Since the collapse of the crytpcurrancy market, stuff used for the mining rigs has really dropped in cost. Whereas a new standard top quality PC power supply to build your own rig may be $100+ (the one I just built, the power supply was $140), really high power SERVER power supplies, from HP and DELL, are going CHEAP - 1200 watt server grade power supply for $40 or less! These are FULLY enclosed, not like the Meanwell type supplies where you attach the line cord to 3 exposed screw terminals which happen to be right next to the screw terminals where the low voltage comes out. And they use standard power cords. Downside is they do not have wires coming out, they have edge card connections at the low voltage end, because they are designed to slide ina nd out of the server chassis, even be hot swappable.
But coin mining to the rescue. The miner rigs needed lots of power. So there are many selections of handy adapter boards that have a mating edge connector which breaks out to standard 6 pin PCI power connectors (like power connectors for a high end video card). Those are only a couple of dollars. You can even buy them with a set of cables - which I would cut in half and use to run power to the input of the LED controllers, which typically have screw terminals for the power in.
So for $50 MAX, and normally a lot less, there's enough power for 30 strings of LEDs.
Since there likely won't be so many LED strips clustered in one spot, there are smaller 750W power supplies for even less money. That's still 10-15 strings of LEDs with plenty of headroom, 20 to load it down close to max.
Since the LED controllers don't use the PCI 6 pin connectors, cutting the supplied cables in half also allows you to easily stick an appropriate size fuse on each one.
And these are NEW power supplies, not refurbs or used, for those prices. ANd they are, at least in the case of the HP one, Platinum efficiency rated, over 90% efficient even at 50% load.
Also useful for layout power bus, at 12V. Don't forget to fuse each line - 1200 watts is 100 amps, 12V - you can weld with that. And easily melt thinner wire. With 6 or 8 taps on the breakout boards, you can fuse each one at 5 amps and never overload the power supply.
Unlike regular PC power supplies, these server supplies pretty much put out ONLY 12V.
Here's one example of the power supply:
https://www.amazon.com/441830-001-1200W-Power-Supply-437572-B21/dp/B077X7WX2L
and here's a breakout board:
https://www.amazon.com/S-Union-Ethereum-Breakout-Board-Supply/dp/B0785HKWN3/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=breakout+board+for+hp+1200&qid=1585688184&s=electronics&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExMkcwSkI4TERUWjVKJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTQ5MzM3MVkzSzVZR0dKV0lCMCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwOTIzMzE3VkhNUUFPUjlSSUFLJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
They are available cheaper on eBay, just takes longer to arrive than Amazon Prime. But I'm in no rush.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
that's a really good deal on those power supplies ...i noticed on that page that you could get refurbished 1200 watt supplies for only $25 ....
I know what 12.0V is, but what is 12.0VSB ?
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
I -assume- that SB stands for SouthBridge ... a voltage sent to the motherboard for controlling the integrated hardware such as the hard drive controller, I/O controller, sound and video card [if on the motherboard]
12v SB is standby - pretty much all modern computers are like everything else - soft power off, they still draw power even when the front case power button is switched off, or the system goes into sleep mode. Often keeps enough alive for things like wake on LAN, or to always provide power to a couple of USB ports so you can use them to charge devices even when the computer is turned off.
I was waaaaaay off, lol
These look like a great deal. Do they require modifications to be used outside a computer like the ATX supplies do?
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Just the board - although you could theoretically solder right to the edge connector on the power supply - if you can find the pinouts. I had a really old (like 15 year old) Dell one which I found the pinout for online. They do have connections that have to be bridged to turn the power on.
Most modern PC power supplies don;t need any modifications to work - they self regulate with little or no load. Only older ones needed a minimum load. There are breakout boards for regular desktop power supplies that work the same way as these do, and have a power on button.
Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Onyehn-Alligator-double-ended-alligator-Electrical/dp/B07GDKZ8XC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=pc+power+supply+breakout&qid=1585843615&sr=8-2
No need to open up the power supply and modify it, just plug it into one of these boards and you have connections for various voltages - this one even has fuses.