Tired of AC bricks? Try the DCBuddy

[Minifoot77]

Let me guess, MP60wQD? That’s one model I don’t have.

Yes, 32V will work just fine - all ports will be at 32V. The trick is sourcing a 32V supply - both 30V and 36V are common, 32 much less so.

This can be done with an adjustable Meanwell, but will need a cable adapter for the bare-wire power supplies. I have one planned but not ready yet. Stay tuned.

I'm in for a 36v one too...

 

[MikeTheNewbie]

My vortechs say they are 32v not 24v, unless im missing something can the dcbuddy support 32v ?

MP40s also use 32v I attached a pic of one of the original power supplies that came with it.

When you said 4 ports (24-36v) and 3x12v I assumed the 4 ports would just pass whatever input voltage you have and that it would step down from any voltage between 24 and 36 to 12v. Did I get that right?

 

[theatrus]

MP40s also use 32v I attached a pic of one of the original power supplies that came with it.

When you said 4 ports (24-36v) and 3x12v I assumed the 4 ports would just pass whatever input voltage you have and that it would step down from any voltage between 24 and 36 to 12v. Did I get that right?

Well... f me.

This sent me down an interesting rabbit hole.

Original MP40s were 24V. When the QD upgrade happened, they did switch to a 32V supply for more motor torque at peak speeds. And who was running their MP40wQDs with a 24V supply for the last 4+ years? Me. Does it work? Apparently yes! Am I missing out on performance at 100%? Probably

Cracked open a new spare MP40wQD box and it is indeed 32V. MP10wQDs new in box are 24V. I don't have an MP60.

The good news is 32V is totally doable (the DCBuddy is designed for max operating at 40V). The peak current is lower which is also good.

The annoying news is it's a change to the DC adapter to a Meanwell HLG-240-30A (turned up to 32V), but also still doable, just needs a cable adapter. The more annoying news is you can't also throw a bunch of 24V pumps on your 32V bus. Couldn't they have just went straight to 36V? Why pick such an odd voltage?

Working on supplying the right adapter for 32V operation. And an HLG which is "plug in ready". Not a hard thing, just a few parts.

When you said 4 ports (24-36v) and 3x12v I assumed the 4 ports would just pass whatever input voltage you have and that it would step down from any voltage between 24 and 36 to 12v. Did I get that right?

Correct. The ports right now are all pass-through. In the 12V split model, the 3 12V ports are always 12V, from 12V-40V input.

 

[theatrus]

Looks like things are go for the 32V supply - made and ordered a quick adapter for allowing two wire/bare wire inputs, giving a lot of supply flexibility and more importantly a clean way to connect the Meanwell HLG-240H-30A (32V capable) supply.

I wanted to avoid this series of power supply as the power cord and output side need user supplied terminations, but my hand has been forced by the magnetically coupled propeller pump cartel, and I will attach the needed cords as penance.

If this ever generates enough volume, you can custom order different cable ends from Meanwell. In this open beta phase, the adapter will work nicely.

I've also made a quick change to the "Split" supply DCBuddy (4/3 split) which I'm ordering first articles soon. The 4 outlets will continue to operate on input voltage, but the three bonus outlets can be either ordered with 12V or 24V outlet voltage (5A max total across all 3). Perfect for that "just one extra 24V device" in a sea of VorTechs.

 

[MikeTheNewbie]

magnetically coupled propeller pump cartel

lol

 

[Vested]

Looks like things are go for the 32V supply - made and ordered a quick adapter for allowing two wire/bare wire inputs, giving a lot of supply flexibility and more importantly a clean way to connect the Meanwell HLG-240H-30A (32V capable) supply.

I wanted to avoid this series of power supply as the power cord and output side need user supplied terminations, but my hand has been forced by the magnetically coupled propeller pump cartel, and I will attach the needed cords as penance.

If this ever generates enough volume, you can custom order different cable ends from Meanwell. In this open beta phase, the adapter will work nicely.

I've also made a quick change to the "Split" supply DCBuddy (4/3 split) which I'm ordering first articles soon. The 4 outlets will continue to operate on input voltage, but the three bonus outlets can be either ordered with 12V or 24V outlet voltage (5A max total across all 3). Perfect for that "just one extra 24V device" in a sea of VorTechs.

Thats awesome thank you for getting into it, propeller pump cartel has to make sure its as hard as possible to replace things so people just get them directly

 

[Mattiejay6]

Would we be able to expand and add a second DC buddy/daisy chain?

