HP DPS-600PB 12V/24V 47A 1150W Power Supply Build Thread

[yhchoong]

First of all, to those in the PC Power Supply for DC Charger? thread, I'm really sorry this took so long. Have been meddling with my Warp 360 and Uni Year 3 just started too so time is short.

I thought I would start by show-casing the end product first:

Front 1:


Front 2:


Back 1:


Back 2 (Green LED on when Power Supply On):


Side:


Top:


Charging Setup:


And oh BTW the F on the right hand side power supply does not mean FAIL it means Floating DC ground.

Introduction:
There are many ways you can build this power supply. It can be done really cheaply at perhaps $150 if you just want a workhorse, or if you want the supplies to look "factory-made" you can do it for $450. This is because I bought a drill press with stepped-bit to bore out the holes in the L aluminium angles used to mount the binding posts. That drill press and stepped-bit alone was $300.

At $150, you may think why not get the Efuel 1200W 60A with warranty for ~$230. Well, first of all I do not like the Active Power Factor Correction of the Efuel. It is >0.7, which IMO is really, really bad efficiency. The HP DPS 600PB is >0.99. This is even better than some thousand dollar Meanwell Power Supply! Second of all, the HP DPS 600PB are power supplies meant for corporate servers. Bought brand new, they are a few hundred dollars each and are meant to be high end supplies in harsh heat server environments. Simply put, they provide cleaner, less noise and lower ripple current output. Thirdly, there is much joy in building your own power supply too

If you want to get a commercial power supply, I recommend the Chargery S1200. Please see the link to for an understanding of how active power factor correction works.

Safety:
For the sake of safety, I picked quality components from places like RS Components Singapore. For example, the binding posts I used were Keystone 7019, rated up to 30A. While this is still lower than the maximum output of the powersupplies at 47A, it was the highest current capacity I could find and had been proven to work reliably on other forums (RCG, Helifreak). Just keep the charge wires reasonably short at less than 50 cm. The Keystones are also $8 per piece, as compared to the Sim Lim Tower or Ebay 5 for $10 China binding posts of unknown ratings.

I also did research on the ring terminals used, to ensure that they are the optimal size and rating for their purpose. There is more than meets the eye!

Lastly, I expect anyone wanting to undertake this project to have some basic common sense and understanding of electricity when working on the supplies. They can be LETHAL if you don't know what you are doing. Seriously.

To be continued...

[ang]

Just a friendly warning. You need to make very very sure that the -ve output is not chassis ground (normal PC power supply does). If it does, make sure both chassis is isolated. Just my 2 cents. Correct me if I am wrong.

[dt2133]

Ang, your 2c is important.
Choong mentioned the power supply is floating DC ground. He noted the F letter on the power supply. What the F.

[yhchoong]

Just a friendly warning. You need to make very very sure that the -ve output is not chassis ground (normal PC power supply does). If it does, make sure both chassis is isolated. Just my 2 cents. Correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks ang and dt2133 for stressing this point. It is the foundation stone of why the HP DPS 600PB can be wired in series safely. One of my supplies (the right hand side) does indeed have the -ve output DC ground isolated from the AC/chassis ground hence it is floating. As the thread continues I will be emphasising on this time and again!

[AirTrekker]

Thanks for taking the effort to share this info.
Looking forward to the rest of the build log.

Btw, Would you be interested in selling the L-angle plates with pre-drilled holes for the binding posts ?
That would save the effort for folks like myself to invest in a drill press with step bits

[yhchoong]

Haha those are real time-consuming to do. The dimensions of the L plates have to be dremel-ed into correct dimensions and hand-filed, the length has to be cut with a little chop saw, and then final drilling of the holes which accept the binding posts have to be real exact as a sloppy fit could result in a short circuit since the aluminium plate could potentially bridge the negative and positive poles together. Being super perfectionist and OCD I did them so many times and got a yield of 2/7 attempts. Each plate probably took me 2 hours to make and a couple of grinding drums from the dremel.

I think a simpler material to work with and would function just as well is to cut the plastic off a CD jewel case to size. When I get to that step maybe I would have ideas on a better material. Plastic is non-conductive too. Or you can just loose the binding plugs altogether and use a wire lead with an EC5 connector directly.

I know my explanations sound very vague but as I open up the supplies you will get an idea of what I'm talking about. Stay tuned! (I apologise in advance for going so slow because I'm already behind in my school work so that has to take priority over this thread)

[yhchoong]

Oh and for anyone who wants to do their own:

This here http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/Lot-2-HP-...item337f37e099 is a super good buy. I got mine with shipping for twice that price.

In fact I just got 1 set from them so that I can do this guide, since I will be starting from a fresh power supply without having to undo the mods to my current perfectly working one in order to show how it's done. Will probably sell it at cost price once I've finished this thread!

