Joining LED's

[DJ Frankie]

I folks

I have a couple of questions for the boys that supply the LED wall lighting to venues.

My first question is, If you are lighting up a largish venue how do you daisy chain the mains power to the Par cans? do you run power to every can or every other can?

My other question is if you are only supplying the lights to a venue or marquee i.e dry hire do you still link the cans up to a dmx controller which you leave at the venue or do you just set the requested colour onto "static" via the dip switches without daisy chaining the lights?

[Ajaysdisco]

I haven’t used LED PAR cans yet but a few suggestions, to power them you could you an IEC multiway extension lead, these are similar to the three pin plug versions but with several IEC sockets.

http://img-europe.electrocomponents.com/largeimages/R261501-01.jpg

In terms on a controller it depends on what the client requires, do they want to be able to change the colour as and when they want?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I haven’t used LED PAR cans yet but a few suggestions, to power them you could you an IEC multiway extension lead, these are similar to the three pin plug versions but with several IEC sockets.



And how would you use them for uplighting walls if the pars were 10 feet apart?

[Vectis]

And how would you use them for uplighting walls if the pars were 10 feet apart?

Daisy chained?

[Ajaysdisco]

And how would you use them for uplighting walls if the pars were 10 feet apart?

It depends how big your wall is!! :D
As “VectisVibe” said you could daisy chain them by making your own lead with IEC plugs.

[Vibrant Sounds]

I have fitted IEC plugs to my LED par cans. I then run a 5 mtr cable to the first par can then I fit one of these (http://cpc.farnell.com/PL10191/electrical-lighting-security/product.us0?sku=PRO-ELEC-PE00080), one of the outlets feeds an LED Parcan and I connect a 3mtr IEC/IEC lead to the other. At the end of the 3mtr lead I fit another splitter and continue like before.

So for 6 LED Parcans, you need one mains lead (13amp plug-IEC) 5x IEC splitters and 5x 3mtr cables.

There are other bulkier ways of doing this, but I gaffa tape the IEC splitters to the 3 mtr leads so they are not pulled out accidently.

[Paul James Promotions]

These are your friend...

[Sam]

I have fitted IEC plugs to my LED par cans. I then run a 5 mtr cable to the first par can then I fit one of these (http://cpc.farnell.com/PL10191/electrical-lighting-security/product.us0?sku=PRO-ELEC-PE00080), one of the outlets feeds an LED Parcan and I connect a 3mtr IEC/IEC lead to the other. At the end of the 3mtr lead I fit another splitter and continue like before.

So for 6 LED Parcans, you need one mains lead (13amp plug-IEC) 5x IEC splitters and 5x 3mtr cables.

There are other bulkier ways of doing this, but I gaffa tape the IEC splitters to the 3 mtr leads so they are not pulled out accidently.

This is probs the best way of doing it in a disco enviroment - and not too costly either.
It isn't too much of a problem if you end up having to run a couple of wires for power (if using many LEDs so need multiple sources of power to feed them all) as long as you keep them neat, tidy and out of the way so people do not trip over them - LX tape and gaffa tape are very useful. It is also useful to carry different colours of tape. For example we have black, silver, see-through and brown (not quite as strong as gaffa but all do the job) - we also have yellow/black hazard tape which can be useful in some situations so that things like wires across a doorway are made obvious and no accidents occur.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I thought you only had 2 par cans Sam? :p

[Sam]

I thought you only had 2 par cans Sam? :p

I do indeed and very good they are too but I don't use them much - other than playing with really.

But I have on a number of occasions run various units around a room (sound system, moving heads, pars etc)

But I was also speaking from experience of a) looking into doing the pars before b) doing it with other units - as mentioned above and c) the theatre where we have had to sort stuff out in the studios for small dance groups etc.

Does that mean i'm valid to give a opinion or not :p :p

[DJ Frankie]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Eddie I have a couple of the iec splitters but you still have to run a power lead to each one.
Im wondering if there was a way that one power supply at the start of the chain could power them all? is that possible?

