Flood Light Questions?

[Daan]

The 12v LED flood lights are becoming scarce, do I put up 20w 220v flood lights.  I would like to secure my front garden with two(2) cameras and two(2) flood lights.  Too this system I  would like to add add my gate motor.  This is for future load shedding.

Daan

[Richard Mackay]

Have you had a 12V system previously? If so and you move to 220V you will lose efficiency due to the inverter which matters when there's a power outage

All LEDs are low voltage devices. They are powered by constant current drivers which either source their power from 220V or 12/24/48V dc

[Daan]

No, I am starting afresh, do I go 12v or 220v?

[___]

42 minutes ago, Daan said:

No, I am starting afresh, do I go 12v or 220v?

Just as an aside, Richard is our resident DC proponent. He is right that it is often a lot more efficient to run things from DC rather than round trip it upwards to 230VAC just to drop it back down again to 12VDC later.

I take a more practical approach, which is that if an inverter is required in any case (because I have a load that won't have it any other way), then the extra troubles of converting things to DC, getting alternative power supplies for them (where needed, of course that won't be needed everywhere), transmission losses over longer distances, DC-rated switches and so forth, may well mean that you swallow the inefficiency and just stick with AC.

You also cannot run AC and DC in the same raceways, which means new conduit if there's going to be wiring done. Finally it makes it a lot harder to convert the house back to "standard" if you ever decide to sell it.

Of course none of what I have just written addresses your main problem: That buying 12V equipment in the shop isn't as easy as it used to be. So you either need a supplier, or some DIY.

For your intended use case, which seems to be contained to the garden-area, going with 12V is doable and will save costs on an inverter.

[Richard Mackay]

LED Select  appear to have 12V flood lights: https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/465790551/Flood_Light_Black_10W_Cool_White_12V_LOCAL_STOCK.html

Your gate motor and cameras should have battery backup built in..

[___]

20 minutes ago, Richard Mackay said:

LED Select

He's an excellent seller on BoB.

22 minutes ago, Richard Mackay said:

Your gate motor and cameras should have battery backup built in..

Gate motors... I have a Centurion Evo 5. The power supply is not strong enough to run the motor without the battery. It needs the battery to handle the peak current. Battery fails, gate stops moving (even when the power is on). Two thoughts about that:

1. If you're going to piggy-back extra stuff from this battery, I'd uprate it to something bigger.

2. If solar charging is going to be the only form of charging, in other words the gate will run completely from battery at night, the standard 7Ah battery it comes with is too small. Make it bigger.

3. Uprating this battery will allow you to put up a bigger charger for it, which will in turn mean the battery takes a much smaller hit when the gate moves, which will increase its life.

As it is, that poor 7Ah battery (or 9Ah if you spend a bit extra, and hack around the larger terminals) takes a 2C discharge rate when moving the gate... which explains clearly why the battery fails so quickly during power failures, especially if its a few months old.

[Louisvdw]

20 hours ago, Richard Mackay said:

Have you had a 12V system previously? If so and you move to 220V you will lose efficiency due to the inverter which matters when there's a power outage

All LEDs are low voltage devices. They are powered by constant current drivers which either source their power from 220V or 12/24/48V dc

Many 220V LED floodlights also use 32V inside. I would have though 36V made mode sense. 

[Richard Mackay]

1 hour ago, Louisvdw said:

Many 220V LED floodlights also use 32V inside. I would have though 36V made mode sense. 

LEDs require a specific current rather than a voltage. The LED drivers (PCBs inside the unit) will deliver the required current.

DC supply voltages are now standardised. These are 5V, 12V, 24V, & 48V.  Above 48V DC becomes dangerous so those voltages are regulated by authorities..

[JohanG]

I have a problem with LED lights that use plastic as a lens and cover 

Havells Adoree Neo led 6w cool daylight.

