350W vs 600W

[Stephan]

Hi all
Im just trying to get my head around some power supply points.
If you have a 350W @ 29Amps vs a 600W @ 50Amps witch one will run more pixels? and how does that affect the 5Amp fuse on the controller channel? I do not want to blow up the controller :-\
Here are the 2 mentioned.


http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/12V-350W-switch-mode-power-supply-LED-power-driver-AC90-260V-input-DC12V-350W-output-constant/701799_1948832565.html


http://www.aliexpress.com/item/mean-well-power-suply-12v-600w-ac-to-dc-ac-dc-converter-power-supply-Input-220v/886339306.html


Thanks

 

[Heath-LightsOnTapley]

if u want to check, here is a handy link


http://www.da-share.com/calculators/led-strip-string-current/

 

[scamper]

A rating on the power supply is a maximum power that it can supply.
So the fuse on the controller etc makes no difference.
If you work on 60ma per pixel max, then you theoretically could run approximately 480 pixels on the 29 amp and 830 on the 50 amp supply. (all on and full white)
There is some helpful information in the power supply section on this forum with different analogies that may help.
but in general, voltage is the constant and current is the total that you may use when talking power supply ratings.

 

[Stephan]

Thanks
I understand that the higher amp rating on the power supply can run more pixels but what about the controller? Say you run 480 pixels on the 29 amp power supply on one controller channel, wont that blow the fuse for it is rated only at 5 amps?.

 

[ShellNZ]

People using pixels generally run the +ve direct from the power supply instead of through the controller. So the GND and Data go from the controller then you have a GND and +ve direct from the PSU.

 

[Stephan]

Ok I see, so the total amps of pixels used is dependant on what the PSU can handle. What is the 5amp fuse used for then on the controller?

 

[ShellNZ]

Yes thats correct, its what the PSU can handle. You can choose to run the pixels off the controller though and thats why it has a 5A fuse as thats the max it will put out.

 

[scamper]

As Shell says,
In general, I use the power from the controller only on small output items, such as the staff on my nutcracker, otherwise all the power comes direct from the supply.

 

[fasteddy]

generally the controller will have a 5 amp fuse protecting the individual output but the tracks on the board would be generally rated at 30 amps, but there are some exceptions
But most will inject power directly to the lights and just use the data from the controller and tie in the ground with the controller to the lights.

But generally most here will use the 350 watt version as they are very cheap from Ray