In terms of reducing voltage drop, there is little to gain by running 2 wires to the 30" and 36" LED strips. They are so short and the current so low that it makes little real difference. The only reason I might run separate wires is to avoid making a splice underneath the cabinets where it might be visible or subject to damage. Many cabinets have some kind of lip on the bottom edge allowing the splice to be hidden to some degree and then a splice there wouldn't be much of a problem.

 

[Jeffdmc1]

In terms of reducing voltage drop, there is little to gain by running 2 wires to the 30" and 36" LED strips. They are so short and the current so low that it makes little real difference. The only reason I might run separate wires is to avoid making a splice underneath the cabinets where it might be visible or subject to damage. Many cabinets have some kind of lip on the bottom edge allowing the splice to be hidden to some degree and then a splice there wouldn't be much of a problem.
In terms of reducing voltage drop, there is little to gain by running 2 wires to the 30" and 36" LED strips. They are so short and the current so low that it makes little real difference. The only reason I might run separate wires is to avoid making a splice underneath the cabinets where it might be visible or subject to damage. Many cabinets have some kind of lip on the bottom edge allowing the splice to be hidden to some degree and then a splice there wouldn't be much of a problem.

Yes, I think running one 20/2 drop then pig tailing to the the individual strips will work. I have sufficient room to make secured connections.

1. What is an acceptable voltage drop at a last device?

2. Can this driver handle 3 back bones,instead of the current 2, if there was a significant voltage drop or would that even help?

3. When would raising the driver wattage help in reducing voltage drop?

4. The LED strips have a total of 46.7 watts, I assume that is when on the highest setting of the dimmer switch. How does the 46 watts relate the 60 watts maximum of this driver?
Is there like an 80% rule when calculating whether the driver has sufficient wattage?

When you’ve had enough of my questions, please indicate. I have thick skin and very much grateful for your help.
Thanks as always.

 

[RAL238]

Yes, I think running one 20/2 drop then pig tailing to the the individual strips will work. I have sufficient room to make secured connections.

1. What is an acceptable voltage drop at a last device?

2. Can this driver handle 3 back bones,instead of the current 2, if there was a significant voltage drop or would that even help?

3. When would raising the driver wattage help in reducing voltage drop?

4. The LED strips have a total of 46.7 watts, I assume that is when on the highest setting of the dimmer switch. How does the 46 watts relate the 60 watts maximum of this driver?
Is there like an 80% rule when calculating whether the driver has sufficient wattage?

When you’ve had enough of my questions, please indicate. I have thick skin and very much grateful for your help.
Thanks as always.

1. The acceptable voltage drop will depend on the particular LED strip and how it is designed. Most can tolerate some voltage drop, and I would say that if you are within 3% of the nominal voltage of 24V, it should be fine. Check with Flexfire to see what they say,

2. There is no limit to how many backbones you can connect. Having more is better in that it will reduce the current that each one carries, and reduce the voltage drop. Some drivers have terminals that can take more than one or two wires. If you have more that that to connect, bundle the wires with a wire nut or crimp connector and use a pigtail from the bundle to connect to the driver. A short length of wire for the pigtail won't have any significant voltage drop.

3. A driver with higher wattage won't affect voltage drop. The driver will put out 24V, and will keep it at that level at its output terminals. The LED strips will draw only as much current as they need. A higher wattage driver can deliver more current to its output, but the LED strips won't use it as their design limits how much they can draw. The only thing that a higher wattage driver would be good for is powering additional (or longer) LED strips.

4. Yes, the 46.7W is based on the LED strips receiving 24V and being allowed to draw their maximum current, giving maximum brightness. There are resistors on the LED strips which prevent the LEDs from drawing too much, which would burn them out. When the dimmer is set to less than 100%, the driver reduces the power it delivers to the LEDs by pulsing the output at a high speed so that your eye can't see the pulses, but will perceive that they are less bright. This is called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM).

