PSC POWER STAR LiFE

Operation Manual Version 3.0
Copyright 2012 Professional Sound Corp
28085 Smyth Drive, Valencia, CA 91355 USA
CE RoHS

Printed in the U.S.A.

TM

Thank you for purchasing your new PSC Power Star LiFE re-chargeable power distribution
system. This new power system combines an AC Power Supply, Charger, LiFE Rechargeable
Battery, Power Distribution, Power Filtering, Monitoring and Protection Circuitry all in a single
rack mount space. We believe this design is the new gold standard for compact field powersystems.

PLEASE BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THIS ENTIRE OPERATIONAL MANUAL
BEFORE OPERATING THE PSC POWER STAR LiFE!
CAUTION! THE CASE OF THE POWER STAR LiFE MAY GET HOT DURING USE.

DO NOT ALLOWANYTHING TO BLOCK THE COOLING HEAT SINK AND OTHER VENT OPENINGS. ALWAYS ALLOW AT
LEAST A ONE RACK SPACE AIR GAP ABOVE THE COOLING HEAT SINK OPENINGS AND AROUND ALL
VENT OPENINGS.

ALL AUXILARY EQUIPMENT SHOULD BE REVERSE POLARITY PROTECTED AND

PROPERLY FUSED AT ALL TIMES.
THE POWER STAR LiFE IS DESIGNED FOR USE BY ITSELF OR WITH EITHER THE PSC PELICAN LiFEBATTERY OR WITH PSC PELICAN SEALED LEAD ACID BATTERIES AND IS FACTORY ADJUSTED FOR
PROPER CHANGING OF THESE BATTERY TYPES ONLY! PLEASE CONSULT THE FACTORY FOR USE WITH
OTHER BATTERY TYPES.

YOUR POWER STAR LiFE MAY NEED INTERNAL ADJUSTMENTS TO BE

COMPATIBLE WITH OTHER BATTERY TYPES.

Professional Sound Corporation
28085 Smyth Drive
Valencia, CA 91355 USA
Ph (661) 295-9395
sales@professionalsound.com

www.professionalsound.com

LiFE BATTERY SAFETY: This new product design is based on Lithium Iron Phosphate battery
chemistry......also known as “LiFE”. LiFE cells offer high capacity in a lightweight package similar
to Lithium Polymer or Lithium Ion cells, but with one big improvement. LiFE chemistry is much
more inherently safe as it does not suffer from temperature runaway conditions like older
lithium chemistries do. The older lithium batteries were prone to fire if physically damaged or
short circuited. These new LiFE batteries have proven to be a much safer alternative. While
this battery chemistry is considered to be very safe, the TSA (Transportation Safety Authority)
has not yet made the distinction between these LiFE lithium cells and the older less safe Lithiumtechnologies. Please read and understand all transportation regulations before shipping thesebatteries on public airlines. You can get a full, detailed explanation of these regulations at the
TSA website: http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html
Additional information
concerning “Larger Batteries”
that applies to this product can be found here:
http://safetravel.dot.gov/larger_batt.html Never ship your PSC Power Star LiFE if it has been
physically or electrically damaged.
All AC powered devices should be treated with proper caution and respect. AC power on film
sets and on locations may not always be properly grounded and/or distributed. PSC highly
recommends that you purchase and use an AC power tester prior to plugging in your PSC PowerStar LiFE or any other AC powered device while on location. You can purchase simple to use,
inexpensive AC testers for less than $20. They are a simple plug that has 3 or 4 lights on therear of the plug. These lights indicate good AC, proper grounding, etc. They can also indicate
dangerous AC conditions such as Hot and Neutral reversed or missing grounds. These AC
testers can be purchased at most electronics stores. Here is an example of a typical AC Tester.
PSC does not recommend any specific brand or take responsibility for its use or performance.

Typical AC Tester of the type you should use before plugging into AC on a film set or location.

FRONT PANEL:The front panel of the PSC Power Star LiFE contains ten (10) DC power output connections on
4 pin female XLR’s. A SpeakOn connector used to connect the unit to an external battery (PSC
Pelican LiFE Battery or a PSC Pelican Lead Acid Battery. A 5 pin female XLR used to connect
the Power Star LiFE Remote Control. An AC indicating BLUE LED. A Multi Colored LED “FuelGauge” to indicate battery charge level. Power “ON” and “OFF” push button switches(delayed action for “OFF” switch) and a LiFE battery protection circuit “RESET” switch.

REAR PANEL AC CONNECTION: On the rear panel of the Power Star LiFE you will find the AC
power connection. This connection accepts a standard IEC power cord. You will also noticethat just below the AC cord socket is a built fuse holder that holds the AC protection fuse. This
unit uses a 250v, 15 Amp, slow blow, 5 x 20mm fuse. A spare fuse is included inside the fuseholder drawer. There are no other connections on the rear panel of the device.

