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re: Permanently installed LED "Christmas" lights.

Posted on 11/17/20 at 8:21 pm to
Posted by CarRamrod
Spurbury, VT
Member since Dec 2006
57438 posts
Posted on 11/17/20 at 8:21 pm to
Got my 10 dig uno's built.
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28707 posts
Posted on 11/17/20 at 8:31 pm to
nice lil fleet

Posted by guedeaux
Tardis
Member since Jan 2008
13609 posts
Posted on 11/17/20 at 8:46 pm to
Do they all work? How long did it take per board?
Posted by CarRamrod
Spurbury, VT
Member since Dec 2006
57438 posts
Posted on 11/17/20 at 8:55 pm to
I'm about to test them. I mean probably a couple hours for all. But I have 2 kids that kept interrupting.
Posted by CarRamrod
Spurbury, VT
Member since Dec 2006
57438 posts
Posted on 11/17/20 at 10:46 pm to
Well I had a scare....none were working. So I started to go over things to see if I missed something. Well the SMD diodes were polarity sensitive. So I have to re orient some. Now they all work.
Posted by CarRamrod
Spurbury, VT
Member since Dec 2006
57438 posts
Posted on 11/18/20 at 9:34 am to
So i got a question. I havent gotten too far into it since my pixels com in this week. BUT I have color downlghts on my front porch that have tasmota on them.

I have a thought that WLED is better suited for effects and syncing to shows. Should i put WLED on the downlights and use the WLED home assistant integration to control them?
Posted by guedeaux
Tardis
Member since Jan 2008
13609 posts
Posted on 11/18/20 at 4:25 pm to
It depends on how you plan to synchronize the lights. Tasmota probably has some sync capabilities, I don't know. WLED is probably the simplest.

Are you going to use xLights or something similar for the light show?
Posted by CarRamrod
Spurbury, VT
Member since Dec 2006
57438 posts
Posted on 11/18/20 at 8:07 pm to
yea. The hookup had a firmware that is mqtt and the E1.31 firmware for xlights but it is a 2 years old,. just wondering what people are doing nowa days.
Posted by guedeaux
Tardis
Member since Jan 2008
13609 posts
Posted on 11/20/20 at 3:13 pm to
quote:

just wondering what people are doing nowa days.


I think easiest is WLED to get E131 and MQTT, but it depends on what you are doing with that specific node. Is it just going to be up during christmas receiving E1.31 instructions? Does it need to interact with home assistant or anything else? Is it part of your normal lighting you want to function differently during holidays?
Posted by CarRamrod
Spurbury, VT
Member since Dec 2006
57438 posts
Posted on 11/21/20 at 8:07 am to
I'm referring to a single rgdw bulb. Idk if WLED can be flashed and work with a single bulb can it?

I just found a reddit post showing how to do it. You have to install a custom WLED bun file. Doesn't look too difficult. I have an extra bulb I might try it on.
This post was edited on 11/21/20 at 8:18 am
Posted by VanRIch
Wherever
Member since Sep 2007
10400 posts
Posted on 11/23/20 at 9:40 am to
damn, i have never even considered doing this, but am definitely following this thread now.
Posted by Lonnie Utah
Utah!
Member since Jul 2012
23919 posts
Posted on 11/23/20 at 3:10 pm to
quote:

Got my 10 dig uno's built.




My old eyes could never do it.

Dr. Zzz lives right over the hill from me. If I ever decide to go that route, I'll pay him to do it. lol.
This post was edited on 11/23/20 at 3:14 pm
Posted by VanRIch
Wherever
Member since Sep 2007
10400 posts
Posted on 11/23/20 at 6:11 pm to
Since my last post I’ve gone far down the YouTube rabbit hole andnow I’m obsessed
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28707 posts
Posted on 11/23/20 at 6:33 pm to
quote:

Since my last post I’ve gone far down the YouTube rabbit hole andnow I’m obsessed

Welcome to the club!
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28707 posts
Posted on 11/23/20 at 10:35 pm to
Does anyone know what is required to do this sort of work for others legally?

The contractors licensing site has this document for the "electrical controls" classification which refers to "installation or fabrication of controls for electrical work", and it even mentions "smart house" specifically.
Posted by Ace Midnight
Between sanity and madness
Member since Dec 2006
89511 posts
Posted on 11/23/20 at 11:00 pm to
quote:

Does anyone know what is required to do this sort of work for others legally?



Not specifically, but this is a rapidly growing segment of new construction and remodeling business of the "low voltage" guy - the guy who does the cameras, alarms, smart devices, wired ethernet (<-although this is shrinking, I, for one, like wires - wires are more trustworthy than Wifi), whole house sound, etc.

