Just a word of caution if using the dimmer function, the dimmer works by reducing voltage to the LED. Many LED's including strip lighting are designed to run at a specific voltage, normally 12 to 14 volts and reducing/increasing the voltage can damage them. Apart from that using the remote for an on/off switch is OK and at that price it's a nice find.
kiwijims said
11:08 PM Dec 15, 2015
madaboutled wrote:
Just a word of caution if using the dimmer function, the dimmer works by reducing voltage to the LED. Many LED's including strip lighting are designed to run at a specific voltage, normally 12 to 14 volts and reducing/increasing the voltage can damage them. Apart from that using the remote for an on/off switch is OK and at that price it's a nice find.
G'day madaboutled, Yes I can imagine you could do damage to the LED's by increasing the voltage over their designed rating but,
Would you do damage to them if they were run at below voltage,??? to my way of thinking, they probably would not run too well at low voltage, The LED light that I have outside the caravan is capable of handling anything up to and including 24v, so far I haven't had any problem using this controller, although it hasn't been in use that long at this stage, time will tell.
K.J.
madaboutled said
01:09 AM Dec 16, 2015
There are 2 "flavours" of LED, Dimable and Non-Dimable. Most Strip lighting is Non-Dimable (not all). Using Non-Dimable in a dimable circuit may eventually damage the LEDs. Also if the LED strip is long the other thing to consider is voltage drop over the length of the strip. The dimmer function reduces the voltage, therefore a long strip may loose power which may cause some banks of the LED to dim even more and or fail.
As you say, time will tell.
dorian said
06:25 AM Dec 16, 2015
The controller uses Pulse Width Modulation ("256-Grade PWM") which means that it switches the output on and off. It does this rapidly at up to 256 different duty cycles. In fact it is probably switching a constant current on and off rather than a voltage. If the strip lighting has its own in-built controller rather than consisting of a simple string of LEDs, then this would be a serious problem.
One other problem I can envisage would be if the strip lighting consisted of two or more parallel strings of LEDs. In such a case the controller's output would be shared between these strings, thereby seriously reducing the maximum brightness.
Edit:
I'm not sure that I have correctly understood how the device works. If it outputs constant current pulses, then what is the meaning of "Output current : peak 12A"? How does the controller know whether the LED requires 500mA or 12A?
The controller can't be a voltage source because it needs to be able to drive a string with a variable, unknown number of LEDs. One LED requires 3V, two LEDs require 6V, and so on, but the current requirement for a string of LEDs would be independent of the number of LEDs.
One other spec that is missing is the maximum number of LEDs in the string. Does the controller incorporate a voltage booster?
-- Edited by dorian on Wednesday 16th of December 2015 06:41:49 AM
03_Troopy said
01:24 AM Dec 17, 2015
Whether there is 2, 3 or 4 strips in parallel, won't make a difference as long as the peak current draw (when the voltage is at the peak level of the pulse) is below 12A. The only problem I can see is that whether or not the maximum on time at peak voltage is too much for the 12V LED strips, as it's a 19V pulse train on a 5V level, by the way the specs are written.
The controller doesn't care how much current the LEDs require, it will supply as much as they will draw up to 12A. What limits the current draw, are the current limiting resistors in the LED strips, which are sized to allow sufficient current through the LEDs, at the nominated voltage (usually 12V). You increase the voltage rating of the strips by increasing the load resistors to maintain the required current through the LED.
As for the voltage required to drive a string of LED strip lighting, it is nominally 12V no matter how long the strip is. The reason is that the LED strips are made up of segments of 3 or 4 (or more) LEDs with built in current limiting resistors, which are connected to each of the other segment in parallel. That is why you can cut the strips on the segment markers at any length and run them on 12V.
03_Troopy said
08:17 AM Dec 17, 2015
Actually I did misread the LED controller specs last night when I posted this. The controller accepts 5VDC to 24VDC. The amplitude of the PWM pulse train would be fixed at somewhere just over 12V p-p.
kiwijims said
10:58 AM Dec 17, 2015
Thanks for all the feedback Fellers, although most of the technical jargon is above my head,
Can anyone tell me if they think it's a good cheap buy ?
And would anyone consider putting such an item in their Vans as I have done,
just so you can turn on the outside light on a very dark night, from a distance. ???
K.J.
03_Troopy said
11:06 AM Dec 17, 2015
Yes, providing the LED light was a standard 12V light, and not a multi voltage one. Could be handy as long as you don't lose the remote while you're out and about in the dark.
kiwijims said
12:05 PM Dec 17, 2015
Yes, loosing the remote could be a problem, but not for long as I bought more than one controller and remote,
I have wired the controller into the caravan on such a way, that it can be changed in a couple of seconds.
The outside light I bought is described here, ( bought two for $26.00 )............
