Help with power for sous vide circulation pump

[sergeathelab]

Hi!  I built a home sous vide setup for immersion bath cooking of meats in vacuum sealed bags.  Built is a bit of an overstatement....I bought a roaster, a thermal probe, a temp controller, and relay and watched my friend wire it up.  It works like a champ, BUT...there are cold/hot spots which is not good for exact temp cooking.  I suppose that's why the professional models are called immersion CIRCULATORS.  Soooo.....I got a submersible pump, good for high temps, and with some tubing that will solve my problem. 

The pump came without a power supply, so I am looking at all my discarded transformers so see what might spec out.  The instructions for the pump power supply are:

Specification:              Maximum voltage: 12V DC
                                  Maximum current: 380mA
                                  Maximum power:5W

That's what is written on the website where I got the pump.  Based on that, I have a 5VDC 1A power supply that I figured would not work because of the 1A > 380mA.  :-[

However...the pump itself reads:

Input 2.5DC-12V  0.5-5W  with no mention of current restrictions.  ???

Do you think I can use the PS I have?  If not, what's a good (common?) spec to look for?  I have old unused power supplies from networking equipment, power tool chargers, toothbrushes, toys, etc.  Something has to work!

Thanks!

 

[Hero999]

The current is not the proble, it's the voltage. You just need a 12VDC power supply capable of supplying more than 380mA, 500mA or 1A would do. I wouldn't recommend going over a couple of amps unless you add a fuse but that's only in case it develops a fault. You could use a 12V 100A PSU if you wanted but you'd need to fit a 1A fuse to protect the wiring.