AC input with fuse holder

RACK MOUNTING: Your new Power Star LiFE is designed to be rack mounted. It comes with apair of heavy duty rack mount brackets. These brackets can be used from the front of the unitor the rear of the unit. Screws for installing these brackets are included. Please only use 6-32 x
0.375” screws with this Power Star LiFE. The use of longer screws may cause internal damage
to the unit.

HEAT SINK: The PSC Power Star LiFE uses a large, custom made extruded aluminum heat sinkto provide proper system cooling. This properly engineered cooling system uses convection
cooling to pull heat away from the unit’s power supply. The gold anodized heat sink provides

more than 375 square inches of heat dissipating surface. This heat sink should be kept clean
and dust-free during use. The PSC Power Star LiFE does not use a fan for cooling. If the heatsink becomes covered with dust, it will not properly function and you may cause damage toyour device. PSC recommends that you blow off the heat sink area with compressed air fromtime to time to keep the heat sink clean. You must leave open space above and to the sides of
the PSC Power Star LiFE for proper cooling to take place. A minimum of 1 rack space (1.75”)
should be left open above the unit for cooling purposes. Likewise, this product should not be
used in fully enclosed rack case or other enclosures that limit air flow. Failure to provide proper
ventilation can and will damage the unit and will void your warranty.

Close up view of the custom made, gold anodized, PSC aluminum heat sink extrusion

DC CONNECTIONS: There are ten (10) XLR female DC output connectors located on the front
panel of the PSC Power Star LiFE. The first two (2) XLRs located to left hand side of the unit are
rated for 8 Amps of output current. The remaining eight (8) output connectors are all rated for
3.5 Amps of output current. Each connector is individually Poly Fuse protected and monitored
via the adjacent LEDs. If the connector is working properly, the GREEN LED will be lit. If the
Poly Fuse has been tripped (short circuit in your cable or equipment) the GREEN LED will turnoff and the YELLOW LED will turn on indicating a fault condition. Under normal conditions, you
should never see any YELLOW LEDs. If you see a YELLOW LED, there is a problem and you
should investigate the cable and device connected to that particular output connector
immediately. If you ever have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to call PSC andask to speak with our service technician. We are always available to help you in any way
needed.

Two (2) Output Connectors @ 8 Amps

Eight (8) Output Connectors @ 3.5 Amps

POWER SWITCHES: There are two round, momentary push button switches used to turn theunit on and off. The GREEN “ON” push button switch is used to turn the unit on. The RED“OFF” push button is used to turn the unit off. Please note that the RED “OFF” push button
switch is equipped with a time delay circuit. You must press and hold this push button switch
for 4-5 seconds before the unit will shut off. This time delay function serves to keep you from
accidentally shutting down the PSC Power Star Life unexpectedly while working.

RED and GREEN Power On and OFF switches

FUEL GAUGE: The PSC Power Star LiFE is equipped with an easy to read and easy tounderstand multi-colored battery “Fuel Gauge”. Just a quick glance and you will immediately
know the charge condition of your battery. A full row of Green LEDs indicated a fully charged
battery. As the battery is discharged, the LEDs slowly go out. It is similar to reading the fuelgauge in your car. When the last (left most) RED LED goes out, the unit will shut down toprotect the LiFE batteries from deep discharge. The unit must then be plugged into AC powerto re-charge the batteries and/or power up your equipment. Both functions can be done
simultaneously.

Battery “Fuel Gauge” indicating a fully charged battery

AC INDICATOR: Whenever the unit is plugged into AC power, the BLUE “AC” LED will lightindicating AC power is connected. Whenever the AC indicator is lit, the batteries will becharged (if needed). In addition, you can power your equipment anytime the unit is connected
to AC power whether or not the battery is fully charged.

BLUE LED indicating AC power is connected

RESET BUTTON: Located just above the AC LED, is a small red push button switch locatedwithin a guard ring. This switch is used to manually “reset” the LiFE battery protection circuitry
should the need ever arise. The Protection Circuitry protects the LiFE battery in four different
ways: 1. It protects the battery from deep discharge conditions. 2. It protects the battery
from over charge conditions. 3. It protects the battery from overly high discharge rates (shortcircuits). 4. It protects the battery from excessive charge currents. If you were to somehow
short out multiple outputs of the PSC Power Star LiFE, the battery protection will disconnect thebatteries from the load. If this happens, there are two ways to reset the protection circuitry:
1. Plug in the PSC Power Star Life to AC power and the protection circuitry will automatically bereset. 2. If AC power is not available, you can simply momentarily press the “reset” button
and the battery protection circuitry will be reset. The only time the manual reset switch will
not reset the protection circuitry is if the battery has been deep discharged. In that case, youmust connect AC power to minimally charge the battery before the automatic reset function
will work. This manual reset button is a PSC exclusive feature.

