Can I do this? (5x DC barrel plugs on a 3 bank 30A 12V DC PSU)

Cornelius

Cornelius

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May 11, 2019
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Hello all, I'm hoping to confirm that this will work. Photos attached.

Simply put, I want to connect five 12V devices to the same DC power supply, but it only has 3 banks. Three of the plugs will go to inject power in 5Meters of WS2811, they each draw 6.17A (or 18.5A), the fourth connector will go to a 12V IP camera that draws 1A and the fifth connector will connect to the pixel controller and also power a smaller set of WS2811 LEDS ( around 1.5A). The total load on the 30A PSU would be about 21A, but can I have a device (such as the web camera) that draws 1A connected to the same bank as the 5 meter strip of WS2811 that draws ~6+ amps? Will the PSU just compensate and send out ~7+ or will this get electrically ugly? I don't want to overload the IP camera :).
 
uncledan said:
My recommendation would be to use a power distribution fuse board of some sort. You want to protect the wire. Something like this is what most of us use. ... The second one is only rated for 5 amps per port so probably wouldn't work for the application
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Great, thank you. My reasoning for this is to keep everything compact. I could go the blade fuse route for the 1A to the IP camera, but I'm using the Pixlite 4 MKII and it already has four 7.5amp fuses for the LEDs. Does this change the way you'd set it up?
 
A little more information would be helpful. It sounds to me like you're power injecting everything and not powering pixels with the Pixlite? I don't understand all the barrel connectors.. It sounds to me like you can just power all the pixels with the Pixlite. Many people do exactly what you show in the picture. I just can't recommend it.
 
Thanks for getting back. The three 5M rolls of WS2811 do get power from the pixlite which is mounted next to the DC power supply, but I've been testing the voltage at the end of the 5 Meter strip and it's dropping from 12V to the low ~9V when it displays white. Simply injecting power to the end of the strip solves the problem. I have ordered a fuse box because they will help protect the ends that have injected power. Should I not be getting this much voltage drop off from a standard 5M roll of WS2811? Thanks
 
Have you tried decreasing the intensity? 100% is too much... Most of us run 40% or less. I don't need to power inject a 5m roll of 30/10 12v strip
 
uncledan said:
Have you tried decreasing the intensity? 100% is too much... Most of us run 40% or less. I don't need to power inject a 5m roll of 30/10 12v strip
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I could, it is more to have the flexibility to have the intensity at full. I would assume if the intensity is at 60% this would be less of an issue.
 
Cornelius said:
I could, it is more to have the flexibility to have the intensity at full. I would assume if the intensity is at 60% this would be less of an issue.
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Most of my display I build for 100% intensity but don't run over 40%. Even at 100% intensity I can power 5m of 30/10 strip from one end
 
David_AVD said:
From those current figures, it sounds like you have 60/20 (60 LEDs, 20 controllable sections per metre) 12V strip. They will require power at both ends.
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Correct, sorry for not including LED specs. It's 60 pixels per meter in groups of three.
 
ezellner said:
I don't believe those barrel connectors are rated for as much as 6+ amps.
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I know the first few I ordered were 22AWG and that wasn't going to work, the one's I use now are 18AWG. I pulled this design from when I used multiple power supplies with similar barrel connectors for LED lights. If they can't handle 6 or 7 amps, then it must be bad design.
 
This thread is very old. An answer might not be needed anymore.
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