Ended up getting these for $6.97 a piece at Walmart. Weird that it only has a 2 year warranty…its wire…
3 Likes
That will work, cut the female end off and wire, all three wires, to the driver using the waterproof, wire nut or wago connectors.
6 Likes
That’s what I did just bought extension chords and cut the end off.
4 Likes
https://www.homedepot.com/p/100-ft-18-2-Solid-Thermostat-Wire-Brown-210-1002CR/202750280#overlay
Will this work on the DC end for XLG-240-H-A ballast to mount remotely?
Im thinking yes. Rated at 150v
1 Like
Use three wire, which is the ground for safety reasons. It is a good idea to match wire gauge , I believe the driver wire size is 14 gauge. What is the distance from the light to the driver location?
Theres only 2 wires coming from the DC side. Why 3 wires?
6ft tops. Some will be closer
Driver wire AC and DC side is 17awg
Sorry man disregard my earlier comment. The 18/2 will be fine. My driver has three wire on the AC side.
1 Like
Having a tough time trying to figure out the best wiring path so its not cluttered.
I’d prefer to span the gap like the first array on the left and space the (2) 22"x48" panels so there is 4" between.
This is where I will mount the ballasts and in a #1, #2, #3 type arrangement down the center.
The ballast to the left serves first array on left. The ballast to the right serves the last array on the left. And the middle ballast is tricky. I’ll have to run it down the middle on either the left or right side. All negatives and positives will split once they reach the edge and then run along the perimeter of the frame.
3 Likes
Also…how necessary is tinning the stranded wire? Ive always done it in the past but I no longer have access to a soldering iron and I have to cut the pigtails off rhe ballasts down because they cut too much jacketing off and the connectors dont get a good seal.
I guess an alternative question is how important is a seal on the IP68 connectors. I dont anticipate splashing water on my wires.
This is how much is exposed
1 Like
I could be wrong about this, but besides maybe some rusting? my understanding is that water isn’t an issue unless it acts as a conduit and makes a short ie I think the water would have to make a connection between a positive and negative, so that might require some combo of possibly a very big splash or having those wires near each other, or the wires fall into a puddle or something.
I could be totally wrong though.
*well looking at those wires, being close to each other, I guess the water from a splash could run down them to where they are exposed and cause that short, maybe it could be an actual issue in that case?
1 Like
two wiring methods @SquirtleSquad, tack on another string of two if going for 14 strips on the outside two to utilize the full 40 you bought
6 Likes
So the series bridge I dont need to do both sides in the first scenario?
1 Like
you don’t, its better to do though but honestly doesn’t matter that much and its only that one wiring method makes more sense to do it “right side” out of ease otherwise your running some long wires to do so and just doesn’t make sense too
2 Likes
What’s better about doing the double wiring for the series pairs?
2 Likes
I finally pulled the trigger and got 20 3k 90s and 20 4k 90s along with 3 xlg-240-h-ABs to go along with my previous hlg-185 (which I now regret lol)… gonna do 10 strips per 4sqft boxes… so I’m a lil bit in the same boat/stage as @SquirtleSquad and some others right now
3 Likes
evens out the voltage/current drop across the diodes otherwise you have an end that will be more favored electricity passage wise, as one side will have a tiny minute more amount of resistance than the other, and electricity will find the path of least resistance.
3 Likes
So what is more important that the wires are tinned or that the waterproof connector seals fully?
In a water environment the later, but personal opinion here not complete waterproofing and or tinned wires your fine either way, as its not like these strips are waterproof
3 Likes
I used stranded lamp cable inside the gland connectors untinned. I just twisted the strands and stuck them in. Doubt it matters at all.
2 Likes
Ill go with waterproof then. Make my $25 purchase seem worth it lol