official GDIY51PSU Help & Support Thread

[zayance]

Hi Rob,

You're talking about the rotary red switch seen on the 51X official PSU right?
IF yes, i've used this one for some other build, and in OFF you shouldn't see any little illumination...
But this reminds me of those Mains strip with ON/OFF, that will have a little blink even when off.
Sounds like a bad switch to me, can you use another one that you have around just to be sure?
Maybe it breaks the contact on a continuity check, but leaks at some point in there...

 

[rob61]

Mine does that too. I figured it was a feature of the switch, never suspected anything so I never measured voltages when it was switched off.

 

[rob_gould]

Hmm thanks for the answer Zayance.

I am not that happy about the rack still being powered at a reduced voltage even when the power switch is off.  I think I'll order another switch.

 

[mulletchuck]

My switch is slightly illuminated when powered off.  I have power strips around my house that do the same thing.  It shows that AC voltage is live at the outlet, tho off in the circuit.  It also shows how much my house's power grid fluctuates via how much the light flickers.  When i put the switch into the 'on' position, it lights up nice and bright.      Both of my 51x PSUs do this. 

 

[rob_gould]

For anyone's who's interested, Sahib recommended that I swap the live and neutral wires round on the switch, and voila!  The switch is now off when it's off, and lit when it's on.

 

[Winetree]

Just knocked another one out.

 

[kante1603]

Congrats!That's a lot of juice to drive your racks-I know what I'm talking about ;D

Cheers,

Udo.

 

[Winetree]

These plus 2 single rack P.S.'s.  6 Racks.
One in Main Studio C.R., Media Room, and a rolling 4 rack.

 

[[silent:arts]]

Cool 8) 8) 8)

 

[Toure14]

Hello All,

after hounding Jeff about where I could find a rack mount PSU for my needs I finally ran across this thread. Udo your build is exactly what I'm looking for. Would you mind sharing your B.O.M., case source, and FPD file so that I may build your version of this PSU with my own color scheme?

Thanks

 

[kante1603]

Hello All,

after hounding Jeff about where I could find a rack mount PSU for my needs I finally ran across this thread. Udo your build is exactly what I'm looking for. Would you mind sharing your B.O.M., case source, and FPD file so that I may build your version of this PSU with my own color scheme?

Thanks

Hello,not much to share:

1.:I don´t have a BOM,all based on Volker´s pcb (Rev 02),his schematics and the parts overlay,you can find all info on top of page one here in the thread.Transformers are Rondo-Mueller from Volker,frontpanel is made by Frank at NRG-Recording.
The mains switches are somewhat special,I liked them for their industrial look and feel,like this one:

http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/706646/BACO-Knebelschalter-223-mm-223501-Ein-Ausschalter

2.:The case is from italy,a modushop "Pesante Dissipante",400mm depth.Look here:

http://www.modushop.biz/ecommerce/cat076_l2.php?n=1

I used an additional inner pierced base and round handles,you can find them in the spare parts list on the left (scroll down).

3.:The fpd-file....hmmmm...don´t know how to share it here.....maybe someone can chime in?
Also you might need to modify it due to the mains switches,fuseholders etc.....and my name,hahahaha........ ;D

Don´t know where you are located,you should modify your profile,often helps a lot.

I´m about to finish my second one at the moment,identical to my first with slight "improvements",will post it here around the weekend.

Cheers,

Udo.

 

[kante1603]

Ooooopsssss....(i did it again)

 

[kante1603]

....and another one....

Edit:Thanks to Volker for the excellent pcbs and outstanding transformers,thanks to Frank @ NRG Recording for the frontpanel-again of course!

Best,

Udo

 

[kante1603]

And now for something completely different (M.Python).

The guts ;D

This time I made some minor changes like changing the engraved year of build ( ;D ;D ;D),did colour coding throughout,all wires 0,75mm (except of the led ground/0vdc).
I used spring loaded connection boxes (is that the right word for "Federkraftklemme" in german?),it´s now super-easy to service.
Mounted them on 2 layers of perfoboard each to give it extra stability when screwing them to the hex standoffs.
Here´s a detailed pic of them:



The led and mains switches,closer view:



And finally-not unimportant-the safety ground/earth-star:



The unit again worked from start without issues,same as my first one last year.

That´s it,thanks for watching,

Udo.

 

[tgs]

Some trouble with my PSU here!

I just finished building a VP312DI. Installed it, accidentally ran 24V into the DOA (yeah, I know...). The +24V LED on the PSU went off. Switched both DI and DOA to 16V to see if it would still be running on 16V. This time the -16V LED went off. So something is not right with the preamp but that's for later troubleshooting.

Opened the PSU and the -16V fuse was broken so I changed it. The +24V fuse was NOT broken though. Don't really know what I managed to do here.

This is the first time I plug in a 24V pre so maybe I've done something wrong when building the PSU. Still, I measured on the rails after building it and it measured +24V just fine.

