finding a high-quality 24VDC power supply

rwb500

rwb500

Active member
I need a 24V ~10A DC power supply to power all of my Jebao pumps. They will all be controlled with 0-5V from a DIY electrical box via my apex, so I figure I should merge the power supplies from 5 cheap chinese ones to one better one while I'm at it.

Where can I find a good 24V 10A power supply? Weatherproof and fanless are necessary, if that's possible. Brands like Mean Well are probably best, right?
 
They each came with a power supply. Why combine them?

Multiple supplies inherently reduce risk of a single point of failure. If you run all the power from a single source, you take the risk of a single component failing bringing them all down.
 
I would trust a single proper PSU over the multiple bricks that come with pumps myself. Plus its easier to make it neat.

I didn't see any ~300W PSUs on meanwells site that was sealed without a fan. At 600W you could get one though...
 
karimwassef said:
They each came with a power supply. Why combine them?

Multiple supplies inherently reduce risk of a single point of failure. If you run all the power from a single source, you take the risk of a single component failing bringing them all down.
Click to expand...

as i said, they are cheap and chinese. also I dont want to have 5 of them in my stand.
 
Gorgok said:
I would trust a single proper PSU over the multiple bricks that come with pumps myself. Plus its easier to make it neat.

I didn't see any ~300W PSUs on meanwells site that was sealed without a fan. At 600W you could get one though...
Click to expand...


thanks for checking it out. I think my actual power requirement might be more like 150W (6A) but I can check the site myself for that. any other source ideas would be appreciated though!
 
thanks, that does look nice. I am hoping to find something a bit more enclosed than that but if I end up going with the "metal box with holes in it and exposed leads" route I will keep that in mind. it seems like all of the high quality power supplies might fit into that category.
 
Unless you have the reliability data for a power supply, saying that it's cheap and Chinese doesn't mean much. What data are you using to determine risk? What is the MTBF for the existing and proposed solution?

If you're going to put all of your eggs in one basket, then you need to consider the consequence of the one new power supply failing. If the consequences are unacceptable, then you need at least 2 in a redundant configuration.
 
They are crappy and I have already had one fail. I also don't want 5 wall warts in my stand. I only have one return pump so the difference for the only important pump will be that instead of one crappy power supply it is on one good one.

Thanks, I am not quite sure how to determine what power requirement I have. If you add up the 5 power supplies that come with the pumps it is 10A but if you add up the advertised power consumption it is more like 5.5A.
 
rwb500 said:
They are crappy and I have already had one fail. I also don't want 5 wall warts in my stand. I only have one return pump so the difference for the only important pump will be that instead of one crappy power supply it is on one good one.

Thanks, I am not quite sure how to determine what power requirement I have. If you add up the 5 power supplies that come with the pumps it is 10A but if you add up the advertised power consumption it is more like 5.5A.
Click to expand...

then i would go with a 10Amp supply at 55% load then to run a 6.67amp supply at 90%
 
You have an Apex with an EB8?

Plug in the equipment you want driven from the new power supply into the 10A outlet. Turn the outlet on and measure the increase in EB current. That's your 120V AC amps needed.

If you meet that power with your 24V, the efficiency difference will act as your design margin.
 
thanks guys, lots of great ideas. I may end up mounting it a bit away from the tank, in which case weatherproof wouldn't be as essential. That would give me a lot more options. I did not realize that the Mean Well HLG's could also provide constant voltage, so that's great to know.
 
Yep, one of the many great things about the HLG. As long as you do not exceed 95% of the current (12.67A on that model) it will remain in constant voltage mode.
 
I ordered a HLG. So if somehow it goes near/above it's rated amperage, the voltage will drop? That is a good safety feature for this application because one of the ways to adjust these pumps' output is to drop the power supply voltage.
 
rwb500 said:
I ordered a HLG. So if somehow it goes near/above it's rated amperage, the voltage will drop? That is a good safety feature for this application because one of the ways to adjust these pumps' output is to drop the power supply voltage.
Click to expand...
No, if it reaches 95% of its current capacity it switches into constant current mode and will destroy your constant voltage pumps lol. That's why I recommended the 320w model and not the 240w model, as you'd be using 100% of the 240w if your pumps actually used 10A total.

Which pumps do you have? I'm sure someone out there has collected the real wattage use with a Kill-a-Watt :)
 
that doesn't make sense to me. the purpose of the switch to constant current mode is to limit power consumption near the peak of the supply's capability, not suddenly increase power consumption.

The spec sheet says the constant current voltage range for my 24V model is 12-24V. This seems to fit with what I thought, that the constant current mode accommodates a drop in voltage, never an increase.
 
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