Can a Meanwell push enough V over 100' of 16 gauge wire with four 402 LEDs 20' apart?

My first flood light looks to be a success (just awaiting the 60 degree reflectors and plexiglass before I can mount).

Now I want to run a few single 402s down the driveway to replace the landscaping halogens I have in the trees. Right now I have seven 12V MR16 spots gently lighting up the driveway to the street, two 50W and five 20W. The wire already there is 16 gauge low voltage wire. The total wire run is about 180 feet.

What I'd like to do is have 1 centrally located 60W Meanwell, running 2 parallel circuits with four 402s in series each. One circuit would have 80 feet of wire, the other 100 feet. The LEDs would be about 20' apart in the trees about 20' up from the ground.

I know 12VAC has a lot of loss over distance, but with the higher DC voltage, I would be pushing 36VDC for the first 40, then 27V for the next 20, 18V, then 9V at the last LED 100' away.

Am I going to lose to much voltage over 100 feet? should I put up 12 gauge wire instead?

I'm really starting to like the light the LEDs put out at and I can customize it any way I want. I still have a large deck and a 20k s/f back yard to light up!

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/wiring/wire_resistance.html

Jumper the wires and measure the resistance of the wire.
Wire Gauge Resistance per foot

16 .00473

Copper wire resistance table

AWG Feet/Ohm Ohms/100ft Ampacity* mm^2 Meters/Ohm Ohms/100M 10 490.2 .204 30 2.588 149.5 .669 12 308.7 .324 20 2.053 94.1 1.06 14 193.8 .516 15 1.628 59.1 1.69 16 122.3 .818 10 1.291 37.3 2.68 18 76.8 1.30 5 1.024 23.4 4.27 20 48.1 2.08 3.3 0.812 14.7 6.82 22 30.3 3.30 2.1 0.644 9.24 10.8 24 19.1 5.24 1.3 0.511 5.82 17.2 26 12.0 8.32 0.8 0.405 3.66 27.3 28 7.55 13.2 0.5 0.321 2.30 43.4 These Ohms / Distance figures are for a round trip circuit. Specifications are for copper wire at 77 degrees Fahrenheit or 25 degrees Celsius.
Wire current handling capacity values

A/mm2 R/mohm/m I/A 6 3.0 55 10 1.8 76 16 1.1 105 25 0.73 140 35 0.52 173 50 0.38 205 70 0.27 265

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/wiring/wire_resistance.html

Copper wire resistance table

AWG Feet/Ohm Ohms/100ft Ampacity* mm^2 Meters/Ohm Ohms/100M

10 490.2 .204 30 2.588 149.5 .669
12 308.7 .324 20 2.053 94.1 1.06
14 193.8 .516 15 1.628 59.1 1.69
16 122.3 .818 10 1.291 37.3 2.68
18 76.8 1.30 5 1.024 23.4 4.27
20 48.1 2.08 3.3 0.812 14.7 6.82
22 30.3 3.30 2.1 0.644 9.24 10.8
24 19.1 5.24 1.3 0.511 5.82 17.2
26 12.0 8.32 0.8 0.405 3.66 27.3
28 7.55 13.2 0.5 0.321 2.30 43.4

Thanks for that site, they have a handy calculator.
I'll be losing about 1.2V for the 200' round trip over 16AWG.

The Meanwell LPC 60W-1.4A will always have a current of 1.4A, but the voltage will vary and is rated up to 42VDC output.
Remember there will be two parallel loops with four 402s each, so the amperage will be .7A on each loop.

If I have four 402 Bridgelux LEDs rated at 8.9Vf each, the total consumption for the LEDs is 35.6V. Now since the Meanwell will vary in voltage output and is rated for 42V, that should cover the 1.2V drop on 200' of wire, right? Meaning that all the LEDs will still consume their 8.9Vf and be just as bright as if they were only on a 5' wire?

Still learning, thanks for your patience!

egghead2004 said:

If I have four 402 Bridgelux LEDs rated at 8.9Vf each, the total consumption for the LEDs is 35.6V. Now since the Meanwell will vary in voltage output and is rated for 42V, that should cover the 1.2V drop on 200' of wire, right? Meaning that all the LEDs will still consume their 8.9Vf and be just as bright as if they were only on a 5' wire?

Still learning, thanks for your patience!

Click to expand...

You've got it. If the resistance of the wire tells you that the voltage drop on the wire is 1.2v, then the voltage of the LED String is 4*8.9v + 1.2v. Just make sure that it's 8.9Vf at 1.4 amps and you're set. You have about 3.7v headroom, but don't eat too far into that - get good solid connections at solder points and plugs.

Instead of plexi, use Lexan... if you can. It won't shatter....