 

[Harpo]

When will the mean well power supply be available ?

 

[theatrus]

Would we be able to expand and add a second DC buddy/daisy chain?

Yes, to a limit right now. The 8 pin molex connector will let you daisy chain two units off of one supply fed by the DIN-4 power input. You're still running at the limit of the 200W supply, but if your loads are light its totally possible.

A hub module (bunch of connectors to send to DCBuddy's, two inputs, maybe some voltage converters) is on the roadmap. Targeting this at cases that also want 36V and a bunch of 32V/24V.

 

[theatrus]

When will the mean well power supply be available ?

For the 32V: supplies are enroute, and the adapter connector board should land early next week. Its a "dumb" product consisting of two connectors so there isn't much to validate, so end of next week at the latest.

 

[KrisReef]

I just read a free copy of a book about America leading up to the Declaration of Independence and war. This thread has so many parallel circuits?

magnetically coupled propeller pump cartel VS REefVolting.

The fight to avoid unnecessary taxes and enjoy freedom from redundant bricks.

America is still the land of Freedom.

( I have no idea where the clip/gif came from. I pray it's not offensive in context?)

 

[Mattiejay6]

love it! look awesome! im def interested!

Would there be an issue going with a bigger power brick from jump street in anticipation of adding another reef buddy? Im thinking one 24v bar and on 24/12v. Do you think youll have the expansion cables with the second release?

 

[theatrus]

love it! look awesome! im def interested!

Would there be an issue going with a bigger power brick from jump street in anticipation of adding another reef buddy? Im thinking one 24v bar and on 24/12v. Do you think youll have the expansion cables with the second release?

No harm in a bigger supply - target one of the 400W+ models, perhaps a HLG-480H-24A.

The cable adapter is for bare wire, into a terminal block, to the Molex 8-pin cable. I expect to have one with > 1 output soon, though the quick one I ordered only had one cable output. The larger sealed Meanwell supplies sadly don't come stock with the AC plug attached. You can grab a utility NEMA 5-15P cord and some wire nuts and tape, or some butt-splices and heat shrink (what I'm planning for with the 32V supply).

 

[theatrus]

Ok, some new updates:

I spent parts of yesterday testing the CANbus interface which is brought out on the 8-pin Molex Micro-Fit connector along with power. I of course did the "obvious" thing and just plugged two DCBuddy's I was using for testing together ... and that didn't go well. The CAN transceiver decided to loudly blow a bit out of its top and then drag down the 3.3V rail, stopping the ESP32.

Why? Well, its multi-faceted, and sometimes topology eludes us. First lets look at the cable pinout - the cables from Molex are wired "straight through". So, for example, a hypothetical two pin cable (we were using 8, 4 per row).

1 -------- 1
2 -------- 2

Great, except, what happens when the pinout on the connector is the same on two units? Lets twist the cable down and make an example:

------- Cable 1 Port 1
| |--- Cable 2 Port 2
| |
| | --- Cable 2 Port 1
---------Cable 1 Port 2

Oops. And a dumb mistake. The type of mistake I'm bound to make

This is problem one - three of the pairs on the 8 pin were power/ground, and two were CANH/CANL. This meant I shoved 24V/GND across CANH/CANL on both ends.

Problem two is the fault tolerance of the CAN transceiver. They often are designed to survive this variety of mess up - worse things happen all the time in automotive. However, the part used only could survive to about +14V. And I powered right up at 24V. It did not survive. Worse it killed things downstream.

Problem three is even if the CAN transceiver would survive, its not going to work with this cable. This means you need different flavors of cables or each end of the unit needs a swapped polarity. This is a nightmare to deal with two sets of ports or cables or vice versa. Mistakes will be made and thats not cool. If a cable fits, people will plug it in. And a loud pop as your transceiver ejects a small part of its case is not a good response to that failure.

So, what do we do?

Step 1 is move to a symmetrical cable layout, which requires either going to 6 pin or 10 pin - the left/right handedness of the center pins is always the same, as is the top/bottom polarity. I opted for the 10 pin (more amps, more better). So now the pinout is Ground on the bottom, +V on the top row, and the center two pins are CANH/CANL. Now all the cables are polarity independent!

Step 2 is move to a hardier CAN transceiver. Easy swap, the pinouts are all the same.

So, what does this mean for the project?

