Beware of Harbor Frieght Slot Cutters! Here is my lesson.

[dkersten]

The 5050 strips draw quite a bit of power.. about 3 amps at max output for the RGB (so about 600m per color) for the full 5 meters, and most 12v wall wart style power supplies are 500ma, sometimes as high as 2 amps, but I wouldn't trust an entire strip to one.  The LED's you got are lower density (fewer led's per foot) and the led's themselves are lower output than the 5050's, and just one color probably only draws less than an amp for the entire strip, but even so I would be careful with a wall wart for more than a couple meters of strip.  I used about 8 meters of 5050 RGB on my deck (so far, I have other plans yet), and used an 8 amp power supply that cost me around $10 on amazon.  On the cab I did, I used close to 2 amps total of 5050 rgb (at max intensity, which it will never hit) which was pushing the limitation of the LEDWiz controller. 

And just an FYI, if you are using led strips without a controller and want to dim them, you can get cheap PWM dimmers on Amazon, but you need a pulse width modulated dimmer, just lowering the voltage doesn't really work.  There are connectors available for the different types of strips that make it really simple to cut the strips to the lengths you use and connect different sized strips together or to your controller/power supply.  Most of the "reels" of 5m that I have bought have an adapter already attached to one end, and you can get kits for about $5 more that come with a controller and a remote.  It is unreal how cheap it is to play with this stuff, but when you want to interface it to a computer to be controlled by software, it does get more expensive.

[screamingtiger]

My total usage will bea bout 5 feet from all colors.  Its for an arcade so just some bits and pieces here.
Hey I wonder if HF sells DC Adapters   

[ChadTower]

I use a full 5050 strip for the stair lighting into my gameroom using this power supply.  Works just fine and the plug size just happened to fit nicely into the controller I use.

[dkersten]

If you ran full 100% white, you would be pulling the max current from that, but as long as the rating is right, you should be good.  Personally, I would be hesitant to run a non UL Listed power supply at max capacity unattended.  But then you probably never run full on for any long periods of time

[ChadTower]

Yeah, the controller I have is for chase patterns and such.  There isn't any intensity control and it's only 8 colors.  Lots of neat effects but nothing that could pull 100% amps even if I wanted to do it.  I have considered getting a better controller just to get more colors but it would still be mostly for motion effects.

Like this only I ended up moving the strip to above the stairs rather than on the stairs.  People didn't like looking down at the stairs right into the bright LEDs.

[pbj]

Like this only I ended up moving the strip to above the stairs rather than on the stairs.  People didn't like looking down at the stairs right into the bright LEDs.

I'm glad to hear that.  I was really worried someone was going to have a drink or two and end up falling down those stairs, but couldn't phrase it without it coming out like yet another pbj gonna pbj post.

A wall wart is going to burn itself out long before it sets your house on fire. 

[dkersten]

I have seen enough electronics catch fire when "burning out" to not want to trust my whole house to an $8 wall wart.  I am sure it will be OK though...

[ChadTower]

I'm glad to hear that.  I was really worried someone was going to have a drink or two and end up falling down those stairs, but couldn't phrase it without it coming out like yet another pbj gonna pbj post.

Yeah, that was the main concern, lots of traffic there with people carrying laundry baskets and such.  I fell on those stairs myself a couple of years ago carrying a server and high sprained my ankle. 

[UFO]

And are you sure you were actually pushing your router the right direction?

This would have been my first thought... Pushed mine the wrong way at first and got a smoking smelly mess!