“RESET” switch located above the AC LED

REMOTE CONTROL: The remote control box that is included with your PSC Power Star LiFE
serves several functions. It can be used to remotely turn on and off the unit. This will allow
you to mount the main Power Star LiFE housing in a convenient place on your sound cart. The
remote control also has a battery charge level indicating “Fuel Gauge” that duplicates themeter on the main unit. Additionally, the remote control features four USB charging ports foryour convenience. These four USB charging ports output 5Vdc up to a total of 4 Amps ofoutput current. Lastly, the remote control box features a bright BLUE LED indicating AC power
is connected to the Power Star LiFE.

Power Star LiFE Remote Control Box

SPEAKON CONNECTOR:
The PSC Power Star LiFE is equipped with one 2 pole SpeakOn
connector. This connector is used for the connection of an external battery. Using thisconnector, you can add a PSC Pelican LiFE Battery for extra battery capacity. The polarity ofthis connector is conventional SpeakOn. The center most contact is Positive (+) and the outerring connection is Negative (-)

SpeakOn Connector used to external battery connection

CHARGING: Power Star LiFE contains a built in charger designed to charge the internal LiFE
battery and also charge any external LiFE battery such as the PSC Pelican Life Battery. In
addition, you can use the external battery connector with a standard PSC Pelican Lead Acidstyle battery. This allows you to connect an external battery to increase the battery capacity of
the Power Star LiFE. The PSC Power Star LiFE will operate from a wide range of AC power so
you can plug it in anywhere world without having to worry about making adjustments. The

charger circuit used in the Power Star Life has been specifically designed for charging thebatteries while the batteries are in use powering low noise audio equipment. Unlike mostbattery chargers, ours have a very low noise floor. Typical recharge time ranges from 1 to 2
hours. The charging function is automatic and thus, it does not require your assistance in any
way. Simply plug the PSC Power Star LiFE into an AC outlet and the charging begins (whenneeded). Beware that the Power Star LiFE may get warm during use. Be careful when touching
the surface of the Power Star LiFE heat sink as this part may be HOT! Be sure to allow
ventilation air gaps around the top panel and sides of the Power Star LiFE for proper heatdissipation. When using an additional external battery such as the PSC Pelican LiFE Battery, besure to use a heavy-duty interconnect cable. This cable should be made with 12AWG wire andmust use SpeakOn connectors. Please keep this and all battery cables as short as possible forbest performance. We recommend a maximum external battery cable length of 3’ (1M).
EQUIPMENT POWER CABLES: PSC recommends that you use only two conductor, unshielded
16AWG power cable for power distribution. Shielded cable is not recommended as the shield
may cause short circuits between adjacent pins on the connectors. Please keep all cables as
short as possible as this will minimize DC voltage drop across the cable.
WARNING: It is highly recommended that you have your cables built by qualified personnel
and tested prior to use with your Power Star LiFE. All power cables should be clearly labeledon both ends as to what they are to be connected to. For example, label one end “Power Star
LiFE” and the other end “Solice Mixer”. This will help prevent inadvertently connecting thecables to the wrong piece of equipment. We cannot stress enough the importance of goodquality power cables and careful connections. Poorly constructed and/or labeled cables canresult in equipment damage!

POWER FILTERING: All PSC power products contain PSC Quiet Power Technology tm. Thispower filter technology allows the PSC Power Star LiFE to deliver clean, quiet DC power for allof your sound equipment powering needs. These filters include both audio and RF frequency
filters to ensure trouble free DC power distribution in the field. Nearly all of today’s audio
equipment contain DC to DC convertors within their power supplies. These convertors can andwill cause inter-modulation noise when connected to common DC power sources such as abattery. Here at PSC we firmly believe that proper DC filtering can and will eliminate mostnoise issues in the field. Our competitors do not understand inter-modulation noise and thus
do not take the additional steps to prevent it like we do at PSC. Though not every piece ofequipment will suffer from inter-modulation noise issues. Here at PSC believe that the extra
parts cost and design time are worth it if it solves even one issue in the field. Why do we spend
the extra $50.00 to include these parts? Because we think you deserve the best quality DC
power available.

PSC Quiet Power tm Filters partially shown behind output XLRs.

FUSING: Internally, the LiFE cells are protected against many typical faults via electronicmonitoring and automatic fault protection. In addition, there is a 40 Amp Slow Blow
automotive blade style fuse for ultimate safety. This fuse should never blow in normal use. If
you ever experience a blown fuse, something is wrong with your setup. Please call PSC fortechnical assistance.
STORAGE: Please note that all rechargeable batteries slowly self discharge while in storage.
If you store this battery, it must be fully recharged prior to storing it. It should also be charged
every month while in storage. Failure to follow these instructions will cause damage to thebattery and will not be covered under the PSC warranty.

