voltcraft vsp 2410 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2012, 06:02:28 pm
content: delivery man just arrived with the thing so quickly made some pics. the boy it arrived was 3 times the size of the unit. i didnt take it into pieces just the top cover as it was powered up to see if its working right, being a swtichmode there are some high voltage dc present on it. the main output fets are irfp460 2x2 there is another fet/or transistor is a hfa30p600c on each main output on a separate heatsink, the pfc fets i didnt see their top at all, the switcher ic is a tl494cn from on semi if i see the marking right, there is an st microelectronics lm324n, if you can see from the pictures the pfc controller marking then you can tell me what kind of controller, the aux/control circuits are using a real transformer i was surprised to see it the fet for the aux supply is unkown for me too cos there is an idiotic clip+silicon pad on top of it. i dont have an oscilloscope yet so i cant provide any noise or startup overshoot. i set the fluke 289 to peak capture set everything to max and switched on the supply, the fluke said 41 volts max so not a huge amount of being max output is 40.7volts on both main output. and now lets see the pictures i wont comment on them apart from the only fan cooling the 4 output heatsink, the other cools the pfc board. ohh and they are noisy so i will definetly replace themedit will post the pics when the forum wont give me an error message about that......(Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 94371840 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 4608 bytes) in /home/eevblog/public_html/forum/Sources/Subs-Graphics.php on line 412)

author: Baliszoft
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2012, 08:58:45 pm
content: 2x40V 10A?Wow.Btw the 0-6V output on my lower specced VSP died after a month of usage. I had to replace a transistor on the back heatsink, wokring ok since then.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 07:35:50 am
content: yeah its a nice unit for the price.i dont know in this unit the aux output transistor is mounted on a huge heatsink. not just 2x0-40v 10A it can be wtiched immediatly to parallel or tracking or series tracking so the total can be upto 0-80v 10A or 0-40V 20A!still getting that damn error when i try to upload the pics....

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 07:46:26 am
content: next

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 07:54:14 am
content: next

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 08:00:54 am
content: next

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 08:07:33 am
content: last pic

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 09:24:23 am
content: anyone have a suggestion how to make a good long lasting output swtich to the psu? the way i use it currently is to dial down both the current and value to "disconnect" the load i wonder if it can sustain inductive loads without modification

author: MartinX
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 08:48:43 pm
content: I have bought a couple of those supplies at work but we will not buy again, the quality control from the factory is non existent. One supply simply blew up when switched on, exciting smoke and light display, another had the voltage control pot to the 0-6V output connected in reverse, and the third one had some sort of issue with the current limit on one of the outputs, current limit stepped in as soon as there was a fast increase in current even if the max current never exceeded 1A. I suspect they just slap them together in the factory and send them out. Conrad was quick to replace the the faulty supplies so the support was OK and they are pretty decent to work with when they work.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 08:56:33 am
content: its fully working as i could test it. i already wrote the only problem i have with this, 1 of the damn sunon fans has some problems with the bearings.......yesterday i tested a bit without load just logging to pc the stability. in every hour approx 2-100mv decrase on each main output i guess due to the capacitance on the output but its not sensing the drop? i doubt 10mohm impedance on the fluke 289 would drain that amount of current on 4 volts. the aux output seems fairly stable due to its a transformer based linear. but what seems odd is the red banana sockets looks like draw a nice spark on testing. didnt seem it was used at all cos there was absolutly no dust inside, for the stability it would be possible to rig up an external 2.3volt reference? or could be all of the components drift as they warm up( it has external vref inputs on the back, for the pots even the fine adjusments steps sometimes in hundreds of milivolts, i found locally some burns 10 turn pots much cheaper then farnell prices. but i dont know the current value of the pots didnt take this apart to that level to measure it. well it will come along at the next month i will order some 8cm pc fans which i use in my pc too pretty high airflow and almost no noise and replace them, its mounted on the bottom of the chassis so i must take out the boards it will be a good opportunity to investigate more of the insides

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 09:37:33 am
content: Weird problem you have there, sunon is pretty high quality stuffSlightly louder than those "PC fans" but they last all the longer than the PC fansSo what i say is, don't install PC fans where commercial fans are supposed to go

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 01:10:38 pm
content: i have some sunon fan both 12v and 230v they are loud cos the high rpm but this one has some problem with the bearings. i agree on that commercial fans shouldnt be in "industrial equipments" but hell with it those arctic fans are better then this one in this unit higher airflow much quieter i dont know about the static pressure but thats for sure its not problem if different value not a really tight place. just noticed a weird thing on quit low current limiting value it blinks a led when the current limit almost zero below 50ma after that its fine i dont notice any weird behavioras for output switch whats is the most common on the higher end instruments? relays? fets? or the enable/disable function of the controller?

