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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Hacks & Mods → Power Supply Upgrade - 500W for $12
Hey guys,
Picked up one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … OC:US:3160
For $12 shipped.
They supply 12v, 41a. The conversion is simple - jumper 2 pairs of pins together, and solder:
http://krcm.mywebnow.org/index.php?acti … ttach=1502
Just a heads up to anyone doing heated bet upgrades, etc. 
Looks perfect; got one. Thanks!
picked it up one myself, hopefully I will need it for something!
This is pretty awesome, I have been wanting to build a small wind tunnel, for testing 3d printed wings and diffusers for cars at 1/24th scale.
I found a universal power supply for bench testing model RC stuff, but that was around $100, this looks far more reasonable.
Got this today, it arrived in nothing more than a padded envelope. I heard stuff rattling inside, so I opened it up. White ceramic insulation/glue came out, but the power supply tested fine. I 5v modded the fan to quiet it down. Note that the PSU goes into fault mode if it doesnt see a fan spinning, so you need to leave the RPM wire connected.
Powered up just fine using the PDF above - short two pairs of pins. Sweet!
Hey I have a question. They are talking about isolating the -12V supply from Chassis. Do they mean the 12V return or a real -12V power supply because I do not see one on the label.
I personally would prefer a grounded power supply, why are they having us do this change? If the 12V is truly isolated from Chassis is it also floating with respect to Earth Ground? If so this would Earth ground the SD thru the USB connector and I'm not sure if you want that happening. I can understand if they do not want the metal chassis grounding things it touches I guess that is what they are trying to avoid.
Hey I have a question. They are talking about isolating the -12V supply from Chassis. Do they mean the 12V return or a real -12V power supply because I do not see one on the label.
I personally would prefer a grounded power supply, why are they having us do this change? If the 12V is truly isolated from Chassis is it also floating with respect to Earth Ground? If so this would Earth ground the SD thru the USB connector and I'm not sure if you want that happening. I can understand if they do not want the metal chassis grounding things it touches I guess that is what they are trying to avoid.
They use two of the supplies to produce 24v, obviously you need to lift earth ground on at least one of the supplies to use them in series. No need to do it in our case.
Hobby King had some Interesting power supplies for cheap. Like this one: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor … gers_.html
Havn't tried it myself.
pmerana wrote:Hey I have a question. They are talking about isolating the -12V supply from Chassis. Do they mean the 12V return or a real -12V power supply because I do not see one on the label.
I personally would prefer a grounded power supply, why are they having us do this change? If the 12V is truly isolated from Chassis is it also floating with respect to Earth Ground? If so this would Earth ground the SD thru the USB connector and I'm not sure if you want that happening. I can understand if they do not want the metal chassis grounding things it touches I guess that is what they are trying to avoid.
They use two of the supplies to produce 24v, obviously you need to lift earth ground on at least one of the supplies to use them in series. No need to do it in our case.
Ok so we do not need to do that great! Thanks
Hi elmoret,
Would a standard computer power supply work as long as its over 20 amp?
Is there a better set of pictures that show the pins that need to be jumpered and what the final ground isolated screw setup looks like? I have no clue how the pins are "labeled" and pics on the like at the top of this post isn't very clear (a couple different sites mention a few different pins that should be connected, so I just want to make sure what ones NEED to be jumped!
Just a dumb question. Why not use a battery charger for an automobile that is rated for the amps you desire?
Just a dumb question. Why not use a battery charger for an automobile that is rated for the amps you desire?
Usually really electrically noisy, not compact, more than $12 for 40 amps.
Is there a better set of pictures that show the pins that need to be jumpered and what the final ground isolated screw setup looks like? I have no clue how the pins are "labeled" and pics on the like at the top of this post isn't very clear (a couple different sites mention a few different pins that should be connected, so I just want to make sure what ones NEED to be jumped!
He explains the pins in the fourth paragraph, but in short it is letters bottom to top and numbers left to right(don't ask me why). It's hard to see in the picture, but the pins are pushed together then soldered. Here's a picture of my power supply that I finished recently. I colored the pins you want to solder red, blue you leave as is...not going to win any art awards, but you get the point.
