Friday, June 29, 2018

Power Supply- Major Upgrade

Yesterday, I went to a sale at the Georgetown Texas Habitat for Humanity ReStore. They mostly sell used building supplies, but they also have electrical stuff such as light switches. The sale was $5 for a 5-gallon bucket of stuff. I packed in drill bits, a screwdriver, wheels, paint, chain, switchplate covers, an electrical box, a light fixture, a green lightbulb, and much more. 
One of the items I got was a 150 Watt landscape lighting transformer. This transformer had a NEMA20 plug, but it wasn't original or necessary. The cord had been painted. We don't have anything compatible with this type of plug, and I bought it to hardwire onto my power supply. My house has NEMA 15 plugs, which only work with NEMA 15 devices. NEMA 20 T-Slot outlets can work with either. They are more common in commercial buildings.

I think it is from 1998 because that's what the sticker on the back says. The modern equivalent of this transformer would be smaller, lighter, and less reliable because now they make switch mode transformers instead.

Just like the previous transformer, I removed the sensor/timer circuit because I want it to turn on instantly. I didn't have to do any soldering to install this transformer. Adding it made my power supply even heavier. The transformer takes up only 1/3 of the box. The box is so large that I had to mount it underneath the power supply box. It had a door to access the mode select switch. Since I took that part out, now I have extra storage space. I could store extra fuses in it.


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