Hi,
Can anybody help me understand if I have a problem here or if I am worrying needlessly?
After watching Dave's recent video on LED lighting I thought I'd better get on with installing my LED lighting strips (the flexible reels of LEDs). I will be using 3 separate switch-mode power supplies to power LED strips in 3 separate areas of the room:
- One of these PSUs is a small cheap wall-wart, which I can't find inrush current specs for. It's 12 volt 1 amp, and it only needs to supply 0.3 Amps.
- Two of these PSUs are some generic Chinese thing, model YU1206, 12 volt 6 amp, but they will only need to supply 2 amps each (they're over-spec'd for what I need but I was given these PSUs for free). I found the spec online for the YU1206, which says:
Inrush Current: COLD START 40A /220VAC
Input surge: 50A@120VAC, 50A@ 230VAC
These 3 PSUs will be switched on simultaneously from one domestic 240v (UK) wall light switch and my concern is the total inrush current, which could be 100 Amps (40A each for the two YU1206, and an estimated 20A max for the wall-wart). This seems like a lot for a lighting circuit, and the standard domestic lighting switch on the wall is only rated at 10 Amps!
Will any arcing age the switch contacts prematurely?
Or is 100 Amps an acceptable inrush for domestic lighting circuits?
I found some specs on proper LED drivers that showed inrush current to be up to 70 Amps, which for 3 drivers would give an inrush of 210 Amps! So my case isn't that bad, but it might be for somebody out there.
Thanks for your help,
Daz.