The plastic discolours after limited use ..see image

They are linked to my solar during the day that at night switches to eskom 

This seems to be an overheating problem

Comment

[lancelot]

I have almost same question, I want to power gate motor and 70w of 12v lights and wifi transmission from a farm gate, keep everything 12v then no need for inverter with a 200ah battery at the gate and a 300w panel with 12v charger. What I don't understand is how to connect the 12v to the Centurion D5 evo motor, do I remove the current 9ah batttery and run gate just on my 200ah battery with a 12v input to the gate motor?

[iiznh]

On 2022/10/11 at 3:04 PM, lancelot said:

do I remove the current 9ah batttery and run gate just on my 200ah battery with a 12v input to the gate motor?

Yes, you simply replace the existing battery with one of the same voltage but larger capacity. I assume it is 12V

Then simply wire the solar charge controller directly to the new battery (so the panel can charge it) and split off one connection to the gate motor so the battery can open the gate (this must be a decent cable as the gate motor will pull quite a couple of amps to get going).

Then wire the 12V light to the load section on your charge controller and it should hopefully help that you do not deplete the battery completely

Oh yes, you panel needs to produce at least 18V otherwise it will not charge the battery

 Some gates also has an external light (220V) connector that can be triggered when the gate opens.

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by iiznh

[Vernonstanley]

It sounds like you have a good understanding of the process for upgrading the battery and wiring it to the gate motor and solar charge controller. Just to clarify, you should remove the existing 9Ah battery and replace it with the new 200Ah battery. The new battery should be wired to the solar charge controller, and the charge controller should be connected to the solar panel to enable charging. You can then connect the gate motor to the battery and wire the 12V light to the load section of the charge controller.

As you mentioned, it's important to use a cable with a suitable ampacity to handle the current draw of the gate motor. You should also ensure that the solar panel is capable of producing at least 18V to properly charge the battery.

Additionally, if your gate has an external light connector, you can use this to trigger an external light when the gate opens. However, you will need to ensure that the light is connected to a suitable power source and wired correctly to avoid any potential safety hazards.

[lancelot]

I have completed my installation and it is running perfectly. One 450w panel to 24v solar charge controller connected to lithium 100ah 24v battery. Then installed a Centurion D10 gate motor that runs on 24v connected to load on charge controller. 

Lights on walls with 24v globes(imported) through 24v day night switch also from load. Via low voltage cut out switch so if battery runs low due to weather, lights will switch of first to give gate motor priority on the battery.

I also have a dc to dc converter that reduce the voltage to 12v for finger readers, cameras, 4g modem and intercom.

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by lancelot

[Moffat]

On 2020/05/28 at 10:29 AM, ___ said:

He's an excellent seller on BoB.

Gate motors... I have a Centurion Evo 5. The power supply is not strong enough to run the motor without the battery. It needs the battery to handle the peak current. Battery fails, gate stops moving (even when the power is on). Two thoughts about that:

1. If you're going to piggy-back extra stuff from this battery, I'd uprate it to something bigger.

2. If solar charging is going to be the only form of charging, in other words the gate will run completely from battery at night, the standard 7Ah battery it comes with is too small. Make it bigger.

3. Uprating this battery will allow you to put up a bigger charger for it, which will in turn mean the battery takes a much smaller hit when the gate moves, which will increase its life.

As it is, that poor 7Ah battery (or 9Ah if you spend a bit extra, and hack around the larger terminals) takes a 2C discharge rate when moving the gate... which explains clearly why the battery fails so quickly during power failures, especially if its a few months old.

Bluenova now offers a 12v drop-in lithium option which comes with a BMS on it, this may help. However, if you have high traffic, then I would advise getting a bigger say, 100ah battery which feeds of solar and in turn also feeds the smaller 7ah battery for your gate motor, that's what I've done and with a 150w solar panel and it's worked like a charm for both the gate as well as the electric fence. You'll need to add even a PWM solar charge controller near the batteries to regulate the voltage from the solar panel, moreso in winter when temperatures are cooler and panels produce higher power.