Server Power Supply Conversion Cheap

[Happy_Hamer]

So I seen on another site a guy selling a Server Power Supply converted for radio. He is getting $60, not bad for a 47 amp power supply.

With a little help from Google;

You guys want an affordable 12.5V 47A capable power supply to power your radio?

The model number is power supply in question is 321632-001, DPS-600PB HP 575W Power Supply Proliant DL380 G4. All over eBay CHEAP!

All you need to do for the PSU to "Turn on", is short 3 connectors. Basically two hot wires to ground. No load resistor is needed.
When you look at the back of the PSU, you'll find 4 blade plugs. The two on the left are ground and the other two on the right positive. In between the blade plugs, you'll find a set of 12 pin connectors. You'll see a pin that is shorter than the rest, which I call pin 6.

1 2 3
4 5 6<---short pin
7 8 9
10 11 12

Connect 6 and 10 to 8(ground). Note that the PSU fan will turn on when you connect it to the AC line. The fan will speed up, once you short the 3 pins together. I opted for plugs to the pins, but you can use a switch instead.

Solder your power wires to the blade pins and have fun

I "borrowed" images from the articles as people became more creative wth the power leads or connections

 

[eagle1911]

GREAT post. I've got a few server supplies at home right now.. they work great! You won't find many cheaper sources of clean amperage.. server supplies are specifically designed for extreme regulation and very high reliability.

 

[Happy_Hamer]

few more pics

 

[Happy_Hamer]

There is also a guy who figured out how to increase the voltage. 13.6 volts the power supply would shut down, so he found out how to get 13.2 volts

He did a few different mods so I will post them all and you decide what works for you.

Little update on boosting the output for those interested. I ended up using a couple of resistors to make the voltage divider instead of a diode; a 210 ohm and 20 ohm. This gets me ~13.2v. I was able to get to 13.6v, but the supply sometimes wouldn't turn on or stay on. 13.5v worked fine, but I brought it down to 13.2v just for a little extra wiggle room.


First, the stock power daughter board. There is a blue and purple wire which I cut. One is a 5v line, the other is a -12v line.

Then, I cut away where the 5v and -12v lines were to make room to run the wires for the voltage booster resistors. I soldered pins 6 and 10 directly to ground to turn the PS on. Even when these aren't connected, the PS is on somewhat so I figured I'd just hardwire them and use the mains plug as a power switch. I then soldered wires to a ground point, +12v point, and to pin 5 (v adjust pin).

On the other side of the daughter board, I attached those three wires to the resistors and hotglued the resistor pack to the PCB. I did have to remove the bolt lug from the case so the resistors would fit.

Here is a simple schematic to show how to arrange the resistors. The power ratings of the resistors, especially the 210 ohm one, should be 2w or more.

As you can see, I soldered the binding posts directly to the blade plugs. The soldering job is good, it just looks crappy because as I soldered one side, it would drip down. Since the pins themselves weren't being used, I ground them all down.

Here is another pic showing what I know of the pins:

 

[Happy_Hamer]

Continued on,,,,,,,,

Another little update for this little PS unit.

I got another one of these and was doing my voltage boost mod when I accidentally discovered the ground connection for the sense/feedback circuit is not even needed. After doing some more playing around, a 1.5k ohm resistor between the main 12v terminal and pin 5 is all that is needed to boost the output to 13.2v.

BTW, the max voltage you can get out of this is around 13.5v. At 13.6v, the PS shuts down.

Also, for those that think the fan is a bit loud on 12v: If you run this PS at 25A or more for extended periods (>1/2 hour), the air coming out the back is pretty toasty. I figure even if this unit is 90% efficient, 35A @ 13.2v is 528w which will produce 53w of heat. That's quite a bit, so if you do turn down the fan, I wouldn't go too far.

 

[office888]

How's the RF hash?

 

[TonyV225]

How's the RF hash?

Thats what I am wondering also.

 

[Happy_Hamer]

According to those who use it on ham radio it is clean, no noise, heck, for $25 ish dollars it's worth a try

 

[Happy_Hamer]

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?313064-12-volt-47-amp-power-supply

 

[office888]

According to those who use it on ham radio it is clean, no noise, heck, for $25 ish dollars it's worth a try

I shall remain skeptic but for the price, they seem like an excellent investment.

 

[Happy_Hamer]

Well if anyone makes one, post the pictures here of your project

 

[ElectronTubesRule]

I use a Samlex 1235 you can read a review by a very competent Ham that put it through a battery of tests here. http://www.radiodan.com/pdf/SEC1235M_Review.pdf

I bought mine a little more then 5 years ago for $89 shipped to my home. Mine does not have the meter's though. It is super quite never have I had noise with it at all that was picked up on receive or transmit and I know a lot of guys I turned on to it all those years ago that use it to power various amateur gear from HF to 2m gear.

The price has gone up a lot over the last 5 years but I know for a fact it is quite and runs like a Timex......It is tiny and is very quite. If they still sell the model with out the meter's it is more compact and disappears in a shelf or table top much easier. I have never been one for meter's on my power supplies they really do not tell you anything you need to know that you cannot learn with a multi-meter should you need the info.

 

[Jacob Goakes]

i need serious help i bought a bunch of these power supplys but i cant figure out how to turn them on can any one help the pin outs are in the picture

 

[MicroWave]

I need serious help, I bought a bunch of these power supplies, but I can't figure out how to turn them on. Can anyone help, the pin outs are in the picture?

These power supplies are not suitable for HAM radio. At best, they can be used for mobile CB radios in stationary mode. Even in a modified state, these devices can't deliver more than 13.5 VDC and that would not be enough for the full output power.

I am not familiar with the product, but I would first check which pins are connected to ground and then check all pins for their respective voltage. In my understanding, 1S should be connected to one of these grounded pins together with another one to turn it on.

 

[711]

Dell server , current shunt is only a 100 amp and I don’t have anything bigger but for under $100 I can’t complain