can you recommened an LED power supply for this:

[NoTxtWhileDrive]

My parents bought a lot of this LED modules for display signage. And I "borrowed" some of it for personal projects. The power supply they bought with this are for powering hundreds of them and bought only 3 of them, so I can't "borrow" one for myself. I only need to drive 2 or 4 of them for my project. Battery power didn't work, and too scared to try hooking it up to random 12v power supplies from around the house... Can anyone recommend a suitable power supply for powering these?

[Unimportant]

3 hours ago, NoTxtWhileDrive said:

Battery power didn't work, and too scared to try hooking it up to random 12v power supplies from around the house...

Battery power should work fine - perhaps your battery did not have enough voltage ?

Any random 12V DC adapter you happen to have should work fine tough.

 

Current limiting resistors are built into the LED strips, they're visible in the picture.

[NoTxtWhileDrive]

3 minutes ago, Unimportant said:

Battery power should work fine - perhaps your battery did not have enough voltage ?

Any random 12V DC adapter you happen to have should work fine tough.

 

Current limiting resistors are built into the LED strips, they're visible in the picture.

I taped together 6 AA batteries in series... I am not a smart man. Also I've heard while looking for a power supply that on top of the power supply they need something called a "led driver". Is that also needed here?

[Unimportant]

19 minutes ago, NoTxtWhileDrive said:

I taped together 6 AA batteries in series... I am not a smart man. Also I've heard while looking for a power supply that on top of the power supply they need something called a "led driver". Is that also needed here?

That's only 9V. Those LED's typically have a forward voltage of around 3.5V making for 10.5 total voltage required at least before they even begin to light. Try 8 batteries. (and mind the polarity, off course).

No "led driver" is needed, just a 12V DC power supply. You want exactly 12V ,lower and the LED's won't light (or very dim), much higher and the current trough the LED's becomes too high, possibly damaging them. A 12V DC adapter from a old router or whatever will do.

[NoTxtWhileDrive]

52 minutes ago, Unimportant said:

That's only 9V. Those LED's typically have a forward voltage of around 3.5V making for 10.5 total voltage required at least before they even begin to light. Try 8 batteries. (and mind the polarity, off course).

No "led driver" is needed, just a 12V DC power supply. You want exactly 12V ,lower and the LED's won't light (or very dim), much higher and the current trough the LED's becomes too high, possibly damaging them. A 12V DC adapter from a old router or whatever will do.

Also worth noting that there are two positive and two negative wires in each light, I just connected the one negative and positive end together, and the other pair to the positive and negative of the batteries, Is that how I'm supposed to do it?

 

[Unimportant]

21 minutes ago, NoTxtWhileDrive said:

Also worth noting that there are two positive and two negative wires in each light, I just connected the one negative and positive end together, and the other pair to the positive and negative of the batteries, Is that how I'm supposed to do it?

 

No, That would be a short circuit. Both sides are simply connected trough (+ to + and - to -). It's meant to allow chaining multiple strips together in parallel. Just connect the + of one side to the + of the batteries and the - of one side to the - of the batteries, leave the other 2 connections unconnected.

[NoTxtWhileDrive]

30 minutes ago, Unimportant said:

No, That would be a short circuit. Both positives sides are simply connected trough (+ to + and - to -). It's meant to allow chaining multiple strips together in parallel. Just connect the + of one side to the + of the batteries and the - of one side to the - of the batteries, leave the other 2 connections unconnected.

I worked thanks

 

[NoTxtWhileDrive]

Last question will amperage be a problem?

 

[Unimportant]

4 minutes ago, NoTxtWhileDrive said:

Last question will amperage be a problem?

 

I reckon those are 1W LED's give or take. At a forward voltage of around 3.5V thats about 300mA.

For batteries that's no problem, although a typical alkaline will be depleted in a matter of hours.

If you're going to use a 12V DC adapter, you'll need one that can supply 300mA, but most of them will. (output current capability should be printed on the adapter somewhere).

 

Of course, that's for a single strip. If you're going to combine multiple strips then the current goes up accordingly.

[NoTxtWhileDrive]

2 minutes ago, Unimportant said:

I reckon those are 1W LED's give or take. At a forward voltage of around 3.5V thats about 300mA.

For batteries that's no problem, although a typical alkaline will be depleted in a matter of hours.

If you're going to use a 12V DC adapter, you'll need one that can supply 300mA, but most of them will. (output current capability should be printed on the adapter somewhere).

 

Of course, that's for a single strip. If you're going to combine multiple strips then the current goes up accordingly.

most 12v power supplies I can find at home are 1000mA - 1.5A will that pose a long term problem?

[Unimportant]

Just now, NoTxtWhileDrive said:

most 12v power supplies I can find at home are 1000mA - 1.5A will that pose a long term problem?

No, the more the better.

It means the power supply can safely deliver 1000mA - 1500mA, while a single led strip only requires 300mA.

It also means you could power 3 of those strips in parallel on the 1000mA supply or about 4 on the 1500mA one (technically 5 on the 1500mA one, but you should always leave some safety margin).