SLICK_JERRY Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 has anyone use the Malibu outdoor lighting transformers to power their control boards...i have two boards the cmb16d and the cmb24d.i would wonder of the boards being wired with marking pos and neg input terminals...and want to make sure i will not blow the board. and help and insite to the issues of powering up the boards are deeply appreciated....thanks allslick_jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Malibu power supplies are 12V AC. They are not compatible with DC (CMB) boards. It is actually possible to use a 12V AC Malibu power supply with an AC (CTB) board, but you have to figure out how to power the board electronics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLICK_JERRY Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 i have the supply and i wanted to use it with the controllers.. i would be using mainly led dumb strips and would be nice to use the supplyand any other help would be helpful thanksslick_jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLICK_JERRY Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 what are people using to power these controllers.... the home depot malibu lighting system is a 120 volt transformer to 12 volts with a 45 watt rating... i tested on the lights which are 12 volt strip led lights and all was good . don't want to hook to my board until im certain it will not kill the board.. I'm excited to get it up and running ...turn on the lights and let the shows begin :)thanksslick_jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 I was thinking about those with RGB. Being they are AC, of course they won't work. I just acquired some high current bridge rectifiers but will need to measure the noise output for acquiring filter capacitors. Anyway, its a minor project for this next year to see if a 600 watt supply will work(after modifications) without cooking an RGB strip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 what are people using to power these controllers.... the home depot malibu lighting system is a 120 volt transformer to 12 volts with a 45 watt rating... i tested on the lights which are 12 volt strip led lights and all was good . don't want to hook to my board until im certain it will not kill the board.. I'm excited to get it up and running ...turn on the lights and let the shows begin :)thanksslick_jerryAs mentioned already, you need a DC power supply not an AC transformer. Malibu lights run on AC. People are generally using switching DC power supplies - usually dedicated ones although some are using PC power supplies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLICK_JERRY Posted December 18, 2013 Author Share Posted December 18, 2013 ARE power suplies for lap tops good.....have a couple i can use.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 ARE power suplies for lap tops good..... have a couple i can use.... Possibly. Be aware of the voltage and amp/wattage. Most laptops I've seen run on 19+V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Best use a voltmeter and check whatever power supply you choose.Some Malibu transformers actually put out 14 volts; not healthy.Some are AC, some are pulsed DC. Kinda messy for electronics. When you can buy a proper supply, why waste your time and money on something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Pursel Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 I'm not trying to offend you Slick-Jerry. But based on your questions and responses you need to follow Tim and Kens advice. Until you have better electical knowledge. Buy a proper power supply for the controller your going to use. You don't want to let the smoke out of your controller by experimenting. I'm not made of money either and it isn't easy trying to keep the cost down. It would be possible to add a bridge rectifier on to the Malibu to convert it to DC if that's what this board requires, but your trying to turn a mole hill into a mountain. Not an easy way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 A rectifier on an AC power supply will provide pulsed power which is less than ideal for the controller or loads not designed for it. You can add a filter cap, but your 12V supply after rectifier and filter cap will be closer to 20 volts, maybe even 23V if yours is putting out more like 14VAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 When I attempt to do this, my first thought was using the lower of the two outputs on this old 600watt one I found, bridge recitfier and about 10,000uF of electrolytic. I'll only know once I do some measurements and yes, might have to shunt some of the voltage down. In the long run, it might not be worth it but I've got two free landscape transformers, might as well try and see if I can make it work. Need a scope to determine just how much noise will still be present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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