LED driver with colour change...confused?

[fizz47]

I am getting some strip lighting done in my refurb...

The strip light I want is going to be colour changing RGB - From what i understand I need a driver AND a RGB remote device...


The leds will be hard wired and I see I can find a driver easily but the remote colour change device all seem to be plug and play types which have those standard round pin connectors...


How do I coonect it up so it is all hardwired? Can you get driver and led remotes that are all in one?


Probably not explaining myself very well...

[E36GUY]

Your 'driver' is actually referred to as a Power Supply Unit. Both a Driver and a PSU are so called because whilst they effectively do a similar job to a transformer in terms of reducing voltage, they operate in different ways hence why they have different names. A Driver would typically over-volt a product such as tape leading to failure.

A Driver is a current regulated device. It can vary its output voltage according to the load required of it. A PSU is voltage regulated so will only put out what it is specified for. With RGB, if you try to power too long a run from one end, you will get some colour inconsistency the further away you get from the controller because, every metre you add saps a little more of the current available from the PSU. If doing longer runs of RGB then my recommendation is to make sure you are 5M max on one length. If trying to do 10M then power that from the middle point or from either end.

Your RGB tape will require 12 or 24V DC. The PSU is there to give you that low voltage current then yes, this feeds the RGB controller which is a switching system opening and closing the three negative channels - Red, Green and Blue.

If you need such an item which can be connected with terminal blocks or wago clips without all your plug and play sockets then just let me know.

[fizz47]

Thanks for the reply

So what lead would I need to connect this:




to this:

[squicky]

That looks like the driver to a set of generic RGB led strip lights I got off ebay for cheap a while back.
Similar if not identical to this one (I got a 5m 5050 led one for this sort of price). Maybe a cheapo one off ebay could be cannibalised if you're desperate?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191151579822

I will say, I suspect you get what you pay for - I was expecting it to be a bit rubbish and it is White = blue tint and the fading is not smooth - former due to the LEDs and later the driver.

[E36GUY]

fizz47 said:

Thanks for the reply

So what lead would I need to connect this:




to this:

I'm afraid I don't know the name for the 'head' you need but you need a plug that fits into the control unit that goes to a flying lead which should just fit into the screw terminals on the PSU. If that photo is EXACTLY the PSU you are using then it's only capable of running 2M of RGB so bear that in mind.

[rxtx]

The controller there (the thing with the IR receiver) can run up to 5M of RGB LED strip, they generally come with a plug so you can just solder it onto some cable from a 12V DC power supply. You'll need a power supply rated at up to 6A for each 5M run.