my P4s came in yesterday and I got a chance to play with them today. Darnit, even a P4 is friggin bright for a top cabinet. For kicks, I ran 3p off an 800ma driver and they are still too bright. I'm thinking maybe 100ma may be the ticket. Have to wait for my 7135s to come in and run one of those 3p at 350ma. What current are you guys running your upper and lower cabinet leds at?
P4 Cabinet lights and Current
- Thread starter lonesouth
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Illum
Flashaholic
though never actually installed any in place, I find a warm or neutral white CREE XR-E at around 100-150ma to be an okay range for accent lighting, plus you get to save alot on heatsinking.
I ran my test LEDs off a salvaged 5V 1.5A wall wort... at 3.6V, 100ma 15 ohm resistor, at 150ma use 10 ohm resistor
I ran my test LEDs off a salvaged 5V 1.5A wall wort... at 3.6V, 100ma 15 ohm resistor, at 150ma use 10 ohm resistor
Illum
Flashaholic
just the star?!
I'd leave it at 100ma max
I'd leave it at 100ma max
shortstack
Enlightened
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check out my thread https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/220488
got everything wired up today, 2s2p XR-E P4s running from 2x 800ma drivers giving roughly 400ma to each LED. After looking at it for a little, I think my earlier assumption that they would be too bright is not accurate. I they need to be diffused more than they need to be lowered. I also need to add one more and switch to a Xitanium 350ma and just just run 5s. I am currently using Cat5e for my runs, but am unsure about permanent use. Cat5e is normally a signal cable and may not be intended for power, but at the same time I have heard of power of ethernet(POE), so I must assume that there are some power applications. What do you guys use for your power runs, what are your thoughts on Cat5e?
jeffosborne
Enlightened
I use all cat5 cable to connect 21 LEDs installed around my home. They are wired as 7 sets of 3 wired in series, mostly Rebel neutral whites. Many runs are 40-60 feet in length. For the longest runs, I do double-up the wires by using both conductors of a pair as a single conductor, so 2 of the 4 pairs are one feed. This reduces the resistance (and voltage drop) by half, naturally. 5 of the sets run at 400ma, and the other 2 at 100ma. These lights serve as accent lights, and night lights. The system is normally AC powered, but switches to a sealed lead-acid battery when power fails. Here's one LED light that is mounted to the bottom nipple of a chandelier over the stairs.
And here's the LED before I soldered the wires to it, and screwed it onto the chandelier.
CAT5 works great!
Cheers,
Jeff O.
And here's the LED before I soldered the wires to it, and screwed it onto the chandelier.
CAT5 works great!
Cheers,
Jeff O.
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bshanahan14rulz
Flashlight Enthusiast
Good tip. Just got a bunch of leftover cat6 segments for free :twothumbs
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I used a bunch of cat5 to wire some LEDs in the garage. Eventually the wires broke.
I don't know if that was due to slight vibrations or what... but I'm very hesitant to use it anymore- I've switched to multistranded silicone wire instead.
blasterman
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I typically use either cheap speaker wire or zip/lamp cord (which is approx 18 gauge) - whatever I can find cheaper.
Cat5 should have no problem running LEDs, provided you take it's high resistance into account. It's was popular as an alternative for high end speaker cables for awhile.
Doing some rough math, four individual strands of Cat5 kinda equal 18gauge. [Somebody correct my math of it's wrong]. So, you could use 4 segments to deliver current and 4 to return on a long run, and it probably work fine. I would avoid using RJ-45 jacks on the end and simply twist/solder the ends together for better contact.
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bshanahan14rulz
Flashlight Enthusiast
And good to know on that 4 strands paralleled info :thumbsup: Now I can be more sure of the safety of my fixture. Just gotta convince gf
a lot of times it is easier to find a new girlfriend than run a new cable.
I think i'll be ordering a xitanium 350ma 12watt to run the uplights. I'm leaning toward a dimmable for the the undercabinet lights. I think I may want to try some warm white for the downlights, what are your thoughts on cool white up and warm white down. I figured the downlights will be more functional and the warm white would be better for rendition?
Illum
Flashaholic
just wondering but what current were you running through them?
If only that was true everywhere:tired:
its both easier and convenient to switch AC at the source rather than to run a pair of DC carrying wires to your existing AC fixture. Not many electricians knows or uses DC around here because its a different electrical code.
Xitanium drivers are my preferred drivers because it only requires me to take the wires out of the existing lamp socket, trim to size and stuff it in the AC side [observe correct polarity both on the AC and DC side]. When you buy your xitaniums, buy them in pairs because the DC connector cable they sale has the connector on both ends. I'm not sure why they are designed as such as some idiot could plug both ends into two xitaniums and basically feed power from one xitanium against another.
Failure from overcurrent can cause fires...so be as conservative as you can while your sizing the wire gauge, especially if your using extensions.
While there are dimmable xitaniums around 1000ma or so I know of none that has the capability in the 350ma region. I would not recommend the use of a potentiometer or a DC Rheostat to dim LEDs if your source input power is current regulated...I dunno how xitaniums sense what voltage to produce but something tells me a resistor somewhere might offset the sensing capability
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it looks like the dimmable xitaniums use PWM to dim rather than current limit. They operate off 0-10v mark7 dimming, an older but still prevalent method. Hunt Dimming looks to be the best place to get one of these dimmers, so I've contact them for a brochure and price sheet. We'll see, I'm waiting to hear back from them so I can order my xitaniums at the same time to save on shipping.
blasterman
Flashlight Enthusiast
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Uh, there's a rulebook?
But, here's a rough chart that seems to give the most common numbers.
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
Problem is, voltage *is* relevant, but it's difficult to determine how much because most of the data assumes 120volts, or even broader yet, RMS values.
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Illum
Flashaholic
well wiring is simple part, you should read up on "grounding" and "switching" DC. AC switches just open the hot line, ground is still connected, do that with high voltage DC and you'll get hit with a dose of heavy spark 
Here's an update. I ran the tops off a digital camera charger and two 800ma drivers, one driver got 3p, the other 2p. I couldn't really tell a difference from the 2 compared to the 3. This weekend I took some time to replace the DIY stuff with a xitanium 350ma and install the bottom lights with another x350ma. Top and bottom are controlled separately. I'm very happy with how they turned out. The wife said they look MUCH better than she expected, thanks for that sweetie.
the switch to the left of the cookie jar controls power to the xitaniums.
the switch to the left of the cookie jar controls power to the xitaniums.
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