The problem with lighting is that it can get "high" voltage pretty quickly, and the electricians want (and probably need to) control over all internal/external lighting solutions, even if decorative.
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28707 posts
Posted on 11/24/20 at 12:30 am to
quote:

this is a rapidly growing segment of new construction and remodeling business of the "low voltage" guy - the guy who does the cameras, alarms, smart devices, wired ethernet (<-although this is shrinking, I, for one, like wires - wires are more trustworthy than Wifi), whole house sound, etc.
Yeah, I'm in the process of getting licensed for all that, and I was going to go ahead and get this one too. I'm just unsure of where the cutoff for an electrician is. Like if I put the lighting controller and power supply in a nema box, do I need an electrician to put the power cord in it?
quote:

The problem with lighting is that it can get "high" voltage pretty quickly, and the electricians want (and probably need to) control over all internal/external lighting solutions, even if decorative.
Not sure what you mean the voltage can get high, and I'm also not sure many electricians want to get into the config and programming of automated lights and other "smart" stuff.
Posted by Ace Midnight
Between sanity and madness
Member since Dec 2006
89511 posts
Posted on 11/24/20 at 8:17 am to
quote:

Not sure what you mean the voltage can get high,


I mean, you can go overboard with the design and end up with a system that needs its own breaker.

quote:

I'm also not sure many electricians want to get into the config and programming of automated lights and other "smart" stuff.



I agree with that - especially the older ones don't want to have anything to do with controls. Over time, the trades may merge, but right now I think the "low voltage" guy is going to have an expanding business.

It has always been a sales arena job because of the brands and options available. It has always been a different type of trade.
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28707 posts
Posted on 11/24/20 at 11:01 am to
quote:

I mean, you can go overboard with the design and end up with a system that needs its own breaker.
Oh well that has to do with the amps you're pulling, but yeah if you go way overboard that can be a concern like plugging in too many other devices on the same circuit. But just to ballpark these LED strips, one 5V 60amp (300 watts, like a desktop computer) power supply can run 3 full 5 meter strips (at 60 led/meter) comfortably. And a typical household circuit can handle 5 of those power supplies comfortably. So if my math is right ( ) you can run about 250 feet of LED strips on one circuit, or about twice that if you use strips with only 30 led/meter.
quote:

I agree with that - especially the older ones don't want to have anything to do with controls. Over time, the trades may merge, but right now I think the "low voltage" guy is going to have an expanding business.
I definitely agree with that. I think we are going to start seeing a lot more applications of PoE over the next decade, cameras, lighting, controls, and things we haven't thought of yet.
quote:

It has always been a sales arena job because of the brands and options available. It has always been a different type of trade.
Yeah, and the industry is growing too fast for any one person to keep up with it all.
Posted by Lonnie Utah
Utah!
Member since Jul 2012
23919 posts
Posted on 11/25/20 at 8:42 am to
quote:

Oh well that has to do with the amps you're pulling, but yeah if you go way overboard that can be a concern like plugging in too many other devices on the same circuit. But just to ballpark these LED strips, one 5V 60amp (300 watts, like a desktop computer) power supply can run 3 full 5 meter strips (at 60 led/meter) comfortably. And a typical household circuit can handle 5 of those power supplies comfortably. So if my math is right ( ) you can run about 250 feet of LED strips on one circuit, or about twice that if you use strips with only 30 led/meter.


On top of this, the WLED software allows you to limit the current to a circuit. You only have to worry about max current if you are running pure white at full brightness. From my short time having these up, I can tell you that that's WAY to bright. Most of the time I run my LED's at 40-50% brightness and even then it's too bright at times. So likely you could run even more than what you've calculated. I have roughly 1000 LED's in my setup and the max current I've seen is 37 amps at 5v dc (185 watts). My power supply is rated at 60 amps at 5 v dc (300 watts). Your mileage may vary.

I'll add this too. I used 30 LEDs/m lights. That density is PLEANTY for a Permanent outside installation. In fact, I've experimented with 15 LEDs/m and 10 LEDs/m displays in WLED and they look just as good (and more like traditional Christmas lights). That reduces the power needs as well. I've enjoyed this project so much that I took the left over lights and a nodeMCU I had left over and installed them in the kids room. I ordered enough 60LED/m RGBW LEDs to do an under counter installation in our kitchen. We have some old Fluorescent lights on a plant shelf in our main living room and I want to replace them with RGBW's, but I'm waiting to see how the under counter ones look first before I tackle that project (This is where my wife's Christmas village and train is set up so I've got alot of stuff to work around on that project. )

The only issue I've noticed so far is that I have some significant voltage drop at the far end of my installation. The run is about 70+' from the main power supply and I've run my power injection with 18awg wire. I might have a bottle neck in the system and I need to check that out but the problem solves itself if I simply reduce the overall brightness of the system. I know it's a voltage issue as opposed to a current issue because I've turned off most/all the other LED's in the system and the issue still presents itself. If I had to do it over, I would have done two smaller (or multiple) power supplies on each end of the setup.

This post was edited on 11/25/20 at 8:49 am
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