Hello everyone,
I would like to make an arduino controlled alarm clock with an LED stripe. That means the power supply would be connected the whole night. My current AC adapter is quite noisy and I assume it has a lot of standby losses.
Now my question is: Is there any way to get around the standby losses of the AC adapter? Is the best option to buy an "efficient" one? I've read about special standby adapters but couldn't find much about it. How do you handle standby mode?
Thanks in advance!
If you have lots of time to experiment, you could disassemble the adapter and possibly fix the noise problem.
You don't provide any information about your adapter, other than "noisy" which is also ambiguous, could mean audible or electrical noise.
It makes the question difficult to answer.
Does it feel warm in stand by mode? If it does, it wastes a few Watts.
A good adapter does not get warm in standby mode... even if it does not have a stand by mode.
So maybe you should look for another one.
If the noise is an audible noise, then there is loose things that vibrate with mains frequency (50/60 or 100/120 Hz or converter frequency (which is much higher). You could fill the whole lot with resin to fixate all parts and reduce the sound. But if it is a cheapie adapter, I would look for another one..
If you have a over dimensioned adapter (like 20 amp rated adapter to run a 0.5 amp application) you will loose more when you draw little current than with a well dimensioned adapter (max rating of 2 amp to run 0.5 amp application).
Do you know what kind of adapter you have? What is the rating? Is it light weight and small or big and heavy?
...it is likely a transformer based adapter.
Just use a 5volt cellphone charger with USB socket,
and connect the Arduino USB lead to it.
Cellphone chargers are very efficient and don't make noise.
Leo..
Some do make noise..
Hi guys,
thanks for the quick answers. Maybe I didn't put my question clearly. I want to avoid the losses of the adapter while it is not in use without having to plug it in manually every time. But from your answers I take it there's no other way than choosing the best possible adapter? You usually just live with the losses?
The problem you have is how the clock keeps time when in standby. Arduino isn't really a good choice for this, specific clock ICs consume tiny amounts of current and can work on batteries for years.
Do you have any remote control devices plugged in, such as TV or stereo? If yes, then they are ALWAYS on and wasting power. Much more than you wall wart.