Camera Power Supplies

[hgupta1]

I am more than a little confused by camera power supplies. Why don't cameras come with their own power supplies? For each of my cameras, I went out and bought a 12V 300mA AC adapter from RadioShack, and now I have a mess of wall warts. Some of the cameras suggested an input of 210mA, and I have yet to find an AC adapter that had this specific amperage. Am I going to ruin my camera by running 300mA of current to it? Is there a better way?

Hemant

 

[Skibum]

Nope..
Think of it like this... when you plug in your tv to the powerline.. the powerline has hundreds of amps it CAN supply, but all it gives you is what you want. Same with a power supply. the only time you can get into trouble is with the crap non-regulated power supply, where is you get a high power unit the voltage drop may not be enough for your application.

I use a regulated 40 amp power supply for my 12 volt stuff..

 

[hgupta1]

Thanks, that makes sense. My electical knowledge is pretty rusty or non-existent. So can I just connect my cameras to the one of the power output plugs on my computer's power supply? (the red, black, and yellow cables that normally plug into the back of drives?) And if I want to run multiple cameras off of one power supply, do I just connect them in parallel?

 

[markthomas]

Thanks, that makes sense. My electical knowledge is pretty rusty or non-existent. So can I just connect my cameras to the one of the power output plugs on my computer's power supply? (the red, black, and yellow cables that normally plug into the back of drives?) And if I want to run multiple cameras off of one power supply, do I just connect them in parallel?

Well, if your power supply provides 300mA and your cameras draw 210, you will not be able to connect more than one camera to it.

If you're going to hook up multiple cameras and want to supply steady power, you may want to consider something like this:

http://www.elkproducts.com/products/elk-pd9dc12.htm

 

[un-wired]

if you are stuck with wall warts, I would say look into using Channel Vision balun kits and dump them into a small enclosure with one of their power strips and some liberator plugs. This way you can run Cat5 for power and video.


Channel Vision VB-1KIT Balun kits

Power Strip Saver PS1

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I use a regulated 40 amp power supply for my 12 volt stuff..

Holy Cow, do you weld with this?

 

[Mike]

I use a regulated 40 amp power supply for my 12 volt stuff..

Holy Cow, do you weld with this?

1.2 gigawatts!

 

[Skibum]

Hey BSR

Just because my power supply is bigger than your power supply, there is no reason to get sacrastic with me...

Seriously I use the P/S to run radio gear as well as whatever else I want ('cause I can...)

 

[electron]

do you have a dedicated circuit or something for that power supply (assuming you are talking about 40A@12VDC)? Where did you get it?

 

[WayneW]

maybe he has something like this

 

[hgupta1]

Well, if your power supply provides 300mA and your cameras draw 210, you will not be able to connect more than one camera to it.

If you're going to hook up multiple cameras and want to supply steady power, you may want to consider something like this:

http://www.elkproducts.com/products/elk-pd9dc12.htm

My computer's power supply does put out as many as 16Amps, but I am a little hesitant to pick a wire and splice into it. That Elk camera power supply is nice, but some of my cameras require more that 250mA.

I already have nice thick BNC cables + power cables running though the house (like this one on ebay: Item number: 5823993693) and so I don't want to back track and replace them with baluns and cat5 cabling.


I did find this on ebay though that looks like a perfect solution... Ebay Item number: 5824944975

it attaches to your computer for powering cameras. I just hate dealing with the Hong Kong camera sellers....no support, overpriced shipping, long waits for arrival. Has anyone else tried it or something similar?

Hemant

 

[electron]

I have the Elk Power Distribution module as well, and use it to power my camera, ocelot, secu16, and a bunch of other hardware. My camera required more than 250mA as well, so I just combined 2 outputs, which gives you 500mA. If I can figure out how to cheaply convert 12VDC to 9VDC and 6VDC, I will probably get another unit, so I can remove more wall warts.

 

[Skibum]

do you have a dedicated circuit or something for that power supply (assuming you are talking about 40A@12VDC)? Where did you get it?

40 amps at 12 v is about 5 amps at 120.
No separate circuit.

 

[Skibum]

maybe he has something like this

Very much like that.

 

[electron]

do you have a dedicated circuit or something for that power supply (assuming you are talking about 40A@12VDC)? Where did you get it?

40 amps at 12 v is about 5 amps at 120.
No separate circuit.

doh, you are right. How much did you pay for your power supply if you don't mind me asking?