this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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So, I have this 12V LED Strip (not RGB) and I want to power it using my PCs power supply. I also have an old case fan with this Molex connector on the back, which should give access to 12V according to the pinout.

My plan, as you might have guessed, is to cut off connector with some cable overhang, isolate the ends on the fan side, and solder some extension wires (probably speaker wire) to the Molex connector wires.

If I now connect that wire to the LED strip, taking care to connect the ground to - and 12V to +, it should just work, right?

Are there any risks I have to watch out for? My power supply is a 600W supply, so it should have plenty of power for the LEDs. I'm 99% sure this plan should walk flawlessly - but I want to ask you guys first so I don't burn my house down.

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[–] snowe@programming.dev 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would go the other way and solder a female molex to your led strip. That way you can easily plug and unplug if something goes wrong. I think it should work but I’m not an electronics expert.

[–] FQQD@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

Oh yeah, I'm not gonna solder the LED strips directly to the power supply - I want to cut off the connector and solder that connector to the LEDs, so it can be unplugged