I am kind of new to electronics, and I wanted to make sure that I am not doing something dumb.
My SO and I work on one big desk, 177 inches / 4.5 meters long. It has a metal frame and a MDF desktop.
For lighting, we got a self-adhesive 20ft COB LED lighting strip, and a 24V 48W 2A power supply. We want to stick the strip on the back of the desk, the MDF / faux wood part.
We cut the strip and soldered a piece of 22 AWG black/red wire in between (for design purposes,) and insulated the wires and soldered parts with electrical tape. After this the strip works and looks great.
Is this a safe / good idea? I have some worries about the strip coming loose and touching the metal frame, or being crushed between the desk and the wall, etc. I have no experience with LED strips, and the copper connections inbetween make me kind of uneasy. I know 24V is not a lot, but I also thought it was more about the amperes that makes it unsafe.
The power supply we want to use has overcurrent-, overvoltage-, overload-, and short-circuit protection, which should be more then enough to make sure the strip wouldn't get too hot / start a fire, right?
All in all, I don't know enough about electrical engineering to feel totally comfortable, and I don't want to be responsible for any dumbassery that will get my SO hurt or anything. Is this setup safe to use, did I overlook something, or is there anything else I can do?
Best Answer
Yes, that should be safe as the supply is double insulated as it has this marking:
Which means that it is constructed such that the output connector will not carry dangerous voltages.
In the worst case some voltage still might couple through but the current will not exceed dangeous levels.
So should be safe, there is no issue even if the metal case touches the connections in the LED strip.