[fyleow]

I want to build a power supply for my peltier setup....this isn't really headphone related but I thought some of you DIY wizards will have some helpful suggestions.

I need something that can output 12V DC at 24 Amps. Something like this here

It goes for about $120, do you think a DIY solution can do it for less?

 

[puppyslugg]

Quote:

Originally posted by fyleow I want to build a power supply for my peltier setup....

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a 'peltier'?

 

[fyleow]

It is better known as a TEC, here is a link that explains it a bit http://www.melcor.com/faq.htm

Basically, it has two sides and one side is really cold while the other side is really hot. You put the cold side on your CPU to cool it down while you remove the heat from the other side. The only problem is that it takes a lot of power 226 watts for my use and the draw of 25 Amps is a bit much for a computer power supply.

 

[BoyElroy]

Hi Fyleow,

Planning to overclock your AMD?

Tell me how it works out--I've been thinking of going the peltier or water cooling route for a while now.

 

[rickcr42]

Yes , you can DIY a high amp psu with a regulator and a crapload of pass transistors.The biggest cost will be the heat sinking

 

[Nisbeth]

Hmm, one word springs to mind: SWITCHMODE!, but that will probably wreck the diy-idea for most people. If you want to go linear, your best bet would probably be to get a 12V tranny made for low-voltage halogen(?) lights. Then I'd look for application notes on how to scale the current output of a LM350/LM338/L200 regulator using (loads!) of paralelled transistors. If you can find out how to do that, you should be able to keep the thermal-and short-circuit protection circuits of the regulator active. Oh, and the you need a big heatsink....

HTH!
/U.

 

[fyleow]

Ouch that sounds kind of complicated. Size will be a problem too, it needs to fit in the HDD bay slot.

Boy Elroy I'm actually water cooling already right now. With a Pentium 4 though, not an AMD. I have my 2.8 ghz P4 at 3.25 ghz with 1.65 V core and it's rock solid. It's not too loud either compared to most air cooling setups. The only thing that makes noise are the 5 case fans I have on my Lian Li but I am thinking about changing them too.

Water cooling is great, no more noisy fans and I am at 35 C full load (32 C ambient)

 

[Dreamslacker]

Quote:

Originally posted by fyleow Ouch that sounds kind of complicated. Size will be a problem too, it needs to fit in the HDD bay slot. Boy Elroy I'm actually water cooling already right now. With a Pentium 4 though, not an AMD. I have my 2.8 ghz P4 at 3.25 ghz with 1.65 V core and it's rock solid. It's not too loud either compared to most air cooling setups. The only thing that makes noise are the 5 case fans I have on my Lian Li but I am thinking about changing them too. Water cooling is great, no more noisy fans and I am at 35 C full load (32 C ambient)

You definitely need a swithing power supply for this.. Too bad you aren't in Singapore. My friend is giving away a 12v to 18v adjustable switching PSU capable of well over 60+ amps. He used to use it to power several peltiers... 172w & 80w at least. Then he gave up w/c and computers totally... Gave away all his computer parts, wb's, pumps and what not...

 

[fyleow]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dreamslacker You definitely need a swithing power supply for this.. Too bad you aren't in Singapore. My friend is giving away a 12v to 18v adjustable switching PSU capable of well over 60+ amps. He used to use it to power several peltiers... 172w & 80w at least. Then he gave up w/c and computers totally... Gave away all his computer parts, wb's, pumps and what not...

Darn, I have relatives in Singapore too and I used to live in Malaysia....

Are switching power supplies cheap and easy to build?

 

[rickcr42]

http://www.mitedu.freeserve.co.uk/Ci...wer/boosti.htm

http://www.mitedu.freeserve.co.uk/Ci...er/1230psu.htm

 

[fyleow]

Quote:

Originally posted by rickcr42 http://www.mitedu.freeserve.co.uk/Ci...wer/boosti.htm http://www.mitedu.freeserve.co.uk/Ci...er/1230psu.htm

Thanks I'll check it out

 

[tangent]

You can buy high-grade, small switchers from Allied Electronics. Look into the Condor line. They're bare, so they'll be perfect for mounting in a hard drive bay. Try to get something enclosed, though, for safety's sake.

I'm sure the Peltier unit doesn't require highly stable power, and you don't want to be adding more heat to your system if you're trying to cool it down. Switching's definitely the way to go for your app, fyleow.

EDIT: An alternative you should consider is a DC-DC converter. These are basically switching power supplies that take DC in and put out a different (maybe higher) DC voltage, instead of AC in. Then your hard drive power supply thingy would simply take power in from the PC's power supply and put the power the Peltier junction needs out. You will need a fairly beefy PC power supply to do this, but you know all about that already, being an overclocker, right?

 

[fyleow]

Quote:

Originally posted by tangent You can buy high-grade, small switchers from Allied Electronics. Look into the Condor line. They're bare, so they'll be perfect for mounting in a hard drive bay. Try to get something enclosed, though, for safety's sake. I'm sure the Peltier unit doesn't require highly stable power, and you don't want to be adding more heat to your system if you're trying to cool it down. Switching's definitely the way to go for your app, fyleow. EDIT: An alternative you should consider is a DC-DC converter. These are basically switching power supplies that take DC in and put out a different (maybe higher) DC voltage, instead of AC in. Then your hard drive power supply thingy would simply take power in from the PC's power supply and put the power the Peltier junction needs out. You will need a fairly beefy PC power supply to do this, but you know all about that already, being an overclocker, right?

I don't seem to be able to find any switching power supplies that Condor has for this purpose. At least some of the ones I found had no price on Allied Electronics. Looks like 24 amps on the 12V line means something like 500+ Watts

I don't think a DC converter would work too well. The required voltage (12V) can already be acquired from the computer's power supply, it's just that most of the time there is simply not enough amps.

 

[rickcr42]

no way you have the current requirenents without going external psu .

The cost of such a project will be minimal except , as stated earlier , the heat sinking requirements.

If you decide to go towards one of the above options (links) I can steer you towards a couple of surplus sales areas that can do the heat sinks for WAY less than retail