powering lights for 1/350 enterprise

Grouncontrol · Post by **Grouncontrol** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:30 am

hello all! I am beginning work on my pl 1/350 enterprise, and am building my own circuits for the lights. I've currently got my blinking formation and strobe circuits being powered by a 9 volt battery, and will be basing the rest of my lights on 9 volts. My question is this; I have a wall wart that was originally intended for a portable cd player. The output of the wall wart is 9 volts 600 mA. Can I safely use this wall wart (if I remove the adapter for the cd player and directly solder the ends onto my pc board) to power my circuits.
Not looking for a shocking experience!

Many thanks in advance!

USS Atlantis · Post by **USS Atlantis** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:38 pm

I would actually leave the plug on and install a jack in the model

Also, make sure the wall-wart is a regulated PS - else add a rectifier circuit to your main board before anything else

CD players are more tolerant of voltage variations than LED circuits, so the PS may NOT be regulated, and that spells danger for the LEDs

Grouncontrol · Post by **Grouncontrol** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:34 pm

USS Atlantis wrote:I would actually leave the plug on and install a jack in the model

Also, make sure the wall-wart is a regulated PS - else add a rectifier circuit to your main board before anything else

CD players are more tolerant of voltage variations than LED circuits, so the PS may NOT be regulated, and that spells danger for the LEDs

How can I tell if it is a regulated ps? Is it printed somewhere on it?

Also, the cd player in question no longer functions, not because of power, but because it no longer reads the cd. I should be able then to take the jack out of the non functioning cd player and use that in my model stand?

USS Atlantis · Post by **USS Atlantis** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:54 pm

Grouncontrol wrote:
USS Atlantis wrote:I would actually leave the plug on and install a jack in the model

Also, make sure the wall-wart is a regulated PS - else add a rectifier circuit to your main board before anything else

CD players are more tolerant of voltage variations than LED circuits, so the PS may NOT be regulated, and that spells danger for the LEDs
How can I tell if it is a regulated ps? Is it printed somewhere on it?

Also, the cd player in question no longer functions, not because of power, but because it no longer reads the cd. I should be able then to take the jack out of the non functioning cd player and use that in my model stand?

Yes, it should say on the PS if it's a regulated supply or not

And you can rip the jack out of the CD-Player - though de-soldering it might be problematical

I'd just order a new one from Jameco

Grouncontrol · Post by **Grouncontrol** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 6:42 pm

Thanks again Ken! Appreciate all the help I've gotten from everyone here!

khitomer · Post by **khitomer** » Fri May 27, 2011 8:50 am

Grouncontrol wrote:hello all! I am beginning work on my pl 1/350 enterprise, and am building my own circuits for the lights. I've currently got my blinking formation and strobe circuits being powered by a 9 volt battery, and will be basing the rest of my lights on 9 volts. My question is this; I have a wall wart that was originally intended for a portable cd player. The output of the wall wart is 9 volts 600 mA. Can I safely use this wall wart (if I remove the adapter for the cd player and directly solder the ends onto my pc board) to power my circuits.
Not looking for a shocking experience!
Many thanks in advance!

Can I ask, could you share any information you have on designing such lighting circuits? Anything would be of assistance as I have four of these lits and want to eventually build a perfect example!

Scott Hasty · Post by **Scott Hasty** » Fri May 27, 2011 10:05 am

Grouncontrol wrote:
USS Atlantis wrote:I would actually leave the plug on and install a jack in the model

Also, make sure the wall-wart is a regulated PS - else add a rectifier circuit to your main board before anything else

CD players are more tolerant of voltage variations than LED circuits, so the PS may NOT be regulated, and that spells danger for the LEDs
How can I tell if it is a regulated ps? Is it printed somewhere on it?

The only way to know properly is to use a voltmeter. I can tell you almost all consumer wall warts are unregulated; the regulation is done by the device itself.

ChrisQ · Post by **ChrisQ** » Fri May 27, 2011 9:04 pm

Doesn't he have to add up the amperage of his LED's for this? I am just learning about electronics but one of the very first lessons was making sure the power supply can handle the load.

The Trek Modeler DIY kit for the Refit comes with 56 led's. When you calculate the resistance needed for a normal white LED you are supposed to use 20mA. Doing the math that way, those led's would draw 1120mA. The wall wart that comes with that kit is a 1.4A or 1400mA.

So if he is lighting the same ship and using anywhere near the same amount of led's it seems that the 600mA wall wart will not cut it.

Edit - I just went back and looked at the list and while there are 56 resistors in the kit there are a few more LED's than that and they are of varying sizes so it's not as clearcut as I made it. However it's still far more than 600mA.

Am I wrong? And if so please explain so I can learn.

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powering lights for 1/350 enterprise

powering lights for 1/350 enterprise

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