Getting rid of the huge power supply

Projects General Guidance
1

Hey everyone,

Let me start off by saying that I am a complete newbie when it comes to electronics; I can code just fine, but volts and amps and the like are not my cup of tea. Please be gentle in your responses...

I'm working on a project that uses an Arduino to power a strip of LEDs. I've got it working fine, but I need to up the length of the LED strip by 5x (from 1m to 5m). The only cheap and viable LED strips I can find all require something around 12V 6A (the shorter LED strip is 12V 2A). After looking around at AC power supply units for 12V 6A it seems they all have the huge brick in the middle of the cable... by no means small and compact.

What is the best option for getting rid of the brick, short of finding a different LED strip? Can I build whatever is in the box into my project and make it smaller? Should I bypass (very safely*) the wall outlet and tie directly into the AC wire in the wall? I've seen a few AC inverter shields, but I'm not sure what my best option is.

Any advice, guidance, assistance, and references would be highly appreciated.

  • By safely, I mean either hiring an expert or me spending two weeks reading up on home electrical repair XD
2

You won't find a small brick capable of providing 12V @ 6A. Cheapest solution is probably to build something like this http://uk.farnell.com/xp-power/vft80us12/psu-80w-low-cost-12v-6-67a/dp/1821494 into your box.

3

Check out one of these
http://www.mpja.com/12-Volt-Power-Supply/products/537/
72W supply is a lot of power.

4

12V, 5A

5

CrossRoads:
12V, 5A
Pololu - Wall Power Adapter: 12VDC, 5A, 5.5×2.1mm Barrel Jack, Center-Positive

Yeah, see, this one has the brick in the middle of the cable. That's the part I'm trying to either get rid of, or consolidate into the existing project housing.

6

dc42:
You won't find a small brick capable of providing 12V @ 6A. Cheapest solution is probably to build something like this http://uk.farnell.com/xp-power/vft80us12/psu-80w-low-cost-12v-6-67a/dp/1821494 into your box.

Thanks for this. I'll look into it a bit more and see if it will work... trying to read the technical datasheet to understand exactly how this works.

7

Farnell is in the UK.
MPJA.com is US, has same kind of units.
You bring in 120VAC, get 12VDC out.