can the Active Hub handle this?

[chrisatpsu]

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can the smart string hub handle 108Amps @12v???

it's a Jonnyguru Recommended Power Supply!!!

[RJ]

5amp fuses X 16 outputs  = 80 amps is the max you should be able to pull on the unit. but excess power supply is not a problem so if you have the $$$$ go for it!

RJ

[chrisatpsu]

I was just commenting b/c i found that to be the biggest psu that newegg had to offer.

108Amps, still at 12v, but can you imagine that in a computer power supply?

[Steve Gase]

it will work.
I'd suggest that you invest some money in having a backup PSU, i had one die during burn-in.

108amps x 12v = 1296 watts available.
normally planning for 80% is good (takes into account cheap PSUs that don't deliver as advertised...) but let's say you want to be super-safe and plan 60%... that is 777 watts.

At the extreme you'd need .356 watts per smart string node, and 16 strings, and the max of 128 nodes per string:  729 watts.

[chrisatpsu]

108amps @ 12volts = 10.8 amps @ 120volts, and that's not counting the rest of the circuitry, or heat disipation!

[zwiller]

Hope you don't mind me going a little off topic, but since you guys are talking power supplies, I would really like to know if you SS pros would approve this one?  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

If I am running the numbers right I could power 943 nodes.  (35*12)*.8/.356.   I know this is not the most robust ps but if I really get into SS I will eventually use 2 hub setups.

BTW 108amps?!  That's a beast.

[Steve Gase]

Hope you don't mind me going a little off topic, but since you guys are talking power supplies, I would really like to know if you SS pros would approve this one?  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

If I am running the numbers right I could power 943 nodes.  (35*12)*.8/.356.   I know this is not the most robust ps but if I really get into SS I will eventually use 2 hub setups.

BTW 108amps?!  That's a beast.

It is single rail... good.
It supplies 35A of 12v... so 420 watts.  And you only want to plan for 80% of that or 336 watts.

You need .356 for each node... so 943.  right.

If you used all 16 strings, that is 58 nodes a string. 
If you used 128 nodes/string (max) that would be 7 strings.

Your numbers are good, but this power supply will only give you the ability to meet 46% of the hub's capacity, and that also chews up 46% of your channels.  943/2048.

It'll work, but someday you might wish it had more oomph.  Or you might forget its limits and add too many at some point and cause to to choke under the weight.

But it will work.


REVISED:  with channel limit of 4096 and 3 colors per pixel there are only 1365 pixels available on an active hub.  So the 943

420watts in your PSU is smaller than the max usable power (calculated below) of 620watts.  So you are only powering this hub at 67% of what it could do.

This also matches up to the 943 of 1365 possible pixels:  69%... the numbers are slightly off by not considering the amps drawn by the SSC.

[zwiller]

Thanks Steve!  I am just starting to understand the SS technology.  Match the power supply with the hub's capacity... 

All good points.  Maybe I will not fully populate the hub so I don't choke the supply. 

[peteandvanessa]

Just to be clear (for me)

Whilst the Hub can handle -> 16 strings, and the max of 128 nodes per string (e.g. 16 strings x 128 nodes x 3 Led channels = 6144

I believe the active hub can address a maximum of 4096 nodes correct?

So to address all 6144 channels you would need two active hubs

Just want to be 100% clear on this

[Steve Gase]

Just to be clear (for me)

Whilst the Hub can handle -> 16 strings, and the max of 128 nodes per string (e.g. 16 strings x 128 nodes x 3 Led channels = 6144

I believe the active hub can address a maximum of 4096 nodes correct?

So to address all 6144 channels you would need two active hubs

Just want to be 100% clear on this

Right.  And that is how I came to my string length used on my megatree...   4096 channels / 3 colors / 16 strings = 85 nodes.  I used 3 active hubs to get 40 strings, and had the option of adding 8 more.

It would be possible to fit more strings on a hub by using a splitter... but doing so would add additional load onto the cat5 carrying power off of the active hub, and I'm sure that RJ would discourage that.

[Steve Gase]

So, without extra tricks... what is the largest usable power supply?

Using the .356 watts per smart string pixel...
Assuming the worst-case of all 16 jacks having a SSC that consumes .05 amps...
And using only 80% of power...


4096 max channels / 3 channels per node = 1365 pixels
1365 pixels * .356 watts = 486 12V watts... 

Plus...  16 SSCs x .05 amps x 12V = 10 watts

(486 watts + 10 watts) / 80% = 620 watts from 52 amps 12V on a single rail.   <== max usable watts for Active Hub

[Titus]

One thing to check when buying is how much of the power goes to +12.  I have seen power supplies with a wattage ratting that would imply it is enough, but the actual amps available to +12 doesn't cut it.  It sounds to me like the best way to make sure you have maximum capacity available is to get a power supply rated at 50 amps to +12.

Another confusing piece for me is in the wiki Smart Strings Power Requirements doc where it states "Lets say you want to run a full hub of full Smart Strings with 128 nodes. Then you would require at a minimum: 16 x 3.8475 amps = 61.56 amps".  being thaty the hub can't actually address all the nodes, the statement in the doc is misleading. 

[Steve Gase]

BUT, THERE'S A GOTCHA that I keep forgetting.

You could be running 16 strings of 128 pixels in "string mode".  That would only need 16x3=48 channels.  But it would need (16 x 128 x .356 watts) with an additional (16 x .05 amps).

So that configuration would need (at 80%)
(729 watts + 10 watts) / 80% = 924 watts ... or a single rail 77 amps (at 12V)

[Titus]

BUT, THERE'S A GOTCHA that I keep forgetting.

You could be running 16 strings of 128 pixels in "string mode".  That would only need 16x3=48 channels.  But it would need (16 x 128 x .356 watts) with an additional (16 x .05 amps).

So that configuration would need (at 80%)
(729 watts + 10 watts) / 80% = 924 watts ... or a single rail 77 amps (at 12V)

True, but what fun would that be?   



Looks like $55.99 buys a single rail with 54A going to +12 right now at Newegg.
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[jeffcoast]

BUT, THERE'S A GOTCHA that I keep forgetting.

You could be running 16 strings of 128 pixels in "string mode".  That would only need 16x3=48 channels.  But it would need (16 x 128 x .356 watts) with an additional (16 x .05 amps).

So that configuration would need (at 80%)
(729 watts + 10 watts) / 80% = 924 watts ... or a single rail 77 amps (at 12V)

If you just want to run all in string mode, then just get dumb rgb strings for cheaper and run those, much cheaper.