Mounting driver outside tent

[ganjafather27]

I'm having a hard time finding an answer to this question.

I want to mount the drivers of a few cob Rails outside of my tent, and I have 18 awg solid core wire for wiring the cobs in series and wago connectors to connect to the wire running to the drivers.

Can I run this 18awg solid copper wire 7-10 feet to my drivers, located outside the tent, or do I need a bigger Guage of wire?

 

[HydoDan]

You can use the 18g solid core... I slid vinyl tubing over mine like flexible conduit..

 

[GrnMonStr]

If the wire once setup will remain in place then I think its OK, I am not an electrician but usually stranded wire is used for this type of situation since stranded wire is more durable, it can be moved or flexed around or coiled up a bunch off times with no worries.

 

[ganjafather27]

If the wire once setup will remain in place then I think its OK, I am not an electrician but usually stranded wire is used for this type of situation since stranded wire is more durable, it can be moved or flexed around or coiled up a bunch off times with no worries.

OK thanks I hadn't thought of that. I think I'll grab some 16 or 14 g stranded wire thanks

 

[GrnMonStr]

OK thanks I hadn't thought of that. I think I'll grab some 16 or 14 g stranded wire thanks

I am actually thinking about doing this also, then in the cooler months if in my case I need some heat in the room then I bring it back into the room.

 

[dbrn32]

Depending on the current, you should have some pretty good options using type so cord. Like a 16/2 ish. 16/2 so will have 2 individually insulated conductors within 1 outer insulation casing. It's essentially an extension cord without the ends. Or, you could grab a cheap 16 awg extension cord and hack the ends off. Either is a much better option than solid core wire. It will fatigue and break from raising/lowering lights and routine movement of the wire.

 

[astonehead]

I was undecided for a while has all my drivers in the frame, I use solid core for the cobs to a joiner then was my driver and stranded stranded cable the other end,

I just swapped it around so the driver has a plug direct and the other end has a joiner or insulated then stranded flex up to the frame.

Only thing I'm in 2 minds of is weather I should be directly earthing the frame or not but had no shocks yet lol

 

[Tim Fox]

I'm having a hard time finding an answer to this question.

I want to mount the drivers of a few cob Rails outside of my tent, and I have 18 awg solid core wire for wiring the cobs in series and wago connectors to connect to the wire running to the drivers.

Can I run this 18awg solid copper wire 7-10 feet to my drivers, located outside the tent, or do I need a bigger Guage of wire?

my biggest concern would be the solid wire bending and breaking, its not meant to have motion,, so when a driver is mounted on the frame with the cobs,, there is no movement in the wire after its hooked up,, but outside the tent/box/closet,, the light goes up and down, and left or right, and the wires are getting bent over and over,,

 

[SouthCross]

I mounted mine outside the tent. It heats to 108°f running at 50% voltage. It's a big source of heat.

 

[Tim Fox]

i guess i should state , I am all for mounting the driver outside if it helps your temps,, just use stranded wire for the places where the wire will be moving

 

[astonehead]

Either cable grommets through the frame or into junction box and just make sure the cables are secured to the frame so no movement

 

[Boatguy]

Im not sure how drivers are affected by voltage drop, but i would use the appropriate size wire for my voltage and amperage over whatever the distance is to the cobs. I use an app called wiresizer for work, think is was a dollar. There are probably free ones available. Keep in mind the length of the run is the length of the positive wire + the distance back down the negative.

 

[astonehead]

I read anything under 10m is negligible and mine is 3 at the most for each driver

 

[astonehead]

In my case 1 driver runs 3 cobs and then 1 for the 4 boards

 

[Boatguy]

whats your voltage and amperage?

 

[Mullumbimby]

You need to use a flex, not a cable, like on your kettle or your mum's smoothing iron. Solid-core (cable) is not designed to move about.
I've made up fly-leads with connectors at each end, for ease of clean-out and moving around. Try not to use a plug or socket that could be mistaken or used for something else.
Very often, wire is referred to by the amps it can carry, but remember there is always an implied voltage too, and the important thing for the capacity of the wire is really the watts, or power, that will draw. If you are using 4x75V Veros, for example, then at 1amp, you'll be pulling 300W (and 300 volts). Similar cobs running at 36V will need to run at about 2amps to give the same amount of light, but there will still be nearly 300W (but only 150 volts).
Any mains lead (flex) designed for a typical 10amp plug at 240V (or 20amps at 110V), will be fine for up to 2KW of DC LEDs over the sort of distances that are common for these applications. So, in my view, relatively lightweight mains flex is the way to go.
(Some minor rounding in my notes)