# MeanWell DC/DC Converter



## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

I've been using a MeanWell, so far so good. That's about all I can say at this point.


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## iruraz (Sep 4, 2012)

JRP3 said:


> I've been using a MeanWell, so far so good. That's about all I can say at this point.


@JRP3 thanks for your response. When I asked to authorized that is meanwell suitable for using in electric car. He didn't answer explicitly. He only said that it is industrial converter. And I wondered that whether anyone have experience with it.

@JRP3 what is your meanwell capacity? And do you use it to supply your 12V accessories?

Regards.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

It's a Meanwell PSP-600-15 600 watt, it's hooked to my 12V system and my 12V battery. They aren't sealed units so obviously keep them someplace dry and away from dust. Also rubber mounting might be a good idea since they aren't really designed for vehicle vibration that I know of.


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## iruraz (Sep 4, 2012)

Meanwell PSP-600-15 outputs voltage adj. range between 13.5 ~ 18V. And range is enough to supply auxiliary battery and 12V accessories.

But the converter that I mentioned above (RSP-1000-12) output range is between 10 ~ 13.5V . And I worry about output range because you may need to step up output ~ 13.6V or ~ 13.7V . And bigger values than 13.5V are out of my range. 

What do you think about this problem?

Regards.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Are you using a 12V battery as well? To keep from overcharging my battery I keep my converter under 13.5V since I have it wired on all the time, but I plan to change it to switch it off when the car is off and push the voltage up to 14.7V. If you aren't using a 12V battery then you could go even higher and might want the higher voltage unit.


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## iruraz (Sep 4, 2012)

JRP3 said:


> Are you using a 12V battery as well? To keep from overcharging my battery I keep my converter under 13.5V since I have it wired on all the time, but I plan to change it to switch it off when the car is off and push the voltage up to 14.7V. If you aren't using a 12V battery then you could go even higher and might want the higher voltage unit.


Yes I use 12V battery. And the converter will supply aux. battery and 12V accessories when switch is on. Is 13.5 output enough to supply 12V aux. battery and 12V accessories?

Regards.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

It is for my car but they would perform better at higher voltage, which is why I'm going to switch mine to the higher voltage setting and have it shut off when the car is off.


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## iruraz (Sep 4, 2012)

Ok. As far as i understand you specified this value (14.7V) by experiences. And maybe in the same way I specify the output of converter. I have another question? What is the power consumption of your 12V accessories?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

I don't really know, but the main loads are headlights and heater fan.


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## iruraz (Sep 4, 2012)

@JRP3 thanks for your interest. I need to learn output voltage range for my converter. But I don't know how to specify it.


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## Elegancec (May 23, 2012)

Hi,

I have the same PSP 600 DCDC converter now in my car, but it does not run. I have connected HV minus to the N terminal for AC and HV plus to the L terminal of the AC side. V- is Chassis ground and V+ is +12V car System.

I tried to adjust it DCDC converter, in the beginning started from lowest adjustmend, it ticked a bid and than i could see on the multimeter a small jump and than it came to the original value back, nothing happens anymore.

Does anybody have an idea?


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

Elegancec said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have the same PSP 600 DCDC converter now in my car, but it does not run. I have connected HV minus to the N terminal for AC and HV plus to the L terminal of the AC side. V- is Chassis ground and V+ is +12V car System.
> 
> ...


What is your pack voltage?

Remove the load from the output and measure the voltage.

Do you have the output fused? input fused?

Have you ensured there are no shorts on the 12V side (chassis to 12V)?


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## Elegancec (May 23, 2012)

Hi,

input and output are not fused, it is directly connected to the rails. I have ensured, the connection is directly made similar to the original battery. I can see when Im charging the normal lead acid battery, that the current is in full condition about 0.9A. So there is no real short, this is just the consumption of some relais etc, but for tomorrow I can put of the battery and test again.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

You haven't answered the most important question: What is the PACK voltage going into the DC-DC.

You should absolutely fuse the input and output. The battery needs to be protected if the DC-DC shorts, and the DC-DC needs to be protected if the 12V side shorts.

What are the details of the rest of the system? Is the high voltage pack actually isolated from the chassis? You might actually be shorting the DC-DC output negative to HV pack negative if your controller is not isolated and is chassis grounded.


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## Elegancec (May 23, 2012)

Hi Frodus,

I've been a Little bid sleepy yesterday, sorry.

