I want to make a little WS2812 LED string for my granddaughters bedroom. I am going to hook up an ESP-enabled Arduino so Mum can control the lights without having to go in the room.
I am looking for a 3-5A 5V supply that’s safe for a toddlers room.
Anybody know of anything? I could buy one of those switching 5V ‘laptop brick’ type PSUs, but I remember reading from some on here that they aren’t reliable. The circuit will likely be on all the time, with the light output being maybe two hours at the most.
I could put a regular switching PSU in a plastic box, but would prefer something that won’t give my daughter the willies… bare wire ends and young mothers seem to be inimical
Go figure, she grew up in my house with bits of machinery and power tools all over the place and she’s one of those girls that’s first ‘leaving home’ requests was a toolset, but when it comes to her own little treasure, that’s a no-go area.
Personally, I wouldn’t have any trouble with a laptop brick (or wall wart). For peace of mind, you could run your strip (in your home/shop) at full white for a few hours, and I bet the brick wouldn’t even get warm. And during the 22 hours the lights aren’t on, there’s no load on your power supply. Just make sure it doesn’t get buried under, or covered behind, anything that would trap heat.
I should probably have said - Polulu/Adafruit/Any US supplier probably won’t fly - I live in SE Asia, the cost of shipping is extraorbitant, plus we are 220V.
But thanks, I think I will give a ‘laptop’ type supply and do what allanGEE suggested and run it hard for a few hours to give it the smell test.
