Need help with wiring up new strips

[Airwalker16]

No I thought I had 16 but I was wrong and I do have 18 and tried but maybe cause I didn’t strip the wire yet and its a tight ass fit. I did look up those Wago 2065 connectors and they’re rated for 18-24 awg so I should be good once I strip the wire

Stripping the wire before insertion into the connector is absolutely necessary.

 

[Airwalker16]

You understanding how you're going to parallel wire your strips now? Does it make enough sense?

 

[SPLFreak808]

Thanks, but I have no clue what I’m looking at lol. This is all new to me. I’ll see if I can figure it out tho

mybad bro, was just trying to point you in a general direction regarding your method of wiring.

Yes you can do it that way but, you still need the right wire size. Having all 3 boards flow through one undersized wire can easily eat up efficiency, the calculator i posted will let you calculate your voltage drop, lmk if you need help. Just pm me

 

[diggs99]

its like a flashback to my thread hahahaha

even the same cats in here helping , i remember how confused and helpless i felt hahaha

gl hardluck, you got this bro

 

[Couch_Lock]

Strips are probably the smartest, most efficient way to go. Airwalker + Diggs know strips.

 

[HardLuck71]

Stripping the wire before insertion into the connector is absolutely necessary.

Lol, yeah I know that. I was just checking to see if the wire fit

 

[nl5xsk1]

So I can’t run to the 1st strip then daisy chain to the rest? Damn, woulda looked cleaner wiring that way. So would it be easiest to use a Wago? Honestly, I’m still a little confused, sry. I’ve never built a light or wired anything up. I appreciate ur reply man

If u run a single lead to the first positive and daisy off of it to the rest of positives and do the same with with negatives, that is running each board in parallel

I was just reading ur thread bout ur free Mars light and then u commented on this lol and wow. Gene has it out for u huh. Crazy. I have a Mars TSW 2000 and its working pretty damn well.

 

[HardLuck71]

its like a flashback to my thread hahahaha

even the same cats in here helping , i remember how confused and helpless i felt hahaha

gl hardluck, you got this bro

I'm trying bro lol, but wiring this up is making me nervous lol. I know I prob already asked this, but can I put two 18AWG wires into 1 slot of 5 port lever Wago? Thanks

 

[diggs99]

I'm trying bro lol, but wiring this up is making me nervous lol. I know I prob already asked this, but can I put two 18AWG wires into 1 slot of 5 port lever Wago? Thanks

yes

 

[HardLuck71]

yes

I've been reading your thread that u attached and there's some good stuff in there. Like u said, a lot of the same ppl commenting on my thread are on yours lol. I'm trying to figure out a way to make it look as clean as possible and those terminal blocks/bus bars look interesing as I could prob just use a small piece a the thermal tape I have and stick it right on top of heat sink. Is that ok to do? Don't see why it wouldn't be

 

[Airwalker16]

You should not need to do this at all. Unless you're short on wagos

I'm trying bro lol, but wiring this up is making me nervous lol. I know I prob already asked this, but can I put two 18AWG wires into 1 slot of 5 port lever Wago? Thanks

 

[HardLuck71]

You should not need to do this at all. Unless you're short on wagos

No, I have 15 5 port Wagos, just thought it would cleaner the other way. Trying to figure out where to put the Wagos? Could I just stick them on top of the heat sink?

 

[Airwalker16]

No, I have 15 5 port Wagos, just thought it would cleaner the other way. Trying to figure out where to put the Wagos? Could I just stick them on top of the heat sink?

The 5 port wagos use a length of 14-16awg wire to connect between wago to wago, then use 3 ports for pos or neg of strips with 18awg, then the last port use to connect to the next wago with 14-16awg again.
So basically all your 5 port wagos will do 3 strips for you besides the very last one, if it happens to be the exact amount, can do 4.

 

[Airwalker16]

Just like it shows here:

 

[HardLuck71]

The 5 port wagos use a length of 14-16awg wire to connect between wago to wago, then use 3 ports for pos or neg of strips with 18awg, then the last port use to connect to the next wago with 14-16awg again.

Thats what I was thinking. Would running a piece wire along the top of the heatsink to the other end to connect the 2nd light strip be too long? It would be close to 45” long. Im not runnung single strips, Im running 2 per heatsink

 

[Airwalker16]

And as far as to "where" to put your wagos, they're just kinda there.. hanging off the side. Unless you make your wires extra long so as to where you could glue the wagos to the angle aluminum or something.

 

[Airwalker16]

Thats what I was thinking. Would running a piece wire along the top of the heatsink to the other end to connect the 2nd light strip be too long? It would be close to 45” long. Im not runnung single strips, Im running 2 per heatsink

No that is perfectly fine as far as length goes but in not quite sure what you mean by it though? Just wanna make sure you're keeping everything as tight and neat as it can possibly be.

 

[HardLuck71]

No that is perfectly fine.

Thanks, Ill do that then. I think I know how I’m gonna do it now lol and should look pretty clean with wagos on top along the frame. Im using extrusion and ill just use a small piece of thermal tape to hold the Wagos as that shit is sticky as hell

 

[Airwalker16]

Thanks, Ill do that then. I think I know how I’m gonna do it now lol and should look pretty clean with wagos on top along the frame. Im using extrusion

Extrusion as in t-slot 20X20? Or angle aluminun?

 

[HardLuck71]

Yeah, this is me prepping 1st fixture.