Serious TECers...........PSUs

[Surreal]

Hi

I am a serious TECer. I have fabricated sever working TEC systems with the works.

I am looking for cheap power supplies.

I have used these to power a 226W TEC:

Meanwell s-320 12v
Antec Truepower 550
Two generic 400w ATx PSUs

They are listed in order in which i trust the PSU.

I have tried using a powmax PSU 400W which was rated 25A on the 12v rail. It trips evertime i load it. I have read that someone else was able to power their 226w with that same PSU.

I want to use a Generic atx PSU to power a tec. THe PSU i can get under $20 while the MW/antec are well over $100.

Does anyone use genice PSUs to power their tecs?

 

[sandman001]

If I was going to use those cheap PSu's to power the TEc's, I would not run the PC while you are out of the room.

I give the cpu 15 seconds to live after the TEC goes off.

That being said, I would go with the meanwell which you can get for $93 from www.bestbyte.net

 

[Surreal]

On my rigs i use a temp probe which is place in a hole in the cold plate. When the temp reaches 90+ a relay triggers shuting down the whole PC system. So i am not worried about a pump/power failer as much as i am worried about changing the PSU every 3-6 months.

 

[sandman001]

I'm going to go out on a limb, and say that those generic PSU's either won't give 25amps will die or trip out, or they will die quickly.

At that point you have the top two choices to choose between, and while this isn't the option I'm sure you wanted, it's the best.

I'd take the Meanwell to power a pelt. I would't trust anything else.

 

[Paxmax]

If I couldn't build my own PSU I would chose 2 cheapo PSU, if I had the room for it.
Also, since you have safeguards and (maybe) don't need it for a precious server or anything needed to run 24/7 I would go with 2 cheapo PSU as long as they carry a 2 year warranty or so.

 

[Surreal]

What i do is make my own PC cases. I like the size of the ATX PSU (5.5" x 4.25") vs the size of the meanwell (4.5" x 9"). A plus to the Generic ATX psus is the cost makes voiding the warrenty not much important. Of course when i ran the two generic PSUs in parrelle the voltage diped to 10.5. After adding load on both 5v rails the voltage increase to around 10.8v. (rated 16A on the 12v rail) The two generic PSUs cost $11 each after shiping. I figured out how to take advange of the rail sensor, so on the antec PSU i was able to adjust the voltage from ~9.25 to ~ 12.25. And the meanwell whent from 8.23v to 13.38v with no prob. What i want to find is a generic PSU that i can test its life span and stress untill it fails. Has anyone powered a 226w tec using a generic under $20 ATX PSU?

 

[Surreal]

http://www.dealsonic.com/oem50atxposu.html

rated 25A on the 12v rail. I do realise in this case there is a great chance that this PSU will fail before giveing out a full 25 amps. Nevertheless it is worth a try. Well even if it does perform the voltage will proberly dip under 11.25v.

http://www.dealsonic.com/pow40sinfana.html

 

[Surreal]

http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=456

 

[squeakygeek]

Build your own 25 amp tec power supply for about $30

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1054/

 

[repilce]

or if you a little lerry about doing that.. check HERE

 

[sandman001]

You can get a meanwell cheaper than that, and it's adjustable, though that's still a decnet supply I think.

To be perfectly honest and clear, I researched PSU's for over a month, and one thing always came back to me. RELIABILITY.

No cheapo 50watt PSU rated for 25A on the 12V line is going to last once you actually run it at 25A, it's going to either trip or blow up, neither if which is good.

 

[Surreal]

RELIABILITY.

agreed!

 

[adrian nelson]

what about running many psus in parallel, i have an idea which uses 4 at psus rated between 150w-250w paralleled up to power a tec that way if one fails the others just take extra load.

 

[squeakygeek]

No cheapo 50watt PSU rated for 25A on the 12V line is going to last once you actually run it at 25A, it's going to either trip or blow up, neither if which is good.

... That's because there's no such thing as a 50 watt PSU rated for 25A on the 12V line...

12 volts * 25 amps = 300 watts

Anyway, according to the article I linked to, a peltier can handle voltage that varies a bit, so there's no need to spend alot of money on an expensive power supply, hence the instructions to build your own. A few capacitors is all that is really needed for filtering the voltage to a peltier.

Reliability in the sense that the power supply won't malfunction is definately needed, but high end filtering is not. In any situation, however, you should always have a shutdown temp set in the system bios if it is supported.

it's going to either trip or blow up

Can you back that up?

 

[Lewiser]

Build your own 25 amp tec power supply for about $30

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1054/

Mate ... legend

I was just about to spend $145 on a MW 12v

Ryan.

 

[Surreal]

I have one of those transformers, a bridge, and 5 caps. I never assembled it. It is too large and heavy not to mention that baby will get HOT for my cases.

 

[Lewiser]

Yeah I know, I was just reading the article.

I just bought 2 of the 130w TEC's. I think they might be cut down 226w TEC's becasue Imax = 15 and Vmax = 15.2 so that ~226w.

I'll give a report on it when I get it and the Meanwell 320 PSU.

Ryan.

 

[Surreal]

cool

 

[Lewiser]

Well, I just bought
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2582659394&ssPageName=ADME:B:BN:CA:1
for me CPU and
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2582650665&ssPageName=ADME:B:BN:CA:1 for the GPU. I'll run the GPU one at 7v off my PSU, or maybe 5v as I don't need 130w's going to the GPU, I'd only need like 60-80w at the outside.


And all for $15USD which is just over $20 Aussie dollars

 

[Surreal]

hey not bad at-tall.