SolStrip LED lighting: Product info and announcements

Sonoff pow :+1:

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There are a lot of possible driver configurations you “can” use but they need to match the design and power demands of your strip array. Most of the drivers you list suggest a series circuit design. We generally recommend a parallel circuit design for safety reasons.

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Yeah, parallel is much safer. How many total strips will you have? Tell us that and we can tell you which driver you need.

When running strips in parallel, you can also over size the driver so you can add more strips later if you want to up-grade. That way you dont have to buy a new driver just to add a few more strips. You cant do that as easily with series wiring.

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my complete setup will be 8x X3 strips and 2x HLG-240h-36b
now I’m thinking of add a red/blue strip in the middle of each setup (2x X3 + red/blue + 2 X3) using the same driver. What is the best option? buy another driver for the red/blue strips and turn on 15 min before/after or use the same driver on all the strips and keep the red/blue accompanying the X3 period?
these 8x X3 will be used for 1 m2 of area, my doubt is the driver…
If I use a smaller driver, can I get more efficiency in the LEDs?

You can’t run the X2 red/blue strips in the same circuit as X3 strips. They use different voltages (24v vs. 36v). Your second option, red/blue X2s on a separate driver (the Mean Well CLG dimmable 100w works perfectly for these applications) is the better and only option in a mixed X2/X3 lamp array.

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@Baudelaire I did the purchase of 4 X3 strips right now
I ordered to my cousin’s address in Florida, she will send those strips to brazil for me
I hope to buy another 4 or 6 strips soon, it depends of their results
thanks bro

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Anybody have any luck getting Sonoff’s to dim on schedule for them?

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I dont understand what you are trying to do. Sonoffs basically just work on the AC side to turn off or on the driver like a timer. If you are looking for a solution to dim, I can suggest the Bluefish LED controller. It has six channels, bluetooth, wifi, and a phone app. It controls morning, midday, evening, and night settings.

That being said, I believe the 4ch Pro model will handle low voltage DC. You could wire it up so the dimmer is connected to it. When on, it could provide no resistance to the dimmer which runs the lights at 100%. Then when off, there could be a 5K ohm resistor to make it run at 50%.

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@Baudelaire. I have been looking at the new ifan v2 from itead. Has 3 speed fan controller and a dimmable portion for the light…made for ceiling fans but I wonder if could be adapted.

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If you can limit the voltage in some way you can dim whatever you want be it a light or slowing a fan down. Less voltage = less power to drive whatever it is your powering.

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This is not how LED dimming works. Sorry, maybe with incandescent bulbs or an fan, but not SolStrips.

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My mistake :rofl: thanks for putting me right @ReikoX

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Definitely familiar with the Bluefish, just looking for alternatives to a $200 controller. Sonoffs only control AC power today. Am hoping Sonoff will introduce a PWM dimming feature someday, maybe with a Bluetooth connection to the dimmer module, so we can enjoy full-featured remote control of our lightscapes…

Are you referring to Sonoff or the Bluefish?

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Stock alert: X3 SolStrips

We are down to only 6 X3 SolStrips left in stock before our next shipment arrives at the end of the month. If you need X3s to finish a project before then please place your order soon. X3s will be available on back order after the current stock is sold, and we expect to be fully stocked again November 1.

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I am referring to the Sonoff 4ch pro. Still not a full PWM dimming controller though.

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Just to expand on that - lowering voltage only works in a few specific situations. Most AC fans and water or air pumps for example can NOT be slowed down by lowering the voltage. They will more than likely just over heat and possibly catch fire.

If the pump or fan is DC it may be able to be controlled by lowering the voltage, but not always. Its important to find out if the motor you want to slow down will can operate safely on lower voltages or if it needs a special controller. Many DC motors come with a controller or transformer to convert AC to DC. The controller/transformer also may or may not work properly on lower voltages.

Incandescent lights are about the only lights we use that can be controlled by lowering the voltage. It doesnt work for florescents or LED’s or any light that uses a ballast, controller or driver. Reducing the voltage will just kill the driver, controller etc by forcing ti run out of spec trying to correct the improper input voltage. To control those, you need a special dimmer or a special ballast or driver.

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Maybe I should remove my post as my foot isn’t tasting very nice :rofl: to be fair I’m no electrician and I never knew under volting a motor or similar could create a fire. :+1:

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I just wanted to offer a little more insight in case you are interested. Your thought was not entirely false.

Household dimmers and fan speed controllers don’t actually lower the voltage evenly across the whole waveform, they just kinda chop it up. The integral, power delivered to a constant load, lowers, but that is due to a funky-looking ugly-ass waveform.

Lots of fans we use in our hobby can be run with a speed controller that lowers the effective RMS power by chopping the waveform either on the “up”, or on the “down”, with either a TRIAC or an SCR. They will, however, not be very efficient, noisy, and you can only slow them down so much before they start overheating and being nasty and unhealthy, as @anon32470837 stated. Bathroom fan speed controllers are the same, just lowering power, effectively. HOWEVER, if you were to measure such a controller’s output with an RMS voltmeter under load, it would read lower voltage. So your response has basis, most household motors are controlled kinda like lowering voltage, but only to a point.

The best way to control a motor’s speed is by varying frequency as well as voltage, maintaining the same voltage to frequency ratio. And those doo-dads are hella expensive… they have a bridge rectifier, a converter, and then an inverter. And they all work together to match the load, not speed. Pretty cool stuff, and only been around since the mid-80s. They are called Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs). If you have a fancy washing machine or a dishwasher, it’ll have some in there. That’s why the bastards cost so much.

The drivers in many LED replacement bulbs have been designed to accept chopped power, both as a source, and as a reference for desired diode output. These can charge internal capacitors sufficiently from the supply, and release as needed into the diode board. Some do it better than others, which is why we have two types of dimmers - forward-phase control and reverse-phase control. Some drivers’ design works better with the latter part of the sine wave chopped rather than the earlier.

/stoned rant

HH

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So I wasn’t totally wrong? Still I’m glad @anon32470837 and @ReikoX corrected my mistake as I’d never be able to forgive myself if someone had taking my advice and it caused a fire. I knew dimmer switches limited the current going to a light or fan but I didn’t realise there was more to it then just restricting the load. Was a very informative read @HappyHemper. Thanks for bringing it to my attention :+1:

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Sorry to make you feel that way! On the plus side though, you provided an opportunity for a teaching moment, and thats not a bad thing at all :slight_smile:

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