Need a little electrical help.

[Sacohen]

I want to run a single Cat5e cable from my Meanwell LDD driver to my lights to control the lighting.

The distance would be about 5-6 feet from driver to lights.

These are the lights.
Aquarium LED Light 144W Full Spectrum 48 x 3W Reefblok Coral Reef Grow Fixture | eBay
There are 2 channels that will be outputting 0-48v (depending on what the controller has them at).

Each channel has only 24 lights on it.

Can Cat 5e handle that voltage and current?

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[Sacohen]

Thanks for the bump Reefing Madness, but I've found out other places that Cat5e is not going to handle the power to the lights.
It is fine for the dimming/control signal, but not for the actual output power.

If anyone else has anything to add to this I'd appreciate it.

 

[ReeferBob]

They'll never handle any AC current. You're good to about 55 volts of DC power though with low draw like under 13 watts.

 

[Sacohen]

This is DC current,48v, but about 72 watts though, so I'll go another way.

 

[Zacco]

Cat5e is good for only data transfer. Plus it is a solid conductor. You do not want to use a solid conductor as thin as cat5e to run dc voltage. Use braided wire. Braided wire can handle more current. 16 gauge minimum.

 

[evan.lundberg4]

You might be able to find some type of speaker cable that would give you enough conductors to run the lights. Personally I would use thermostat wire as there's a wide range of different cables you can get all the way up to like 8 conductors or maybe more. That's what I have used in the past on DIY lights and it worked well.

 

[Zacco]

Go to Lowes / Home Depot / or any hardware store and buy some 4 conductor 16 gauge SJ cord. (Service Cord Junior) also know as 300 volt rubber power cable. Very flexible and water proof jacket.

 

[Sacohen]

Thank you evan. I'll look into that.
Thermostat cable (at least the stuff I have in my house) does not look anything more that Cat5.
Very thin may 28-24 gauge wire.

I'll look for other stuff.

 

[Sacohen]

Thanks Zacco. 4 conductor is good, I was looking for 8 since I'm running 2 fixtures with 2 channels each and each channel needs 2 wires.

This looks like it may work.
Says it's good to 150V max, but it doesn't specify the Amps.
I'm sure 18 gauge wire can handle 1.5 Amps.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwir...n-By-the-Foot-65676999/204725216?N=5yc1vZc57f

 

[evan.lundberg4]

Go to Lowes / Home Depot / or any hardware store and buy some 4 conductor 16 gauge SJ cord. (Service Cord Junior) also know as 300 volt rubber power cable. Very flexible and water proof jacket.

I think that thermostat wire is typically 18 gauge so it's a larger wire then cat5e. That SJ cord is a very good idea though. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[Zacco]

cat5e = 24 gauge / t-stat wire = 18 gauge / just run 2 - 4 conductor SJ Cords.

 

[ReeferBob]

Cat5e is good for only data transfer. Plus it is a solid conductor. You do not want to use a solid conductor as thin as cat5e to run dc voltage. Use braided wire. Braided wire can handle more current. 16 gauge minimum.

This is incorrect. The CAT5 spec is good for DC current around 55 volts and under 13 watts. Investigate PoE (power over Ethernet).

 

[Zacco]

This is incorrect. The CAT5 spec is good for DC current around 55 volts and under 13 watts. Investigate PoE (power over Ethernet).

This is true. Cat5e always has some type of voltage running through it. We only use it for phone, ethernet, milivolt controls, HDMI over cat5. Using cat5 for running anything else is considered to be a substandard practice in the electrical field.

 

[evan.lundberg4]

This is true. Cat5e always has some type of voltage running through it. We only use it for phone, ethernet, milivolt controls, HDMI over cat5. Using cat5 for running anything else is considered to be a substandard practice in the electrical field.

I would agree. I think you'll find that it only can carry a very very low amperage. POE devices like cameras for example draw almost nothing.

 

[Zacco]

You must also take into consideration lenght of cable and voltage drop. Check the NEC and IRC Code Books. We always upsize the wire.

 

[Sacohen]

The run is about 5'.

 

[Zacco]

No need to worry about voltage drop on 5 feet of cable.

 

[Sacohen]

Not worried about drop. More worried about the wire burning up.

 

[ReeferBob]

This is true. Cat5e always has some type of voltage running through it. We only use it for phone, ethernet, milivolt controls, HDMI over cat5. Using cat5 for running anything else is considered to be a substandard practice in the electrical field.

Isn't this what I said?