Power One PSU suitable for Modular ?

[rarecomponent]

I need to upgrade my home made PSU for my cloned modular. I've seen the Power One PSU units which look pretty good but I have no experience of them. They have dual outputs ..plus /minus I think +12v and -5 v (so that's a problem with the minus rail) I think their rated at 1.7 amp.
I think their US made so would they run with UK 240 voltage ?

Anyone have any experience with them, would they make a good Moog Modular supply unit?

[Bryan B]

I run dual Power One supplies to power my modular (It is a hundred space system at the moment). They are rock solid power supplies! I have run 4 19-space cabinets from a 1.3 amp Power One before, but like I said I now have 2 (powering 6 cabinets). I have plugged modules in backwards or mismatched the plug by a pin and never hurt the PSU! I am not proud to say these things, but it gives you an idea of what they can endure.

The ones that I have seen can run from +/-12 on up to +/-15 and some include a 5v rail like you described. The specs on the PSU should tell you if it can do 15v, if it can and you are getting 12v all you have to do is adjust the right trimmer to make it 15v. The 240v seems possible as most of them I have seen were able to switch voltages between 120v and 240v. It usually requires a specific jumper setting (which sets up the transformer for either voltage). That setting is usually labelled right on the supply in a table.

Here is a pic of my Dual supply (shot through the clear Acrylic case, sorry for the glare). The supplies are back to back and have Mini XLR jacks to bring power to each cabinet.

[Vsyevolod]

I'm building a few Power One PSU's for my Serge Modular system right now. They are extremely robust. They can easily be switched from -12/+12 volts to -15/+15 volts. And yes, they can be switched to 240v operation.

You do have to know what you're doing so as to not kill yourself (as with many things in life) and with that caveat, I'd say go for it!

Here is a thread on Muffwigglers detailing the case that's being manufactured for the specific PSU that I'm building.

http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewto ... highlight=

Stephen




.

[JohnLRice]

Hi, I've built up 8 different power supplies using Power-One linear supplies for my 5U modular. Most only have +-15v but one even had +12v and -6v to support using an old Moog VCF . Here's a couple threads on Muff's where I posted about them. You may need to be a member there to see the pictures:

http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2628

http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8935

http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19389

[rarecomponent]

Thanks for great info on this topic.

Considering what I've seen it looks as though I'll try one of these units as an upgrade to my primitive PSU .

John, superb project there, very inspirational in concept and build .

Just two queries.....I'm assuming there's no problem with heat dispersion ..no need for large heatsinks?

Exactly how did you produce the -6v supply (as for Moog system) ? My only method so far
Has been to use a variable negative monolithic regulator but this needing large heatsink

[JohnLRice]

I'm assuming there's no problem with heat dispersion ..no need for large heatsinks?

I haven't had heat problems for a couple reasons (I'm assuming) One is that I'm not running any of my power supplies near capacity since I have a supply in each of 8 road cases. Secondly the Power-One supply is directly bolted to a steel rack panel that is bolted to rack rails that also have several vent panels attached so . . . . I pretty much have a massive heat sink for each!

Exactly how did you produce the -6v supply (as for Moog system) ? My only method so far has been to use a variable negative monolithic regulator but this needing large heatsink

I did the same as you but I was only powering a single module so I wasn't worried about over heating. You can see a picture of my little -6v adapter in the second link in my post above.

[rarecomponent]

Thanks John...I'll be using some of your ideas..great stuff.!

[zarone]

Hello,
I have a System 55, with a PSU I am not satisfied with. Can you please say what the Power One PSU model you have used for your modular?
Regards

Fernando

[JohnLRice]

Hello,
I have a System 55, with a PSU I am not satisfied with. Can you please say what the Power One PSU model you have used for your modular?

Hi Fernando,

The Power-One supplies I used are too small for an entire System 55, I'm assuming since the biggest ones I used supply less than 1 amp, so you would need multiple ones, although there are larger models that would provide 3 amps each or more. The bigger problem is that none of them are set up to provide -6 volts. I made a tiny adapter to power one Moog module I had but it would get more complicated to support a whole system's worth of modules.

Do you have the specifications on the existing power supply you have? Like what voltages it puts out (+12v, -12v, -6v and/or?) and how many amps per voltage?

I remember reading that for the recent Emerson clone project they used modern power supply parts so you might want to write to Moog and ask them for details on what they used?

To answer your question: the Power-One supplies I used all have triple voltage outputs, +15, -15 and +5, and for my larger cabinets I used model HBAA-40W-AG (.8 amps) and in the smaller cabinets I used model HTAA-16W-AG (.4 amps). For you, you probably don't need the +5v rail and want a large supply so you might want to consider one of their larger dual +12v, -12v supplies as a starting point like the HCC15-3-AG or HDD15-5-AG but like I said, I'm not sure how you would supply the -6 volts if your system needs it.

Take a look through their various models (FYI: Power-One is now Bel Power Solutions) http://belpowersolutions.com/sites/belp ... et/lin.pdf

Also take a look at International Power since they have similar designs to Power-One/Bel:
http://internationalpower.com/

IPORTANT: keep in mind that at the very least you'll need to do some custom wiring for the outputs and AC inputs which, if done wrong wont work, may damage your modules, and at worst could burn your place down or kill people! So, if you aren't comfortable and confident working with power supplies, please get someone who is to do the work for you! Stay safe!

Best of luck!

[latigid on]

Are you comfortable with DIY?

If so, it might be possible to mod a PowerOne to fit your requirements.

I came across this detailed site today while researching beefy power transistors for my LM723-based supplies:

http://www.djerickson.com/p1hack/

Normally the calibration ranges are quite small to allow for accurate settings. So you would probably have to desolder certain resistors to get a -6 V rail.