Safe In-Wall AC to DC Transformers??
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Just à thought... I have these cheap 1$ 240 to 5 v USB power adapters charging 5-6 different equipments every day. These was sent with the equipment as standard so why are they not be safe?
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Some of the aftermarket wallwarts on ebay are very flimsy builds.. Lot's of teardown videos around, describing the different problems with them (like isolation distances not being kept at correct sizes etc).
@tbowmo @petewill @didi @ServiceXp I think I found the perfect one!!!!
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2155823_-1
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/260/GS05U-USB-spec-33533.pdfit is made by meanwell, so not flimsy. has all protections. 8$ at jameco and mouser and I am sure my meanwell supplier on aliexpress can get it for me at half price... it is a shame that they do not sell the inside separately but nothing is perfect.
the only problem might be breaking it apart. Meanwell really make sturdy enclosures.
let me know what you think... -
Just à thought... I have these cheap 1$ 240 to 5 v USB power adapters charging 5-6 different equipments every day. These was sent with the equipment as standard so why are they not be safe?
@sundberg84 I am using these as well, but not enclosed in a box or in the wall. Big difference.... when enclosed, the temp builds up and all the warning signs are hidden so its too late when you see smoke coming out of the wall. If a wall-wart combust on the outside of the wall chances are nothing serious will happen. If it does that inside the wall, with wooden frame nearby its a bit of a worry.
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@tbowmo @Moshe-Livne Thx - good points.
Might be a good idea not to use them at all then... since you are not always home and can detect the smoke before its to late.
Hope this HLK-PM01 can be any good use... i dont want to pay 30$ and use z-wave in all in wall switches if i can do it cool and safe with mysensors... then you can play around with motion, light at the same time in the wall socket :)Controller: Proxmox VM - Home Assistant
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - W5100 Ethernet, Gw Shield Nrf24l01+ 2,4Ghz
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - Gw Shield RFM69, 433mhz
RFLink GW - Arduino Mega + RFLink Shield, 433mhz -
@tbowmo @Moshe-Livne Thx - good points.
Might be a good idea not to use them at all then... since you are not always home and can detect the smoke before its to late.
Hope this HLK-PM01 can be any good use... i dont want to pay 30$ and use z-wave in all in wall switches if i can do it cool and safe with mysensors... then you can play around with motion, light at the same time in the wall socket :)@sundberg84 everything is a trade off... you take calculated risks all the time, weather you know it or not. With good external ventilation and not being overloaded I think these are safe enough. The meanwell wall wart is probably far superior but I am not sure I want to replace all my zillion wall warts. especially since it only comes with US plug i think and remains to be seen how easy it is to open.
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Well, at the moment im building a relay much like the one in petewills video.
I used one of these cheap EU plugs from ebay/China.Unforntually i got profe of how things can go if you do it wrong (and also proved my point above wrong). I removed the tiny cables to 240v and replaced it with thicker and longer cables... just in case. I must have used to much solder and got to close to another solder because when i powered it up - the plug lit ut like a blue firework for half a second before my main fuse couldnt take it anymore. :(
Well i was at a safe distance, and this is nothing to be proud of... but as a warning and "be safe"...
Even if this error for surtain was a man-made error I dont think i will be the last to try cheap wall wart plugs - so if we can find a satisfying "easy-to-use" converted that will be fine.
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I'm seriously thinking it skipping all of these and build a transformerless circuit directly to the board like a true in wall switch, Pete do you want to share this project. I've been playing with this for a little while but haven't had time to put it all together. I can point you to all the places but a board will need to be designed for the switch, that's almost where I'm at! 😀
@DrJeff said:
I'm seriously thinking it skipping all of these and build a transformerless circuit directly to the board like a true in wall switch, Pete do you want to share this project. I've been playing with this for a little while but haven't had time to put it all together. I can point you to all the places but a board will need to be designed for the switch, that's almost where I'm at! 😀
That sounds great! I just don't know if I have the experience to do all that. I'm fine with soldering and following wiring diagrams but that's pretty much the limit to my knowledge. I have a couple other projects on the list before this one but I would be happy to help in any way I can. Also, how easy would it be for other people to replicate the finished product? I think it would be really cool if it could be easy enough for people to build themselves.
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@tbowmo @petewill @didi @ServiceXp I think I found the perfect one!!!!
