Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

[EasyGoing1]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

yes, run it a see how much current is flowing
and recap that psu starting with the output caps and the small stuff

I think it's going to be cheaper for me to just replace it. And since I'm doing that, I think it might be even better to try and replace both of them with a single PSU.

[EasyGoing1]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

yes, run it a see how much current is flowing
and recap that psu starting with the output caps and the small stuff

So, with just one power supply connected, and turned on, the 5V line is drawing 5.6 amps.

[stj]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

thats a hell of a lot - i wonder what it's driving!

[EasyGoing1]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

thats a hell of a lot - i wonder what it's driving!

Yeah, I thought so too ... I dunno what it's driving, but I do know that this very product put them out of business because someone else got a patent on whatever is inside of the lightbox ... but I couldn't begin to speculate on what's so special about these almost $2,000 (at the time) fish tank lights nor why they were so popular.

So at this point, I'm looking for a 1,000 watt ATX power supply that can supply 15 amps on the +5 and 20 to 25 on the +12 minimum. They aren't cheap though.

[stj]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

i read that they got put out of business by a bogus patent for " a light fixture containing leds that mounts on top of an aquarium enclosure"

thats almost as bad as the bullshit between apple and samsung over "rectangular casing with rounded corners"
and "progress bar to indicate remaining time for software to complete a task" or some shit like that.
Putin needs to bomb your patent offices!

[EasyGoing1]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

i read that they got put out of business by a bogus patent for " a light fixture containing leds that mounts on top of an aquarium enclosure"

thats almost as bad as the bullshit between apple and samsung over "rectangular casing with rounded corners"
and "progress bar to indicate remaining time for software to complete a task" or some shit like that.
Putin needs to bomb your patent offices!

Well, The patent office would never grant a patent purely on such a vague description. And from what I read, it was about the technology inside the light that was at issue. I don't know why it's so special ...

What really concerns me about the whole patent thing is that this company was manufacturing and selling these lights long before the other company got its patent. And I would tend to think that they would have been exempt from any liability given that being true ... I mean what's to stop someone from stealing an idea, getting a patent on it then screwing the inventor? Just doesn't seem right to me.

But what are your thoughts on using a single 1000-watt ATX for these lights? You think it will work?

[stj]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

i think you need to check the current on the 12v line.

it could be mostly using 5v,
those old AT psu's had mostly 5v output, the 12v was only for the harddrives.
in that case an ATX is useless because their main output is 12v

[EasyGoing1]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

i think you need to check the current on the 12v line.

it could be mostly using 5v,
those old AT psu's had mostly 5v output, the 12v was only for the harddrives.
in that case an ATX is useless because their main output is 12v

My meter will bust a fuse after 10 amps and those fuses aren't cheap.

OK, so I read it with this shunt resistor



And I read 44mV when it settled down ... initially it was over 50 but that didn't last more than half a second or so.

Not sure how to calculate the current based on what I have here...

I photoshopped the lettering on the shunt so its easier to see.

Also, the red circles are where the wire was connected and I took the reading at the green circles.



After doing some Googling, I think what I'm seeing here is that there is 8.8 Amps on the 12V side.

And if that is the case, then if I double the amps, that would be roughly 16 to 20 amps on 12 and about 10 to 15 amps on 5 ... wouldn't an ATX work in this situation if I got one rated for 1,000 Watts that could handle 25A on 12V and 15A on 5V as a minimum requirement?

[stj]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

20A on each rail is under 500w i'm sure.
tempting to use 2 chinese psu's - one for each voltage.

or a meanwell dual output - if they have a compatable one

[eccerr0r]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

Take the lamp apart and see how it's wired. Using that much +5 when +12 is available is kind of weird.

[EasyGoing1]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

Take the lamp apart and see how it's wired. Using that much +5 when +12 is available is kind of weird.

Are you thinking that might have been a possible cause for the one power supply dying?

[eccerr0r]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

No, I'm curious why it's drawing 28W on the 5V line

[stj]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

dont you have a DC clamp-meter btw?
i thought everybody got one when uni-T released the cheap one!

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

I had one but I did not think it was that cheap but it only lasted a couple of years and then it would not read any dc current anymore

I just have not bought another one yet but plan on doing this again when I need to have one for something that I can not use my meter for

[stj]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

maybe the opamp died - easy to diagnose the fault in them.

[EasyGoing1]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

dont you have a DC clamp-meter btw?
i thought everybody got one when uni-T released the cheap one!

I don't have a clamp meter ... got a recommendation?

[stj]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

UT210e

[CapLeaker]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

Uni-T, Bside, Extech, Fluke…
The only thing about Uni-T is that you have to make tripple sure it’s the meter you want. Some are doing only DC, not AC, etc. Your better off to go to the official Uni-T website and see what you want, then look for that specific model. Then compare pics etc.

[diif]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

Yeah, another vote for the UT210e from me.

[EasyGoing1]

Re: Fish Tank LED Power Supply Gets Hot then shuts down

UT210e

Yeah, another vote for the UT210e from me.

Uni-T, Bside, Extech, Fluke…

Could this meter replace my MESR-100 ESR meter? Does it have ESR capability? If so, I could send this one I just bought back and get the UT210E almost at a straight swap - cost wise.