Thread: Am I missing something ?

To preface-i'm not that great with electronics but have dabbled. So get a second opinion.
Running a 30 amp power supply at capacity isn't going to meet expectations as that rating was given under ideal conditions. It also doesn't give you any room for things like internal resistance of connectors, switches, and in particular, 50 odd metres of wiring (pos+neg runs).
A bit of extra capacity will let the transformer run with a load comfortably under its max rating, just like revving the tits off a little engine-won't last long whereas a bigger engine doesn't need pushing so hard.

Thanks Mark, In actual fact the power supplies are 32.4 amps so should be enough power I would of thought. But what stumps me is the reading from my multi meter at only 3.5 amps mesured from the 12 volt side????? I have used 2 multi meters and get the same result. I am waiting on a DC clamp meter to come in and will check with that but i suspect the same result.

Also what is also wierd is If I disconnect the positive side there is no or little spark under load, I would have thought if the lights were using 30 amps I would get a big spark or something.

I mean the whole idea of using LED,s in the first place was to go "Green" and use less power and heat rather than using Halogens but I have 8 displays to set up and each will be consuming 30 amps X 8 = 240 amps ??? That is alot of power I would have thorght. I could have just used Halogens and used less power and at half the cost

cheers
Will