I Have No Luck

Aardil · 11-23-2002, 11:38 PM

I cant believe the luck I am having this past week seems I am having my 6th monday in a row today

Spent most of the day driving to 6 different radio shacks collecting pieces parts ( still short a few pieces but they will have to be ordered )
I figured out a way to put the power supply inside the case, I had a small area near the front that all I had to do was modify the legs of the res and the parts will go in, Front fan will be blowing across the parts so no chance of over heating

.

Ok now reality sets in.
First Clue:
Poor old thing seems to be putting out a max of 10 volts DC.
I open the converter case to find out my old power supply has been Rigged, someone has been it it before and I am surprised it worked at all.
I forge ahead to make sure everything fits in like I think it should, YUP everthing fits

Mount all the parts ( wiring looks shabby but I will clean that up after it works) .
I also installed the drain cock set up.
For some reason ( dont ask me why ) It seemed like a good idea at the time to add some water to the res to check for leaks.
Well I saw no leaks ( am feeling pretty confident so I plug in the power cord. BIG MISTAKE

The 1250 pump takes off and promtly drains the Res right into the bottom of the case and soaks the power converter parts

I didnt have the return line connected. A 1250 pump pushes alot of water with absolutly no restriction on the outlet side.

OK start drying out the case and manage to break one of the wires on the rectifier Clean off even with the base of the rectifier so no hope of fixing it. I head for Radio shack, stop along the way at a friends house who has forgot more about 12 volt systems that I could ever hope to learn, He took one look at the converter and saw several things that were wrong. Mind you I changed nothing from the way it was wired in the converter case only removed the guts and installed them in my W/C case.
One of the things I missed ( allthough I dont see how I missed it ) the big capasitor had been bypassed ( causes dirty voltage signal)
OK I know know what to get to repair my earlier screw up so off to the Shack I go.
At the 4th Rad shack I visited they had the rectifier.
OK home I go, Install the thing , DISCONECT pump and drain Res.
Fire it up and YAY back to 10 volts.
Wait what about that bypassed Capasitor?
OK I un bypass it and yup deader than a door nail

Back to the Shack and lucky me first one had the cap.
Installed it just like the other and ???
DEAD

Drag out the volt meter and sure enough 10 volts out of Rectifier but Cap is blocking all power from getting out.

After thinking for a bit I decided the problem had to be the cap, I was right kinda
The origianl cap and the one I put in the same way were in BACKWARDS
OK unsolder cap reverse it and YAY it works!!!!!! or does it? Hmmm Fan seems to be mighty quiet and not much air flow.
With the cap in the correct way I now get almost 2 volts output.
IF I bypass the cap I get 10 volts, Hmmm
Both caps are of same 4700 UF
New one is 35 volt old one is 25 volts

Maybe the volt range is too hi, Swapped back to the original ( installed the right way) and I get the same 2 volts

At this point the only part I have not changed in the converter is the transformer and I am beginning to wonder if maybe it doesnt have enough power to push through the cap ( In my way of thinking that would explain why I only have 10 volts max) .
I guess I will be back at the Shack tommorrow. depending on price of transformer I my just buy a new converter and start over.

Aardil

MadDogMe · 11-24-2002, 12:23 AM

Ah!!!, the joys of tinkering

...

bigben2k · 11-24-2002, 08:51 AM

I think you've exceeded the effort/cost benefit. You can pick up a new PSU, for all the time and effort that you put in.

Regardless... that PSU was obviously hacked in many ways.

You might want to start tracing the voltages from the transformer, and work your way up from there. The transformer should be putting out AC at a lower voltage. Then, this AC wave gets rectified into a positive wave, then passes through the caps where it becomes almost clean DC. The voltage regulating circuit cleans it all up.

11-23-2002, 11:38 PM	#1
Aardil Cooling Savant Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Louisiana Posts: 174	I Have No Luck I cant believe the luck I am having this past week seems I am having my 6th monday in a row today Spent most of the day driving to 6 different radio shacks collecting pieces parts ( still short a few pieces but they will have to be ordered ) I figured out a way to put the power supply inside the case, I had a small area near the front that all I had to do was modify the legs of the res and the parts will go in, Front fan will be blowing across the parts so no chance of over heating . Ok now reality sets in. First Clue: Poor old thing seems to be putting out a max of 10 volts DC. I open the converter case to find out my old power supply has been Rigged, someone has been it it before and I am surprised it worked at all. I forge ahead to make sure everything fits in like I think it should, YUP everthing fits Mount all the parts ( wiring looks shabby but I will clean that up after it works) . I also installed the drain cock set up. For some reason ( dont ask me why ) It seemed like a good idea at the time to add some water to the res to check for leaks. Well I saw no leaks ( am feeling pretty confident so I plug in the power cord. BIG MISTAKE The 1250 pump takes off and promtly drains the Res right into the bottom of the case and soaks the power converter parts I didnt have the return line connected. A 1250 pump pushes alot of water with absolutly no restriction on the outlet side. OK start drying out the case and manage to break one of the wires on the rectifier Clean off even with the base of the rectifier so no hope of fixing it. I head for Radio shack, stop along the way at a friends house who has forgot more about 12 volt systems that I could ever hope to learn, He took one look at the converter and saw several things that were wrong. Mind you I changed nothing from the way it was wired in the converter case only removed the guts and installed them in my W/C case. One of the things I missed ( allthough I dont see how I missed it ) the big capasitor had been bypassed ( causes dirty voltage signal) OK I know know what to get to repair my earlier screw up so off to the Shack I go. At the 4th Rad shack I visited they had the rectifier. OK home I go, Install the thing , DISCONECT pump and drain Res. Fire it up and YAY back to 10 volts. Wait what about that bypassed Capasitor? OK I un bypass it and yup deader than a door nail Back to the Shack and lucky me first one had the cap. Installed it just like the other and ??? DEAD Drag out the volt meter and sure enough 10 volts out of Rectifier but Cap is blocking all power from getting out. After thinking for a bit I decided the problem had to be the cap, I was right kinda The origianl cap and the one I put in the same way were in BACKWARDS OK unsolder cap reverse it and YAY it works!!!!!! or does it? Hmmm Fan seems to be mighty quiet and not much air flow. With the cap in the correct way I now get almost 2 volts output. IF I bypass the cap I get 10 volts, Hmmm Both caps are of same 4700 UF New one is 35 volt old one is 25 volts Maybe the volt range is too hi, Swapped back to the original ( installed the right way) and I get the same 2 volts At this point the only part I have not changed in the converter is the transformer and I am beginning to wonder if maybe it doesnt have enough power to push through the cap ( In my way of thinking that would explain why I only have 10 volts max) . I guess I will be back at the Shack tommorrow. depending on price of transformer I my just buy a new converter and start over. Aardil

11-24-2002, 08:51 AM	#3
bigben2k Responsible for 2% of all the posts here. Join Date: May 2002 Location: Texas, U.S.A. Posts: 8,302	I think you've exceeded the effort/cost benefit. You can pick up a new PSU, for all the time and effort that you put in. Regardless... that PSU was obviously hacked in many ways. You might want to start tracing the voltages from the transformer, and work your way up from there. The transformer should be putting out AC at a lower voltage. Then, this AC wave gets rectified into a positive wave, then passes through the caps where it becomes almost clean DC. The voltage regulating circuit cleans it all up. __________________ WBTA (Water Block Testing Alliance) Nordic Hardware WC 101

11-24-2002, 12:23 AM	#2
MadDogMe Thermophile Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Just shut up ;) ... Posts: 1,068	Ah!!!, the joys of tinkering ...

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