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(Answer) (Category) Home Automation FAQ : (Category) HA Equipment : (Category) Creative Control Concepts/HCS-II : (Category) Power Supplies :
Can I use a 'wall wart' type power supply?
Most wall wart power supplies (those black cubes that plug into outlets) are NOT recommended for use with the HCS-II. The reason is most of the are not regulated. A 12VDC wall wart power supply can put out almost 18 volts at minimal load! The voltage will only approach 12VDC when it is fully loaded. The higher the supply side voltage, the hotter the regulators will get.

Because most of these are not regulated, powerline fluctuations can cause fluctuations on the DC side as well. Even though the HCS-II boards usually have on-board regulators, noise and other interference should be avoided. Also, most wall wart power supplies are rated for < 1 Amp which is not usually enough for a complete HCS-II system.

However, numerous companies have started selling REGULATED wall wart power supplies. These are NOT usually linear regulated. Instead they are small switching supplies in small black cubes. These supplies are very good for small HCS-II installations. You can also get these regulated supplies in currents up to about 1.5 or 2 Amps which can power many HCS-II systems.

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