project completed
Finished the build on my 100 amp supply last night. Tested it under load (my Kenwood TS430S) and everything works fine. All that is left to do now, is to dress up the wiring to the faceplate and get the 220 vac line cord I ordered from the HP distributor in Medellin. This was a fun project, and the result is that I now have a reliable, high-quality 100+ amp supply for less than $80 USD invested. Admittedly, many of the parts I used were scavenged from stuff I had laying around, but even after factoring this in, the total investment is only $120 or so.
As Robb pointed out, the BIG drawback with the HP supply is the fan noise. There are two 11,000 rpm turbo fans in these units, and when they're running it sounds like you're right under the approach to LA International. Removing them and mounting an external fan won't work because the supply won't power up without them. The only solution I can find is to mount a 10 ohm/2 watt resistor in the power lead to each fan. It's still noisy, but it's acceptable. If I had it to do over, I would use a 120 amp Dell EDGE supply that has output voltage up to 15.4, and external fan speed control.
Anyway, I started out with this:
And ... here's the final result:
I will post some pics of the inside as well as a wiring diagram on my user page album later this week. 73s, and thanks to everyone who posted info on this thread.
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