Only LED Nightclub, Help!
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Only LED Nightclub, Help!
I would say "bar" but didn't want to confuse anyone.
I am building 3 bars in Antigua Guatemala, went down there to study Spanish and decided to stay for a while. I would like to use exclusively LED lighting if possible - I'm currently using cheap colored Christmas lights but can't wait to convert them to LEDs. Most lighting is indirect (lighting ceiling from the beams) or lighting the wall behind a column etc.
To drive the LEDs I was planning on using old PC computer transformers that put out 12volts (among other voltages) and anywhere between 25-50 amps. I've been doing some reading in the forums and understand that there can be problems ... I read stuff about over driving, the need for current limiting, rectifiers?, the need for a load on a transformer to prevent voltage spikes that can ruin your LEDs - someone mentioned putting a diode across to prevent this? (don't understand) ..
I was really planning to just wire similar lights (same color and electrical characteristics) in parallel using a resistor on each, and to wire these different parallel groups of lights in series - making sure they had equivalent loads so the current doesn't take the "easy way out," leaving the harder to drive leds unlit.
I was going to use a pot somewhere to offer at least some minimal dimming capabilities.
For the LEDs, I wasn't going to buy the latest greatest most expensive lights, but instead, buy some bright 6000-10000 mcd LEDs off of ebay for about $.10 each. That reminds me, any good thread on understanding mcd and lumens?
I also see RGB lights for less that $1.00 each, would be pretty cool to be able to mix the light myself using analog pots, don't know if that's worth getting into ...
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I am building 3 bars in Antigua Guatemala, went down there to study Spanish and decided to stay for a while. I would like to use exclusively LED lighting if possible - I'm currently using cheap colored Christmas lights but can't wait to convert them to LEDs. Most lighting is indirect (lighting ceiling from the beams) or lighting the wall behind a column etc.
To drive the LEDs I was planning on using old PC computer transformers that put out 12volts (among other voltages) and anywhere between 25-50 amps. I've been doing some reading in the forums and understand that there can be problems ... I read stuff about over driving, the need for current limiting, rectifiers?, the need for a load on a transformer to prevent voltage spikes that can ruin your LEDs - someone mentioned putting a diode across to prevent this? (don't understand) ..
I was really planning to just wire similar lights (same color and electrical characteristics) in parallel using a resistor on each, and to wire these different parallel groups of lights in series - making sure they had equivalent loads so the current doesn't take the "easy way out," leaving the harder to drive leds unlit.
I was going to use a pot somewhere to offer at least some minimal dimming capabilities.
For the LEDs, I wasn't going to buy the latest greatest most expensive lights, but instead, buy some bright 6000-10000 mcd LEDs off of ebay for about $.10 each. That reminds me, any good thread on understanding mcd and lumens?
I also see RGB lights for less that $1.00 each, would be pretty cool to be able to mix the light myself using analog pots, don't know if that's worth getting into ...
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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