what power supply do i need?

BouncinBob · Aug 27, 2015

so i just bought these off eBay,
Details about Red Blue 5050 Grow LED Strip Light Aquarium Greenhouse Hydroponic Plant 12W 12V.
from this dude,
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Red-Blue...2W-12V-/301595494753?var=&hash=item46387e0961.
I already know i don't know much about electricity, beyond a natural instinct about which way the battery's go into almost any appliance. i thought i would be able to figure it out but the online calculators seem to be transcribed in some sort of spaceman language.
I've bought 3meters of LED's and 4 connectors to use in my nursery tent alongside my existing cfl lights. i thought I'd just stick the LED's to the tent walls and if they do nothing no harm and if the help cool.
anyway, any help would be great.
Thanks

caretak3r · Aug 27, 2015

these strips run on just about any 12V walwart or brick ac/dc power supply (it doesn't need to be constant current like most LED applications because the strips you bought have resistors on them). For 3M you'll want ~2A power supply. You wire them in parallel. If you get a more powerful power supply it is fine as well.

CanadianONE · Aug 27, 2015

caretak3r said:
these strips run on just about any 12V walwart or brick ac/dc power supply (it doesn't need to be constant current like most LED applications because the strips you bought have resistors on them). For 3M you'll want ~2A power supply. You wire them in parallel. If you get a more powerful power supply it is fine as well.

Those appear to be RGB LED strips. Having a look at the link posted they are the 60 leds/meter with that said each LED will draw 20ma (20ma R, 20ma G 20ma B) so if your only powering red and blue here is the breakdown. (20x0.02) x 3 = 1.2A (0.4A/meter) If these strips were run pure white then each meter could theoretically draw three times that because it would be utilizing all colors RGB to produce the white light. (20x0.06) x 3 = 3.6A (1.2A/meter) So as @caretak3r has pointed out a 12V 2A supply would be sufficient for running 3 meter steip with only red/blue.

BouncinBob · Sep 1, 2015

caretak3r said:
these strips run on just about any 12V walwart or brick ac/dc power supply (it doesn't need to be constant current like most LED applications because the strips you bought have resistors on them). For 3M you'll want ~2A power supply. You wire them in parallel. If you get a more powerful power supply it is fine as well.

thanks man, you rock.

BouncinBob · Sep 1, 2015

CanadianONE said:
Those appear to be RGB LED strips. Having a look at the link posted they are the 60 leds/meter with that said each LED will draw 20ma (20ma R, 20ma G 20ma B) so if your only powering red and blue here is the breakdown. (20x0.02) x 3 = 1.2A (0.4A/meter) If these strips were run pure white then each meter could theoretically draw three times that because it would be utilizing all colors RGB to produce the white light. (20x0.06) x 3 = 3.6A (1.2A/meter) So as @caretak3r has pointed out a 12V 2A supply would be sufficient for running 3 meter steip with only red/blue.

thanks.

what power supply do i need?

BouncinBob

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