Power supply advise for Bartop Arcade project

Glen Orpheus

Hi All

I'm brand spanking new around here and I've looked around many places but can't seem to find the answer I'm looking for, so i'm reaching out to you friendly bunch for some advise please.

Ok so my Arcade plan is, I'm running RetroPi on a RP model3 B+
I have already purchased a Bartop Arcade Shell/Cabinet, 27" Monitor and the Wangma WM-333 Stereo Amplifier & 2 x Speakers Kit.

I want to include in my build 2 X illuminated Joysticks and 21 x illuminated buttons and add a marque light.

I've been looking at the MEAN WELL RS-35-12 POWER SUPPLY - https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/Mean-Well-RS-35-12-Power-Supply.html

My Question is would this be suitable to power everything inside my arcade ?
or are there better solutions or something i am missing ?

many many thanks for your time peeps
and really appreciate any guidance (",)

rbaker

@Glen-Orpheus How would you power the Pi? You should get a power supply with various output options. Also, 3A is not enough in my opinion for all that gear. Are you powering the monitor seperately?

Glen Orpheus

@rbaker said in Power supply advise for Bartop Arcade project:

@Glen-Orpheus How would you power the Pi? You should get a power supply with various output options. Also, 3A is not enough in my opinion for all that gear. Are you powering the monitor seperately?

No i've not built anything yet, i have a pi, monitor, cabinet, Amp & Speakers
i want to purchase the items i mentioned above.
i just want to know whats the best way to power it all, surely there must be a one stop solution.
hence why i mentioned and provided a link to the power supply in my original comment.

im not great when it comes to electricity, i'll be honest.

or is my best option to just put a power brick inside and run a tone of separate transformers for the Pi, Monitor, Amp, Margue & Led Buttons ?

X_Splinter

Just buy a home multi power extension and you are done

Glen Orpheus

@X_Splinter ok so separate transformers then, thanks

Lolonois

Welcome to the RetroPie forum @Glen-Orpheus .

TL;DR: My advice is to go for one PSU with dual output. Wall warts aren't that reliable and overall wall warts and a power stripe do not fit in the design object "Arcade", IMHO.

For each LED you can add roughly 20mA.
So this will add ~ 23 x 20mA for the illuminated Joysticks and buttons.
For the marquee I would go for a LED stripe with 60 LED per meter to have a smooth light with the single LEDs not recognizable for the viewer.
For one half meter of stripe this would make another ~600mA.

Overall your PSU (35VA or Watts) will most likely to small dimensioned (2A (amp), 460mA (illum LED), 600mA marquee), which will be 12V x 3,06A = 36.72VA. It can work, but running your PSU constantly on the limit will reduce its lifetime.

Plus as other noted your Pi isn't powered yet, maybe you want also an active USB port.
(So you have 2.5A plus n times 500mA per port for the active USB).

I have used MW RD-65A dual output in my cabinet and I do not regret my choice, but my amp is rated 1A.

I like adjustable 5V of the RD-series, which makes the "Rpi yellow lightning bolt" (undervoltage detection) a thing I never see on my display. Adjusted mine to 5,2V and the Rpi never moans even under stress.

From the distance I assume a MW RD-85A (note the "A") could do the job for your project, but do the math for yourself as outlined above. If in doubt go for the next larger PSU.

I would cut off the plug of the monitor and use the power input rail from the MW PSU. So you can save a power strip which do not look neat IMHO. Connect the 230 AC wires with electric wire ferrules to have a durable and safe connection.

Also as a side note: Have you considered the waste heat from the 27" display inside the bartop?

HTH

Glen Orpheus

@Lolonois Thank you so much
this was the kind of information i was looking for (",)

i have seen this info a little later than i had hoped, but i just ordered myself one of these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/F7A5-Output-5V-12V-24V-Switching-Power-Supply-Adapter-For-Arcade-Game/303072398956?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D99aac9499dfb4225b56ee8f92564984a%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D132922393594%26itm%3D303072398956&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ae5a0cda2-3c28-11e9-b0ec-74dbd180e49a|parentrq%3A3984c39f1690ab67099da24cfffd2b27|iid%3A1

As far as monitor heat extraction, no it wasn't something i had considered but now you've mentioned it, it's something i'll need to look into, so again thank you for your help and guidance i really appreciate you taking the time.