Hazardous running 12 EB strips in series? ~240v

sonmanc

sonmanc

Member
I'm putting together a 15 strip build at 300v however. You can't skip corners doing so. Top grade wire, no sloppy connections. Seal off the open solder pads with dielectric coating that can handle heat. Built in weatherproof gfci. Wire coverings. Plastic handles. Touch voltage can be super dangerous. My other hobbies are tesla coils and super high voltage generators so I'm ok with this. However the tent also has moisture which is more factors yet again. So if your not comfortable or don't know voltage risk, Stick with lower voltage! High voltage can ride along a non conductive surface just from dirt or moisture. I go as far as using plastic nuts and bolts. Fuses etc. whatever for it needs for safety. If I had kids I would never run a high voltage rig period. All I spent for safety "I would do anyway" however you can easily go minimal at lower. ( gfci at very least if your wall plug does not have one already, note that it will not protect you from touching live solder pads or exposed connections or under rated wire!)
 
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whytewidow

whytewidow

Well-Known Member
You're not gonna have thermal runaway unless you run them wide open with no thermal bedding at all. No cooling. I'm running 13 strips at 21.6vdc in series not a problem. I've run up to 305vdc in series. Im not sure what your talkin about when you say your using 220v house wire. #1 that's the AC side. Number #2 any household wire that's for 220v wont fit in the connectors. .you need 18awg solid core wire. Preferably not copper clad wire. Pure copper. Copper clad doesnt have the same voltage rating. 18awg copper clad only had a 150vdc rating. Copper solid core wire is rated for 300vdc.
 
CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
Hadez411 said:
Using 220 household solid core wire to do the push-connectors.
Click to expand...
it sounds like you have a very cursory understanding of wiring basics. you would never use the type of wire you describe for strips (there is no such thing as '220 household solid core wire' BTW, most wiring in that class is rated for 600V). From your description it sounds like you were intending to use 12GA wire which would destroy most push terminals instantly

please take a little time to understand safe wiring and by all means ask questions.

as a start:

conductors carry power via voltage and current

current is the amount of electricity flowing through
voltage is the potential of said current relative to ground

watts= volts x current

conductors are sized by current, for out application, 18AWG solid is acceptable for almost all DC applications as it can safely carry up to 7A in free air

on the AC side youd be hard pressed to need more than 12AWG (the household wire you describe), as it can carry up to 30A which is 6000W @ 240V. you really cant 'oversize' wire on the AC side, as most breakers can take 8AWG, but its a waste of money to use over 12 in most applications. 10AWG if youre constrained to 120V and need to move 40A thru it, which is unusual.
 
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Hadez411

Hadez411

Well-Known Member
sonmanc said:
I'm putting together a 15 strip build at 300v however. You can't skip corners doing so. Top grade wire, no sloppy connections. Seal off the open solder pads with dielectric coating that can handle heat. Built in weatherproof gfci. Wire coverings. Plastic handles. Touch voltage can be super dangerous. My other hobbies are tesla coils and super high voltage generators so I'm ok with this. However the tent also has moisture which is more factors yet again. So if your not comfortable or don't know voltage risk, Stick with lower voltage! High voltage can ride along a non conductive surface just from dirt or moisture. I go as far as using plastic nuts and bolts. Fuses etc. whatever for it needs for safety. If I had kids I would never run a high voltage rig period. All I spent for safety "I would do anyway" however you can easily go minimal at lower. ( gfci at very least if your wall plug does not have one already, note that it will not protect you from touching live solder pads or exposed connections or under rated wire!)
Click to expand...

I'm all set up now and it's no extra hassle being in series. I'm liberal with my foliar sprays and I haven't had any issues. I setup someone else with mini cobs in parallel and they ran away thermally. So I'm a series fan now.

CobKits said:
it sounds like you have a very cursory understanding of wiring basics. you would never use the type of wire you describe for strips (there is no such thing as '220 household solid core wire' BTW, most wiring in that class is rated for 600V). From your description it sounds like you were intending to use 12GA wire which would destroy most push terminals instantly

please take a little time to understand safe wiring and by all means ask questions.

as a start:

conductors carry power via voltage and current

current is the amount of electricity flowing through
voltage is the potential of said current relative to ground

watts= volts x current

conductors are sized by current, for out application, 18AWG solid is acceptable for almost all DC applications as it can safely carry up to 7A in free air

on the AC side youd be hard pressed to need more than 12AWG (the household wire you describe), as it can carry up to 30A which is 6000W @ 240V. you really cant 'oversize' wire on the AC side, as most breakers can take 8AWG, but its a waste of money to use over 12 in most applications. 10AWG if youre constrained to 120V and need to move 40A thru it, which is unusual.
Click to expand...

Ya I didnt have any experience with wire gauge at the time and was following some idiots advice. I've since used 18 awg and its all fine and well. Been running for weeks.
 
Hadez411

Hadez411

Well-Known Member
shimbob said:
Offtopic but I'd love to hear about this runaway. Thermal runaways have a reputation of being terrible but actual cases have been extremely rare. What happened here?
Click to expand...
Heatsinking was disproportionate. I was using U channel and didn't leave enough length on the ends for the first and last cob.
 
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