Motor startup current can be many times the run current.
Try it on a car battery.

 

Motor startup current can be many times the run current.
Try it on a car battery.

Thanks! Hooked it up to car battery and it works every time.

 

Thanks! Hooked it up to car battery and it works every time.

So I just looked at the spec sheet for the actuator and they claim that the no load startup current is 0.8a. So why do you think I am having problems with the 12.5a power supply?

 

See if you can measure the resistance of the motor. Then you can calculate the current.

 

Sometimes when I depress the switch I get no movement of the actuators. Then if I leave the switch depressed the actuators twitch maybe 3 or 4 times with a 4 to 5 second interval between twitches then they finally move. Other times they work normally. I wonder if, as someone above said, the power supply can't supply the startup current. I don't see how that could be though. I have measured the current when they are working with no load on the actuator at 0.3a. The power supply is 12.5a.

Manually stall the actuator and measure the current. Only provide power long enough to get a measurement. The required current will be a little more than the measured current. Fuse the power supply at a little less than the stall current.

 

Manually stall the actuator and measure the current. Only provide power long enough to get a measurement. The required current will be a little more than the measured current. Fuse the power supply at a little less than the stall current.

I am having a difficult time believing that is a 150 watt supply. So I suggest connecting a voltmeter, such as a digital multimeter, to the supply. AND, a supply designed for LED application may not work for motor loads.

 

..AND, a supply designed for LED application may not work for motor loads.

Yeah... It sounds like the supply has foldback current limiting/protection that drops the voltage when the load is too high. That would be reasonable driving an LED load. But with a high startup current of a bunch of motors, the foldback limiting would drop the load voltage significantly during startup, probably enough to keep the motors from starting. TS's report that it works occasionally would fit that scenario.