HP DPS-600PB 12V/24V 47A 1150W Power Supply Build Thread

[perdification]

Hi,

how about doing another round with HP proliant dps-1200fb?
Any idea how to do that?

I believe doing a simple search on Google yields all the answers you need?

http://www.rctech.net/forum/radio-el...g-station.html

[mave]

Yup, saw that thread and this

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1005309

was wondering if doing a series 24v is just as easy as soldering a cable from positive of one power supply to the negative of another.

I believe doing a simple search on Google yields all the answers you need?

http://www.rctech.net/forum/radio-el...g-station.html

[perdification]

Yup, saw that thread and this

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1005309

was wondering if doing a series 24v is just as easy as soldering a cable from positive of one power supply to the negative of another.

Do take a look at post #3 at the RCG thread you mentioned. It's stated there.

[yhchoong]

Hi,

how about doing another round with HP proliant dps-1200fb?
Any idea how to do that?

That's a good choice to mod, it will max out the PL8. I'm too busy with uni right now to take a good look at it though, my DPS 600 PB took me 2 whole weeks to fully detail the entire build + mom wasn't so pleased with me for stealing the dining table as a work bench during that time

I've gone through a few threads and it looks similar in concept to the DPS 600 PB to mod. Same thing by having to float DC ground by isolating the main board from chassis to get 24V using insulating hardware. The difficult part is that you need to solder decently and not everyone is comfortable with that. The board output is also exposed, and I do mean like blatantly exposed, so you need to think of something to cover it up.

Perdification, thanks for pointing out the links to mave!

[mave]

Thanks for the link Perdification.
But none can beat yhchoong illustrative explanation. I feel, that itself is very commendable. There are many links out there. But it is always good to go out there collect the info and develop the ideas here. Anyway yhchoong, thank you for contributing and hope to see more in the future. Cheers!

That's a good choice to mod, it will max out the PL8. I'm too busy with uni right now to take a good look at it though, my DPS 600 PB took me 2 whole weeks to fully detail the entire build + mom wasn't so pleased with me for stealing the dining table as a work bench during that time

I've gone through a few threads and it looks similar in concept to the DPS 600 PB to mod. Same thing by having to float DC ground by isolating the main board from chassis to get 24V using insulating hardware. The difficult part is that you need to solder decently and not everyone is comfortable with that. The board output is also exposed, and I do mean like blatantly exposed, so you need to think of something to cover it up.

Perdification, thanks for pointing out the links to mave!

[perdification]

Thanks for the link Perdification.
But none can beat yhchoong illustrative explanation. I feel, that itself is very commendable. There are many links out there. But it is always good to go out there collect the info and develop the ideas here. Anyway yhchoong, thank you for contributing and hope to see more in the future. Cheers!

No worries. It's good to help others out. Anyway, maybe mave can research and show us how to do it? I'm sure Yue Hao is already maxed out.

[perdification]

That's a good choice to mod, it will max out the PL8. I'm too busy with uni right now to take a good look at it though, my DPS 600 PB took me 2 whole weeks to fully detail the entire build + mom wasn't so pleased with me for stealing the dining table as a work bench during that time

I've gone through a few threads and it looks similar in concept to the DPS 600 PB to mod. Same thing by having to float DC ground by isolating the main board from chassis to get 24V using insulating hardware. The difficult part is that you need to solder decently and not everyone is comfortable with that. The board output is also exposed, and I do mean like blatantly exposed, so you need to think of something to cover it up.

Perdification, thanks for pointing out the links to mave!

I should be the one thanking you instead. Anyway, I've got my PSU covered up, but too lazy to fill that gaping hole where the wires come out. I'll be sure not to stick my fingers in! Also, I didn't use the binding posts, but I just used 4mm bullets which fits the banana connectors pretty well.

All the best to y'all!

[yhchoong]

I should be the one thanking you instead. Anyway, I've got my PSU covered up, but too lazy to fill that gaping hole where the wires come out. I'll be sure not to stick my fingers in! Also, I didn't use the binding posts, but I just used 4mm bullets which fits the banana connectors pretty well.

All the best to y'all!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]122158[/ATTACH]

Looking good there, well done!

[perdification]

Looking good there, well done!

Thanks for the compliments! Anyway, I decided to "custom" a piece of depron foam used for scratch building planes to cover the hole, and it looks better, and is safer just in case metal objects get into the hole. It's easy to make too! Took me only five mins. Those looking for an easy way out, here it is:



Enjoy and have fun building!

[yhchoong]

perdification: Awesome idea! I was on the train home just now and thinking the exact same thing The great thing is that the foam won't chaff the wires too. You could even touch it up easily by covering the front of the foam with a decal or veneer, perhaps even using the non-shiny side of regular aluminium foil if you can get it taut enough without crumpling. Looks pretty good as it is already though.

mave: If you are not ever going to charge beyond 6S, our 24V power supply will max out the PL8. The maximum output current of the PL8 is 40A. A 6S battery has a maximum voltage of 6 x 4.2V = 25.2V.

