# DC power for led rope lights



## Mcguirer29 (Apr 8, 2014)

Have a building with some animals, but no electric. Was wanting to run a 150 ft strand of led rope lights, connected to a deep cycle battery. Will this work? I have very little electrical experience, and honestly don't know where to start looking. Lights will be on fir maybe an hour at a time, maybe twice a day...

Thanks!


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

From what i've calculated, it should. I'm about to do something similar for deck and outdoor lighting, and next the basement, with the idea of being able to have necessary light when I don't have AC power.
You can actually order 12v DC rope lights, if not you'll have to bypass the transformer that's in each strand.
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=12+volt+rope+lights&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
I was thinking of using an inverter instead so I could use them with AC, and when the power's out, switch to the marine battery.


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## Mcguirer29 (Apr 8, 2014)

How do the dc rope lights connect to the battery? I can only find the stuff online, so can't "see it". Thanks!


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Good question.........I'm not sure myself, lol.
They may have an alligator clip connector at the end or something similar, if not, just splice one on.
Red to positive, black to negative.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Get a battery with threaded stud tops as well as (or instead of) ordinary posts, crimp a ring or "U" connector on the LED leads, and wing nut them to the battery studs.










I'd personally wire in a single pole switch on one of the leads, so instead of having to wing nut them down each time, you could simply flip the switch.

Nuther question: Do you plan to cart the battery back and forth to a charging source pretty regularly ? Reading on them, it seems 12v rope LED's use about a watt per foot, so 100' is gonna be around 100w. 100w/12v= about 8amps.....so an hour of use is 8amphrs x 2hrs/day = 16ahrs per day. 

Most of the smaller marine batteries are going to be in the 40-50amphr rating ( at least the ones you'll want to lug around on a regular basis, AND not pay several hundred bucks for), so you'd be in the 40-50% depth of discharge range each day....meaning you'd need to charge it every day if you plan on it lasting very long. So consider that in your plan.


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## Mcguirer29 (Apr 8, 2014)

This answer is awesome! Love this forum!

I didn't know what to expect from a battery so I was unsure how often id need to charge. Depending on conditions, would a solar trickle charger be able to "fill er up" in your expertise?


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Most solar 'trickle' chargers are just that....a few drops of sunshine power 

They are 5 to 10 watt panels. Say you get 6 hours per day of GOOD sun on a 10w panel.....that is 60whrs of power. At 12v, that is 60/12, or 5ah. 

Remember, (from above) you're taking out 16a per day of running your lights, and only putting in 5a PER DAY with a 10w panel. You can quickly see that ain't gonna work. 

The real purpose of a trickle charger is to keep a battery from self discharging over long periods of non use.....like a seasonable piece of equipment ( lawn mower, boat, etc) that sits for months on end with a battery in it, but doesn't get re-charged by the engine generator. They are not meant to be a charger if you plan to use the battery on a regular basis.

BUT, you could go on up to, say, a 100w solar panel.....now you have 50amphrs per day to work with instead of 5. (AGAIN, assuming you do get 6 GOOD hours of sun per day on the panel) If you use 16 per day, and have 50 (or even 30) to go back in, you can most likely get thru some cloudy days where you won't get ANY from the panel, and still not hurt your battery too bad. 

Now you WILL need to put a charge controller between the panel and the battery....because you'll overcharge and cook the battery on days when you get lots of solar power flowing. Trickle chargers don't use them because they barely keep up with the self discharge rate of a battery....but once you get in the 25-30w range of a solar panel, you better start considering one. You can buy one in the 10-15amp range fairly cheap.

THEN, of course, the next step is to consider 2 batteries ! That would mean you'd have more amp/hrs, not discharge them very deep and they would last a lot longer.

Heck, next you'll be wanting a coffee maker down there, right ?


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## Mcguirer29 (Apr 8, 2014)

Coffee maker, phone charger...maybe lol! Where would I look for 100w solar panels?


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

I picked mine up from amazon. Renogy 100 watt panel and charge controller. Think it was $160 ish delivered. You can get them cheaper if you are buying quantity...I just wanted a decent start so I could learn.

Matt


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Yeah, the system Matt mentions above is a decent deal.

http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-100W-M...F8&qid=1417218132&sr=8-1&keywords=solar+panel

Currently $185, but includes everything (panel, charger, 20' cable to run from the panel to the charger, and some mounting clips). You might shop around, but that ain't a bad deal at all.

Also, the charger with it is a 30amp, which would allow you to put another 300w of panels on it if you decided to expand a bit.


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## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

Have you seen this?http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-rope-light-68353.html
It's even on sale.


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