Transformer requirement for LED lights

[Aquacrazed]

The 3 watt lights (actinics) are Current USA lights, I have 2 of them that I will be connecting through a splitter.

[calo247]

you will need a 13.5v power supply if that is what came with the bar. your other leds state they can run off a 12v supply so i would get a 12v supply, it will be well above the cut-off voltage for the bar and should run it fine. just get a big enough supply to power all of it, just add up the wattage of all the leds you need to run and double it (power supplies run most efficiently around 50-60% load)

be very careful with dimming leds. it is critical you have a driver that can handle dimming, most cheap ones can not

[Aquacrazed]

Originally Posted by calo247

you will need a 13.5v power supply if that is what came with the bar. your other leds state they can run off a 12v supply so i would get a 12v supply, it will be well above the cut-off voltage for the bar and should run it fine. just get a big enough supply to power all of it, just add up the wattage of all the leds you need to run and double it (power supplies run most efficiently around 50-60% load)

be very careful with dimming leds. it is critical you have a driver that can handle dimming, most cheap ones can not

Thanks for the info calo247. So the total wattage I need is 20.25 and 19.5v. If I get a 24v power supply, would this be ok?

About the driver, my Current USA dimmer supports the LED strips but I'm not sure about my Fluval LED bar. How would I know if it needs a driver? I've run it (just the Fluval LED bar since it came with it's power supply) through my dimmer a few days now and seems to be working fine so far.

[calo247]

wattages you add, you dont add the voltages together, a 24v supply will not work, you need a supply with the same voltage as your leds, and if they are different then you cant run them together off the same supply.

what is the voltage requirment of the strips? how did you get 19.5V?

from what i can gather (correct me if i am wrong) you are trying to run

- 1 led bar that came with a power supply rated at 13.5V
- 2 led strips that are rated at 12v

[calo247]

the drivers are in the led strips, you cannot change them, they either support dimming or they dont, if you cant determine if the bar is dimmable on its own i personally would not trust putting a dimmer on it.

[Aquacrazed]

Originally Posted by calo247

wattages you add, you dont add the voltages together, a 24v supply will not work, you need a supply with the same voltage as your leds, and if they are different then you cant run them together off the same supply.

what is the voltage requirment of the strips? how did you get 19.5V?

from what i can gather (correct me if i am wrong) you are trying to run

- 1 led bar that came with a power supply rated at 13.5V
- 2 led strips that are rated at 12v

The strips (rated at 3 watts each, don't know the voltage, has 4 lights per strip) can be connected (both) to a 12v power supply.

Sorry I miscalculated the vottage, 19.5v is wrong.

Here's what I know:

Fluval LED bar: 13.5v 1500ma
Current USA LED strips: 3 watts each (6 watts total). They say 1 - 3 of these strips can be connected to a 12v power supply through a splitter.

[calo247]

okay, then the led strips are rated at 12v, they would be connected in parallel.

your going to need a 12v power supply rated at at least 26.25 watts (2.2A at 12V)

[mike31154]

I just had a look at the instructions for the Dual Ramp Timer. At the top of page 4 under the fixture compatibility heading it includes "Most 12-24VDC LED fixtures not exceeding 120 watts (@24V) with a compatible DC barrel jack connector"

This means all of the LEDs you intend to hook up to it should work fine, the Timer will modulate the output accordingly. Both input & output for the Timer are listed as 12-24VDC. Provided the power supply you hook up to the Timer has sufficient wattage to run your lights it can be anywhere from 12-24 volts. At the moment your LED wattage adds up to roughly 20, so go shopping for any 12-24 volt power supply that can provide at least 30 watts. It's always better to have a little more headroom rather than run a power supply at its maximum rated output and the price difference isn't that much. An oversized power supply will run much cooler.

[calo247]

no you can not just run any 12-24v supply, a 24v supply WILL fry the leds, the dimmer module has no idea what the led max voltage is... the dimmer is intended to be used with a light that comes with the appropriate power supply, and cut the voltage with 100% being running the lights at their normal undimmed output.

if you have a 24v supply on the input 100% will be 24v output and will fry the 12v rated leds. please do not get a power supply rated at more than 12v

trust me, i am an electrician

[Aquacrazed]

Originally Posted by mike31154

I just had a look at the instructions for the Dual Ramp Timer. At the top of page 4 under the fixture compatibility heading it includes "Most 12-24VDC LED fixtures not exceeding 120 watts (@24V) with a compatible DC barrel jack connector"

This means all of the LEDs you intend to hook up to it should work fine, the Timer will modulate the output accordingly. Both input & output for the Timer are listed as 12-24VDC. Provided the power supply you hook up to the Timer has sufficient wattage to run your lights it can be anywhere from 12-24 volts. At the moment your LED wattage adds up to roughly 20, so go shopping for any 12-24 volt power supply that can provide at least 30 watts. It's always better to have a little more headroom rather than run a power supply at its maximum rated output and the price difference isn't that much. An oversized power supply will run much cooler.

Thank you Mike!