Although the driver can provide up to 60W of power, the LED strips will only use the 46.7W that they need and the driver will not be fully loaded. A good quality 60W driver should be able to deliver 60W all day long without a problem, but it's good practice not to load the driver right up to its limit. That allows for some margin of error in the power requirements for the LEDs, or minor changes in the lengths of the strips.
Having 20% of unused capacity is a reasonable place to be, but it's not a hard and fast rule. If your LED strips were much over 50W, then I'd go the next step up to a 75W or 96W driver.

 

[Jeffdmc1]

1. The acceptable voltage drop will depend on the particular LED strip and how it is designed. Most can tolerate some voltage drop, and I would say that if you are within 3% of the nominal voltage of 24V, it should be fine. Check with Flexfire to see what they say,

2. There is no limit to how many backbones you can connect. Having more is better in that it will reduce the current that each one carries, and reduce the voltage drop. Some drivers have terminals that can take more than one or two wires. If you have more that that to connect, bundle the wires with a wire nut or crimp connector and use a pigtail from the bundle to connect to the driver. A short length of wire for the pigtail won't have any significant voltage drop.

3. A driver with higher wattage won't affect voltage drop. The driver will put out 24V, and will keep it at that level at its output terminals. The LED strips will draw only as much current as they need. A higher wattage driver can deliver more current to its output, but the LED strips won't use it as their design limits how much they can draw. The only thing that a higher wattage driver would be good for is powering additional (or longer) LED strips.

4. Yes, the 46.7W is based on the LED strips receiving 24V and being allowed to draw their maximum current, giving maximum brightness. There are resistors on the LED strips which prevent the LEDs from drawing too much, which would burn them out. When the dimmer is set to less than 100%, the driver reduces the power it delivers to the LEDs by pulsing the output at a high speed so that your eye can't see the pulses, but will perceive that they are less bright. This is called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM).

Although the driver can provide up to 60W of power, the LED strips will only use the 46.7W that they need and the driver will not be fully loaded. A good quality 60W driver should be able to deliver 60W all day long without a problem, but it's good practice not to load the driver right up to its limit. That allows for some margin of error in the power requirements for the LEDs, or minor changes in the lengths of the strips.
Having 20% of unused capacity is a reasonable place to be, but it's not a hard and fast rule. If your LED strips were much over 50W, then I'd go the next step up to a 75W or 96W driver.

Thank you for the education. It’s great to go along and install different electrical devices safely but having a better understanding completes the experience

I wish you well in your endeavors and please stay safe. Thank you for passing along your knowledge.

Jeff Knecht

 

[RAL238]

Thank you for the education. It’s great to go along and install different electrical devices safely but having a better understanding completes the experience

I wish you well in your endeavors and please stay safe. Thank you for passing along your knowledge.

Jeff Knecht

I'm glad to be able to help.

A couple more comments about your plans. I think originally you said that you were going with an aluminum channel to mount the LED strips, along with frosted plastic covers. In my own installation, I was undecided about clear vs frosted covers. I sort of liked the idea of frosted covers because I thought they would diffuse the light from the individual LEDs and make things look like a nice, even bar of light, similar to a fluorescent tube. Since our countertops are polished stone and highly reflective, I preferred not to see all the little dots of the LEDs.

While the frosted covers hide the LEDs when turned off, when the LEDs are on, you see every individual one, as if the covers were transparent. Since the frosted finish decreases the light output a bit, I decide that I might as well go with clear covers and get the most light output.

I mounted the channels along the front edge of the recessed bottom of the cabinet. That gives the best lighting over the entire counter top (front to back) and also lights up the backsplash very well.

 

[Jeffdmc1]

I'm glad to be able to help.

A couple more comments about your plans. I think originally you said that you were going with an aluminum channel to mount the LED strips, along with frosted plastic covers. In my own installation, I was undecided about clear vs frosted covers. I sort of liked the idea of frosted covers because I thought they would diffuse the light from the individual LEDs and make things look like a nice, even bar of light, similar to a fluorescent tube. Since our countertops are polished stone and highly reflective, I preferred not to see all the little dots of the LEDs.