Since power (W) = voltage (V) x current (I), this means that the maximum output that the PL8 can supply to 6S batteries be it parallel charging or not is 40A x 25.2V = 1008W.

Assuming the PL8 has an efficiency of 89% (I googled and found that a few tests showed it to be between 85%-93% so I took the average), this will mean that it needs 1008W / 0.89 = 1132W from the supply.

In reality, our power supply though rated at 24V and 47A can provide around 25+V and 50A = 1250W of power (it was rated conservatively at 24V, 47A). So this is more than the 1132W required to max out the PL8 when charging 6S batteries.

So why not the PL6 if we are only going to charge up to 6S batteries? This is because the PL6 can only handle up to 40A of input current (our power supply can provide greater than 47A). So anything above 40A provided by the power supply is wasted and effectively, our power supply can only provide 25V x 40A = 1000W to the PL6.

Let's assume that like the PL8, the PL6 has an average efficiency of 89%. So out of the 1000W that our power supplies provide, only 890W makes it to the actual battery charging power. This is below the 1008W for full 6S charging in an ideal situation.

So for the PL6 to provide full 6S charging, we need a power supply that can provide 1132W / 40A = 28.3V. Our power supply unfortunately cannot do that. It is for this reason I went with the PL8 over the PL6.

[perdification]

perdification: Awesome idea! I was on the train home just now and thinking the exact same thing The great thing is that the foam won't chaff the wires too. You could even touch it up easily by covering the front of the foam with a decal or veneer, perhaps even using the non-shiny side of regular aluminium foil if you can get it taut enough without crumpling. Looks pretty good as it is already though.

...

If you'd like it to blend/camouflage with the casing, I think silver spray paint would be a quick and easy fix for it. Just spray the white foam silver and it'll look good. I like the easy way out.

[Kaen]

Hmm... if you guys are interested in building some new units specifically to max out PL8s... I would like to buy a few sets.

[perdification]

Currently there seems like there's not much interest in this thread... I don't know how many people have built this.

[yhchoong]

Kaen, the unit in this thread will max out a PL8 up to 6s charging, beyond that, it falls short by a little.. Theoretically no server supply can max out a PL8 unless you overdrive it to 26.35V from its default 24V at the expense of lifespan. Neither can many power supplies max out a PL8 unless you look at those in excess of a few hundred dollars.

However, unless you frequently parallel charge multiples of 7s and 8s batteries, I think the HP DPS600PB offers a cost effective and compact design which is safe to use since there are no exposed "live" parts to accidentally touch.

The other one I can think of modding is the HP DPS 1200 FB. But modding this one requires some proper soldering skills to the copper strips of the main board and I cannot think of an easy way to cover up the copper board after the mods are complete. Also, despite its 2400W of power in series, it still remains a 24V supply so that excess power is wasted - the PL8 can draw a maximum of 60A so any surplus current the power supply can provide above that 60A is simply unused and therefore wasted.

As for making the supplies for sale, whew while not difficult it's tedious if you want to do the binding posts way. Perdification's method is a lot faster and just as functional too if you do not need quick switching from 24V to dual 12V output. Just try making your own first, and if you really really get stuck somewhere or have no time than I will see what I can do to help.

[mave]

The soldering on the copper tap is pretty easy. I used a flat tip goot soldering iron.
I solder a small resistor and the power supply power up with no issue.

However, linking two power supplies together gives 24v but causes the power cord to heat up. I disconnected the power cord almost immediately.
I assume that one of the power supply will trip if there is an problem. However, that did not happened.

Next step will be to isolate the DC negative from the ground. That will definitely give 24v, but will it be safe enough? that's the question.

Kaen, the unit in this thread will max out a PL8 up to 6s charging, beyond that, it falls short by a little.. Theoretically no server supply can max out a PL8 unless you overdrive it to 26.35V from its default 24V at the expense of lifespan. Neither can many power supplies max out a PL8 unless you look at those in excess of a few hundred dollars.

However, unless you frequently parallel charge multiples of 7s and 8s batteries, I think the HP DPS600PB offers a cost effective and compact design which is safe to use since there are no exposed "live" parts to accidentally touch.

The other one I can think of modding is the HP DPS 1200 FB. But modding this one requires some proper soldering skills to the copper strips of the main board and I cannot think of an easy way to cover up the copper board after the mods are complete. Also, despite its 2400W of power in series, it still remains a 24V supply so that excess power is wasted - the PL8 can draw a maximum of 60A so any surplus current the power supply can provide above that 60A is simply unused and therefore wasted.

As for making the supplies for sale, whew while not difficult it's tedious if you want to do the binding posts way. Perdification's method is a lot faster and just as functional too if you do not need quick switching from 24V to dual 12V output. Just try making your own first, and if you really really get stuck somewhere or have no time than I will see what I can do to help.