Any ideas what I could do next. I'm quite a novice so I'm a bit lost at the moment...

 

[kante1603]

Some trouble with my PSU here!

I just finished building a VP312DI. Installed it, accidentally ran 24V into the DOA (yeah, I know...). The +24V LED on the PSU went off. Switched both DI and DOA to 16V to see if it would still be running on 16V. This time the -16V LED went off. So something is not right with the preamp but that's for later troubleshooting.

Don´t know this build,but looks like maybe a fried DOA,this can be discussed over in the other thread.
First:
Don´t connect anything to that PSU at the moment,it´s seems not to be save.
Btw.,which psu is it (floorbox?).

Opened the PSU and the -16V fuse was broken so I changed it. The +24V fuse was NOT broken though. Don't really know what I managed to do here.

This is the first time I plug in a 24V pre so maybe I've done something wrong when building the PSU. Still, I measured on the rails after building it and it measured +24V just fine.

Any ideas what I could do next. I'm quite a novice so I'm a bit lost at the moment...

The fuse for 16vdc blowing indicates an overcurrent,so it is easy to fix.What makes me confused the the 24v-thing......."self-healing" is a sign for something not being in a defined status.Check the led and the wiring for cold solder joints,move the wires inside without anything attached (I mean really nothing,even not the 7pin cable!).Watch if the led flickers-and be carefull!
Measure your voltages as usual,look for changes.
Next connect the 7pin cable and the empty(!).rack,it is an 51x rack,no?
Now measure at the edac connectors and see if there´s a change while moving the 7pin cable.We know it is a tight fit inside,you might have had a temporary short there.
Also check the edacs if they´re really clean,a bit of cut-off wire from soldering can cause such an issue.

Now,what have you found?

Good luck,

Udo.

P.S.:An extension cable is a very good investment if you´re about to do more vpr or 51x stuff btw.....

 

[Toure14]

Udo,

How do you order from the Italy shop where you got the case if you live in the USA?

 

[kante1603]

Udo,

How do you order from the Italy shop where you got the case if you live in the USA?

Hi,

register and order,but be aware the shipping costs will be quite high,in your case for a Pesante Dissipante +inner drilled base + round handles (2ru) it will be around 52-60 Euros (or 70 to 80 USD at the moment),weight is roughly 8 kilograms.
Look here:
http://www.modushop.biz/ecommerce/cond_l2.php

Better source one at your local stores,you can get nice heatsinks everywhere.
Mustn't be exactly as mine,no?
Lots of ways to build them,you should try some google search,I'm sure you will find your case easily.

But if you really want that modushop case then do it,I can send the fpd file for the front panel to you,it has the important system drill holes etc. fitting exactly this model.

Best,

Udo.

P.S.:Overall weight of a single unit (mine) is 13kg!!!-A monster,but I love this style built like a tank and tourproof..........and one can drive - given the 24 & 16vdc rails properly shared- four 51x racks or 44 single slot modules,not bad,hahaha.........

 

[tgs]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll start checking this as soon as I can. I don't have it here at home unfortunately. But just a bit more info before I get into it:

Don´t know this build,but looks like maybe a fried DOA,this can be discussed over in the other thread.
First:
Don´t connect anything to that PSU at the moment,it´s seems not to be save.
Btw.,which psu is it (floorbox?).

Yes, I'll tend to the DOA once I have the PSU sorted. It's the Floorbox PSU.

The fuse for 16vdc blowing indicates an overcurrent,so it is easy to fix.What makes me confused the the 24v-thing......."self-healing" is a sign for something not being in a defined status.Check the led and the wiring for cold solder joints,move the wires inside without anything attached (I mean really nothing,even not the 7pin cable!).Watch if the led flickers-and be carefull!
Measure your voltages as usual,look for changes.
Next connect the 7pin cable and the empty(!).rack,it is an 51x rack,no?
Now measure at the edac connectors and see if there´s a change while moving the 7pin cable.We know it is a tight fit inside,you might have had a temporary short there.
Also check the edacs if they´re really clean,a bit of cut-off wire from soldering can cause such an issue.

51X rack, yes.

What do you mean with self-heal? Perhaps I wasn't clear: after the +24V went off, it's been off all the time, it didn't come back on.
Right before it happened I had two pres in the case, running at 16V. I then switched the PSU off, inserted the new pre, switched power on and the +24V died. Didn't move the case or cable or anything. After that I unplugged the 7 pin cable, measured on the +24V and got a 0 reading.

But I can detach the cable as well on the PSU side and see what happens.

P.S.:An extension cable is a very good investment if you´re about to do more vpr or 51x stuff btw.....

I'm definitely looking into that. I found one at JLM after a tip here but the shipping costs the same as the cable. Is there anywhere else I can get one, perhaps somewhere in Europe?

 

[tgs]

One more thing: I should get some extra fuses for this experimentation. I can't find any fast-blowing 1.5A fuses here though, only 1.6A. Will that still be ok?