Yes the DCDC converter is connected to the battery pack, but has no fuse up to now to the battery pack. From the secondary side it is 15A fuse protected on 3 lines so 45A are possible.

The battery voltage HV and 12V are isolated from each other, thats a requirement in Germany.
So I think there is no fault.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

frodus said:


> You haven't answered the most important question: What is the PACK voltage going into the DC-DC.


I'll ask again...


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## Elegancec (May 23, 2012)

hi it is 255V, if it is fully chared.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

What motor controller? And how is it mounted?


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## Elegancec (May 23, 2012)

Soliton 1. Signals for in and output are grounded to chassis, body of the controller is mounted in a frame which is isolated from the chassis throughbrubber supports. So hv has no connection to the controllers body.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Have you tried running it off the mains to see if it works that way?


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

Elegancec said:


> Signals for in and output are grounded to chassis


You grounded the input and output wiring of the DC-DC to the chassis?


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## Ampster (Oct 6, 2012)

frodus said:


> You grounded the input and output wiring of the DC-DC to the chassis?


ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Pop


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## Elegancec (May 23, 2012)

No,

it was in regard to the Input and Output signals, that the minus SGND is connected to the Chassis.

The DCDC converter lighted up now with an green led and the 13.5V was not connected to the car. So I adjusted the voltage to 13.5V (same as my battery charger), that worked fine, than I put the fuses in again and took the battery charger off and the voltage broke together again. After putting out the fuses the green led switched slowly off.
Conclusion: The device has a real fault and yes the Connection to the battery is also wired correctly. 
But I had one good Thing today: I travelled on the Autobahn today with 102mph for short time and the main time at 75mph and it worked fine and in the evening some travel over the normal roads but quite fast. So the consumption was quite low with 348Wh/mile for such a fast travel. Tomorrow I can see the Motor temperature now in my Dashboard, thats a simple but real Progress instead of only reducing the power by the switch in the Motor.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

Check to see if your B- on the traction battery is not somehow shorting to chassis ground.


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

Elegancec said:


> ...it was in regard to the Input and Output signals, that the minus SGND is connected to the Chassis.


Do not connect "SGND" on the Soliton controller to the vehicle chassis, as that will cause a ground loop which could affect other signals, including the throttle. Only the "PGND" terminal should connect to the vehicle chassis, though it is preferable to connect it directly to the negative terminal of the 12V battery.

Also, there is a warning in the Soliton manual (as well as on our website, and numerous posts here) about using an external inductor to protect the "DC/DC converter" - which is often nothing more than a switching power supplies designed to run off the AC mains - from the controller's ripple. Said ripple could have damaged the input capacitor in the DC/DC converter and that's why it is misbehaving now.


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## Elegancec (May 23, 2012)

Hello,

ok in the evening I will connect the SGND directly to the battery.

With the Multimeter, I could not measure a Connection between HV- and B. Overload in MOhm measuring range. I could measure a voltage of 195V -so a part of it between, but thats the result of the EMV package I have already identified before. And at other EVs in Germany with a similar Setup, ist not a Problem.

The DCDC converter misbehaved already in the beginning, when the soliton was off. It made ticking noises like overload - I know this Sound from our ac switching power supplies which Im using a t work, but here was no overload, otherwise in the beginning my first of three 15A fuses would have been destroyed, because I started only with one in the beginning.

But if you have more ideay you are welcome, because it seems to be that I have to wait 5 weeks for it, if it will not be delivered today


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

Elegancec said:


> ...
> 
> ok in the evening I will connect the SGND directly to the battery.


I'm sensing a language translation problem here... I specifically said to not connect SGND to the chassis ground. That also means don't connect it to the (-) terminal on the 12V battery. SGND is the return line for any signals going to the controller (rather than the return line for the outputs or the 12V power supply).

In the minimum Soliton installation the only thing SGND will be used for is the throttle signal. Ie - Connect S5V to the red wire on the throttle, THROT to the white wire and SGND to the black wire.



Elegancec said:


> The DCDC converter misbehaved already in the beginning, when the soliton was off. ...


Ah, yes - it does sound like it was already broken, then.


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## Elegancec (May 23, 2012)

Hi,

ok I did not Change anything so it is fine 
I bought a new DCDC converter and will have one in spare for future.
The inductors sounds like a good idea, but Im quite sure the device is already protected.


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