Safety measures needed for DIY amblilight (5V 10A)?

  • Hi guys,


    Always had the dream of building my own ambilight after I saw it on a Philips TV at my parent's place. So after a lot of research I bought all the components, using a 5V 10A power supply and a WS2801 LED strip. I have tested the setup and it works like a charm. Before putting everything on the TV in a "final" state, I was wondering about the following things (this is my first project working with high-power current):


    1. Can I put all the components in a project box so it will be nearly fitting below the TV rack or do you need recommend to do it? After letting the setup run for 30 minutes, the power supply is warm but not hot.

    2. The power supply looks OK but as I live in China (so no real chance to order from overseas) I am not entirely sure about the quality. It looks like the ones recommended for the DIY ambilight setup (something like this: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B081C…_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0_img). Is there anything I could do as a safety measure, e.g. a fuse or capacitor in the setup? Or do you think that is not necessary and will not bring any additional safety? Is there any way I could test the power supply to check if the quality is OK?

    3. In case no additional safety is added, what is the worst thing that can happen with the setup? In case the power supply goes rogue, could it start a fire? Or would it only fry the LEDs?


    Have a great day!

  • Hello,


    1. You can do this, but you should place the power supply outside of the box because of heat generation.

    Do not cover with flammable materials and ensure good air ventilation.

    2. Building of slight heat is normal. Switching power supplies usually have an electronic overcurrent fuse at the secondary side, which means that switch off in the event of overload or short circuit. The normal state is restored after a restart.

    The protective conductor (Yellow/green cable in Europe) should always be connected (Metal housing!)

    One LED pulls max. 0.06 Amp, so you should multiply the number of LEDs you have x 0.06 to get the total current.

    Maybe your power supply is undersized.

    3. In the worst case a internal fuse on the high voltage side burns.


    Good luck! :thumbup:

    Grüße aus Österreich / Greetings from Austria !

    - Don't wanna miss it anymore !

    2 Mal editiert, zuletzt von Mike72 ()

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