Is cat 5 OK???

[wraiththe]

HI,
If I am wiring up tape lights on one side of the kitchen, then go through the ceiling to get to the other lights... after the transformer... what kind of wiring (low voltage) would I need? Would twisted pairs like Cat 5 be enough... and safe?

These are LED tape lights. No more than 5 feet of tape @20 feet of wire from the transformer (low voltage) directly to the tape. One ad said 24V DC... 4.6 watts per foot. so that would be about 23 watts. There will also be a 1.5" tape a couple of feet below the transformer.

 

[littlespark]

Twisted pair is only for very low current signals. Not suitable for LED tape.

I would suggest the two core flex you can buy by the metre in most diy sheds.
The same flex that’s fitted to TVs, radios and some table lamps.

 

[telectrix]

i'm sure cat5 will handle an amp or2.

 

[Georgey]

This is not safe for LED tape, mate.

 

[DPG]

If you double or triple the cores then you should be good for at least a couple of amps, probably more.

 

[pc1966]

If you double or triple the cores then you should be good for at least a couple of amps, probably more.

Probably, but it is a bit nasty.

Really you want to know it can safely shut down or blow the fuse of the supplying transformer in case of a fault, and the effort of establishing that is probably more than just getting some like 0.75mm or 18AWG cable in the first place.

 

[brianmoooore]

Depends entirely on what the PSU feeding these LEDS can push out before it shuts down. If it's capable of 30A, then Cat5 is not suitable, however many cores you parallel. If the max. current is 2A, then Cat5 will be OK.

 

[Megawatt]

HI,
If I am wiring up tape lights on one side of the kitchen, then go through the ceiling to get to the other lights... after the transformer... what kind of wiring (low voltage) would I need? Would twisted pairs like Cat 5 be enough... and safe?

These are LED tape lights. No more than 5 feet of tape @20 feet of wire from the transformer (low voltage) directly to the tape. One ad said 24V DC... 4.6 watts per foot. so that would be about 23 watts. There will also be a 1.5" tape a couple of feet below the transformer.

Yes you can use cat-5 cable only on the output of the transformer which as you stated was 24vdc

 

[wraiththe]

Yes you can use cat-5 cable only on the output of the transformer which as you stated was 24vdc

Another person suggested thermostat wire. Not sure if the gauge is different. I think Cat 5 is 24 awg and thermostat wire is 18-20 awg. Looks like the cost of running wire from above my cabinet, across the attic to the opposite cabinet is near $1K... Looks too rich for my unemp. but anyway.

 

[brianmoooore]

I have a piece of stripped Cat5 and a card of old school fusewire in front of me. The Cat5 core is a little bigger than the 5A fuse wire, but nothing like as bog as the 15A, so I'd guess at around 7 - 8A rating as a fuse.
The Cat5 is 4 pair, so paralleled up, a rating of 28 - 32A in free air before it fuses, lower in the environment of insulation in a loft. Note: That's red hot and melting, not safe working current.

 

[pc1966]

Looks like the cost of running wire from above my cabinet, across the attic to the opposite cabinet is near $1K... Looks too rich for my unemp. but anyway.

Where on earth did the get that sort of a cost?

Even cheap speaker cable is perfectly good for 24V systems of moderate current:

https://www.newark.com/multicomp-pro/24-16130/cable-shielding-unshielded/dp/44AC9236

 

[littlespark]

There’s going to be volt drop involved. I didn’t realise it was going to be so far.

 

[telectrix]

23 watts @ 24 V is a tad under 1A cat 5 will comfortably handle that if you double up2 cores each for + and -. 20 ft. of cable should be OK as to volt drop. an alternative would be alarm cable as that is stranded and less liable to snap at the terminations.

 

[suffolkspark]

I've tried to use cat5 before on a project at home, doubling up the cores on a wired doorbell, I dont know if there was some capacitance acting against things,but the bell struggled to ring, would be ok for 1 press, then struggle, new bell and trans, it was about 20m all told. Using different combos of cores had a noticeable impact so something must have been at play

Basically, get 2core flex or speaker cable of atleast 1sqmm

 

[wraiththe]

Very helpful. I find the whole LED undercabinet light choices thing can get overwhelming. Some cannot use dimmer light switches...and require using one in the driver. Some can. Some have remotes.

1) Dimmer switch to transformer in above cabinet... then down under cabinet to one tape.... and run low voltage wire up and across ceiling and to 3 - 1.5' runs under cabinets. (can use dimmer switch to control all lights)
2) Regular switch as above... use remote or dimmer addon.
3) Plug in at microwave inside cabinet and just run on oven side (3-1.5' runs) on off/dimmer under cabinets or remote. Forget about opposite side.
4) Run Romex to thin under cabinet junction boxes under both sides of kitchen and put in bar LED lights.

Certain lights cannot be dimmed with a wall switch... some can.
Multi colored lighting cannot create the same whiteness of white only LEDs.

I am not fond of the remote idea.
I do worry about replacing burned out LEDs or fixtures.

The original idea was to get the tape lighting from Light Bulb Depot with a transformer and driver? Then some track for the tape. Have the wiring ready for AFTER I put the tile in... so we can see if one temp looks better than another...