I have 12v LED strip tape, actually running with a 9volt source. I need to use a short amount of wire to connect 2 strips. Ive seen some people use 22awg stranded, but I would prefer to use 24awg if possible. We're talking about 6 inches or so. Would it work okay??
I would recommend to use AWG26, my general purpose wiring standard for "light duty" applications. If you are serious or slightly worrying, you can check out the AWG spec and the 12V LED strip spec.
I would recommend this AWG guide: Wire Gauge and Current Limits Including Skin Depth and Tensile Strength July 13, 2022 powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
You may like to give us the link to your 12V LED strip.
I think the entire roll needs 48 watts. I use it to illuminate models. I have a 35 inch plastic model and I use strips about 8 inches long. In one section I need to run wires from an arduino board to the strip. I like using wire from a ribbon cable cuz it so light weight. I said 24awg cuz my stripper setting works great at that gauge. But it might be smaller. Im hoping that running an 8 inch pair from the board to the strip will be fine.
Btw Wikipedia says ribbon cable is 24 or 26 gauge. Mine looks like 26.
You 12V LED strip is pretty standard, as summarized below:
12V 48W UL High-Output 16.4-ft Flexible Ribbon LED Strip Light with 600 x SMD2835 https://www.ledwholesalers.com/v2/index.php?route=product/product&path=39_81_97&product_id=1134&filter=1
Features: (1) 600 x SMD2835 LEDs, (2) Cuttable every 3 LEDs, Dimmable with transformer, wall dimmer switch or PWM
AWG 26 or 24 is not that critical. So you can use AWG24 if you have a AWG24 stripper.
The entire roll has 600 LEDs, with total power 48W. At full power, current can be 48W / 12V = 4A, well above AWG26 max current limit. So you might start small, with, say just 50 or 100LEDs. I think you are OK to do initial experiments. Good luck and have fun. Cheers.
Ah, so you said "some people" use AWG22. AWG22 can do 7A, so is good if if drive all 600 LEDs. Also you need to use 12V power source. 9V is not strong enough.
Thanks! I use short strips, about 8 inches, so thats 24 LEDs. I would wire up the strip to go to arduino, so is 26gauge wire okay for 24 LEDs? Another application is a strip of 24 LEDs jumped to another shorter strip. 26 gauge again. Is that safe? I just dont want to violate any laws.
I have two sets of ribbon cable, where one looks like it has thicker insulation, hence the stripper setting is 24gauge. But when I look at the wires, they look 26gauge. The other set has thinner insulation and slightly thicker wire! Im getting too old for this!!!
Discussion between tlfong01 and Coreysan
Discussion between tlfong01 and Coreysan