3 Core Black cable

3 Core Black cable

This is a low-voltage cable.

⚠ It is a component on its own - there is no light source, driver or wiring supplied with it.

What it does

This is the cable that carries power - and on multi-channel products, the colour channels - between a driver, a controller and LED strip.

The core count is what has to match. A single-colour run needs two cores, and each additional channel needs another: colour-changing strip carries a common feed plus one core per colour, and running out of cores halfway along an installation means pulling the whole run again.

Cable is also where voltage drop happens, and voltage drop is the usual explanation for a long run that is visibly dimmer at the far end than at the driver. Low-voltage DC is much more sensitive to it than mains, so the answer on a long run is a shorter cable path or a heavier cable - not a bigger driver, which does not fix it.

Plan the route before ordering a length. Cable is cheap compared with the work of running it, and a run measured optimistically is one that has to be joined somewhere it should not be.

Choosing and ordering

This is the 3-core version. ⚠ Match the core count to the strip and controller you are wiring - a cable with too few cores cannot carry every channel, and that is not something that can be corrected once the run is pulled.

⚠ Confirm which fitting or run this is listed against before ordering - parts of this kind are made to one model and are not interchangeable.

Order it with the fitting where you can. A component like this is inexpensive next to the work it holds up, and the job that waits on one small part is a job that stays unfinished for the sake of a few dollars.

Identifying the part you need

The hard part of ordering a component is rarely the component; it is working out which one you have. Lighting ranges share a look across models that take entirely different parts, and a part that is a few millimetres out simply will not fit.

The reliable identifier is the part number on the fitting itself. It is usually printed on the body, on the driver, or on a label inside the housing, and it is worth finding before ordering rather than after. Where a fitting is already installed and the label is out of reach, a clear photograph is often enough for our team at Lights For You to identify it.

It is also worth checking what else the job needs while you are looking. Components are usually ordered one at a time and arrive one at a time, and a second small part discovered after the first has been fitted means the work stops twice instead of once.

Frequently asked questions