Cold Cathode (Scanner) Light

I measured the 12 volt side and didn't look at the lamp output side. I measured
.31A
11.82V
3.7W
That shows me that the one PS that I have can power 2 lamps.
That also shows me that if I have a 250 W PS I can power 67 lamps!!! that would be a lot of light! for very little cost.
 
very interesting..... I think if this trend continues I think PC and CFL may be a thing of the past for planted tanks. High Power LEDs are showing great promise, lots of light, low power, and the heat that is generated can be moved away from the water. Not to mention, long life.

I wonder what the life of a CC is.... very interesting.

Oh yes, computer PSUs are great things to power whatever you need, and lots of whatever it is I.E. LEDs and CC lights.
 
Thanks Kingearwig, helps me a lot.
Got the manual to build a P/S-test bench fron another forum-thread. Will keep you all posted.
 
Kingearwig, I'm no wizard in math and science, but wouldn't you pull too much current from a 250W PS with your 0.31A, 3.7W and 67 lamps?
My reasoning is that the amps add up same as your wattage, or am I wrong there?
1 lamp, 0.31A....2 lamps, 0.62A, etc...
Or not? If so, your 12 volt circuit would only support about 14A/0.31A = 45 lamps..beyond you're heating up your PS too much...

I've got a 300W (350 Peak) PS open in front of me, looking at the ratings on it's label.
14A is the max I can find for the 12V output.

(again, old sample from work...gotta love that job of mine...)
 
ok... you are making sense. but that means that the max wattage for the 12V output must be 168W. If you could find a way to get 300 watts from the 12v lead then you would be able to pull 25A.
As long as you keep the old V*A=W in mind you will be fine.
 
ok... you are making sense. but that means that the max wattage for the 12V output must be 168W. If you could find a way to get 300 watts from the 12v lead then you would be able to pull 25A.
As long as you keep the old V*A=W in mind you will be fine.

The only way to "get" more power out of the 12v rail is to buy a PSU that can handle higher amperage on the 12v rail.
 
Agree with you Spewn...again, no electrician, but common sense/logic also tells me that the max you can pull out of the 12V rail is the Amps stated on the PS. That the total Wattage is more is due to the fact that the overal Amps (3.3V rail, 5V rail, etc) will have to be covered. And, your 24V rail (+12V & -12V would have a much higher Amp-rating, but then you're talking on putting them in series of 2. Not sure if the power-unit for the lamps would handle that properly.)
So on the 12-volt rail, your max-amount of lights will be 45, but I'd prefer to stay in the safety zone and keep it to 60-70% of that.
Still waiting for my warehouse-guys to get me the power-units and more lamps...this week sometime I hope, quite busy here.
 
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