Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: thatpurplestuff on July 04, 2020, 12:54:46 pm
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Hey there,
I'm working on my skeeball build that has illuminated rings and HOPEFULLY an illuminated ramp that has LED strips on both sides. I'm currently using an LEDwiz to power and drive the rings, and my goal is to use it to light and control the ramp as well but I'm pretty sure I'm going to need more power than the LEDwiz can provide. I purchased this -> ]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BJ7JFK1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/b] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BJ7JFK1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/b) Neon LED strip and I'll be cutting it into 2 strips of 60" each.
At 60 LEDs per meter, this should be 92 LEDs per side, for a total of 184 LEDs. If each LED can draw 60ma, I believe I'm looking at max 5,520ma per side for 11,400ma total.
The LEDwiz is limited to 500ma per output, so obviously I'm gonna need some extra juice. From my research I have come across 2 options that might work, solid state relays and RGB amplifiers (I know very little about electronics so for all I know an RGB amp is just a type of SSR). Below are 2 options I've come across:
https://www.amazon.com/Orgrimmar-ASH-25DD-3-32VDC-5-60VDC-Control/dp/B07RTW33Z2/ (https://www.amazon.com/Orgrimmar-ASH-25DD-3-32VDC-5-60VDC-Control/dp/B07RTW33Z2/)
https://www.amazon.com/LEDENET-Amplifier-Signal-Repeater-Channels/dp/B00ODWRL3A/ (https://www.amazon.com/LEDENET-Amplifier-Signal-Repeater-Channels/dp/B00ODWRL3A/)
Could any of you gurus tell me if either of these will work for what I am trying to accomplish? Would I just need to buy a wall wart and hook it up to the device for power, then attach the LEDwiz output to the device input and then hook the strips up to the device output? That seems like it will work but I feel like that's too easy?
Thanks in advance for any help!
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I would go with option number 2, and it really will be as easy as taking the output from ledwiz into the amp and then running out from amp to strips :)
Simples.
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Thanks Drnick!
This is probably a really stupid question but something like this should work fine to power that amplifier, right? https://www.amazon.com/LEDMO-Power-Supply-Transformers-Adapter/dp/B01461MOGQ/ (https://www.amazon.com/LEDMO-Power-Supply-Transformers-Adapter/dp/B01461MOGQ/)
I tried calculating what size power supply I would need and I think I just have no clue what I'm doing because I'm getting numbers that are significantly larger than most power supplies, and this doesn't seem like something that should take a whole lot of power.
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That would do the job, although I would go with a 6 or 7 amp supply as you say draw will be approx 5.5A per side, Ideally don't want to load the PSU more then you need to :)
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Thanks for the quick replies Drnick, I think/hope this is my last question! Am I reading you correctly that since the LEDs would draw roughly 5.5a per side, I'd actually need a 12v 6a-7a power supply and RGB amp per side? Meaning I'd actually be buying 2 of each in order to get both sides working? If so, is there a power solution that would allow me to power these as one long string instead?
The power supply that these LEDs came with is very nondescript so I honestly have no idea how much power it is providing... I thought I was overestimating the type of power supply I would need but it's looking like powering both sides would require at least 11a?
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Welp after looking at https://learn.adafruit.com/rgb-led-strips/current-draw (https://learn.adafruit.com/rgb-led-strips/current-draw) I'm realizing I'm an idiot and I goofed up my initial calculations... the type of string I bought is 60/LEDs per meter which should break down to 1.2 Amps per meter. I'm only going to be using about 3 meters so I *should* actually be drawing 3.6 Amps at full brightness. Since the LED strip I bought is 5m, at MOST it would need 6Amps to power the entire thing. I'll probably end up getting a 6A power supply just in case I decide to use a little more of the string.
Thank you for all of your help Drnick!