LED low voltage driver/transformer with exposed terminals

[jaylectricity]

I purchased some LED strip lighting to illuminate a standalone cabinet. Pretty bright, over 300 lumens per foot. It requires about 60 watts 12V to power. The driver I purchased for it came with a cord that you terminate on screw terminals on the side of the driver. There is no junction box and only a clear plastic cover that sits over the terminals, but it's open on either side. Aside from purchasing some sort of enclosure how am I supposed wire this thing? Or is an enclosure my only option? I'm putting the driver on top of the cabinet which is about 6" from the ceiling. It'll be fine up there, but I'm leery about the exposed terminals.

Is there some other way other than purchasing an enclosure and putting a couple of connectors (one for the power cord the other for the low voltage) in the side of it and setting it atop the cabinet?

This is a similar driver (mine is 12v). Have any of you installed something like this and how did you do it? It's late Saturday, so I'm not going to be impatient, just whenever you get around to answering over the next couple days.

 

[James L]

I've installed those. My thoughts and questions:

Meanwell is about as trustworthy as they come
Voltage adjustment is nice, output approx 9-14v
Lower the voltage output to make led last longer
Load to only 75-80% to make driver last longer
Does yours have a fan?
Confining heat in j-box may shorten life

Here's one I installed recently...
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T8XCLW

It doesn't have a cooling fan, it uses open air cooling. It has dual output circuits similar to the one in your pic.

Honestly, I don't worry about the open terminals if the driver is out of the way. There are guards between all the screws, and a flip lid to cover them all. You'd have to be trying to short across two terminals, not something I can see happening accidentally. Especially if somebody has to get on top of a cabinet to do it.

I install a zip cord and plug it in. I then use a strap (very near the driver) to secure the cord and minimize risk of pulling a wire out of its terminal.

 

[jaylectricity]

My concern is having the cord just stripped to an inch or two before landing on the terminal. Unless I'm supposed to strip the jacket a half inch and the conductors a quarter inch, but still that seems hacky.

 

[James L]

I use a flat zip cord, like this power cord for a laptop...

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0153T1QYQ/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just cut off the female end, and zip it about an inch and a half then strip each conductor a quarter inch

I wouldn't like the look of a cord with an outer jacket.

 

[iwire]

Honestly, I don't worry about the open terminals if the driver is out of the way. There are guards between all the screws, and a flip lid to cover them all. You'd have to be trying to short across two terminals, not something I can see happening accidentally. Especially if somebody has to get on top of a cabinet to do it.

I install a zip cord and plug it in. I then use a strap (very near the driver) to secure the cord and minimize risk of pulling a wire out of its terminal.

That is a poor installation at best and if I was an inspector I would fail it for having exposed live parts. Then there is the grounding, how did you ground it with a zip cord?

 

[iwire]

My concern is having the cord just stripped to an inch or two before landing on the terminal. Unless I'm supposed to strip the jacket a half inch and the conductors a quarter inch, but still that seems hacky.

It is a hack job.

Install it in an enclosure.

 

[iwire]

Here is the data sheet on the power supply in the opening picture.

http://www.meanwell.com/mw_search/SP-240/SP-240-spec.pdf

Check out note 4.

I am sure the instructions say the same.

 

[iwire]

By the way, don't forget that low voltage lighting components must be listed to a standard acceptable to the AHJ and then must be installed per the instructions.

 

[fmtjfw]

That is a poor installation at best and if I was an inspector I would fail it for having exposed live parts. Then there is the grounding, how did you ground it with a zip cord?

Use a three wire zip cord with a molded on plug.

 

[iwire]

Use a three wire zip cord with a molded on plug.

I saw his link after I asked about grounding.

It still a violation of the listing and live parts.

Those live parts are guarded not enclosed.

 

[James L]

I saw his link after I asked about grounding.

It still a violation of the listing and live parts.

Those live parts are guarded not enclosed.

An AHJ can approve installations which are blatant NEC violations, if he sees fit. He can also approve the use of equipment not listed for that use, if he sees fit.

That's where technical may not meet practical, and the AHJ has a little common sense to recognize that something is installed in a location which would require deliberate tampering to cause bodily harm

 

[jaylectricity]

It is a hack job.

Install it in an enclosure.

Yeah, that's what I thought. I just wish I knew what the manufacturer's had in mind when they built it.

I can't think of a single application where you could just install it using the mounting clips they provide.

 

[curt swartz]

Neither of the power supplies shown in this thread (the picture in OP or the 1 James linked to) are listed Class 2 supplies. The wiring methods on the input and output of these supplies must be a Chapter 3 wiring method (Romex, MC, THHN in raceway, etc.). You can't just run low voltage class 2 cable because you think its ok. I have not seen any low voltage LED strip, tape or puck lights that are designed to be powered from non Class 2 power sources.

