With the small LED 20x15 matrix I noticed significant power loss when using the easy connectors for the LED strips. I didn't see this problem when I soldered the LED strips, it's a pain but seems like worth the effort. I used a 5v 20amp power supply with the 20x15 matrix. With the large LED matrix each LED strip will have a 180 LEDs (8.2 ft). I am not planning on running all the LEDs while at full power. White at full power each LED draws up to 60mA. I did some testing and this seemed very accurate. I also needed to know how my power supply would handle over current conditions. I shorted out the 5v side and was happy to see that the cheap chinesse power supply had over current protection (not that I want to exercise this).
I will have a total of 150x14=2100 LEDs ( I'm using 300 LED strips).
150LEDs x .06mA = 9A again this is not a condition I will be running. But I need to know the worst case. This is also at the brightest level. I am planning on running it at 150 (highest 255) and avoiding lighting all LEDs at White.
I have decided on using two 5v 60AMP power supplies.
One area I am concerned about is the the environment that the power supplies will be running in. The barn does not have AC and gets hot and very humid in Maryland. I am planning on mounting mounting a fan to help cool the power supplies. At this point I'm leaning towards a 120v fan instead of a 5v fan, mainly because I need this system to work for year after year, and I think the 120v will be more reliable in the long term.
Discussions
Become a Hackaday.io Member
Create an account to leave a comment. Already have an account? Log In.