I'm going to use the existing units I have for further testing and general abuse, but order another set with the 10 pin connector (and other small revisions I already hand-applied to the stable of units). This also changes the case slightly (I have to move a screw boss and a wider cutout, nothing huge). This also means a +1-2 week delay on the first units being available. My apologies, its for the best. This doesn't change the timeline for the Split or the 32V input (though I need to order a new adapter board).

Also, you may ask, why is there a CAN transceiver in the first place? For automation, especially with a battery backup. The DCBuddy needs "on-battery" information in order to switch different ports on and enact different policies. And more controller functionality could be built on top of it. And when you have no power, its also likely using the WiFi connection to orchestrate that is not going to work, so you need a reliable path.

 

[Mattiejay6]

fun to follow the progress and learn along the way! thank you for the update!

 

[Mattiejay6]

================================
Important Information

- Documentation site: https://reefvolt.com/

- Documentation and open hardware/firmware files are on GitHub:

GitHub - blueacro/reefvolt-dcbuddy: Various DC power accessories for the aquarium market

Various DC power accessories for the aquarium market - blueacro/reefvolt-dcbuddy

github.com

- Ready to use boards are now in early access! DM me for details.

- Latest update:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tired-of-ac-bricks-try-the-dcbuddy.1009642/post-12509646

================================
Start of the development blog! See above for quick links ^^^
================================

I'm building out a nano aquarium and my under-stand real estate is sparse. One of the big contributors to bloat is the infinite numbers of AC/DC bricks which come with every device (and most devices are now DC powered). All the Vortechs have one. The skimmer DC pump has one. The top-off pump has one. The list goes on. You're swimming in AC outlets and cords and bricks and cable management nightmares...

You could just use one power brick, but you risk losing everything if that brick fails. And you still will have different devices at different voltages. And you don't want one bad device to take down everything...

Enter the DCBuddy!

I whipped up the DCBuddy to solve my problems of:

- Accepting 2 power supplies in and use an Ideal-Diode OR to use both supplies. Input is barrel jack, DIN-4 (see: Meanwell OWA-120U-24), or 4 pin Microfit (see: APEX 1Link).
- Distribute 24V power from the input to multiple outputs.
- Step down 24V to 12V, on multiple outputs. 5A total.
- Step down 24V to 5V, on multiple outputs. 5A total.
- Accept the Neptune Apex 1Link power input from an EB32 (CAN+24V), distribute the CAN bus to the other 24V ports.

Each outlet is also short circuit protected, up to about 2.3A (enough for most smaller pumps, 50W for 24V). The 5V power is supplied on USB A outlets (no resistor setting, no data, just power), each port there is limited to 2A (run a Raspberry Pi).

Boards ordered, lets see how well it works!

so with 12v.. is it 5a total across the 3 outlets or each individual can do 5a? I was thinking of incorporating my LED light strip(under cabinet lights) they are 12v at 46 watts.. so 4 amps.

 

[theatrus]

so with 12v.. is it 5a total across the 3 outlets or each individual can do 5a? I was thinking of incorporating my LED light strip(under cabinet lights) they are 12v at 46 watts.. so 4 amps.

Total across all 3. Packing in a larger converter is difficult unfortunately.

 

[Mattiejay6]

Total across all 3. Packing in a larger converter is difficult unfortunately.

dang.. ok.. so then also .. kills my idea of using the tunze pumps below on it as well.. crap

Turbelle® stream 6105 eco​

For aquariums from 200 to 2,000 liters (53 to 528 USgal.)
Flow rate: approx. 3,000 to 12,000 l/h
(793 to 3,170 USgal./h) at 12 V
Energy consumption: 3-11 W at 12 V
Energy consumption: 11 W at 12,000 l/h (3,170 USgal./h)
Power supply unit: 100–240V / 50–60Hz

 

[theatrus]

dang.. ok.. so then also .. kills my idea of using the tunze pumps below on it as well.. crap

Turbelle® stream 6105 eco​

For aquariums from 200 to 2,000 liters (53 to 528 USgal.)
Flow rate: approx. 3,000 to 12,000 l/h
(793 to 3,170 USgal./h) at 12 V
Energy consumption: 3-11 W at 12 V
Energy consumption: 11 W at 12,000 l/h (3,170 USgal./h)
Power supply unit: 100–240V / 50–60Hz

These would work. The converter is up to 60W, this is at most 33W.

 

[Mattiejay6]

These would work. The converter is up to 80W, this is at most 33W

edit: ahh nm.. I see now