While the frosted covers hide the LEDs when turned off, when the LEDs are on, you see every individual one, as if the covers were transparent. Since the frosted finish decreases the light output a bit, I decide that I might as well go with clear covers and get the most light output.

I mounted the channels along the front edge of the recessed bottom of the cabinet. That gives the best lighting over the entire counter top (front to back) and also lights up the backsplash very well.

Good info. Dots are a concern of mine and installing strips near the front, I’ve read, is the way to go, maybe with a slight angle toward the back wall. We are looking more for ambient rather than task lighting. I believe the “matte” finish diffuses the dots better than the frosted with an understanding the matte tubes will cut down on the light.
We like the warm white 3500K-4000K and most times dimmed down to 75%.

What K value are your lights?

Thinking about your previous reply,
if running, say 3 back bones, is doable, wouldn’t that give you more piece of mind in regards to potential voltage drop? It’s.really not anymore work to wire nut an additional cable with 2 conductors, as long as, you have the space and concealment?

Up late tonight talking with my son in AZ.
Need more hours in a day, even though retired.

Take care.

 

[RAL238]

Good info. Dots are a concern of mine and installing strips near the front, I’ve read, is the way to go, maybe with a slight angle toward the back wall. We are looking more for ambient rather than task lighting. I believe the “matte” finish diffuses the dots better than the frosted with an understanding the matte tubes will cut down on the light.
We like the warm white 3500K-4000K and most times dimmed down to 75%.

What K value are your lights?

Thinking about your previous reply,
if running, say 3 back bones, is doable, wouldn’t that give you more piece of mind in regards to potential voltage drop? It’s.really not anymore work to wire nut an additional cable with 2 conductors, as long as, you have the space and concealment?

Up late tonight talking with my son in AZ.
Need more hours in a day, even though retired.

Take care.

Running 3 backbones gives you the best outcome in terms over voltage drop. I wouldn't say it is neccesary in your case, but there isn't any reason not to do it that way.

At first, seeing the dots of the LEDs reflected in the counter bothered me, but I've gotten used to it. They are only visible when you are close to the counter. If the frosted cover had made a nice, even line of light, I would have been able to see that, too, so I guess it's just a matter of what you are used to.

I experimented with mounting the strips in different positions and at different angles. Since I wanted to be able to use them for task lighting, I wanted the entire counter to be evenly illuminated. I tried mounting them at an angle towards the back, but aiming them that way left the front edge of the counter dark, and created a reflection of the LEDs in the backsplash. I wound up using a Klus Giza channel, which is shallow in depth, but about twice as wide as I needed. The reason for this is that the LED strips have a wide dispersion angle, and the wide, shallow channel prevents the edges of the channel from casting a shadow.

The LEDs I installed are the tunable white strips. My wife and I couldn't agree on what color temperature we liked, so this gave us something we could both be happy with. They can be varied from 2700K to 6200K. Most of the time, they are set to around 4400K.

 

[Jeffdmc1]

Running 3 backbones gives you the best outcome in terms over voltage drop. I wouldn't say it is neccesary in your case, but there isn't any reason not to do it that way.

At first, seeing the dots of the LEDs reflected in the counter bothered me, but I've gotten used to it. They are only visible when you are close to the counter. If the frosted cover had made a nice, even line of light, I would have been able to see that, too, so I guess it's just a matter of what you are used to.

I experimented with mounting the strips in different positions and at different angles. Since I wanted to be able to use them for task lighting, I wanted the entire counter to be evenly illuminated. I tried mounting them at an angle towards the back, but aiming them that way left the front edge of the counter dark, and created a reflection of the LEDs in the backsplash. I wound up using a Klus Giza channel, which is shallow in depth, but about twice as wide as I needed. The reason for this is that the LED strips have a wide dispersion angle, and the wide, shallow channel prevents the edges of the channel from casting a shadow.