TERMS OF USE:
THE IMPROPER CONNECTION OF THIS POWER SUPPLY TO AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT MAY RESULTIN DAMAGE TO SAID EQUIPMENT AND/OR PERSONAL INJURY. THIS PRODUCT IS DESIGNED TO
BE OPERATED BY PROFESSIONALS IN THE FILM AND TELEVISION INDUSTRIES. THE PSC POWER
STAR LiFE SHOULD ONLY BE OPERATED AFTER READING AND UNDERSTANDING THIS ENTIREINSTRUCTION MANUAL.
THE OPERATOR OF THIS POWER SUPPLY ASSUMES ALLRESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY FOR PROPER USE AND OPERATION OF THIS EQUIPMENT!
PROFESSIONAL SOUND CORPORATION AND/OR ITS EMPLOYEES AND OFFICERS ASSUME NORESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR PERSONAL AND PROPERTY DAMAGE INCURRED DUE TO
ACCIDENT, CARELESS HANDLING, ABUSE OR MISSUSE, IMPROPER CONNECTION, AND/OR
INSTALLATION, IMPROPER ELECTRICAL CONTACT OR GROUNDING. OWNERSHIP AND/OR USE
OF THE PSC POWER STAR LiFE CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT WITH THESE TERMS.

Limited Warranty Certificate
Professional Sound Corporation warrants the Power Star LiFE individual cells to be freeof defective material and workmanship for a period of six months (LiFE Cells only).
Furthermore, Professional Sound Corporation warrants the remaining electronics,
housing and other parts to be free from defective material and workmanship for a periodof one year from the original date of purchase and agrees to repair or replace such
defective parts or the whole product at its option, provided that the equipment isreturned to Professional Sound Corporation. Shipping and insurance costs to and from
Professional Sound Corporation must be prepaid by the owner. This warranty does notcover damage due to accident, careless handling, abuse or misuse, improper
connection and/or installation, improper electrical contact, charging or grounding. This
warranty will be null and void in the event of removal, alteration or tampering with theserial number, or by service or repair work not performed by Professional Sound
Corporation. Proof of purchase date (copy of invoice or Warranty Certificate) must be
furnished before warranty service will be performed. This warranty is in lieu of any otherwarranty, expressed or implied, including warranties without limitation, products being
merchantable at the time of purchase or suitable for a particular purpose. This warranty
does not extend to, or include consequential damage.

SPECIFICATIONS:
SIZE:

17.50” wide, 13.00”deep, 1.75” high (44.5cm x 33cm x 3.8cm)

WEIGHT:

13.8Lbs (6.27Kg)

TEMPURATURE RANGE:

Use: -4F to +124F (-20C to +50C)

AC INPUT:

100 – 240Vac, 47Hz -63Hz

OUTPUTS:2 x 8Amp, 8 x 3.5Amp

OUTPUT VOLTAGE:

12.8Vdc Nominal

OUTPUT CURRENT:On LiFE Battery, 25 Amps. AC only, 24 Amps

CHARGING TIME:

Typical Cart 1.5 hours, No Load (all equipment off) 1 hour

USB CHARGING PORT:

4 Ports, Total Output 5Vdc at 4 Amps

LiFE BATTERY CAPACITY:

12.8 Volts @ 20 Amp Hours (256 watts)

BATTERY CONNECTOR:

SpeakOn 2 Pole (Mating connector Neutrik NL2FC)

Warranty:

Electronics and Case, 1 year, LimitedLife cells, 6 Months, Limited

CE
DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY
EMC: This product is in compliance with the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive,
89/336/EEC as defined in EN 50081-1, EN55022 and EN 50082-1. IEC801-2, IEC8013 and IEC801-4.

LVD: This product is in compliance with the requirements of the Low Voltage Directive,
73/23/EEC. 93/68/EEC as defined in EN60065, 1993 and/or EN60950/A1/A2/A3: 1995

TRADE NAME:

PSC

MODEL:

Power Star LiFE Power Distribution SystemRESPONSIBLE PARTY:

Professional Sound Corp.
28085 Smyth Drive
Valencia, CA 91355 USA

CONTACT PERSON:

Ronald Meyer(661) 295-9395

TYPE OF PRODUCT:

Rechargeable Battery, Power Distribution

MANUFACTURER:

Professional Sound Corp.
28085 Smyth Drive
Valencia, CA 91355 USA

We hereby declare that the equipment bearing the trade name and model number listed
above has been tested in accordance with the requirements contained in the above listed
directives. All necessary steps have been taken and are in force to assure that
production units manufactured will conform to Directive guidelines.

October 2012

Professional Sound Corporation.