Cabling to the LEDs

[torfkop]

Hi everyone,
last year I did my first lightning project and have tested a lot. Typically I have distances up to 20meters between controller and the first LED. What kind of cabling would you suggest? In the end I have used x times 1,5mm2 copper. Any other suggestions?

Greetings from Germany

[JonD]

If you are starting new, I would recommend the most common "xconnect" style 18 awg wiring.  Data prefers smaller gauge wiring, power prefers larger gauge wiring, and 18 awg is considered the sweet spot.  20 meters (65ft) is pretty long.  10 meters (32ft) and under would be better for 12v lights and possiblly less for 5v.  I have a few places my cabling exceeds 15m (50ft) and getting along okay, but the conditions need to be right and that is pushing the limits.  If everything is working, then it probably okay, but take a volt meter at the end of your lights and make sure the remaining power exceeds mfg recommendations of the lights.  Some lights look okay under powered, but will have their lifespan greatly reduced if ran that way.

[k6ccc]

I would agree with JonD, 20 meters is likely pushing it.  However run a test - but not at 20 meters, but rather 25 meters.  The reason for the longer length is to make sure you have some margin.  The biggest issue for a long cable length is data.  The signal degrades with distance.  As cables age, or components age, you may need some of that margin.  For example, you test at 20M and it works.  What you don't know from that test is that at 20.01 meters it fails.  One season in the weather and storage and now the cable has degraded a bit and the failure point is 19.5 meters and your show does not work.  Oops.  If you test at 25 meters and it works, then when you actually use 20 meters, there is some margin for cable to component degradation.

If the test fails, look into F-Amps - https://pixelcontroller.com/store/accessories/54-famp-xconnect.html

[k6ccc]

One other note.  Power is also an issue, but easier to mitigate power problems on long lengths.  Either larger power conductors or locating a power supply at the props rather than powering the props from the controller.

[jnealand]

This kind of issue is one of the things that leads me to use multiple smaller controllers and keep the controllers near the props.  But each setup is unique and each has its own issues.  I'm at 15 FPP remotes and it works great for me and my yard.