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Help with powering an arcade cabinet


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Hello everyone,

I have almost finished my cabinet build and i have run into a few problems / concerns regarding powering the components.

I have 8 12v blue led strips for the marquee,

4 blue 12v led strips underneath the base,

4 white 12v led strips for the side artwork,

there is also 18 12v led push buttons to power,

and 2 12v led joysticks as well.

 

I have read that i will need some 12v fans inside to help cool things as well.

I will be running an old laptop with an external monitor with a pc sound system that will need to be powered as well.

 

I have split all the yellow and black wires into a terminal block,

Will my pc power supply be able to handle all of the led strips, push buttons and joysticks or is it too much?

Also with all of the components inside the arcade will i need a Surge protector for the main wall and another

4 plug that can handle all of this.

 

Im hoping someone can help, i just dont want to blow up lol.

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What is the 12vDC supply on you PC rated at...It will have it written in amps on the supply.

 

Just make sure you have a couple of yellows from the supply powering the 12vDC tied together as each yellow wire is only able to supply 5-8amps each on it's own.

 

Same case with the black wires.

 

If you only use one yellow wire from the supply and you are pulling 12amps for example, the yellow wire will become the fuse. Better too many yellows tied together than not enough.

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Hi Autosteve,

Thank you for for reply.

The power supply has no markings telling me what it is rated at.

So im thinking i may have to use a multimeter to work out the amp usage for each yellow wire,

not sure how i will work out the amps on an led.

 

I have attached x 1 wire to each bundle ie. 4 led strips attached to 1 yellow and 1 black.

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If in doubt, play it safe and just get a second PC power supply for all the LED's?

I believe in the KISS principle (I keep it simple for my self with project's)

Then it's the computer for the games and the power supply for the lights..

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Oh sorry, mis-read.

Simple solution is to suck it and see.

But then after my KISS principle, that's my next one LOL

 

Can't see an issue with a separate power supply running a heap of led's. turn it on and let is run then feel how hot it's getting, very backyard version of testing how it's coping :)

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The blue leds are running at .24 amps and the white ones are running at .13 amps.

I tried to test the amps on the pc power supply but in return i got smoke coming out of it.

 

I have another pc power supply and it says 12v 10 a is that running 10 amps per 12 v yellow wire or is that altogether?

 

Ah the joys of D.I.Y. lol

Edited by gilljaz
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The blue leds are running at .24 amps and the white ones are running at .13 amps.

I tried to test the amps on the pc power supply but in return i got smoke coming out of it.

 

I have another pc power supply and it says 12v 10 a is that running 10 amps per 12 v yellow wire or is that altogether?

 

Ah the joys of D.I.Y. lol

 

10amps combined. Doesn't really matter if you don't use all the yellow wires but I would use at least two that way you know those two wires will carry the 10amps.

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So if i use any 2 yellow wires that will equal 10 amps?

 

Yes but as always over engineer and use 3. You never know exactly what Chinese wire can actually handle and the better safe than sorry thinking kicks in.

Also does this mean all i need to do is add all the total amps the leds are running and then make sure they are below 10 amps?

Yes because you can't pull more than what can be supplied from the source or in this case the power supply 12volts.

 

Even if your LEDs only need say 2amps to run, you need to consider the power supply can supply up to 10amps so it is wise to make sure your wires can handle that 10amps at least.

 

A good example of why is what happens if one of your LED strips shorts out?

 

The power supply "should" detect the short and shut down but we are taking Chinese power supplys here and it is not unusual for them to not shut down as designed.

 

If this was to happen the weakest link would be the wiring while the PS tries to supply it's maximum and that is why you add margin in your wiring.

 

You want to make it safer you add a fuse rated at 2amps so it becomes the weakest part in the wiring.

 

Hope this is what you wanted to know.

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Thank you so much Autosteve,

To be safe would it be better for me to join all of the yellow wires together?

Then i assume i would chain the marquee leds to the pushbuttons etc?

 

Yes, joining them all won't hurt.

 

Yes you would chain them altogether making sure all the + are all joined and all the - are all connected and they are all actually 12vDC powered.

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sorry to be a pain but one last question,

would it matter if leds are joined in one bundle and attached to a long wire,

and pushbutton leds in one bundle and attached to a long wire

then all joined together at the end in their + and - points on the arcade power supply.

 

or...

 

do i link the marquee to the pushbuttons then link that to the leds then link that to their + and - points on the arcade power supply.

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sorry to be a pain but one last question,

would it matter if leds are joined in one bundle and attached to a long wire,

and pushbutton leds in one bundle and attached to a long wire

then all joined together at the end in their + and - points on the arcade power supply.

 

or...

 

do i link the marquee to the pushbuttons then link that to the leds then link that to their + and - points on the arcade power supply.

 

Totally up to you. Either will work. Just make sure all the + all connect somewhere along + line, all the - all connect somewhere along the - line and the + joins the +12 yellow wires and the - joins the minus black wires coming from the power supply.

 

Just remember if it does join one long wire for each + and - and then back to the power supply, those wires should be good to supply 10amps.

 

If you don't want to use 10amp wires seeing as you should only be pulling in proper operation only say 2amps...(all the LEDS all turned on and everything your are powering from the 12vDC), you can put a fuse in rated at say 2amps in one of the two wires and it becomes the weak, safe link in the line.

 

Something goes wrong and a short occurs pulling more that the 2amp fuse can handle, the fuse safely blows and no wires melt.

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thanks again, wow im so confused there is so much things to consider.

maybe im better getting an arcade power supply at around 4 amps 12v as my leds combined are running at 3.98 amps

as they have short circuit/overload/over voltage protection, and get a 4 to 6 amp supply.

 

I have no idea how or where to add the fuse, let alone what type of fuse, how to i work out what fuse to get etc

Edited by gilljaz
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