For isolating the screws you just need a non-conductive washer under the screw head and above the nut. Basically sandwiching the case with a non-conductive material. I didn't have any washers laying around so I made them out of some heat shrink tubing. Did the trick...To test once you have both screws done you can test the continuity between the case and the larger connectors to the side of the pins with a multimeter.
Thanks for the pic, I just used standard computer jumpers for those pins. So, as far as the screws are concerned do I really even need to have them installed? I used what we call in work "backshell tape". It's silicon tape that adheres to itself to act as a rubber "washer". I still get continuity between the case and the main power supply terminals on the connector though.
Do you only need to isolate it from the case if your using 2 power supplies side by side to get 24v? I read the instructions as not needing too unless your connected two in series?
Correct. I would still consider it prudent to do so, but it is not mandatory as it is if you wanted to run two together to get 24v...
Thanks for the pic, I just used standard computer jumpers for those pins. So, as far as the screws are concerned do I really even need to have them installed? I used what we call in work "backshell tape". It's silicon tape that adheres to itself to act as a rubber "washer". I still get continuity between the case and the main power supply terminals on the connector though.
I'm hoping to add a switch for PS ON and having a hard time finding the full pinout for this PS. Did you find that two of those pins are PS ON/Kill? I suspect the top two, but don't want to remove my soldering until I'm ready to wire up the switch.
I have a noob question - can we just wire up a higher wattage power supply and directly replace the factory one (ie. connect it to the electronics board in place of the stock one)? Is the board capable of using the higher current or are there electronics components on it that are only rated for the standard 150W laptop power supply that comes with it?
For example, if I were to upgrade to the bigger heating pad from QU-BD (draws up to 15 amps) and drive a few extra fans for cooling the X axis stepper motor and the extruder fan, can I just replace the stock power supply with say a 500W one, and then hook all those fans and heating element to the standard electronics board? I would prefer not to have to drive those upgraded components separately from another power supply.
I have a noob question - can we just wire up a higher wattage power supply and directly replace the factory one (ie. connect it to the electronics board in place of the stock one)? Is the board capable of using the higher current or are there electronics components on it that are only rated for the standard 150W laptop power supply that comes with it?
For example, if I were to upgrade to the bigger heating pad from QU-BD (draws up to 15 amps) and drive a few extra fans for cooling the X axis stepper motor and the extruder fan, can I just replace the stock power supply with say a 500W one, and then hook all those fans and heating element to the standard electronics board? I would prefer not to have to drive those upgraded components separately from another power supply.
You need to solder some jumpers to the board. Check Lawsy's thread http://www.soliforum.com/topic/1819/hea … isonsstls/
You need to solder some jumpers to the board. Check Lawsy's thread http://www.soliforum.com/topic/1819/hea … isonsstls/
Sorry I should have done more searching before asking. Thanks.
Any recommendations on a gauge of wire to use for this upgrade?
Thanks,
Matt
I can't say what the technically appropriate gauge is, but i used 16ga with no issues.
1.) google "wire gauge"
2.) second link: http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
What you're doing is basically chassis wiring. I'd recommend 14ga, and fusing it at 25A per pair of output terminals.
Depends... (the answer to so many questions seems to be this 
)
If you are staying 'stock'-ish.. then 16AWG in a single pair is fine or a 2 wire pair (two +, two - )
If you are going to run an upgraded heated bed, then I'd be running 2x16AWG wires in a pair (this splits the current evenly across each wire but it doesn't quite double your current capacity.. in reality, its about 1.5x 'safely'... if you aren't running to separate power circuits, you need to stay like-for-like... hence 2x16....)
If you are going to run an upgraded heated bed, AND multiple extruders at any point;
I'd be running a single 12AWG pair, a double 14 AWG pair...
However - if you still have the standard sanguinolulu and associated power screw terminal... I reckon you'd be hard pressed to get one 16AWG wire in there, let alone two... so that may be your limiting factor (and frankly - you wouldn't want more than 12amps into that oem connector anyway.....)... this is where RAMPS is a bonus because it has seperate Hi/Low power circuits and connectors, allowing me to use 16AWG on the heaters, and 18AWG for the logic, motors and low-current stuff
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