 

[mgookin]

An AHJ can approve installations which are blatant NEC violations, if he sees fit. He can also approve the use of equipment not listed for that use, if he sees fit.

That's where technical may not meet practical, and the AHJ has a little common sense to recognize that something is installed in a location which would require deliberate tampering to cause bodily harm

That's not quite correct. An AHJ can approve something that meets the intent of the code when circumstances are less than 100% clear. The code is a minimum, or as we like to say, as crappy as you're allowed to build. You can't build any crappier.

Neither of the power supplies shown in this thread (the picture in OP or the 1 James linked to) are listed Class 2 supplies. The wiring methods on the input and output of these supplies must be a Chapter 3 wiring method (Romex, MC, THHN in raceway, etc.). You can't just run low voltage class 2 cable because you think its ok. I have not seen any low voltage LED strip, tape or puck lights that are designed to be powered from non Class 2 power sources.

They're not listed period.
They're recognized for use in a listed assembly when used within the parameters of the recognized aspect.
OP needs the listing for the listed system he bought and he needs to follow that. I hardly believe a listed system is going to involve exposed line voltage contacts.

 

[James L]

That's not quite correct. An AHJ can approve something that meets the intent of the code when circumstances are less than 100% clear. The code is a minimum, or as we like to say, as crappy as you're allowed to build. You can't build any crappier.

that's not at all accurate. The NFPA is a private trade organization, not a government agency. And its minimums are not law.

And the NEC is fully amendable. It can be accepted, rejected or changed - in part or whole.

Now, the OP asked about how to install that driver. He didn't ask how to, according to the privately derived NEC. There's a whole forum for that one. And I would not answer the same over there.

 

[mgookin]

that's not at all accurate. The NFPA is a private trade organization, not a government agency. And its minimums are not law.

And the NEC is fully amendable. It can be accepted, rejected or changed - in part or whole.

Now, the OP asked about how to install that driver. He didn't ask how to, according to the privately derived NEC. There's a whole forum for that one. And I would not answer the same over there.

Codes are minimum requirements.
Nobody said NFPA or ICC or any other model code organization was a unit of government. Units of government legislate the minimum code. They adopt the code as if copied in its entirety and may or may not amend it.
It's still a minimum.

Are you saying the lighting system does not have to comply with the NEC?

 

[Little Bill]

I used to use those power supplies in equipment. There was a cabinet that they set in and wiring was inside the cabinet. They were used for low voltage control circuits.

 

[James L]

Are you saying the lighting system does not have to comply with the NEC?

I'm saying exactly what I typed - the NEC is a standard according to a particular group of manufacturers and lobbyists who have a vested interest in seeing the standards directed one way or another.

I'm on board with most everything in it, but when you're talking about covered terminals on a transformer installed above a caninet, there are "approved" scenarios which are far more likely to see trouble.

Like a table lamp without a bulb in it. What's to keep Joe Schmoe from sticking his finger in it? Or more probable would be his kid sticking fingers in it.

What's to keep a kid from turning on a toaster with his fingers in it? Or climbing inside an electric oven and a little friend turning it on? Maybe a ride inside a dryer? Did you know home stereos sometimes have feed-thru receptacles on the back? How about a couple of small crochet hooks in there?

See, some of those things are far more likely to see trouble than a transformer that's hidden above a cabinet. One that has a 3-wire zip cord for power, which can easily be unplugged before the flip lid gets opened. That's my beef.

If you're ok with a table lamp readily accessible, then I'm ok with covered terminals out of the way.

 

[iwire]

An AHJ can approve installations which are blatant NEC violations, if he sees fit.

No more than a cop can ignore a crime.

Both are obligated and required to enforce the adopted codes and rules.

But regardless of that, why do you want to install 'blatant NEC violations'?

He can also approve the use of equipment not listed for that use, if he sees fit.

That's where technical may not meet practical, and the AHJ has a little common sense to recognize that something is installed in a location which would require deliberate tampering to cause bodily harm

The installation you are defending is hack and dangerous. It should fail inspection.

 

[iwire]

that's not at all accurate. The NFPA is a private trade organization, not a government agency. And its minimums are not law.

It becomes the law when adopted by the area.

And the NEC is fully amendable. It can be accepted, rejected or changed - in part or whole.

Correct, but none of that can be done at the whim of the AHJ, it must be done lawfully.

Now, the OP asked about how to install that driver. He didn't ask how to, according to the privately derived NEC. There's a whole forum for that one. And I would not answer the same over there.

I suspect the OP wanted to know how to safely and NEC compliantly install a driver.

By the way, the objects we have been talking about in this thread are not drivers, they are power supplies. There is a difference and they are not interchangeable.