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New to RGB. New power supply emitting strange smell


GriswoldStyle

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So I bought a cmb24 board and hooked up a new 12 volt power supply to it. Everything reads and connects,  works fine, tested in the hardware utility and all channels Chase with no problem. However when I did the test from zero Fade to 100 it admitted a strange high pitched noise at the zero mark but then went away when it got to 100%. Now here's the funny part it was followed by the smell of electronics. Not like a fire just really warm Electronics like a house stereo would smell

Is this normal? I turned it off out of concern. Turn it back on tried it again still works fine but when playing a sequence started to smell it again not very strong just a slight odor but no smoke so it's not frying yet lol. It's the same power supply you can get from HC if that helps.

Just curious is this a normal with a fan power supply? I don't want to keep running it to cause problems so I figured I would ask before I proceed. This is my first time working with RGB so maybe it's something normal maybe it's not I figured I would ask first before continuing any further. Checked all connections and they all are tight and in place. As I stated it works fine and Hardware utility until I do a fade then it makes a noise and has a slight Electronics over from the power supply.

Edited by GriswoldStyle
Voice text butchered words
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Feel around the power supply vents when you hear the noise to ensure than fan is running. At 100% the fan should run.

If a whine maybe the fan is stuck.

I haven’t purchased any HC PS’s but most work the same.

JR

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It is a 12v 350w one. It has the vents and the fan on it.  Here is a photo of it if that helps. It doesn't make any noise when it's on at 100% it's when it starts at the zero of the fade and works up to the 100 in the hardware utility is when it makes the noise. 

The noise I'm not sure if I should be concerned of as it's not very loud I'm more concerned about the smell it makes. Just wondering if anybody has had experience with something like this. I may end up just having to order the one from Lor but figured I would check with anyone if they've had this issue before.

2sb7f5w.jpg

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7 hours ago, Dennis Laff said:

It would help if you said what kind of power supply it is .

Yea that would help lol. I didn't even catch that I left it out as I was using voice text and went back and edited all the words it Boggled. I just attached a photo just in case I'm really not sure what the name of it is. It's similar to the style that HC sells.

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I've got 5 power supplies from HC and I don't remember any of them having a smell or a sound.  For my CMB24, I used LOR's PS-LED-12V-200W but I use HC power supplies for my pixel tree.

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The fan should be running at 100%. 

As I ramp my white fade up the fan speed increases.

Sure it depends on what load is. Maybe the fan is not working?

 

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I appreciate everyone's reply..... honestly don't know if the fan is working it didn't feel like it was. I'm going to give it another shot today after I get done doing all my decal orders and shine a flashlight in there to see if the fan blades move.

I'm wondering if I should take the power supply top case off and look to see if the fan is running or not. I honestly turned it off to protect from causing any damage. It was a cheap power supply not from HC. Just using that as reference so everybody knows what kind it is.

I'm actually thinking of just ordering the one from Lor. Rather be safe than sorry I don't want to cause damage to a board. But if this is something that's a simple fix I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and give it a shot.

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The fan should be thermally controlled.  Depending on the room temps, the fan may not kick in until the PSU reaches 30-50% steady load

The singing is the PWM increasing ON time with the load. (a 'good quality' transformer should not 'rattle' under load. These are 'cheap' supplies.).

The (chemical) smell could just be out gassing from a improperly cured inductor. Run it hard in a (if it catches) FIRE SAFE location to see if it will fail BEFORE the show goes on. have a spare PSU on hand, in cae it does

 

BUT

Blue Lugs?  Any CMB24 bank can draw 30A (when maxed out).  you want 12ga minimum (for short runs) and Yellow lugs

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5 minutes ago, TheDucks said:

Blue Lugs?  Any CMB24 bank can draw 30A (when maxed out).  you want 12ga minimum (for short runs) and Yellow lugs

I ended up getting the enclosure kit from HC with the enclosure and mount.  the wire as an add on to the kit. The wire they provide was 14 gauge. I thought it looked a bit skimpy. I'm going to run up to HD today and get some 12 gauge wire and the yellow lugs. Thanks for the info.

On a side note I already ordered a new power supply today as this was just a cheaper one to test it out. It's like they say you get what you pay for. Lesson learned. Smh I should have known better.

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I just happen to think that power supplies are a crap shoot anyway. I understand that everybody swears by Mean Well but I have over 30 power supplies in my system and I for one can't afford $50 a pop for a Mean Well. All of my power supplies have cost $12-$18 and some I have been using for six years with no issues (knock on wood). I figure if you ensure they are regulated, keep them cool, wire and ground them properly and never run them continuously over 80% even the cheaper ones will do the job.

Edited by Mr. P
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17 minutes ago, Mr. P said:

never run them continuously over 80% even the cheaper ones will do the job.

Can you explain a little bit more by what you mean never run them over 80%?

Do you mean amp wise or intensity wise in the sequence? Sorry to ask for clarification but this is my first year dabbing into RGB with a CMB. I would like to be able to reference back to any information provided to help me continue further into the addiction. 

Edited by GriswoldStyle
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Amp wise of the power supply.  In other words, for a 12V 29A power supply, keep the max load below 23 amps.

 

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One last thing. I am only running 50 nodes per rgb Channel on all eight channels for Halloween tombstones. What is the maximum you would suggest using per rgb Channel? Would I be able to do 100 nodes per rgb Channel for mini trees?

Thank you guys for the advice. I ended up picking up some 10 gauge stranded wire because even the 12 looked rather small compared to some of the videos I've seen. That and picked up the yellow lugs as suggested. Now just have to wait on the new power supply to get here LOL. I just wanted to say I really appreciate everybody's input as a noob to RGB This truly helps and hopefully this post will help people in the future as well.1t54c1.jpg

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The CMB24D can do 4amps per channel so you will have to do some basic math to see how many nodes you can use.

Watts / Volts = amps

Edited by Mr. P
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6 hours ago, GriswoldStyle said:

Can you explain a little bit more by what you mean never run them over 80%?

Do you mean amp wise or intensity wise in the sequence? Sorry to ask for clarification but this is my first year dabbing into RGB with a CMB. I would like to be able to reference back to any information provided to help me continue further into the addiction. 

The 80% rule applies to all things electrical.  Continuous loads (4+hours) shall not be run over 80% of full rating.  I suspect you light are not all on at the same time, so short excursion to 100% is allowed.

BUT you have a cheap supply. Why push your luck? It could fail clean(just give up) or it could fail dirty (voltage spikes) :o

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Avoid the cheap Chinese psus is my recommendation.  I replaced all of mine with Meanwells and have had no issues in the last three years with close to 40 of them.  HC psus are trash as far as I'm concerned. Chris over at holiday lighting has very good prices and has a presale starting soon.  https://holiday.lighting/psorderform

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I have been doing light shows for going on ten years now  have about 20 or so of the cheap power supplys running my show, in ten years I 've had 2 go bad  I am in Chicago Il maybe the cold helps but the cheap ones seem to work well for me.

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