plasmadrive Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 OK.. someone has to do it.. so here goes. This may be unpopular and I may get some flack.. but .... With all the low voltage pixels being used these days there is a big push on using low voltage power supplies. From a shock hazard stand point, you are far less likely to have issues with low voltage and that is a good thing. People are using larger and larger supplies and at some point, due to short cuts there will be a failure that will cause a fire and someone may lose a house or even worse.... I know this is a "hobby" but somewhere someone needs to perhaps help bring some facts to those that are just learning.... I will add to this thread later as I have time and I hope others do too.. but first let me throw my two cents into the ring for this round... For those of you using standard open frame or NEMA 1 enclosed supplies here is some info you might want to know. http://www.ni.com/white-paper/2871/en/ Most of those that you guys are using are rated for a pollution degree of 2. Some of the very low cost Chinese supplies may even be pollution degree 1. Putting these supplies in a tiny plastic box with a tiny vent does not make them suitable for outdoor use. You may get away with it and have no issue, but it is not good practice to do so... because at some point someone won't get away with it.. it will become a problem. Most of you will run your supplies without issue.. some may just fail.. and some may fail catastrophically. (do you really want to take that chance when you don't have to?) Next, fusing or circuit protection. Using high current supplies without protecting the wire down stream is not only against code (yeah I know.... many of you don't care).. but it is dangerous. This can be a big fire starter...protect the wire with the proper fusing or electronic current limiting. I can't stress enough how important this is.. If the code be damned.. safety still must be number one on the priority list. After all it is not fun if it is your house that burns. Loose connections on high current circuits are also a big smoldering point that can turn into fire. Make good connections and if you are splicing, do it right. Protect the splice as the conditions dictate. If you are using supplies that are UL listed or recognized, look up the conditions of acceptability. You may be surprised to find out how far outside of the design parameters you may be using the supplies. I admit that since this is a temporary installation and I monitor my display a lot, I too use my stuff sometimes out of the realm of what it was designed for.. but I at least have 30+ years of experience with industrial and commercial usage of power supplies and related equipment to draw from. For those that are new to this, you should perhaps follow a bit closer the design criteria for which your equipment was made. Those that are not listed or recognized my not have those conditions of acceptability and really have no technical specs for guide lines other than here is the voltage and current.. do with it as you please until it fails... I am not saying that all supplies that are not listed are junk. ON the contrary.. I think UL is over rated these days.. but still a good bench mark for safety.. Just a thought.. I assume there will be questions, comments and flack coming this way.. but that's OK. I would love for others that know, to add to this and comment.. Those that want to know should feel free to ask questions.. Those that want to complain.. well, its a free country.. Those that are just guessing.. well, perhaps you could keep that to yourself.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneKremer Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Plasmadrive, you have very good points and they are well taken (at least by me). So, what power supplies do you use? Meanwell is what I use which I know are well built. Do you use only power supplies that are meant for outdoors? How to find an outdoor power supply that has high wattage? I haven't found any, so I have to resort to open frame power supplies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Plasmadrive, you have very good points and they are well taken (at least by me). So, what power supplies do you use? Meanwell is what I use which I know are well built. Do you use only power supplies that are meant for outdoors? How to find an outdoor power supply that has high wattage? I haven't found any, so I have to resort to open frame power supplies.Wayne, I am glad you take this in the spirit I mean it to be.. Some time back I bought about 100 pieces of a 24vdc 240 watt supplies thinking more of you guys would want to use DC-DC converters since it is so easy to do. They are waterproof and UL recognized. I use them on anything I use DC-DC converters on. I have about 50 left so for me personally it is pretty easy to just grab one. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1hb873kx1fg00nh/AADOkfoBKcC9bajh-7ToNQeva?dl=0 When I want the supply next to what I am driving and I don't need converters, I use the "waterproof" ones from Ray at the voltage I need. I have not had any of them fail yet and I put them right outside on a stake board or even on the ground if I know it won't have standing water. Something along the lines of this one. (he has several different voltages) http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/12V-25A-300W-waterproof-power-supply-AC110-220V-input-CE-approved/701799_432634971.html They are internally potted and really are waterproof just like mine. They are not UL listed but work just fine anyway. Meanwell has low power outdoor supplies but that is it for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 (edited) I am not suggesting anyone do what I did for a power supply for some elements. I used a computer power supply, I simply put power terminals on it, and seemed to be much more stable then the supply I got from the same place those elements were from. I have had a hard time accepting the widely used methods of delivering power and connecting power to low voltage elements. So much so that I don't really plan to use these elements until I resolve these issues. I also want to say, I think Light O Rama resolved a lot of this for me by creating a RGB line of products so I don't have to hack stuff together. I feel a lot safer the way that line of products are setup to operate. So, yeah... I think your post is spot on. Also a point, I had several fire extinguisher around the house for the show just incase of a serious failure. Safety, Safety, Safety. Can't stress that enough, it don't matter how low the voltage is. DrewI'm a network Tech so I'm always working with wires splicing and such but never with electrical wire (except Power Over Ethernet), I will add a fire extinguisher to the shopping list, so cheap on amazon only $20. First year working with RGB and power supply like this. @plasmadriveThanks for the great information Edited September 7, 2014 by Christmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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