My charging setup, the planning and build

[murankar]

Last night I was up all night looking at components for my charging setup. So far I have a good start on what I want.

So for starters I am not going to worry about a third psu for now, also whikebi am at it I have decided on not adding the variable voltage as of right now. I can later on but for now no.

I have the PSUs all setup, just need to double check the floated PSU and make sure it is floated. I did it I know I did just want to be safe. I also read that I can load balance the dps-600pb PSUs. This good news because now I can run all the 12v stuff off one PSU and still balance out the load.

This will be somewhat out of order but its not imparitive.

I started working in Adobe illustrator laying out the case. I have three routes to go but I am only liking 2 of the options. 1) charged on top of the deck, advange is smaller case and that's it for me. 2) this option is a 15x15x7 inch box. This setup runs the PSUs on the sides and the charger in the middle under a deck. 3) this option is 13x11x7 both PSUs together running along the back and the charger either in the front right or left corner. Everything is under the deck. Right now I Like option three.

Inside the case I found a site that sells the loop side of Velcro. It is sold as fabric that can be custom cut to detention. This will line the lid and bottom of the case. I will be using locktight extra strong spray adhesive to attach this. The same site sells and adhesive backed hook material that can be applied to the PSUs and charger.

Cable management in the case will be either a small diameter PVC pipe with metal clamps and screwed to the side walls or wrapped in Velcro straps and stuck to the bottom of the case. I like the secid option but the first would give me a location for led lights later on. I still can run lights but it would be easier with the PVC inside.

Switch's and buttons, buttons please. I found a site that sells lighted bezel metal push button switches. These come in 12v and and 120v. So my plan is to have a switch for the main power going to the case, One for each PSU, one for the charger and one for case ventilation. If I count right that's four switches.

As for binding and such I will have two sets of binding spots, one for 12v and one for 24v. I will solder wires to my PSUs and use 1 bullet to connect the PSUs together. The charger will be bullet connected to the 24v side. I just had a thought while typing this. I will need to solder two sets of wire for the 24v side. Okay never mind I need to plan that part out more. Boy its better to plan then build eh!

I found last night a site that will custom cut acrylic to dimension for the buyer. I looked at 3/8 thick 14x12 inch piece for just over $11 USD. I want the smoke grey translucent. This will be the deck and my goal is to have it slide in and out so I can access the stuff below. Still need to solve how to lock it in cleanly. I don't want a whole bunch of stuff mucking up the exterior. I am thinking of screwing some ply to the acrylic so that it matches the side of the case. Using a licking device lock it in from the inside. Right now tha'ts all I got for that.


I have a wish list setup at hobbyking. This list should have all the misc. stuff in it for the build. All the wire, shrink tube, binding posts, ec5s and blah blah blah blah. I think I have a bunch of in needed stuff now that I found other sites with better options.

Almost forgot case cooling. I found on newegg a 24v PC case cooling fan. Made by cooler master and it is 120mm. I think that should be enough to keep air flow going in the box once its operational.

I will update this as I go. I hope to get some stuff ordered right after the new year.

------Resources ---------
Acrylic
http://www.tapplastics.com/product/plas ... colors/519

Button Switches 12V (COuld not post more than 5 urls but the 110v looks the same and is at the same site)
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_ ... cts_id=293

Velcro Loop
http://hookandloop.com/top-sellers/24-v ... loop-black

Velcro Hook Adhesive back
https://thesandingglove.com/Woodworking ... Sheets.asp

Fan (this is not the cooler master fan but it will fit the bill.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

[Tony]

Interesting build plan URI, look forward to seeing this progress. Like the Velcro idea holding things down, pretty future proof should you change things around..

[murankar]

Thank you Tony. I decided on that after looking at the prc hardliners and sidekick. If it works for them it should work for me.

[Derek]

Ya know....I'm a pretty good builder. I can build rc planes. I've built my own entertainment stand, medicine cabinets. I built a bookcase for my parents (8'x8'x18"....they love it). But I tell ya what....I just don't have the "know how" to build a charging station. I certainly commend those that know how to do that kind of work. Best of luck to you, Matthias!

[murankar]

I have been doing a lot of googling to find stuff. My knowledge is very little also. THats why I am planning right now. My illustrator file is really helping me visualize the final product. All see if I can post up what I have drawn up.

UPDATE TO DRAWING

chargeCaseLayout01.jpg (844.2 KiB) Viewed 3207 times

[murankar]

Question: can I run 12v off of the floated PSU?

[cml001]

Yep.

[murankar]

Thank you. That will open some options for balancing.

[murankar]

I have been playing with the layout more. I added the binding posts and cleaned up the wiring. I am thinking of moving the switches to the right side and have them stacked vertically. This will shorten a lot of wires and keep air flow maximized.

My next research topic is to figure out what needs to be done to remove the breakout board. If I do this I will loose the 12 pins in the back, dont know how I would setup the fan controller, and the on off switch plus the load balance pin.

[Graham Lawrie]

My Build was only made possible by the members Derek:) If i can do it you can:) Mattias, on my build and most you have the option to switch between 12V and 24:)

[murankar]

So Far I have seen only one pic of the ribbon cable. I am guessing that the ribbon cable is in the correct order. red stripe is pin one, next is pin two. so if I am thinking correctly i would just short out the correct wires on the cable.

