LED light gauge requirements.

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Dave M

Well-Known Member
Well i looked in the forums and online for the answer to this question and I cant find a straight answer. so basically I want to use some LEDs on the quads I am building and want to put 2-3 leds per foot so that makes it about 8-12 leds on all the legs in total. then I want to put about 4-6 leds on the head. so that would probably add up to about 16 or 18 leds in total on the whole quad. they are 5050 size led rolls from china.

on the side of one of the spools it says : W10mm x6.
And on the roll itself containing the leds it says: DC12v 60 L/M

what gauge will satisfy the led power with the amount of leds I am using. will 12 guage work or should it be higher? around 18 or 24? thanks for your time
 
Jackson

Jackson

USA member at large
Dave M said:
... so that would probably add up to about 16 or 18 leds in total on the whole quad. they are 5050 size led rolls from china.

on the side of one of the spools it says : W10mm x6.
And on the roll itself containing the leds it says: DC12v 60 L/M

what gauge will satisfy the led power with the amount of leds I am using. will 12 guage work or should it be higher? around 18 or 24? thanks for your time
Click to expand...
There is hardly any current draw with 18 LEDs.

From the Turnigy link.
LED quantity per strip(1 mtr): 60 LEDs
Working voltage: DC12V
Working current(1mtr): 400mA
Click to expand...
Figuring about 150mA for your application 24AWG should be fine.
 
GJH105775

GJH105775

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You could do it off from really small wire 26awg is commonly used, and 30awg would do it. Also one question for Neil, does Europe use a different measurement for wires? Because 12 awg is what most romex uses.
@holtneil
 
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Dave M

Well-Known Member
ah thanks guys! so 24/30 awg speaker wires would satisfy the leds then correct?

@holtneil aren't all supposed to be connected tot he PDB? I forgot if they were or did you do a workaround?
 
D

Dave M

Well-Known Member
oh and can I get a link to some 24/30 awg wires that would work lol. I keep thinking speaker wires but I cant find any above 16 awg
 
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Dave M

Well-Known Member
oh ok. I haven't read about stepdowns sadly in all my days of quadcopter learning sessions. but I do have the ubec in hand its a hobbyking 30A ubec
 
GJH105775

GJH105775

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Here are what I use for testing equipment. I really like them as they are stable. You probably can get something made just for this.
 
D

Dave M

Well-Known Member
Thanks for that, So if i want to run ~20 leds. I conmect them together and tie them to the thing you linked and i connect that to the battery or reciever or pdb?
 
GJH105775

GJH105775

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PDB in this case. Try getting the 5v+ from your receiver or FC first though. It may not be as bright, but still could be enough.
 
D

Dave M

Well-Known Member
I am terrible at electrical stuff :/ how would i do that. Are there vids so you dont waste time explaining
 
GJH105775

GJH105775

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Easy, what flight controller are you using? Usually the outside pin is ground, the middle is 5v+, and the inside is signal. Just use the ground and 5v+
 
D

Dave M

Well-Known Member
@GJH105775 woops thought I replied. was at work and the internet is finicky so it didn't go through. annyways I am using the CRIUS AIO 2.1

also I was looking at the PDB from HK and noticed that it has a 12v aux. will this work as a stepdown? if not then will this be sufficient( I recall you posting something similar to this earlier) I just don't know how to set it to 12v. is it automatic or does it plug into a computer?

if I do buy a 3s battery that is 11v will It power it ok? I know it can but how much will the light suffer in brightness. is this a good lipo to buy to power my landing gears and leds. possibly fpv equipment. this is another 3s lipo but with 350 mah weighing ~20 grams less
 
Last edited:
GJH105775

GJH105775

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To adjust either one just hook it to the power you are going to use, and adjust the pot (rectangular blue part with a brass screw). A 3S battery will be actually around 12v, but they are supposed to be stored around 11.1v.



Check out Neil's care guide on this link, it really has a lot of information that you can use to make your LiPos last years. The battery should output 12v, 21.25 amps. If you have the LED strip just apply 5v to it and see how it does, if not bright enough that step-down in your link will do just great.
 
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