Garden / Outdoor RGB spots

[Shulox]

Hi - I am trying to source outdoor rgb / rgbw spotlights to light up a garden. It seems apart from loxone's own, RGBW spots even for indoor use are hard to come by. Has anyone found any alternatives or IP65 rated ones? 

 

[Duncan]

theres nothing cheap or easily available in the uk that i can find

im using some rgb 12v 9w bare ip65 ones from china
they are small, have a spike and mounting plate, pale grey in colour and are suprisingly bright - ive got 2 patio areas of around 5 x 5m with the plants underlit with 4 lights each, and i usually have them set around 30%

they have a 4 core cable, so can be run from any 12v rgb dmx dimmer or the like which can be mounted indoors or a waterproof outdoor box.

they say 12-24v, but they have an internal constant current device and if you run them at 24v they dont dim well. at 12v they work great

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Factory-9W-RGB-IP65-waterproof-12-24V-outdoor-led-landscape-light-for-garden-lighting/32696055516.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.9VmCgR

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/20pcs-lot-1-5m-5-pin-extension-cable-2pin-power-cable-for-RGBW-led-downlights/32471105387.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.9VmCgR

[Simon Still]

I'm using a different light from Aliexpress that looks like this item-

https://www.aliexpress.com/item-img/CE-ROHS-8pcs-Lot-IP65-Waterproof-Outdoor-LED-Spot-Light-3W-RGB-Garden-Light-12V-24V/32713867147.html?spm=2114.10010108.1000017.1.tzXUBA

Running them at 24V with a 4 channel DMX dimmer in a waterproof box.  They don't do a very good white light - the way the lens works means you get some colour fringing.  

One of them must have shorted to the case and the aluminium case corroded away.  

Obviously at 3W they're not going to be as bright as Duncans but enough for mood lighting of plants  and to sit and have  a drink under.  (I run them at full strength)

[RSinn]

when you use 12v spots outside how do you get around the large cable thickness?

If I have 7x 9w = 63W looped through then the furthest is 22m away from the dmx driver. this means i need a 16mm cable. Surely this cant be right?!! 

what's your setup and distances?

fwiw 24v does drop the cable thickness but cant find any 24v rgb.

[Rob]

No, 16mm2 can't be correct.

What cable are you planning to use and how are you calculating cable sizes?

[RSinn]

using the TLC cable checker. i get similar (12.6mm2) using my own spreadsheet

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Charts/VoltageDrop.html

[Rob]

The main issue is the length of run in relation to the very low voltage which means that even using 2.5mm2 conductors, at the end of the run you will have a voltage drop of over 2v which is likely enough to stop the lights working.

Without knowing how the lights/DMX driver are wired, it's difficult to suggest a solution.

[RSinn]

ok so i'll tell you what i'm trying to achieve and maybe you might have some good ideas.

the garden is terraced, 3 levels, across the plot which is 24m wide. I want approx 6 RGB spotlights on spikes along each terrace. I have a patio area on the mid terrace at one end, so the plan was to embed a meter cupboard in the wall there to house 24v/12v DMX drivers with their PSU. I'd then run a dmx from the loxone in the house to this external meter cupboard. 

the problem I get is when I calc the cable runs from the meter cupboard along these terraces as the furthest  spotlight is ~20m away.

I know I could run the 240v closer and have shorter runs of the 12v cable but then I'd need waterproof enclosures everywhere! I can't help but feel I'm missing something. Help! hahaha

[Daniel Feist]

2v is an issue with constant voltage but with constant current drivers voltage drop is much less of an issue (assuming driver max voltage is high though) as driver adjusts voltage to maintain q constant current, amd therefore automatically adjusts for voltage drop.

LED strips typically use constant voltage, but most other fittings are constant current. With these the length isn't a major concern as long as you size the driver for the correct number of fittings and account for the voltage drop.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Loxone English" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to loxone-englis...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/loxone-english/6316cf20-b12b-4b5a-94df-dcce917ef951n%40googlegroups.com.

[Duncan]

just an update from my old post dated 2017,

i couldnt get replacement / extra  lights, so replaced all mine with this alternative:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001129109423.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.2ebc4c4dBjtnJp

you need to find/solder a suitable waterproof connector but thats fairly straight forward for most

they are remarkably cheap at around £12 each and out of 60 ive not had a defective one yet....

as mentioned earlier, although they are 12v and can be dimmed with a 12 CV dmx driver, because the internal contruction seems to be a constant current driver then i dont see any dimming at the end of a run of 12 lights

to keep runs as short as possible for my wiring i use external waterproof boxes containing  a12 psu and dmx dimmer, a 4core 2.5mm master cable with t-piece connectors and 1.0mm branches feeding each light

if you wish to use very long runs, i would suggest a similar construction but use a 2nd unbranched 2.5mm cable in parallel to feed the far end of the chain as well, a bit like that used for long runs of led tape - much simpler than trying to wrangle 4mm or 6mm cable into connectors

[RSinn]

remind me, isn't there something to do with the calc for RGB that its sized for the anode. i.e. you need the 6mm for the anode but you can get away with 2.5mm for the r,g & b connections? 

[Duncan]

yes in theory eg for true CV led tape, the common anode carries the combined current of the 3 or 4 channels so should be uprated to suit

[Tomasz Nowak]

I'm using Philips Hue Liliy garden spots. Controlled with Zigbee, powered by a 24VDC waterproof line that is easy to extend. They are RGB(W) andcreate a beautiful ambient lighting.

[Duncan]

do the philips zigbee lights relay the control signal to other lights further away from the controller? what happens if your lights are 30-50m away from the house?

[Tomasz Nowak]

Zigbee is a mesh network, so every light spot extends the range