The LEDs I installed are the tunable white strips. My wife and I couldn't agree on what color temperature we liked, so this gave us something we could both be happy with. They can be varied from 2700K to 6200K. Most of the time, they are set to around 4400K.

Tunable K might be the ticket.
Is the K that you desire, set to a fixed position via a remote and the dimmer controls the Lumens? I like the idea of tunable K because every counter environment is different and difficult to figure out what will work for an individual’s taste.
Also, a wider channel does give more flexibility.

Once again I’m beating a project into the ground. It’s a disease and at times I wish that I could just wing it,

Thanks as always!

 

[RAL238]

Tunable K might be the ticket.
Is the K that you desire, set to a fixed position via a remote and the dimmer controls the Lumens? I like the idea of tunable K because every counter environment is different and difficult to figure out what will work for an individual’s taste.
Also, a wider channel does give more flexibility.

Once again I’m beating a project into the ground. It’s a disease and at times I wish that I could just wing it,

Thanks as always!

The tunable feature adds another level of complexity to things. The LED strip has both 2700K and 6200K LEDs, with separate power connections to provide the tunable range by brightening one set of LEDs while dimming the other. To do that, you need two different "channels" for power, one for each LED type, and also 3 conductor wire instead of just two. It uses a controller between the driver and LED strips to create the two channels. The controller has a wireless remote to set the brightness level of each "color" LED to give you anything between 2700K and 6200K.

The downside is that, at the time I installed mine, you couldn't use a conventional 120VAC dimmer to dim things as the controller provides both the dimming function as well as setting the color temp level. I think that is still the case.

The wireless remote is available in handheld, wall mounted or countertop versions. It uses a coin battery for power, which lasts for a year or more. I wall mounted mine. I just didn't need another remote lying around and getting lost.

The color temperature can really make a difference in the appearance of the room. There are so many options with this stuff, you can drive yourself crazy trying to decide which way to go. I considered ordering a few 1' or 2' strips of various LED color temps and experimenting to see what I liked. But having the tunable strips seemed like more fun.

 

[Jeffdmc1]

The tunable feature adds another level of complexity to things. The LED strip has both 2700K and 6200K LEDs, with separate power connections to provide the tunable range by brightening one set of LEDs while dimming the other. To do that, you need two different "channels" for power, one for each LED type, and also 3 conductor wire instead of just two. It uses a controller between the driver and LED strips to create the two channels. The controller has a wireless remote to set the brightness level of each "color" LED to give you anything between 2700K and 6200K.

The downside is that, at the time I installed mine, you couldn't use a conventional 120VAC dimmer to dim things as the controller provides both the dimming function as well as setting the color temp level. I think that is still the case.

The wireless remote is available in handheld, wall mounted or countertop versions. It uses a coin battery for power, which lasts for a year or more. I wall mounted mine. I just didn't need another remote lying around and getting lost.

The color temperature can really make a difference in the appearance of the room. There are so many options with this stuff, you can drive yourself crazy trying to decide which way to go. I considered ordering a few 1' or 2' strips of various LED color temps and experimenting to see what I liked. But having the tunable strips seemed like more fun.

This is getting above my pay grade because I don’t understand it very well, but I’d lie to learn.

I think you are indicating that the 20/3 wire is run from the controll to each LED strips. The LED strips have 3 connection points, same as the strips I’m considering but with one more connecting wire.

Tuner or controller is controlled by the remote unit and it is used to “set” the K level and also adjust the Lumens-brightness as desired

Is there a driver and controller?

Does the 20/3 wire increase the voltage drop and a higher wattage driver is needed?.

 

[RAL238]

This is getting above my pay grade because I don’t understand it very well, but I’d lie to learn.

I think you are indicating that the 20/3 wire is run from the controll to each LED strips. The LED strips have 3 connection points, same as the strips I’m considering but with one more connecting wire.

Tuner or controller is controlled by the remote unit and it is used to “set” the K level and also adjust the Lumens-brightness as desired

Is there a driver and controller?