Maybe, someone who knows electronics, can tell me what they think of this light, the Specs are listed at the bottom of the Add,
As the photo at the start of this Topic shows, it's as bright as anything and has a effective rang well outside the awning of the caravan.
K.J.
03_Troopy said
08:17 PM Dec 17, 2015
Yes, that should work well with the controller, because it is just a standard 12V LED array with no built in regulator like the multi voltage ones have.
I recently received this remote control unit from china, and it works great,
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261811604866?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l5999&_trkparms=gh1g%3DI261811604866.N36.S1.R1.TR2
It was very easy to install and mighty handy when returning to the caravan on a dark night, as I have wired it into the out-side light,
it will operate up to 10m away from the caravan.
The hand push button control is only the size of a cigarette packet and less than 10mm thick, easily slip into any pocket or purse.
If you are interested, there isn't much time left to grab a couple of these units, at this price of less than $3.00 with free delivery, why wait ???
K.J.
-- Edited by kiwijims on Tuesday 15th of December 2015 07:23:24 PM
Just a word of caution if using the dimmer function, the dimmer works by reducing voltage to the LED. Many LED's including strip lighting are designed to run at a specific voltage, normally 12 to 14 volts and reducing/increasing the voltage can damage them. Apart from that using the remote for an on/off switch is OK and at that price it's a nice find.
G'day madaboutled, Yes I can imagine you could do damage to the LED's by increasing the voltage over their designed rating but,
Would you do damage to them if they were run at below voltage,??? to my way of thinking, they probably would not run too well at low voltage, The LED light that I have outside the caravan is capable of handling anything up to and including 24v, so far I haven't had any problem using this controller, although it hasn't been in use that long at this stage, time will tell.
K.J.
There are 2 "flavours" of LED, Dimable and Non-Dimable. Most Strip lighting is Non-Dimable (not all). Using Non-Dimable in a dimable circuit may eventually damage the LEDs. Also if the LED strip is long the other thing to consider is voltage drop over the length of the strip. The dimmer function reduces the voltage, therefore a long strip may loose power which may cause some banks of the LED to dim even more and or fail.
As you say, time will tell.
The controller uses Pulse Width Modulation ("256-Grade PWM") which means that it switches the output on and off. It does this rapidly at up to 256 different duty cycles. In fact it is probably switching a constant current on and off rather than a voltage. If the strip lighting has its own in-built controller rather than consisting of a simple string of LEDs, then this would be a serious problem.
One other problem I can envisage would be if the strip lighting consisted of two or more parallel strings of LEDs. In such a case the controller's output would be shared between these strings, thereby seriously reducing the maximum brightness.
Edit:
I'm not sure that I have correctly understood how the device works. If it outputs constant current pulses, then what is the meaning of "Output current : peak 12A"? How does the controller know whether the LED requires 500mA or 12A?
The controller can't be a voltage source because it needs to be able to drive a string with a variable, unknown number of LEDs. One LED requires 3V, two LEDs require 6V, and so on, but the current requirement for a string of LEDs would be independent of the number of LEDs.
One other spec that is missing is the maximum number of LEDs in the string. Does the controller incorporate a voltage booster?
-- Edited by dorian on Wednesday 16th of December 2015 06:41:49 AM
The controller doesn't care how much current the LEDs require, it will supply as much as they will draw up to 12A. What limits the current draw, are the current limiting resistors in the LED strips, which are sized to allow sufficient current through the LEDs, at the nominated voltage (usually 12V). You increase the voltage rating of the strips by increasing the load resistors to maintain the required current through the LED.
As for the voltage required to drive a string of LED strip lighting, it is nominally 12V no matter how long the strip is. The reason is that the LED strips are made up of segments of 3 or 4 (or more) LEDs with built in current limiting resistors, which are connected to each of the other segment in parallel. That is why you can cut the strips on the segment markers at any length and run them on 12V.
Thanks for all the feedback Fellers, although most of the technical jargon is above my head,
Can anyone tell me if they think it's a good cheap buy ?
And would anyone consider putting such an item in their Vans as I have done,
just so you can turn on the outside light on a very dark night, from a distance. ???
K.J.
Yes, providing the LED light was a standard 12V light, and not a multi voltage one. Could be handy as long as you don't lose the remote while you're out and about in the dark.
Yes, loosing the remote could be a problem, but not for long as I bought more than one controller and remote,
I have wired the controller into the caravan on such a way, that it can be changed in a couple of seconds.
The outside light I bought is described here, ( bought two for $26.00 )............
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12-Volt-50cm-LED-Strip-Light-Bar-Tube-SMD-5050-Pure-White-With-Connector-Cable-/170815581656?hash=item27c566edd8:m:mIVfaHRBaQXmMMSRjsQ5DMw
Maybe, someone who knows electronics, can tell me what they think of this light, the Specs are listed at the bottom of the Add,
As the photo at the start of this Topic shows, it's as bright as anything and has a effective rang well outside the awning of the caravan.
K.J.