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2155823_-1
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/260/GS05U-USB-spec-33533.pdfit is made by meanwell, so not flimsy. has all protections. 8$ at jameco and mouser and I am sure my meanwell supplier on aliexpress can get it for me at half price... it is a shame that they do not sell the inside separately but nothing is perfect.
the only problem might be breaking it apart. Meanwell really make sturdy enclosures.
let me know what you think...@Moshe-Livne said:
@tbowmo @petewill @didi @ServiceXp I think I found the perfect one!!!!
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2155823_-1
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/260/GS05U-USB-spec-33533.pdfit is made by meanwell, so not flimsy. has all protections. 8$ at jameco and mouser and I am sure my meanwell supplier on aliexpress can get it for me at half price... it is a shame that they do not sell the inside separately but nothing is perfect.
the only problem might be breaking it apart. Meanwell really make sturdy enclosures.
let me know what you think...Those look good! The only problem I potentially see is that it's meant for external use. I would love to find a universal transformer that could be used for everything without having to modify it. Good find though!
My "How To" home automation video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_Evyh5PQALx4m4CQuxqkA
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@Moshe-Livne said:
@tbowmo @petewill @didi @ServiceXp I think I found the perfect one!!!!
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2155823_-1
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/260/GS05U-USB-spec-33533.pdfit is made by meanwell, so not flimsy. has all protections. 8$ at jameco and mouser and I am sure my meanwell supplier on aliexpress can get it for me at half price... it is a shame that they do not sell the inside separately but nothing is perfect.
the only problem might be breaking it apart. Meanwell really make sturdy enclosures.
let me know what you think...Those look good! The only problem I potentially see is that it's meant for external use. I would love to find a universal transformer that could be used for everything without having to modify it. Good find though!
@petewill Technically this is not true. The circuit inside the plug was made to be enclosed. Unlike other non brands I trust Meanwell. I have seen the insides of their LED transformers and a friend (that know much more then me) reviewed them as well for lights we built and they are excellent. Everything is always above spec. They are the reference when it comes to CC or CV transformers.
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@tbowmo @petewill @didi @ServiceXp I think I found the perfect one!!!!
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2155823_-1
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/260/GS05U-USB-spec-33533.pdfit is made by meanwell, so not flimsy. has all protections. 8$ at jameco and mouser and I am sure my meanwell supplier on aliexpress can get it for me at half price... it is a shame that they do not sell the inside separately but nothing is perfect.
the only problem might be breaking it apart. Meanwell really make sturdy enclosures.
let me know what you think...@Moshe-Livne said:
@tbowmo @petewill @didi @ServiceXp I think I found the perfect one!!!!
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2155823_-1
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/260/GS05U-USB-spec-33533.pdfit is made by meanwell, so not flimsy. has all protections. 8$ at jameco and mouser and I am sure my meanwell supplier on aliexpress can get it for me at half price... it is a shame that they do not sell the inside separately but nothing is perfect.
the only problem might be breaking it apart. Meanwell really make sturdy enclosures.
let me know what you think...I think that one would be a good candidate for some testing.
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@Moshe-Livne @ServiceXp Cool, thanks! By testing, what sort of testing could I do to know it's safe? Also, would I be able to open it up or would I need to keep in in the packaging?
My ultimate goal is to make a in wall switch similar to what I did with the "smart plug" (https://youtu.be/oNpMDN4QqD8). Do you see any other potential problems with putting those electronics in a wall? I want to make sure I don't do anything stupid before I attempt any of this...
I am planning on using relays like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261099571172?rmvSB=true
I would be powering lights so I shouldn't be anywhere near the 10A limit on these relays.
Thanks for all the help!
My "How To" home automation video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_Evyh5PQALx4m4CQuxqkA
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@Moshe-Livne @ServiceXp Cool, thanks! By testing, what sort of testing could I do to know it's safe? Also, would I be able to open it up or would I need to keep in in the packaging?
My ultimate goal is to make a in wall switch similar to what I did with the "smart plug" (https://youtu.be/oNpMDN4QqD8). Do you see any other potential problems with putting those electronics in a wall? I want to make sure I don't do anything stupid before I attempt any of this...
I am planning on using relays like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261099571172?rmvSB=true
I would be powering lights so I shouldn't be anywhere near the 10A limit on these relays.
