Powering LED lights

[pmangelos]

Hi all,
I've got an unusual project I'm working on. We own an indoor shooting range that we want to try lighting with some LED lights. I've got a light bar that would fit conveniently in our space that is the type of light you see on an off-road truck, I've tested it using an automotive battery and I like the light it puts out. My question is what is the best way to power it. It requires 10-30V DC power 180W maximum. I want to install five of these lights in our range. I see a variety of LED specific drivers in a variety of wattages. Will the wattage play a big part of the brightness, should I get something near the top of this wattage range? Am I better off with individual power supplies or should I get one that powers all of them. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Showkey]

180 watts for all the lights or each light ?

 

[kd3pc]

In our range, the lighting is critical. There is great light over the shooting console and more subdued lighting downrange and then overhead lighting over the 15', 25', 50' and 75' stop points above the target holder.

LED lighting in vastly different than vintage lighting, both in color and dispersion. When we switched from incandescent to LED on the tree at my dragstrip some years back, the crowd was quite vocal - I suspect your shooters will let you know how well it is working.

As to the supplies, you are best served in an indoor area to use 120v sources and let the light bar regulate/supply the needed power. IF the only requirement is for low voltage DC, it would indicate minimal regulators on the light bar and that is not a good thing. IF you like the "light" at 12volts nominal, you will NOT like the light at 10vdc, or 15vdc or...

Best of luck.

 

[justsam]

I would use a supply per light bar. You do not want a single point of failure, and it would need to be a very large supply.

I agree with kd3pc, (I'm K6BCD), that the allowed voltage range is suspicious in terms of how voltage impacts brightness, i.e., no internal regulation.

If you like the light bar you have, measure the current it is drawing using your battery supply. We know that 180 Watts is maximum, which would be about 15 Amps at 12VDC. I suspect it will not draw that much, probably more like 7-8 Amps. If that is the case, and you like the light level, you need to buy some 12VDC supplies at 10Amps off of e-Bay. Get some spares while you are at it.

In theory it would be better to power at 24VDC since you could use smaller wiring, however I suspect if this unit is not regulated it will just get brighter while not exceeding the 180Watt level.

 

[pmangelos]

Thanks all for the information. They are indeed 180W each light. I will test the lights for draw with my current battery. I then can buy separate power supplies for each one. Thanks for the info.

 

[inphx]

You can re purpose desktop pc power supply for 12v or source non UL here http://www.dx.com/s/12v+power+supply .

 

[404]

Your light has an internal regulator. The brightness should not change with input voltage. As mentioned old laptop power supplies are inexpensive and of pretty good quality.

 

[Showkey]

I use these off Amazon but there only 27 watt each. I power them with the typical battery illuminator. I use 8 of them as outdoor low voltage drive way lighting. I turn them on and off with WEMO remote WiFi switch.

KAWELL® 2 Pack 4.5" 27W Square Thick Type DC 9-32V 6000K 1800LM 60 Degree LED for ATV/Jeep/boat/suv/truck/car/atvs light Off Road Waterproof Led Flood Work Light

From the description these are 9-32 volt and do not change color or brightness with input voltage as other have stated. They are $27 per two pack. In service for two years.