Anyone have a recommendation on a power supply for an 18*18 LED array? I was looking at buying a 20A supply on aliexpress but am nervous about getting something low quality and starting a fire. Thanks in advance.
I do not know what type of LED you are planning to get , or already got !
For the very common WS2812 types, my own experience indicates that if you run them a full brightness white, each pixel will draw about 45 milliamps.
18 X 18 X 45ma is a bit less than 15 Amps.
My personal opinion is that a 20A PSU is a great choice for your setup. I have purchased quite a few of these already and I have not had any of them fail on me.
Only issue I have with them is that the AC terminals are exposed and a bit too easy to get at by accident. You just need to be careful about that !
@JP_Roy do you have a link or model number of a specific one that you use? They are WS2812 LEDs.
@Brian_Lewis
I purchased quite a few 5V PSUs of different sizes from the seller below… including some 20 Amps. All of them bear the AC-DC logo. The 20A PSUs have the following number…
AC-DC S-100-5
As I mentioned, I have not got a single PSU failure. Do not worry about going to any other vendor if the price is better, I think they are all from the same manufacturer.
@JP_Roy Thanks JP, just got a couple ordered. The price seemed reasonable enough.
For future reference, “Meanwell” are a well-known name brand whose PSUs should perform to spec. Happy with the few I’ve bought.
@Robert_Atkins Thanks Robert. I’ll keep that in mind.
@JP_Roy Loved your reco for the PSU’s… Meanwell a good choice from my experience. I’m looking for recos on strip LEDs, WS2811 and WS2812B… any suggestions?
@Ray_Bellantoni can’t go wrong with anything from Shenzen Rita on aliexpress.
Such as http://s.aliexpress.com/yqqANZ7J $6/meter is hard to beat
Anyone have any experience with this style power supply? Seems a bit safer as the terminals aren’t exposed. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5V-200W-rain-proof-switch-mode-Power-Supply-AC120V-or-AC230V-input-DC5V-output/312912_1770969762.html
Just adding another recommendation for meanwell PSU’s. I’ve had issues with a few of the cheaper alternatives from china over the years but all my meanwells still perform as good as new.