Does the 20/3 wire increase the voltage drop and a higher wattage driver is needed?.

With the tunable white strips, there is still a driver and the controller is a separate unit. I used a Mean Well non-dimmable driver, since the controller does the dimming.

You would run a 2-wire cable from the driver to the controller, and then use 3-wire cables from the controller to the LED strips.

Plain, static white strips that aren't tunable have just two connection points, +24V and ground ("+" and "-" as the are marked on the LED strip).

With the tunable white strips, you can think of it as two LED strips in one. The first is a 2700K strip of LEDs and the second is a 6200K strip. Each has its own "-" connection point, and they share a common "+" connection point, for a total of 3 wire connections per strip.

Things get a little complicated in terms of lumens, wattage and voltage drop.

The tunable strip is spec'd at 4.4W per foot and 494 lumens per foot. That's 2.2W worth of 2700K LEDs and 2.2W of 6200K, with each type delivering about half of the 494 lumens. If you were to connect the 3 connection points straight back to the driver, with no controller/dimmer, it would draw 4.4W and provide 494 lumens.

But it works a little differently with the controller. If you set the controller to 2700K, those LEDs would be at full brightness and the 6200K LEDs would be off. At 6200K, the opposite would be true. But you would only get about 250 lumens per foot at those two points, and it would be running at 2.2W since half the LEDs are off.

To keep the brightness and lumen output constant as you change the color temp, the controller dims one set while it brightens the other. At the middle setting, each set of LEDs is half on, consuming 1/2 of their full power of 2.2W. And at any setting, the full strip uses a maximum of 2.2W per foot and you get only about 250 lm per foot.

Voltage drop is also more complicated. When there is no controller/dimmer, the "+" wire carries the full 4.4W/ft current (0.183A). But since there are two "-" wires, each "-" wire has to carry only half of that. So the total voltage drop would be just 75% of what it would be with with a static white strip. So you are actually better off in terms of voltage drop than you would be with a static white strip and a 2-wire connection.

When you have the controller/dimmer, then the maximum power it actually runs at is 2.2W per foot. The current on the "+" wire would be 0.092A and the voltage drop would be 75% of what it would be for a 2.2W static white strip.

In selecting the wattage of a driver to use with the controller/dimmer, you should match it to the power the strips will actually operate at rather than based on their maximum spec. Otherwise, you will end up with a larger driver than you really need. If you forget to do that, it won't hurt anything, but you may end up with a larger driver than necessary.

 

[Jeffdmc1]

With the tunable white strips, there is still a driver and the controller is a separate unit. I used a Mean Well non-dimmable driver, since the controller does the dimming.

You would run a 2-wire cable from the driver to the controller, and then use 3-wire cables from the controller to the LED strips.

Plain, static white strips that aren't tunable have just two connection points, +24V and ground ("+" and "-" as the are marked on the LED strip).

With the tunable white strips, you can think of it as two LED strips in one. The first is a 2700K strip of LEDs and the second is a 6200K strip. Each has its own "-" connection point, and they share a common "+" connection point, for a total of 3 wire connections per strip.

Things get a little complicated in terms of lumens, wattage and voltage drop.

The tunable strip is spec'd at 4.4W per foot and 494 lumens per foot. That's 2.2W worth of 2700K LEDs and 2.2W of 6200K, with each type delivering about half of the 494 lumens. If you were to connect the 3 connection points straight back to the driver, with no controller/dimmer, it would draw 4.4W and provide 494 lumens.

But it works a little differently with the controller. If you set the controller to 2700K, those LEDs would be at full brightness and the 6200K LEDs would be off. At 6200K, the opposite would be true. But you would only get about 250 lumens per foot at those two points, and it would be running at 2.2W since half the LEDs are off.

To keep the brightness and lumen output constant as you change the color temp, the controller dims one set while it brightens the other. At the middle setting, each set of LEDs is half on, consuming 1/2 of their full power of 2.2W. And at any setting, the full strip uses a maximum of 2.2W per foot and you get only about 250 lm per foot.

