Powering an LED strip

milkandtwo · Aug 29, 2014

Hello,
Seeking some advice here as I am trying to teach myself the basics in LED lighting!
Basically I am looking to make decorative items (for sale) that will be lit by an 80-85cm flexible LED strip (I am hoping to offer warm white and also RGB strips options)
I need all cabling to be as minimal and discrete as possible so have been trying to find a plug top power supply rather than a separate driver. Thing is I need this to be in white which seems an impossible task to find.
The lowest power LED strips I seem to be able to find are 7.2W per metre. Am I right in thinking that this item (linked below) is too low powered as it says 8W and I need 20% additional? (though I am confused by the variable volts and amps?)

HTML:

http://www.powerpax.co.uk/led-drivers-14/led-drivers-indoor/en61347-2-13-plug-top-power-supplies-for-lighting

The item will be used in children's nurseries so it's crucial I get it right for safety!
thanks so much in advance for any advice.

ETX_LED_GUY · Aug 29, 2014

milkandtwo said:
Hello,
Seeking some advice here as I am trying to teach myself the basics in LED lighting!
Basically I am looking to make decorative items (for sale) that will be lit by an 80-85cm flexible LED strip (I am hoping to offer warm white and also RGB strips options)
I need all cabling to be as minimal and discrete as possible so have been trying to find a plug top power supply rather than a separate driver. Thing is I need this to be in white which seems an impossible task to find.
The lowest power LED strips I seem to be able to find are 7.2W per metre. Am I right in thinking that this item (linked below) is too low powered as it says 8W and I need 20% additional? (though I am confused by the variable volts and amps?)

HTML:

http://www.powerpax.co.uk/led-drivers-14/led-drivers-indoor/en61347-2-13-plug-top-power-supplies-for-lighting

The item will be used in children's nurseries so it's crucial I get it right for safety!
thanks so much in advance for any advice.

Shortest is 100cm but you can cut it down to 80-85cm & the power cord is white as well as the strip itself. Its also 120V so no driver required.

Kits are link-able & UL listed for safety, but not if you cut it.

http://www.americanlighting.com/led-tape-rope-hybrid.html

milkandtwo · Aug 30, 2014

That looks like an interesting product, thanks, (though I note it's not made for UK/Europe 240v?) but wouldn't work for me as I need RGB strips. (also looking to buy bulk from China to keep my margin and I've not seen this product over there) So - just looking to find out whether the plug top I linked to would work safely for the setup I described?

jason 77 · Aug 31, 2014

Most RGB LED strips on ebay are going to have a current draw of about 1 amp per meter. If you use just 80-85cm for each project that will be just under 1 amp "1000mA". The power supply you linked to looks to be about 1 amp at the 12volt output, although without a spec sheet on it I can't tell. I would look for a power supply that is able to put out more like 2 amps as I think it is always better to not have components run at near their maximum ratings. Also on a side note, while that power supply you listed is "Certified standards EN61347-2-13" The LED strips you buy off of ebay are not. I have used them before with no problems but it's just something to think of from a potential lawsuit side of things as you say you are planing on selling them. I don't know the laws over in the UK though.

milkandtwo · Sep 4, 2014

Thanks Jason,
That's really helpful. I ended up buying power supplies from China that are 12V 1A. I didn't realise the amps were so important - I figured that I needed around 7W (including 20% head room) so 12V 1A =12W would be OK. What do you think? Also bought some LED strips from a China supplier and will check carefully for the certification. Many thanks for the tip regarding this! (I didn't realise this was a non-UK forum - apologies!)

milkandtwo · Sep 5, 2014

Not to worry - they hadn't started production yet so I took your advice and went for 2A instead. I planned to use 3258 strips at 30 LEDs/m, but this gives me flexibility to use 5050 at 60 LEDs/m if I find I need to.
Thanks again!

Powering an LED strip

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