More Products for Electronics Hobbyists and Beyond, Part 6

I recently posted a preview of the new RD6018 adjustable converter, and today's roundup will partly focus on that topic.

The converter may become popular, but since it's just a converter and needs a power source, that's what I wanted to focus on.

The manufacturer initially recommends using an 800 W, 70 V power supply with it, but the converter has a maximum power rating of 1080 W.
The new model's settings now include a power limit, which means that with an 800 W power supply you can get either the full 60 V, but at a current of up to 12–13 A, or the rated 18 A, but only at voltages up to 40–45 V.

A power supply of this type is recommended. I've already reviewed this one and the less powerful version - link, $55 including shipping



The power supplies are identical inside and are actually quite well built. They also have a separate power supply for the inverter.



After spending some time looking for more powerful units, I found several options.
First, the S1200-60 model. I often came across units made by a company called Velika. Several sellers offer the same power supply, with the only difference being the price. For example, the best deals were here, here and here. They cost around $80–83, but all seem to have coupons that can knock off another $4–5 or so.

It looks like a standard power supply. By the way, I almost forgot: if you plan to use the original RuiDeng enclosure, make sure the power supply dimensions match those shown in the photo on the right. The length may differ slightly because sellers sometimes measure differently; 240–250 mm is acceptable.



I also found an option from another manufacturer, priced at $75 - link
Another seller has a similar power supply for about the same price - link.


But I really didn't like the buyer's review, and it doesn't look very good in the photo either.


What I liked about this one is that it offers power supplies in the same form factor, but with a choice of output voltage. Of course, there's little chance the transformer is also made to suit the different voltage, but you never know - link, priced at $87.88




Another power supply made by Velika, this one costs more, around $118. Coupons are available too - link.
I've seen these power supplies sold here for $140, with a logo that looks like Mean Well's, so be careful. The units look pretty good, but they're slightly larger: 10 mm taller, though they should fit in the original enclosure.


The original design with two fans is quite unusual, and it also creates problems if you want to install it in an RD6018 enclosure, since there's only one fan opening there.


Of course, there are options using less powerful power supplies, but you'd need more of them. On the plus side, you could try fitting everything in more tightly.
To start with, here's a fairly well-known 300 W power supply model. I reviewed one like this; you'd need four of them and would have to adjust them to 20 V. Each unit costs about $18 — link.
There's also a more convenient listing where the seller offers options with different voltage/current ratings. I recommend the 18 V version; four of those will give you 72 V — link.
Naturally, all these options require a separate exhaust fan.




Going a step further, you could look at power supplies for power amplifiers. They also need cooling, but are noticeably more compact and are often resonant (LLC), which improves efficiency.
There is one drawback, though: these power supplies usually have a dual-rail output, so you'd need to find a 36+36 V or 40+40 V unit, and those tend to be rated at up to 1000 W — link, the 36+36 V, 1000 W model costs $49.80


Or here's a beauty: there's a 70+70 V version, and you could try rewiring the circuit from series to parallel, though that's not quite the same thing — link, price: $82.50
On the other hand, it's rated at 2000 W


Another option rated at up to 1000 W, but unfortunately it also has a 2×70 V output — link, price: $51


And a couple of 600 W options. Nothing special, but still worth a look: link one, link two.


A relatively budget-friendly and decent option is to use three 350 W, 24 V units that are clones of Mean Well's popular LRS series. As far as I can tell, they're pretty good, though they're not Mean Well — link, about $22 each. So for $66–67, you can get 1050 W of continuous power.


Or you could go with the original Mean Well LRS-350-24, though it'll cost about 1.5 times as much — link
I reviewed these power supplies — link.




And to take a little break, here are a few items on other topics, such as ultra-flat HDMI cables — link, with the price depending on the length and connector type


And here's a plain flat cable. I bought one like this once and found it very handy — link, about $1.20 including shipping.




A fuse assortment rated from 0.5 to 6.3 A — link, price: $2.99



A similar set, but with fuses in round bodies — link, price: $3.78 + $0.74 shipping




That's all for today. If you have links to interesting products, add them in the comments; I think they'll be useful.