Latest: (Captain’s Log)
I received 2 new strobing beacons today with programmable flash (2 for 29 bucks! and they work great!) Also on a whim, I got a 250’ roll of 12gauge landscape wire.
Tonight, (as you know I’m not too smart at these technical things) I cut two, about a 60 foot lengths of the cable. Ran one to each beacon. Started off powering by an old computer power supply, 12volts, 10a I think. One worked fine, two of them it would shut down. I then moved to a lawn mower 12v battery. Both worked great, and I even added another smaller Belden audio-type cable that I have spliced in 5 small strobing marker lights. All of that worked great and I left them on for about half an hour with no issues and no hot wires.
I have very little in the “clue” department—I usually jump and run with an idea, so, what am I I doing here? LOL
I’m still waiting on new power outlets to be installed closer to my four lighting regions, so I can use a real AC power supply and eliminate such long cable runs. I still need to figure out how to use one ON/OFF switch to turn them all on and off. Low voltage and relays?
(I tried to add a short video of the working lights but failed)

 

I’m still at it…
I’ve been “exploring” possibilities and I’m sure not in good ways but…
(I’m including a drawing of what I have currently, and options I’d like to try)
Remember, I started with 4 Federal Beacon units, of which 2 were barely working, if at all. Those 2 I pulled and replaced with 2 new Amazon beacons. And then I replaced the old wiring to those 2 (located on the back straightaway) with a new 12/2 landscape wire. This wire went from the flag stand tower across the track and down a pole, split to feed the 2 new units. Ended up using all 250’ of the roll.
After running the new wire and beacons I cleaned up the junction of the other wires feeding the front straightaway and the battery/switch feed. Flipped the switch, and amazingly ALL 4 worked perfectly, and even leaving on for half an hour with no problems.
88.8 watts if I figure right. Again run by lawn battery 230cca.
But…I want to end up adding more lights in the turns you can see by my drawing. This would make the total watts running of 324 total. I know I still need a better supply and a way to trigger them all (relay) and I’m studying that. More info coming shortly in what I’ve found…

 

The question I have now is aboutthepurpose of the lights?? Is it for safety, warning of a hazard condition?? Or for edge marking during normal operation?? That is two very different functions.

 

The question I have now is aboutthepurpose of the lights?? Is it for safety, warning of a hazard condition?? Or for edge marking during normal operation?? That is two very different functions.

Sorry about the confusion I bring—I keep confusing myself even more
To answer, it’s not for “edge marking”.

I’m just “trying” things to see how, why, and IF they work, and with you guy’s guidance, I can usually get to where I need to be—with some detours here and there.

For starters, I couldn’t believe they had in the past been operating 4 beacon lights with a household switch attached to a 12v lawn battery. I was assured that at one point they all worked. When I first looked into them, the 2 farthest away were barely doing anything. I then found voltage at them was down to about 10.5v and I found a lot of poor wiring conditions. So to continue their system I put in 2 new 60 LED beacons, and replaced the wiring long distance wiring to them with new 12gauge pair. Then, they all came to life and ran beautifully. Even for a 30 min. period. Learning from you guys, I know 12v isn’t meant to run that kind of distance without critical voltage drop, but yet here it is, working. I’m thinking the newer lights and wiring has lessened the load enough to run not optimum, but OK.
While this setup is working again, I feel the visibility is lacking, and the system could be expanded with more lights for much better awareness. And so…(more next)

(again I thank you sincerely for trying to help guide me, and deal with my hard-headedness)

 

On the EXPANSION side of things…
I’m thinking of adding the two original beacons back into the scheme (I found them to work perfectly once hooked to good wiring and a battery) and 8 larger strobe marker lights. 1 of the beacons and 4 of the markers to each of the two track turns. (See diagram I posted on post 42)
Now I’m sure this will surely be excessive for power draw in that lone battery.

Here’s what I have found spec-wise:
Diagram A: original Federal beacons 12-24v, 14.4 watts at 12v. ea.
Diagram B: new no-name beacons 12-24v, 30 watts ea.
Diagram C: original Federal single mode beacons 12-24v, 1.8a or 21.6 watts ea.
Diagram (==) Marker lights 12-24v, 24 watts ea.
If my thinking is right, all of those would be a total of 324 total watts.
I need to handle 27amps current, a supply of 12v with at least 30-35 amps capacity (per Google and recommends a MeanWell HRP310-12 at $82.80.)

I’ve been waiting on owner to get me an outlet near 3 sections or quadrants—the back straightaway, and each of the curves. That way I could have 120vac close by each section of lights, and attach possibly a 24v relay to turn on/off the power. And then a 120vac to 12vdc adapter to feed the light section.
While waiting, I’m still exploring…what if I had a lawn battery located at the 3 sections to supply the 12v needed? I’d still need to turn them ON/OFF though…could I use an automotive relay at each location—send a 12v control wire from flag stand switch to the relay?
Questions in my mind:
1. Adding a second lawn battery to the original one—I believe parallel would give me more “lasting power” and Series would give me 24v minus voltage drop which would be better supply for all these lights, since they can be run up to 24v?
2. By running separate “feeder” wires, do I gain anything? (example on the back straightaway now I have 1 feed running across track and then split to go to each beacon—if I run a separate wire from tower across track to each beacon)

so many things colliding in my mind. So sorry to be aggravating.

 

Oops…Question 3: if I’m running the 12v lawn battery to the controlling switch and then sending that down a feed wire to a track section where I might have another battery then feeding that section’s lights—would the switched 12v then coupled to the section battery cause a problem?