When we install the low-voltage (12vDC and 24vDC) LED strip, it is very easy to install. After installation, we often hear complaints from customers: the end of the led strip near the power supply is very bright, but the end will be darker. At this time, we have to consider an important reason – Voltage Drop.
Table of Contents
1 What is voltage drop?
2 What factors affect voltage drop?
3 Is voltage drop harmful to LED strips?
4 How to Avoid Voltage Drop in LED Strip?
5 How about the Super Long Constant Current LED Strip?
What is voltage drop?
LED strip voltage drop refers to the amount of voltage loss between the power supply and the LED. In a DC circuit, the voltage gradually drops as it passes through the LED strip. Therefore, with every foot of wire, the available voltage to each foot gradually decreases along the length of wire. This can lead to having one end of your strip lights being brighter than the other end.
What factors affect voltage drop?
Cable thickness: it is the single most significant factor affecting voltage drop: if you use a cable that is too narrow, this will certainly cause a decrease in voltage towards the end of your long cable run.
Cable composition: As with any circuit, the material a cable is made from will affect how well it conducts a current. The better the conductor, the further and more effectively it will carry a current from source.
LED Strip length: As a general rule, any continuous run of LED tape longer than 6 meter will start to suffer a voltage drop. But it’s no problem to design a LED tape installation longer than 6m that will avoid voltage drop.
Is voltage drop harmful to LED strips?
LED strip voltage drops are generally not harmful to LED strips, as it is a form of supplying them with lower voltage than initially expected. However, the voltage drop usually represents the conversion of electrical energy to thermal energy in the resistor, which generates a lot of heat. Another problem is that the effect of brightness is affected, so it is a problem if the voltage drop is too large.
How to Avoid Voltage Drop in LED Strip?
We have several ways to help you minimize the voltage drop of your led strip.
First, we installed the wires as short as possible, which means you can run the wires through the wall or ceiling instead of going around the room as much as possible.
Also, we need to make sure that we use a large enough wire when running between the power supply and the led strip, a larger wire has less resistance, which means it can transmit power more efficiently.
One last thing is to minimize the run length of the LED strip, the easiest way to minimize the run length is to split the run into two parts. For example, let’s say you need a 10-meter led strip to light up a room. It is recommended not to put the power supply in the middle, instead of directly lighting the 10m strip, and then dividing it into 5m and 5m, of course, you don’t necessarily have to divide it in half, if it is convenient, divide the 10m into 6m and 4m According to your own needs.
How about the Super Long Constant Current LED Strip?
If your lighting project requires long strips of led strip to be used together, and there is no voltage drop, I recommend you to consider about super-long constant current led strips, which are available in rolls of 50 meters, 30 meters, 20 meters, 15 meters and 10 meter, you only need to connect one end of led strip to the power supply, this super-long constant current led strip can ensure that the end of the led stirp can guarantee the same brightness and color temperature after lighting, complete consistency.
This led strip series adds constant current IC components to the circuit in the PCB board, the super-long constant current light strip can ensure that the current flowing through the LED remains constant within a specific voltage range (such as 24V~19V), so that the LED’s Brightness is achieved continuously.