How to... Always on LED Light Setup?

leon.davibe said:
Is the lights DC?
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he says so yes ,but unfortunately the regulations dont give specs for 12 v dc .on a 10 watt 12 volt ,probably be 1 amp per metre ,so a 1 mm sq automotive cable should be good up to about 10 metres ,on trucks is fine up to 20 metres for rear lights etc but thats not in a roof space and falls out of the regs so is extremely risky without the needed safetys for dc ,poof there goes your house .
 
wingnut771 said:
You can't run long wire runs with 12V afaik, too much voltage drop.
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Led use way lower voltage

So the 12v is stepped down anyway

I found voltage drop over 15m of wire but the led's functioned fine
The down lights are also lower wattage so lighter on battery
 
I use 14 of these and an old car battery powered from a 50w solar panel with 5A charge controller, total draw is about 1.2A for what I have. At this low current you can use car fuses, switches,etc from midas. I added a remote control so when the power goes off I just click the remote and the house lights up like a christmas tree.

4x4direct.co.za

3 LED Super Bright LED Module

3 led super bright led module
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Edit: 5A charge controller
 
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soulie said:
he says so yes ,but unfortunately the regulations dont give specs for 12 v dc .on a 10 watt 12 volt ,probably be 1 amp per metre ,so a 1 mm sq automotive cable should be good up to about 10 metres ,on trucks is fine up to 20 metres for rear lights etc but thats not in a roof space and falls out of the regs so is extremely risky without the needed safetys for dc ,poof there goes your house .
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I used 1.5mm cause that was what i had lying around with 3x 7w down lights


That and 2.5 but thought that would be overkill



So with luck i was pulling low amps
 
Instead of a normal switch you could put a 12V Sonoff in, then just control via App, only issue is if your WiFi is down then you need to push the little button on the PC board.

I haven't seen a 12V Sonoff with an RF module because that would be a neat solution i.e. RF remote + App

1702887594250.png
 
soulie said:
thats an optimate 2 charger ,which is a battery maintainer and charges at a max rate of 0.8 amps .they do a great job on long term standby batteries but dont charge quickly .
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This particular charger's charging rate is 2amps.
That's why I went for it. Nice middle ground.
 
soulie said:
thats an optimate 2 charger ,which is a battery maintainer and charges at a max rate of 0.8 amps .they do a great job on long term standby batteries but dont charge quickly .
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EH? I'm confused then :)
That charger has the following spec: Charging AMPS: 2A (constant current)
So, I assumed that's its max charging rate.
Or is my maths wrong? :)
 
soulie said:
thats an optimate 2 charger ,which is a battery maintainer and charges at a max rate of 0.8 amps .they do a great job on long term standby batteries but dont charge quickly .
Click to expand...
He's pic is of this one, not the normal Optimate.2.
optimate-battery-charger.co.za

OptiMate 2 DUO, 2A Battery Charger & Maintainer for all 12/12.8V Cars, Motorcycles and Powersport Batteries - Optimate Battery Charger Shop

Description OptiMate 2 DUO is the 'ALL IN ONE' general purpose battery charger and maintainer that assures batteries are always ready to perform. automatically adapts to the connected battery type – Guarantees healthy lithium or lead-acid batteries! Ideal for batteries found in Harleys, Cars...
optimate-battery-charger.co.za optimate-battery-charger.co.za
 
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