choosing led driver

[seasider]

Hello all,
 I have 5m of 12v 3528 led strip lighting. I would like to get the proper driver for it. From what I have found so far, this 3528 strip uses .4a/m and the driver should run at 80% of total capacity so a 3a driver should work since the 5m strip will draw 2a. The led strip needs to be installed 15 feet from the driver . I can't find any info. on the driver size and wire size for this run. Any solutions greatly appreciated

[Jwillis]

Your Led strip will only draw as much current as it requires at a set voltage so if your strip is rated for 2 amps at 12 volts then a 12v 3 amp driver would work.Personally I would double your required current to 4 amps. The resistance of the wire will very with gauge ,length and material . So 15 feet of 18 gauge copper wire will have around  0.096 ohms .That will produce around 0.38 watts.Not very much.
Whether it's solid or stranded it really won't make much difference so here's a chart that may help

[kjr18]

If power supply will be 15 feet away, you will have 30 feet total, so your led strip voltage will be lower, voltage dropped will be around 0.7V. Thicker wires will result in lower drop. You could also try to get a power supply with some output regulation, I don't know if branded ones have something like that, but most of the chinese power supplies have a small pot near output terminals.

[seasider]

Thanks for the info. I think this one will work. The led strip will be connected to a dimmer so hopefully this type of driver will work with the 50% load it will receive.

[seasider]

The driver is 12v 4.2a 50w

[Jwillis]

I think that should be fine. With 18 Gauge wire ,the negative and positive lines will dissipate the nominal heat interdependently.And to reduce any Electromagnetic interference twist the wires together.
If anyone can add or correct something I missed feel free to comment .