If you're like me, you'll have half a dozen suitable and safe transformers in your attic from old gadgets and gear. I've found many old routers have 12v output around 1.5amps, which I run 1metre, 2 metre and the full 5 metre lengths on with no issue. Lower output supplies can used on shorter lengths. Their plugs even tend to fit the remote receiver.

It's said the life of these leds can be shortened by the use of underpowered transformers, but as I also know from experience, cheap non-certified Chinese transformers can be prone to going bang, potentially shortening lives. We had one start smouldering with a curtain not far above it. Lucky we were in the house, in time to stop a blaze.

Love our airing cupboard, which used to be so dingy it was hard to see what was in there. Now, lines of LEDs light up when you open the door. Looks a cross between a fridge and a theatre dressing room. :sunglasses:

Personally I would choose to buy a nice EU certified power supply from somewhere like Maplins, rather than get a dodgy power supply in a package from China.

mike

Dont connect a mains plug... !! BANG !!! 12v.. You will need a power transformer.

Dont connect a mains plug... !! BANG !!! 12v.. You will need a power transformer.

I'd personally spend the extra few £ on their RGB light kit that comes with power adaptor and remote. That way gives you the option of changing colours and it comes with power adaptor you know is going to work.

Fitted a kit like that last week to my patio (the kit was waterproof version obviously), really easy to fit and looks brilliant, also kids loved it on disco (flashing) mode :smile:

Looks like 6000k white, not warm white, unfortunately

Take a look at Sensio stuff. Really good variety of different 12V/24V powered stuff. The drivers are colour coded to enable you to choose compatible leds

Its quite a bit more expensive that whats linked to here, but its quality and doubt it will go bang

I just bought the lot from Amazon and saved hassle and paying maplin prices :smile:

If you're like me, you'll have half a dozen suitable and safe transformers in your attic from old gadgets and gear. I've found many old routers have 12v output around 1.5amps, which I run 1metre, 2 metre and the full 5 metre lengths on with no issue. Lower output supplies can used on shorter lengths. Their plugs even tend to fit the remote receiver.

It's said the life of these leds can be shortened by the use of underpowered transformers, but as I also know from experience, cheap non-certified Chinese transformers can be prone to going bang, potentially shortening lives. We had one start smouldering with a curtain not far above it. Lucky we were in the house, in time to stop a blaze.

Love our airing cupboard, which used to be so dingy it was hard to see what was in there. Now, lines of LEDs light up when you open the door. Looks a cross between a fridge and a theatre dressing room. :sunglasses:

If you buy this item you'll get a strip of lights worth around £1.64. Very poor.

By whom? That's surprising, I would've thought overpowered & certainly over-voltage PSU's would be a concern.

No idea why but ordered thanks ! :smile:

​yea some people don't realised that everything is made in China these days, an would prefer to pay 20 times more from UK sellers such as maplin. IMHO I've found maplin seriously expensive,

why don't people buy from eBay or amazon as they're as competitive as Chinese sellers if you consider speedy delivery from UK stock

And some people don't pay attention to all the safety notices in the press, online and on tv. Once you've had a 'Chinese' power adaptor explode, catch fire or just melt, you'll understand, when they manufacturer for a British company, it gets proper CE testing, meaning it should be safe (doesn't stop the odd one getting through), whereas often the CE mark on something shipped from China bought on Ebay (even from UK sellers) is simply a label stuck on the device and has no bearing on the quality. After all Maplins etc. have a UK based company you can sue for damages if there's a problem with their device, so you can be certain the testing is more rigourous.

Yes mose things are made in China, but also, most things made in China are made to a particular budget and can vary in quality considerably, where you're selling someting for £1.50, dropping a capacitor or diode from the design might reduce reliability, but it also saves you a reasonable percentage of the price. When buying electrical items the risks are far greater than buying a pair of jeans or a pair of rip off trainers.

I've bought plenty of stuff direct from China, it's reliability and risks are instantly apparent, often the weight alone suggests minimal circuitry, if it's a charger I might still use it, but I certainly wouldn't leave the house when it's plugged in and I always choose a relatively secure location just in case it explodes or overheats, so not behind curtains. I weigh up the risks, if it's for strip lighting that's likely to be on for hours a day, it's better to go with a brand of known reliability, whereas for charging my bike lights, I'll use the included charger, at least until it blows, because it will only be used a couple of hours a week and I can keep an eye on it.

I've had one charger explode and a couple overheat before dying, so the risk is very real. At least one of which was supplied by a UK company on Ebay. But there's a problem with that, a lot of Ebay and Amazon sellers are selling on equipment bought direct, without doing the CE checking themselves, not only that there are many based in the UK who ship from China - some make it obvious in the shipping estimates, others not. I've even had items shipped from Germany but clearly originated in China, the CE mark was obviously fake. Good luck getting any recompense from them if your house burns down.

mike

Did you get a wall wart type power supply? I'd be happy buying the tape from Banggood - it's almost certainly identifcal to anything picked up in the UK, but for something likely to be left plugged in and switched on for hours, I'd prefer to get a CE certified power supply, I've got strips both from the UK and China (direct) and the difference in the power supplies was astonishing, the UK supplied kit cam with a power unit that looked like it was designed for a laptop, and produced rock solid 12v voltage regardless of load, whereas the 'Chinese' wall wart power didn't even produce 12v reliable without load, let alone once the LEDs were plugged in, strips tend to use a constant voltage power supply with variable current, because they can be shortened, so the power supply is quite important.

It not's that all Chinese purchased items are rubbish or poor quality, but I do find it's buyer beware and make sure you're happy with the safety of the item before plugging it in.

mike

​mike,

if you say that if anyone buys electronis items from reputable brand or good UK company then you can use it without fear that it won't arch fire or burn down house, etc.!!!

let me give you example and prove you wrong there, have you heard of Samsung note 7 batteries exoding???

have you heard news few months ago about tumble dryers sold to UK consumers under big brands like whirlpool, indesit and hotpoint???

well read it here
A year ago Whirlpool said more than four million of its tumble dryers, sold under theHotpoint, Indesit and Creda brands, were at risk of catching fire.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?site=&source=hp&ei=76NyWMTiIsmgsgGqg6uoDQ&q=uk+tumble+dryer+catching+fire&oq=&gs_l=mobile-gws-hp.1.0.41l3.0.0.0.4295.1.1.0.1.1.0.173.173.0j1.1.0....0...1c..64.mobile-gws-hp..0.1.52.3.Zz16_ry3g74

not all appliances are going to catch fire, its just a case where you were unfortunate/unlucky with the item you purchased from China that caught fire,

I personally have bought a lot of items from China and merely once I wasn't happy with quality of adapter I was sent so I complained to the seller and he sent out good robust power adapter that I'm still using it now, its been 10 years and still going strong.

in my opinion people need to stop being paranoid and be more positive and optimistic with life than bringing negative thoughts in mind.

all the best