3D Printing: Frightened of Cheap Chinese Power Supply as I hook up the heated bed (2 Solutions!!)

3D Printing: Frightened of Cheap Chinese Power Supply as I hook up the heated bed


The Question: My is really cheap, and
it's worked well for setting up the motors; but now that I'm on to the heated
bed, which uses considerably more Ampage than that of just the motors, I'll
confess, I'm getting frightened to continue using it; if the summer was a bit
longer, maybe it wouldn't bother me, but we're getting into the cold months,
and now I'm afraid of ending up using too much ampage just trying to heat the
bed in the winter months...(and I don't mean my bed). Is there anything I
should look out for in terms of using the either the cheap power supply I
already have, or are there certain specs on a new not-so-cheap power supply
that I ought to be using instead?

Solutions: Please watch the whole video to see all solutions, in order of how many people found them helpful

== This solution helped 6 people ==
A MK2 heatbed will draw around 12A. The motors and hotend draw only very little
power (around 2A, 5A peak), so the 30A supply you have has significant headroom
(it is often recommended to derate a power supply by 20%, so a 30A supply would
be good for 24A - you're still well under that). It should work fine, even
given its dubious provenance.
Winter versus summer should not make a big difference. The largest power draw
is during the heat up phase. In winter, the bed will use slightly more power to
stay warm, but regardless of whether it is summer or winter the peak power draw
during heat up will be the same.
The cheapness of these supplies tends to be reflected in more output ripple
(but for heating the bed and running the motors you don't need a very stable
voltage) and improper filtering. This may inject noise back into the mains,
possibly affecting other equipment nearby. Should this occur, you can just stop
using the power supply. However, in my experience, they can deliver the rated
power just fine. They're not completely horrible.
Your biggest concern should be whether the wires that lead to your heated bed
can handle the current and whether the screw terminals are properly tightened.
During the first use, you should check that the power supply does not get
extremely hot. If it's so hot it's impossible to touch for more than 1-
2 seconds you should not use it.

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