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 02:01:32 pm
content: Quote from: M. András on August 17, 2012, 01:10:38 pmUsually a fet. Or maybe a SCR?Relays shouldn't really be there, imagine switching 10 continous amps ... they won't survive easily if it's a mechanical oneHigh RPM fans like Sunon's are not very quiet but they have high static pressure thus slightly lower airflowunlike PC fans which are low static pressure and much higher airflow at the same RPM, well it matters for one, in PC's common arrangements are a bucketload of fans and loads of free space and in industrial equipment it's just 1 fan and being very crampedSo if you need to really get the heat out as quickly as possible the higher static pressure is a bonus since it can suck in air at a higher pressureHigher pressure = Smooth airflow, unlike PC fans which are very erratic so they cannot draw heat away effectively! Matters a lot in a 6632A/B ...PS: I hardly use PC fans but the 8$ PC fans i have does not even compare to my 5$ Industrial-type ( not PC! ) fan ... in terms of output because i am using them in a DC load of mine, i buy fans to evaluate them but the PC fans i bought i just use them for my living room desktopWell that also explains why ATX cases provide more cooling compared to uATX cases ( Not the quantity of fans, but more space assists lower static pressure )

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 03:58:27 pm
content: well i dont know if the fans run at max all the time or speed controller. but there are 2 sensor on each heatsink so maybe temp controlled fans, the whole thing has tons of free space big cutouts on the sides and the top edges, well i will buy some replacement sunons as well as the pc fans i use and let see, for a fet swich just a simple switch circuit with a heatsinked low rds fet or something special?

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 04:30:35 pm
content: Quote from: M. András on August 17, 2012, 03:58:27 pmWell a SSR can be fine and dandy too but yeah a fet MIGHT do. Depends.This is the easiest to hack in something, just make sure your fet is seriously low-ohmic (like 10mOhms) on a small-big heatsink depending on how much the mosfet might be wasting ( nope, brain not working for maths today, department closed )you can use my favourite IRF3205

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 05:12:36 pm
content: ok thx ssr arent for ac only?refering to the zero crossing switch capability.btw what kind of device has negative tempco what can be used as refence source??? i hooked up the multimeter to its reference output connector at the back its slowly going down approx 0.1mv/1min btw it says 2.3volts max for the ref input, now its 2,09volts and while it stay around this number the max output is 40.7 volts so i gonna try to rig up a high acc+stability external refence for this lets eee how it will work after it. i love things what i buy for big money and you must spend more to correct some minor issuesedit: something is still off the ref voltage stabilized after 10 minutes but initially it went down approx 5milivolts

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2012, 05:25:39 pm
content: took it a bit apart to find a way to replace the fans they are fortunatly bolted onto a the chassis from below via a little metal bracket, looks like there is 2 10k pots wired in series or i dont know, measured on the coarse pot 8.5k if the fine is way up approx 16k if the fine is up only the same 8.5k i could read the 10k marking on the fine pot and the coarse is buried deep under a front pcb which is hardly accessible without removing the wiring harnesses 2 screw helds it in place and the opposite side there is a heatsink which prevents even my smallest screwdriver to get in the place. i should get a 10k 10 turn pot or a 20k? i cant figure it out how it is acually wired. the outputs have 1-1 ceramic cap between the 2 terminals and earth. there is 3 20amps relay on the top pcb and they looks like couple somehow the outputs there is 1-1 secondary wire going to it from the main pcb on each side

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2012, 05:39:43 pm
content: can anyone help me out? took this thing even further apart to replace the fans now i could acces the lower pcb there is a small smd device on it connected to the current set switch, cant read the numbers on it too small and pretty faded, now there is a 10k linear pot on the pcb for fine voltage control 2 of the terminals shorted together, the coarse pot is a 100k linear 2 terminals shorted together too the pots are in parallel but its connected together somewhere on the main pcb current controls are a 10k coarse and 1k fine same config, now i want to replace these pairs with a single10 pot each what should be the value of the replacement pots?, another intresting the lcd modules has jumper pads for selecting range and function now its a 40v unit and both of the display are shorted at the 20v markings the current range is shorted at the 10a mark as it should be little solder bridges, counted atleast 5 missing 2.54mm pitch 2 pin connectors and 2x10pin saving few cents for them and more effort to solder the wires down

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2012, 07:51:12 pm
content: 100k for the voltage and 10k for the current. You may lose a little at the top end unless you can recalibrate the unit.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2012, 08:38:52 pm
content: it wont upset the functions of the unit? the current value as i measured last time on the voltage side is around 16k both pots at max. i will try atleast i can get the 100/10k 10 turn bourns cheaply locally, as for recalibration there is big black around 6-8mm round trimpot for voltage and a small blue for current adjustment not far from the tl494, there are 2 well marked on the display and another near the shunt which isnt marked but glued, there is a connection from on the fine adjustment pot to the current set switch i think i will just rewire it to the 100k pot then, thanks for the reply. i will post pictures at morningas for the construction for the unit a little deeper, full of bodges 2 high current diodes on top of eachother resistor soldered to single headers then to wires atleast its fully working out of the box without deadly qc issues 1 of the sunon fans "ee80251s1" sounds like a dead bearing but when i cut their wires and gave them 10volts they ran perfectly and blown the air all way my desk but i will replace them just for sure they have vapo/ball and slevee bearings which is better? this one is a slevee bearing.the 2 pin headers has some molex 2510 markings atleast the google gave this for the 2510 number locally i can buy some goldstar connectors co ltd made headers and housing exactly same as the molex i guess they will work just fine. i will buy some and use them pretty cheap so not a wasted money if i cant use it in this psu modding

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2012, 09:50:31 pm
content: True ball bearing will last a lot longer than the sleeve bearing. You can oil the sleeves if they are not too worn, works well if easy to get to the back but hard to remove fan, as you pop out the rubber bung and place a drop or two of oil in there and close it again.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2012, 09:22:25 am
content: on the pot there is a purple wire which goes back to the pcb,the red+black twisted wire goes to 2 jumper link near the lm336 and the 12volt regulatorpink+brown wires are the current sense wires brown is from the main pcb and the pink goes to the lcdshort black wire from the fine adjust pot goes to the switch next to the purple connection which has a short pcb connection