LED ceiling panels - parallel wiring. Any electricians?

goldtop

Thanks @spark240 - the test panel I've ordered is 4000k so I'll know on Monday when I collect it. I'll temporarily connect and install one at the dark end of the workshop and go from there.

I've just bought these, too, for the daisy-chaining connections:


Seems the 18th edition of the regs require the connectors to be in an enclosure, not just sitting 'loose' on top by the LED driver.

spark240

Should be fine....I prefer the Hager J501 series.

exocet

goldtop said:

exocet said:

I fitted a single 400mm x 400mm 28 watt panel in my garage. My garage is about 8m x 5m. One panel is not quite enough - 2 would be pretty good, 4 would be excellent....more than 4 would be painful!

Interesting. I presume that the single 28W panel is not enough for you to work in the engine bay? 

One thing that I've noticed with these 600x600 panels is that it's hard to find lower wattage versions. All seem to be 35+W. So using more lower power panels to get even spread isn't an option. I suppose a dimmer might help, but I've developed a hatred of them over the years.

Working in the engine bay?? If only I were as practical as that !

The panel that I installed was one of these- no serious research undertaken just a random Google search and purchase.

https://www.lights.co.uk/lindby-livel-led-panel-4-000-k-40-cm-x-40-cm.html?&utm_term=b_{AdId}&gclid=CjwKCAiAhbeCBhBcEiwAkv2cY9TM1zGUmojzy2tcblBl2DNPWWTKZa4HK-T1NOTQg6MvoJ34anqBQxoCE90QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

The light levels directly underneath the unit and to a reasonable distance either side are pretty impressive - just checked again and it's only rated at 24 Watts. 

goldtop

Thanks @exocet - that's useful. I'm not doing deep dives into an engine bay  or anything similar. It was just a point of reference. I do have a lot of components with small writing, though, and on the dingily-lit shelving they are hard to read even with my x2 reading specs. 

Today's info: lighting circuit is shared only with the emergency lighting circuit. It's on a C10 breaker. More than enough for (as many as) 10 x 40W, and hopefully enough to cope with the high startup current that @spark240 mentioned.

My current layout plan is this (8 in total):



Waiting for the test panel to arrive...

goldtop

OK, panel arrived and tested, temporarily installed in the WC (outside of IP-designated zones). Isolated circuit and removed the existing CFL lamp and connected the switched live and neutral. There's no earth on these all-plastic lamps. It's a bit of a headache, because the switched live is controlled by a PIR sensor and also triggers an extraction fan, so there were a lot more connections than I was expecting.

Anyhoo... one panel does a great job of illuminating the whole WC (shown above). It is - as some forumites have predicted - a bit on the bright side, partly because there are no obstructions in the room and the walls are all bright-white painted.

spark240

goldtop said:

OK, panel arrived and tested, temporarily installed in the WC (outside of IP-designated zones). Isolated circuit and removed the existing CFL lamp and connected the switched live and neutral. There's no earth on these all-plastic lamps. It's a bit of a headache, because the switched live is controlled by a PIR sensor and also triggers an extraction fan, so there were a lot more connections than I was expecting.

Anyhoo... one panel does a great job of illuminating the whole WC (shown above). It is - as some forumites have predicted - a bit on the bright side, partly because there are no obstructions in the room and the walls are all bright-white painted.

Looks ok, i can see its a pain but you might find the one against the wall throws a super bright patch on the wall..

Regards all the terminations....just stick a JB on the lot and bring a short 2C cable out the the panel driver.

goldtop

At last, my friend was available to do the ladder holding and we could put up the panels in the rest of the unit. Bad phone photo but here is the final result. I used 9 panels in the end, and it is definitely on the bright end of the scale! But I can see everything I need and it's almost perfectly flat lighting with no deep shadows.



The most bizarre thing was trying to understand the old wiring. It was 90% 3-core and earth, and the routing was counter-intuitive (to me). Between the two original fluorescent strips there were 9 connections! Tracing the cables runs was no fun - up and down the ladder, moving ladder, moving ceiling tiles, and never being sure I could trust the extra sleeving on the grey/black conductors.

So I watched a lot of eFixx and John Ward videos on YT, and eventually ripped out all of it. I put a junction box directly above the distribution board and ran everything from there - no hopping from one circuit to another. For these lights I ran the 2-core and earth to the switch and then the 2-core and earth to the lights. Far simpler for me to get my head around than the traditional way of running the supply to the light and then another wire off to the switch.

Cost: £207 for the panels, about £30 for wire and connectors and £25 on better wire strippers. Plus a dinner for my friend at some point. 

Thanks to all for encouragement and ideas. I will live with this light level for a while and if it is too bright, I can adjust that with the constant-current drivers - this type came with a DIP-switchable 25/30/33/36W output, so I can drop by up to 33% if necessary.

spark240

Looks good to me....maybe consider a cheapo emergency light if you have no windows...

goldtop

There are glass doors and windows behind me in that photo. Plus an emergency light as part of the original installation. It's in the regs, I think? A 12-inch or so battery-backed fluorescent over the front door.