[REVOJohn]

fully agree and that is way cool work. the Server ps's are damn cool, run efficient and very reliable.
At REvOELCTRIX we got 2 container loads of these PS's from HP & Dell but we'll start packing them in nice sheet metal cases with multiple power outputs 24V and 12v and USB out too. Should be ready after CNY

Anyone who wants only the server PS's that have already been modified to isolate grounds (but without the final box casing) just give me a call. We got tonnes of em: john 9236 3396

[yhchoong]

Disassembly - Removing the Casing Panels

Ok the power supplies are here! Pretty quick shipping too.

It came pretty well-packed and stuffed full of foam peanuts:



Looks pretty good for a reserviced unit:



Without further ado,
Step 1: Remove the phillips head screws from these following areas as boxed in red:



Step 2: Slide off the side panel - not much force is required.



Step 3: Use a plastic ruler to pry along the gap between the other metal panel and black cardboard as shown. This is to separate the panel from the cardboard as they are held together by double-sided tape. The soft plastic ruler will prevent any accidental damage to the cardboard:



Step 4: Slide off the 2nd panel. Like the 1st, it does not require much force. Be very careful that you do not yank the panel off totally as the fan is still connected to it. The double-sided tape can be seen after the panel is removed:



Then using a rolling action, remove the residual tape so that the cardboard is clean:



Step 5: Remove the 4 screws (boxed in red) that attaches the fan to the 2nd panel. Support the fan chassis with one hand as you remove the screws with the other hand:



The fan is now out:

[yhchoong]

Disassembly - Removing the Hot-Swappable Board

We will now proceed to remove the hot-swappable board.

Step 6: Locate the ribbon cable connector:



By pulling the catch apart, the header will pop out of its socket:



Step 7: Remove the 2 phillips head screws as shown. Incidentally, these are the screws that connect the 12V output of the mainboard to the hot-swappable board through the lugs:



Step 8a: Remove the 2 screws which bolt the hot-swappable board to the main casing:



Step 8b: Remove the 6 mm nut as well:



I used a 6 mm socket head with an L-wrench pressed into the other end temporarily to form a make-shift tool:



It can then be removed as shown:



Step 9: Cut the blue and purple wires using a normal pair of wire-cutting pliers like so:



Step 10: And after much fiddling, turning and pulling, the hot-swappable board will slide right out. No brute force was necessary:



And this is how the power supply should look like right now:

[yhchoong]

Disassembly - Removing the Main Board

It's time to remove the main board from the chassis. While it's possible to carry on with the mod without removing the board, I like to do so as it gives me plenty of working space. At the same time, I can rid the internals of dust with a camera lens blower ($2 from Daiso) and electrical solvent cleaner, as well as do some basic checking of the components eg. no burnt traces, shiny solder joints and etc.

Here we go:

Step 11: Remove the 2 screws as shown to take off the carrying handle. They block access to 2 other screws which hold down the main board and so they must be removed. I have come across a few units that use threadlock on these screws so they be a bit difficult to remove, but not without too much difficulty.




Step 12: Remove the screw which connects AC ground via the lug to the chassis.




Step 13: Look at the IEC power input socket. There are 2 plastic catches (1 on each side) which secure the socket to the chassis. Using a small flathead screwdriver, press on the catch until it is released from the chassis. It is easier too if you pull gently on the metal panel (the part with the vented holes) while pushing one side of the socket out.




Do the same and press on the catch for the other side:




You can now pull the entire socket out. Carefully untangle the wires and don't snag them on the sharp edges of the chassis. The AC ground wire which we unscrewed earlier in step 12 will be retained by the black cardboard, so gently free it as well.




Step 14: The main board is attached to the chassis through these 4 screws at each of its corners. Remove them all.




Step 15: While the main board can now be gently lifted off and out of the chassis, take note of the wire connecting the green power status LED to the panel. Do not yank on it while removing the board!!! This wire is actually quite long, and you will be able to lift the main board out and place it right next to the chassis with the LED wire still attached.




Once the main board is out, release both catches holding the LED with a small flathead screwdriver in the directions shown. At the same time, push the LED bulb inwards INTO the chassis and it should pop free.



Full disassembly, done.

[yhchoong]

Modding - Part 1

Ok let's get to the "hardcore" part. Some of you may have realised that when the power supply is plugged in while in its original state, the fan comes on and spins but the power LED does not light up. This is because the power supply itself is not online yet since it senses that it is not plugged into the HP server. So what we have to do is to trick the power supply into thinking that it is plugged into the HP server so that it will switch on.

And this is what we have to do:

Step 1a: Locate the purple and blue wires that we cut off earlier to remove the hot-swappable board. Trim them so they are roughly half 1 cm long. We are simply trying to get them out of the way and prevent them from shorting against other components. To the more adventurous hobbyists, you can also desolder them from the main board for neatness.




Step 1b: Cover the bare ends of the wires with 2 mm diameter heat shrink (assorted heat shrink sizes are sold at Sim Lim Tower for $0.50 - $1.00 per metre for the smaller sizes < 6 mm)




I am using an Iroda Micro-Therm heat gun which runs off the standard butane cigarette lighters. It is available at Sim Lim Tower too. Ask Electronics has them for $30.90. This is a very handy tool for small-scale electronics work, instead of a much larger heat gun.