Thanks for all the help!
@petewill said:
@Moshe-Livne @ServiceXp Cool, thanks! By testing, what sort of testing could I do to know it's safe?
I have ordered 5 of them and i will test them at full 600 ma for 4 weeks in a flush box and protocoll data.I think if they don´t smoke we can use them on pcb
if (knowledge == 0) { use BRAIN; use GOOGLE;use SEARCH; } else {make POST;}
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@Moshe-Livne said:
@tbowmo @petewill @didi @ServiceXp I think I found the perfect one!!!!
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2155823_-1
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/260/GS05U-USB-spec-33533.pdfit is made by meanwell, so not flimsy. has all protections. 8$ at jameco and mouser and I am sure my meanwell supplier on aliexpress can get it for me at half price... it is a shame that they do not sell the inside separately but nothing is perfect.
the only problem might be breaking it apart. Meanwell really make sturdy enclosures.
let me know what you think...I think that one would be a good candidate for some testing.
@ServiceXp
Testing as in:
Ripple / Noise (if you don't have a scope just make sure the sensor does lock up on long run times at max load.)
Measure the heat it generates during full load (find something that can draw 1 amp).
Check to see if you can even fit it and the other components inside of a box that already has wire/switch run to it.Personally, I would want to crack one of these open and see how it was designed. Making sure it's Ok, the specs look good on it, but you never know....
If the testing looks good, I would not have a problem using it (I would try and keep it in it's case if at all possible, or have one made that will house everything). I do think you are going to need a pretty deep box to fit it all.
We really need a MySensors Micro solution here, but then there is the liability.....
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@petewill said:
@Moshe-Livne @ServiceXp Cool, thanks! By testing, what sort of testing could I do to know it's safe?
I have ordered 5 of them and i will test them at full 600 ma for 4 weeks in a flush box and protocoll data.I think if they don´t smoke we can use them on pcb
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@petewill said:
@Moshe-Livne @ServiceXp Cool, thanks! By testing, what sort of testing could I do to know it's safe?
I have ordered 5 of them and i will test them at full 600 ma for 4 weeks in a flush box and protocoll data.I think if they don´t smoke we can use them on pcb
@Didi Would you mind testing the meanwell ones as well? I would have but being on a small island at the end of the world is a problem sometimes. Don't mind buying a few for you for testing - I really would like to have both a reliable wall charger and a power supply I could use in a box without too much worry and the meanwell looks so promising....
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@tbowmo @petewill @didi @ServiceXp I think I found the perfect one!!!!
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2155823_-1
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/260/GS05U-USB-spec-33533.pdfit is made by meanwell, so not flimsy. has all protections. 8$ at jameco and mouser and I am sure my meanwell supplier on aliexpress can get it for me at half price... it is a shame that they do not sell the inside separately but nothing is perfect.
the only problem might be breaking it apart. Meanwell really make sturdy enclosures.
let me know what you think... -
Adding my two cents, I have dissected two devices (one zwave from GE and one unbranded, non zwave) and both used a capacitor-resistor power supply.
Very dangerous, as it is "transformerless" --- In other hand, cheap and small footprint. By using X2 capacitors the risk is a bit lower. It is in my list for prototype/testing over next weeks.
Home Assistant / Vera Plus UI7
ESP8266 GW + mySensors 2.3.2
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@rvendrame So did i on a 433mhz relay sold quite common here... it looked as this capacitor-resistor power supply as well.
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Adding my two cents, I have dissected two devices (one zwave from GE and one unbranded, non zwave) and both used a capacitor-resistor power supply.
Very dangerous, as it is "transformerless" --- In other hand, cheap and small footprint. By using X2 capacitors the risk is a bit lower. It is in my list for prototype/testing over next weeks.
@rvendrame said:
Adding my two cents, I have dissected two devices (one zwave from GE and one unbranded, non zwave) and both used a capacitor-resistor power supply.
Very dangerous, as it is "transformerless" --- In other hand, cheap and small footprint. By using X2 capacitors the risk is a bit lower. It is in my list for prototype/testing over next weeks.
Interesting. Thanks for posting. I have very limited knowledge in this area so I'm learning a lot. I'm excited to get a good solution for this. It will be very useful for many things.