Voltage drop is also more complicated. When there is no controller/dimmer, the "+" wire carries the full 4.4W/ft current (0.183A). But since there are two "-" wires, each "-" wire has to carry only half of that. So the total voltage drop would be just 75% of what it would be with with a static white strip. So you are actually better off in terms of voltage drop than you would be with a static white strip and a 2-wire connection.

When you have the controller/dimmer, then the maximum power it actually runs at is 2.2W per foot. The current on the "+" wire would be 0.092A and the voltage drop would be 75% of what it would be for a 2.2W static white strip.

In selecting the wattage of a driver to use with the controller/dimmer, you should match it to the power the strips will actually operate at rather than based on their maximum spec. Otherwise, you will end up with a larger driver than you really need. If you forget to do that, it won't hurt anything, but you may end up with a larger driver than necessary.

I will ask FireFlex what tuner strips are available and their compatible driver and controller.
The controller, I imagine, can run multiple backbones.

Thank You

 

[Jeffdmc1]

I will ask FireFlex what tuner strips are available and their compatible driver and controller.
The controller, I imagine, can run multiple backbones.

Thank You

Hi Ral2
Well, I finally received my order and I have to say that it's been a grind. I've run into a few problems, discussed them with FlexFire.

I ORDERED THE DYNAMIC TUNABLE WHITE SERIES, MEAN WELL LPV DRIVER, WIRELESS CONTROLLER AND RECEIVER.

THE GRIP SC C1 10 PROVED TO BE TOO DIFFICULT FOR ME TO INSTALL THE 3 WIRES. I WENT AHEAD AND ORDERED THE GRIP SOLDERLESS CONNECTOR THAT HAS THE 3 WIRES FACTORY-INSTALLED, THINKING THEY WOULD HELP ME OUT.

I CONNECTED THE 1ST BACKBONE WHICH HAS A 39" AND 14" LED STRIP AND THEY WORKED GREAT. THE WIRELESS UNIT WORKED PERFECTLY.
NEXT, I CONNECTED TO THE 1ST LED STRIP OF THE 2ND BACKBONE. POWERED IT UP AND ON BOTH BACKBONES ONLY HAVE A CONSTANT BRIGHT LIGHT BUT UNABLE TO DIM OR CHANGE COLOR. I HELD THE BUTTON DOWN ON THE RECEIVER AND IT IS COMMUNICATING WITH THE LED STRIPS.

INITIALLY, I CUT ABOUT 10 INCHES OFF THE LED REEL WHICH INCLUDED THE FACTORY LEAD ATTACHED TO THE STRIP. I DID THIS TO PRE-TEST BEFORE ATTACHING THE REAL WIRES.
I HOOKED THIS UP AT ALL 3 LED SIGHTS BUT HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. THIS MAY POINT TO THE PROBLEM BEING WITH THE DRIVER, BALLAST OR WIRELESS UNIT.
OF COURSE, I AM ALWAYS THINKING PILOT ERROR BUT I HAVE CHECKED ALL THE CONNECTIONS MANY TIMES INCLUDING OUTLET VOLTAGE CHECK, CHANGING OUT THE COIN BATTERY ON THE REMOTE UNIT AND ISOLATING THE LED STRIPS,

WHAT REALLY STYMIES ME IS THAT THE 1ST BACKBONE WORKED GREAT. I TURNED OFF THE BREAKER FOR THE 2ND BACKBONE, HOOKED IT UP AND BIG NOTHING.

YOUR THOUGHTS WOULD BE MOST WELCOMED.

ONE THING THAT A TECH POINTED OUT WAS NOT TO CUT IN BETWEEN THE COPPER TABS WHEN INSTALLING THE 3 WIRE GRIP. THE DYNAMIC GRIP NEEDS MORE CONTACT SPACE THAN THE ACCENT SERIES.

HOPE YOU ARE WELL AND THANKS FOR LISTENING TO MY WHINING.
JEFF