Step 2: Remove the plastic header of the 10 pin ribbon cable. We have to do this instead of simply cutting it off because the ribbon cable is barely long enough for what we are about to do. Pry off the catch on both sides of the header with a flathead screwdriver, then pull the top portion off. Next, gently lift the ribbon cable off the skewer pins using the screwdriver again. The entire plastic header can then be discarded. The photos below will illustrate these steps clearly:




Step 3a: Split the ribbon cable using a sharp hobby knife as shown below. I found that by placing a block of wood / sacrifical material underneathe and using a chopping motion with the knife, I am able to split the cable quite neatly without cutting into any insulation and exposing bare wire.

Some additional information: I'm going to label the ribbon strands 1 to 10 here, with ribbon 1 being the red coloured strand and ribbon 2 being the strand just next to ribbon 1, and so on and so forth. In order to trick the power supply into switching on, we need to connect ribbons 1 (Ground), 2 (Ground), 4 (Power Supply On) and 5 (Power Supply Kill) to JGND (Left Power Post). Ribbon 3 (Fan) is optional. If you want your fan to run at full blast all the time, DO NOT connect it to JGND. However, it will be quite noisy. Otherwise, you can do like I did, which is to connect all 5 ribbon strands (1-5) to JGND, such that the fan will be at minimum speed, and as temperature of the power supply increases, the fan speed will ramp up accordingly to cool the system down.

For this step however, all we need to do is section the ribbon strands according to the photos below. Ribbons 6-10 are trimmed to half their original length using a pair of normal wire cutters since they are not needed.




Step 3b: Isolate ribbons 6-10 so that they do not short against any components by placing a 4 mm diameter heat shrink tubing on them.




Step 4a: We are now going to strip the insulation off ribbons 1-5 and then crimp them together to a ring terminal. The length of insulation to remove depends on the ring terminal that is going to be used. I am using a size 1.25 - 4L ring terminal for 16-22 AWG wires. This is available from Bell Electronics at Sim Lim Tower Level 3 and costs around $0.30 or less:




Since the ribbon cable is a little too thin, we are going to remove twice the amount of insulation so that the bare wire is twice as long.For this particular ring terminal that we are using, 1.4 cm of insulation from the ribbon cable must be removed like so:




This is the tool I am using to strip the ribbon cable. Tension on the tool is adjusted to the lowest so as to not damage the thin wire strands while removing insulation. It is available from Space Electronics at Sim Lim Tower Level 1 and costs $12:




Next, place the ribbon 1-2 section on top of the ribbon 3-5 section and fold the bare wire ends into half onto themselves. Twist them together lightly as well. They should be 7 mm long now, and the diameter would also be twice as thick since we had folded them in half.




Step 4b: Prepare 3 different heat shrink tubings of around 1.3 cm long. The sizes from left to right are diameters 2 mm, 2.5 mm and 3 mm:




Put on the 2 mm heat shrink tubing just below the bare wires. This is then followed by the 2.5 mm, and finally the 3 mm heat shrink tubings. We are trying to increase the thickness of the wire insulation so that the ring terminal will crimp more securely onto it.




Step 4c: Crimp the ring terminal shown in step 4a onto the prepared wires:




I am using this crimping tool from Space Electronics, the same shop which I got the pair of wire strippers from. It is a little pricey at $40, but well worth the price to get crimps of consistant standard. Also, please read this link on how proper crimping should be done. This is very important since we are building a high current power supply!




Step 5a: Connect ribbons 1-5 to JGND using the ring terminal. The screw used is the same one that held the hot-swappable board in Step 7 of Disassembly - Removing the Hot-Swappable Board. Note how the heat shrink tubing provides a relief point for the ribbon cable too:




Step 5b: Tighten these 2 screws to ensure that the power posts are still securely attached to the main board:




The power supply will now turn on with the power LED lighting up and output slightly higher than DC 12V at up to 47A. DO NOT REASSEMBLE JUST YET AS THERE ARE STILL MORE MODS TO BE DONE. For myself, I wanted to verify that the power supply was working by quickly assembling everything back together and checking with my digital multi-meter across JGND and J12V. Please be very careful as I left the top panel off to access the 2 power posts. Do not touch any capacitors and always be mindful of which components you touch.

[mave]

Hi,

Some of the picturess on the right are trimmed off. Can't see what you are illustrating.

But good documentation! Makes me want to make my own 1000watt power supply.
Waiting for your next installment.

[yhchoong]

Hi,

Some of the picturess on the right are trimmed off. Can't see what you are illustrating.

But good documentation! Makes me want to make my own 1000watt power supply.
Waiting for your next installment.

Oh no =( I took so much time to size them properly haha. They look perfectly fine on my monitor though. Let me see if I can speak to admin on a better way to size them.

[Kaen]

Nice build log... unfortunately the last time I built a PSU was 20+ years ago...
But I think I'll err on the side of caution and just buy one off the shelf.