Two Astrons 70's

[glnelso]

Someone told me you that it is possible to connect two Astron 70's together for running an amp that will draw 110 amps. Can anyone confirm that? And do I need any special connectors? I already have one and thought it may be the way to go.
Thanks
Gage

 

[mackmobile43]

Someone told me you that it is possible to connect two Astron 70's together for running an amp that will draw 110 amps. Can anyone confirm that? And do I need any special connectors? I already have one and thought it may be the way to go.
Thanks
Gage

Yes you can, sit one one top of the other and connect positives and negatives and you're set to go but what's gonna happen is the the ps with the lowest output will dictate the total output so you probably won't see double the amp output but it should be close and as far as connectors just use what the supply calls for from the power supplies to the device.

 

[glnelso]

Thanks

Cool, thank you.
Will I be able to determine my total amps used by checking both meters? Or will that number be compromised with that set up?

 

[dudmuck]

Someone told me you that it is possible to connect two Astron 70's together for running an amp that will draw 110 amps. Can anyone confirm that? And do I need any special connectors? I already have one and thought it may be the way to go.
Thanks
Gage

The voltage regulators in those things arent designed for current sharing.
The power supply with higher voltage output will dominate until it hits current limit.

You have two options:

1) if you run class C amp: you can simply not use regulation, get the power straight off the huge capacitors, which is before the regulator. Paralleling two power supplies are possible if both supplies have identical transformers and bridge rectifiers. Cannot use this on radio because its unregulated = high voltage at no load.

2) split the power feed on the amplifier.
Example: if you have a 4-pill amp, you could power two pills from one supply, and the other two from another power supply. DC feed in amplifier would need to be re-wired to isolate the connections. Both power supplies must be enabled/disabled together or you'll burn up the amp.

this is why tube amps are used for base-station

 

[mackmobile43]

The voltage regulators in those things arent designed for current sharing.
The power supply with higher voltage output will dominate until it hits current limit.

You have two options:

1) if you run class C amp: you can simply not use regulation, get the power straight off the huge capacitors, which is before the regulator. Paralleling two power supplies are possible if both supplies have identical transformers and bridge rectifiers. Cannot use this on radio because its unregulated = high voltage at no load.

2) split the power feed on the amplifier.
Example: if you have a 4-pill amp, you could power two pills from one supply, and the other two from another power supply. DC feed in amplifier would need to be re-wired to isolate the connections. Both power supplies must be enabled/disabled together or you'll burn up the amp.

this is why tube amps are used for base-station

Then what will he do when the imbalance caused by powering 2 different amp stages that are combined with different voltages and current draws?

Maybe he'll have to buy a balance resistor that will carry the imbalance after determining what the imbalance is.

 

[295]

The voltage regulators in those things arent designed for current sharing.
The power supply with higher voltage output will dominate until it hits current limit.[/b]

Actually, my Astrons VS-70M has a special lug connector on the back to facillitate hooking up two of the big supplies in parallel, but I am not sure how it works. I would place a call to Astron and ask them about it...949-458-7277.

I know that some dealers advertise the ability to parallel the Astron supplies.

73

 

[glnelso]

Thanks all

Thanks 295, sounds like a smart thing to do.
G

 

[DoctorMaster]

This is true, Astron actually comes with a "load sharing" feature, which causes their voltage to be equal, for near perfect load sharing. It is the spring connection, where you put the wire between both power supplys

 

[glnelso]

Thanjks

I see it on the back of the unit.
I'm attempting to run a Texas Star (90-00287 Texas Star DX 1000V Mobile) and only have one Astron 70 at this time. Anyone know off hand how many amp that DX1000 will draw?

Thanks again,
Gage

 

[Beetle]

I see it on the back of the unit.
I'm attempting to run a Texas Star (90-00287 Texas Star DX 1000V Mobile) and only have one Astron 70 at this time. Anyone know off hand how many amp that DX1000 will draw?

Thanks again,
Gage

It'll pull a whole lot more current than what a single 70 amp supply can provide. Use Google to find the service and technical information. You could try driving it with just a couple watts, but I wouldn't go much over that. The power supply won't; that's for sure.

 

[EDUK8TR]

Actually, my Astrons VS-70M has a special lug connector on the back to facillitate hooking up two of the big supplies in parallel, but I am not sure how it works. I would place a call to Astron and ask them about it...949-458-7277.

I know that some dealers advertise the ability to parallel the Astron supplies.

73

Correct about the above. I used to run three 50 amp Astrons to a solid state amp. The special lug on the back goes to circuitry that is designed specifically for running these PSs together. The wire you run from one PS to the other is a link between them. You do not take power from this link. You use the main power lugs to hook up your equipment. Also when hooking up, take the + from one PS and the - from the other this was suggested to me from one of the Tech's at Astron.

73