[Sam]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Eddie I have a couple of the iec splitters but you still have to run a power lead to each one.
Im wondering if there was a way that one power supply at the start of the chain could power them all? is that possible?

You use one fo these that Eddie has already linked to:
http://cpc.farnell.com/productimages/farnell/standard/PL1019107-40.jpg

If you look closely you will see that it takes one lead and split it into two. Doing exactly what you want basically.

Your main limitation is going to be your ampage. Don't overload it. If your using a 13A socket - don't go over that and you should be fine.
This is why he said you may need multiple leads. But it depends on how many units you are running.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Your main limitation is going to be your ampage. Don't overload it. If your using a 13A socket - don't go over that and you should be fine.
This is why he said you may need multiple leads. But it depends on how many units you are running.

You'd need a hell of a lot as led pars don't draw hardly anything - about 15-25W I think.

[Vibrant Sounds]

Frankie, This should help!

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3346/ledpar001qr1.jpg

Bit simplistic, but you should get the idea!

[Jiggles]

You can power about 20 from a single 13A socket. IF its a 15W version.

[Vibrant Sounds]

You can power about 20 from a single 13A socket. IF its a 15W version.

I don't agree with that. Firstly most IEC-IEC leads are only 10 amp rated not 13 amp.

10 amps at 240 volts gives you 2400 watts. If the LED Parcans were rated at 24 watts each, you could chain 100 together. You would need a big hall to fit 100 Led Par cans spaced 10ft (3mtrs) apart.

[Richard Veal]

:agree:
He's right

[Tom]

Frankie, This should help!

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3346/ledpar001qr1.jpg

Bit simplistic, but you should get the idea!

I see what you are saying from this diagram. So as we all like a nice and tidy setup would it be ok to get larger lengths of cable and leave the excess under the per cans as well as the dmx cable to connect them all up???

[Vibrant Sounds]

Don't see why not, although the original poster was asking to have them 10ft apart, hence the 3mtr leads.

[Sam]

I see what you are saying from this diagram. So as we all like a nice and tidy setup would it be ok to get larger lengths of cable and leave the excess under the per cans as well as the dmx cable to connect them all up???

Might look a bit messy?
Other option is to double back the cable.. holding it together with some LX.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Might look a bit messy?


That's what I did and it looked ok - you could hardly see the cable under the stands tbh.

[JAMdisco]

Frankie, This should help!

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3346/ledpar001qr1.jpg

Bit simplistic, but you should get the idea!

I like the idea of this, could you do this with 'normal' lighting i.e. bulbs not LED's?

Obviously, the ampage could be an issue but as all my 4 lights come off 1 4-way anyway would this cause a problem?

It would certainly enable me to tidy up my wiring loom.

[Vibrant Sounds]

Most 250 watt tungsten lamp effects draw less than 2 amps each, so if you limited it to a maximum of 4 on a run you should not have any problems.

Discharge effects are a different matter as they tend to draw much higher currents on strike-up, so whilst you could use four of them if you started them all seperately, if you have a power outage or were at a venue which had a sound limiter and the power went off, when the fixtures restarted you may well have a problem.

[JAMdisco]

Right, that's my solution then! Next question, where is the best place for the iec sockets. I bought some off ebay and they're a pig to wire up, they just trap the wire under a very fiddly screw. Is this the only type or are there better ones on the market?

[Vibrant Sounds]

No there are better IEC sockets on the market which can be bought from CPC. They are more expensive but have a similar type connection to that found in a standard UK mains plug (a post with a hole in it for the wire with a small screw on top to trap the wire). think they are Bulgin ones but not certain.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

No there are better IEC sockets on the market which can be bought from CPC. They are more expensive but have a similar type connection to that found in a standard UK mains plug (a post with a hole in it for the wire with a small screw on top to trap the wire). think they are Bulgin ones but not certain.

I bought these last time and would advise anyone else to do the same. They are much better and easier to wire.