[murankar]

pinout01.jpg (444.37 KiB) Viewed 3192 times

Here is the main DC power out posts. Left post is negative and right post is positive. That's where your binding posts will connect to.

pinout02.jpg (482.14 KiB) Viewed 3192 times

This is where the pins solder to. Here is the pin out for the 12 pins. The ribbon cable is plugged in to the socket located at the lower left corner of the picture. if you want to map it let me know and I will post a better picture. The top right through hole pins are the blue and purple wires shown later. The upper through hole is the blue (-12VDC) and the lower is purple (+5VDC)

10 11 12 (top row)
7 8 9
4 5 6
1 2 3 (bottom row)

pinout03.jpg (401.58 KiB) Viewed 3192 times

Blue is -12VDC

pinout04.jpg (507.98 KiB) Viewed 3192 times

Blue is -12VDC this traces to pin 5.
Purple is +5VDC and traces to pins 1-3

pinout05.jpg (326.55 KiB) Viewed 3192 times

This is the ribbon cable and the red stripe is pin 1. So if you count from left to right you get:

1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 (simple now we need to correlate these to the brake out pin out.

This is what I found on rc groups from Rchelijc

PIN ------------ Ribbon Wire
1----------------- +5VSB, not on ribbon wire
2----------------- +5VSB, not on ribbon wire
3----------------- +5VSB, not on ribbon wire
4----------------- 3 (Controls fan speed)
5----------------- -12V, not on ribbon wire
6----------------- 5 (PsKill)
7----------------- 6 (not sure what this one does)
8----------------- Ground, not on ribbon wire
9----------------- 8 (Voltage Adjust)
10---------------- 4 (PsOn)
11---------------- 9 (Current Share)
12---------------- 7 (not sure what this one does)

So to turn on the PSU based on the breakout board you would have to short pins 6 8 10 which if you look above that's the PsKill PsOn and Ground. So to turn on the psu you need ribbon cables 4 and 5 and the -12V Blue through whole wire. To trip the fan you will need ribbon cable 3 and the blue -12v wire. To current share from what I can tell is going to be ribbon cable 9 from both psus and solder them together.

[murankar]

Now for the dismantlement of the breakout board.

First remove the ribbon cable from the breakout board, remove the 2 screws in the plastic housing and the 2 posts on the main power board then remove the nut from the center of the board. At this point the board should come out with some minor effort.

Now to start clipping soldering and powering up. Cut off the black clip on the ribbon cable (the end that came off the break out board. Strip back wires 1 and 2. Solder these two wires together and secure to the JGRND post or fasten a wire end (i.e. a loop end or fork end) on it and secure to JGRND. Wires 3-5 needs extended so they can be messed with outside the PSU. Wire three will slow the fan, 4 and 5 are used to power on the unit with the -12V blue wire. I dont think it matters which DC ground you use just as long as the wires are grounded out.

After the wire work was done I plugged it in and metered the JGROUND and J12VOLT posts and read a wopping 12.* volts. I am now ready to add some binding posts and some wire to hook it up.

[Superbad]

WOW thats way to much work for me but looking good and be careful they do bite

[murankar]

The hard part is that damn ribbon cable. those wires are small and fragile. I had to do a 2 wire twist then solder so the weaker wire is supported by the stronger wire. Now I need to find some loop ends and 10G wire with ends also. I think I have some cable out in my tool box for wiring car amps. I know its at least 8G wire and should fit the bill.

[Superbad]

Dont use Automotive wire the strands are to thick not good do to few strand count
You will want to buy some hobby wire that have a lot thin strands and a good silicone covering

[murankar]

Did not know there was a difference in the stranding. Okay the wire on hand is a no go then. Almost time to place an order with PRC.com.

[murankar]

This went dead for a bit got busy and forgot to update.

Let's start with wires. I have been on the fence for a few days now as to what to use. I have found some 12g wet noodle wire which seems it may work but the gauge seems to small. I am also trying to find out if 8g is really needed for the PSU jumper wire. I have been reading on other forums of people using 8g just for this one spot. I know 10g will work for everything so I think I maybe just sticking with 10g for the entire build.

I got the ribbon cables extended to 1 foot. The joints are twisted and tapped to reduce strain on the lighter wire. I have also just picked up some crimp on quick connects and a single switch so I can play around with the hook up part. This switch is a dual illuminated switch (red for off and green for on. ). Its not the final switch but something cheap I can play with to see if it will work.

I also found something that I think may work for wire management. Its an isolated strip of connections. This could be used to create a central location for the ribbon cable extensions. I did not buy it yet because I have not thought it through yet.

20141209_115328.jpg (2.95 MiB) Viewed 3164 times

Now the case itself. For the time being I have decided on evicting the 120sr from its case. Its the same one Tony N. used for his case. This could be a good temporary solutulion to help with planning the real deal.

I have also decedied that 2 24v outputs should be adiquite for my setup. The goal is to have one internal for my charger and one external for a just in case. Now I would not run both at the same time due to the possible load but with what I have to charge I think 2 chargers at the same time could be feasible. I am also looking at 2 12v sets again as a just in case. My current charger would be able to be used on this setup.

That's where I ambat currently on this. Still more tinkering needs done.

[murankar]

I will be ordering some stuff for the charger case. I am going to be getting just a few small things. My intent is on 3 feet of red and 3 feet of black PRC 10 awg wire, 4 sets of prc ec3 connectors and shrink tube for the wire. I will hunt down some ring connectors locally for the wire. My next small purchase will be the modular parraell charge boards, I think. Maybe it will be the charger don't know yet will see what happens after the van is fixed.

[murankar]

I have been contemplating a battery bank for the van. That project is now on the way back burn in lieu of something more exciting. I dont want to say anything till I see if it will work. Should have most or all the parts sometime after march first.