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Gun Safe lighting


BigP623

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Well I couldn't pass up a deal after waiting and searching for a safe for a while and picked up a Redhead brand safe for a steal.  (Rebranded Browning ProSteel, (Chinese crap I know but I digress)).  Anyways Ive ordered some led lighting strips and a 12v inverter and all necessary connectors to light the inside of this bad boy up.  My question is that my plug will be behind the safe so the inverter will be plugged in all the time, with a momentary switch to complete the circuit on the 12v output when the safe door is open.   That being said, with nothing being powered by the 12v inverter, is it OK to leave plugged in all the time, or should I make it accessible to be able to plug and unplug and ditch the momentary switch?  Anyone here have any electronics experience to shed some light on this?  

Ive searched high and low and all these DIY safe lighting vids I see do not specify if leaving the inverter plugged in all the time is OK to do.  If it isn't I have some electrical re-routing to do in the casa as the only plug on the wall my safe resides against is behind the safe.

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The inverter is nothing more than a transformer. Leaving it plugged in (albeit while your safe door is closed), it's still powered up and on. Granted....no load on it. But a transformer is a transformer by any other name. Just another cog in the machine to "let go" eventually. Especially always being powered up.

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Just my $0.02 worth but the transformer would experience two "losses" even when not under load, hysteresis and eddy current.  Neither is a big deal from an electrical standpoint but both create some thermal loading.  Typically, in open air, the heat generated is radiated to the atmosphere and is not an issue.  If you want to prevent the possibility of heating up the safe, you might consider breaking the hot lead of the primary (120v) circuit with a door switch, that way the transformer is "dead" until you open the door.  Like a refrigerator, a fire safe is insulated so any heat generated inside will tend to stay inside, even a couple of watts will eventually raise the temp in the box. :)

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Just my $0.02 worth but the transformer would experience two "losses" even when not under load, hysteresis and eddy current. Neither is a big deal from an electrical standpoint but both create some thermal loading. Typically, in open air, the heat generated is radiated to the atmosphere and is not an issue. If you want to prevent the possibility of heating up the safe, you might consider breaking the hot lead of the primary (120v) circuit with a door switch, that way the transformer is "dead" until you open the door. Like a refrigerator, a fire safe is insulated so any heat generated inside will tend to stay inside, even a couple of watts will eventually raise the temp in the box. :)

Agreed I was going off the idea that the transformer would be outside the safe. One reason we have switched to led lighting in refrigeration cases tho besides the electrical savings is the heat put off by the lights and driver are far less than florescent bulbs and ballast like in older models

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Just my $0.02 worth but the transformer would experience two "losses" even when not under load, hysteresis and eddy current. Neither is a big deal from an electrical standpoint but both create some thermal loading. Typically, in open air, the heat generated is radiated to the atmosphere and is not an issue. If you want to prevent the possibility of heating up the safe, you might consider breaking the hot lead of the primary (120v) circuit with a door switch, that way the transformer is "dead" until you open the door. Like a refrigerator, a fire safe is insulated so any heat generated inside will tend to stay inside, even a couple of watts will eventually raise the temp in the box. :)

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Well I did a little soldering when I got home and mocked up some lighting in the safe and it came out well.  I plan to also add some underneath each shelf as I have about 12ft of LED strip left and I like how it looks so far.  I may add a switch but for now I just have the wire running out of the rear to the transformer and have to manually plug it in which I may end up keeping, not sure yet.  Anyways this only cost me about 35-40 bucks and some time, beats paying 120 or so for the same thing from "the bargain site".  

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