Question 4 Wire LED via 2 wire romex

[Gdemos]

I have 2 wire romex feeding a LED power supply and LED WIFI controller with connection in a junction box. This romex lead is also controlled by a dimming wifi light switch (leviton). Romex continues through the structure and is stubbed out at locations in the structure where this LED tape light will be installed

The LED tape light has four wires, multiple colors, and is designed to dim, fade to other colors, strobe, etc.

Stripping the four wire, to splice to the two wire, please explain: how to splice four wires to two? Which wires of four wire tape go to the two wire romex? Are the four wires separated colors/dimming control/ + / - ? How do i keep functioning all colors/dimming etc when going from four to two wire?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Greenman]

I have 2 wire romex feeding a LED power supply and LED WIFI controller with connection in a junction box. This romex lead is also controlled by a dimming wifi light switch (leviton). Romex continues through the structure and is stubbed out at locations in the structure where this LED tape light will be installed

The LED tape light has four wires, multiple colors, and is designed to dim, fade to other colors, strobe, etc.

Stripping the four wire, to splice to the two wire, please explain: how to splice four wires to two? Which wires of four wire tape go to the two wire romex? Are the four wires separated colors/dimming control/ + / - ? How do i keep functioning all colors/dimming etc when going from four to two wire?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds to me like you need two more wires, being low voltage you could use the ground as a conductor. That said, it's a bad idea to use romex for anything but 120v AC. It also seems as though you're trying to run low voltage lighting in several locations off of one driver, that isn't going to work unless your driver is always on and you switch at each light.
This seems like a system that wasn't planed out very well.

 

[Fallen Kell]

LED strip lighting is low voltage DC (i.e. 12V or 24V typically). If you have all the locations wired in parallel (or groups of parallel runs), you can connect a more powerful DC power supply rated to the handle the power draw of the multiple strips on the individual runs. However, you need a proper LED controller to still effectively dim and control LED color/brightness. Typically you would use signal amplifiers along with additional power supplies periodically across your installation. This would mean that there is normal AC power in the wall nearby a location where you have your LED strips with an additional low voltage box which contains a 4, 5, 8 or 10 wire low voltage lines (which you signal amplify).

You can also run DC power in parallel with your LED strip (i.e. 12V and G) over romex. You are still limited by the strips as to how many can be connected at once (since your control signals are not being amplified and since you don't have parallel runs for the control lines to all the locations like you mention that you have romex).

Your particular setup seems like it was designed with in-line LED controllers (i.e. the controller runs on 12/24V DC, and has the ability for you to program it's color output, either manually to a set color, or via bluetooth or wifi which can be changed via a phone or computer) at each of the junctions with your 12/24V DC and G running in parallel over the romex. The LED strips that you use will determine if you can use 12V or 24V and the number of strips that you have running in parallel will determine how many amps your DC power supply needs to be able to output to handle the run (in combination the gauge of romex wire and it's length to account for resistance of the wire). You would need to lookup the ratings of the wire for the length of the overall run, Voltage and amperage (you are probably more than fine since romex is typically rated for 110V at 15amp, but there is more than one size of romex so it really depends on what was installed, but the last thing you want to have happen is a fire blamed on overloaded wiring which you installed/connected to a powersupply cause your home insurance will basically say that the fire is all on you).