PL6 is it worthwhile upgrading my power supply

[Bigboystoys]

I have pl6 and am currently powering it with a 800w 24v 32amp server supply.i know the pl6 can take 40 amps so was wondering if it would make a massive difference if I upgraded to 100a 1200w 24v power supply.

[Grumpy]

It wont make a 'massive' difference. If it makes any difference at all depends on what batteries you are charging and at what current you are charging at.

There is a calculator that works out charge current based on supply voltage and current and battery cell count, here: Revolectrix

So as an example, If you were charging 6s LiPos

• Your current PS would allow a charge into the LiPo of 25.9A
• If you upgraded that would increase to 32.4A

So a significant increase but not really 'massive'... and unless you were actually hitting the 24.9A limit then you wouldn't benefit from the increased available power at all.

PS... the numbers for the PS you are considering dont add up. 100A at 24V = 2400W. So either the 1200W is wrong or the volts or the amps are wrong... they cant all be right.

[Bigboystoys]

Thanks for the info, forgot to mention those values were for one server. My supply at moment the fans always run constant, and was wondering if a more modern one would be quieter

[Grumpy]

Most of the computer server PSU's have fans that are pretty noisy and run constantly. That's because they are intended to be installed in a dedicated server room where no one can hear them.

But there are ways to control the fan speed. What model of PSU do you have in mind?

[Bigboystoys]

Its this one here ,i am looking at. Is this overkill for a pl6.compared to what i am using at present. I am charging 6s 3000mah and 5000mah batteries.
24V 100A 2400W DC Power Supply, RC charger for Powerlab, iCharger, Hyperion | eBay

[Grumpy]

That's a beast of a PSU!

[Granpappy]

If you were to charge 6 x 6s 5000mah batteries in parallel then you can only charge at 0.86C with your current PSU. You could charge 1.08C with that 100A PSU. If you are charging 6 x 6s batteries from storage to full capacity, then I reckon you would probably save about 6 minutes charge time.

Whether that's worth the expense of a new PSU, only you can decide.

[Bigboystoys]

I take it the pl6 regulates the power going into it

[Granpappy]

I believe you can set the max input current and the software will automatically limit to 40 amp input if you haven't set a lower value. Yours should be set to 32 amps so that it doesn't try to draw more than the PSU can supply.

[scallybert]

AIUI, the server PSUs have fans controlled by software & hardware on the server - but default to flat out. When you boot the servers, the fans are loud, but they calm down as the server looks at temperature, etc.

Coolice (on here), is probably the person to speak to about server-based PSUs. I believe he's addressed the fan-speed issue.

[Grumpy]

AIUI, the server PSUs have fans controlled by software & hardware on the server - but default to flat out.

Yeah they do, and you can usually adjust the speed down quite easily. However fundamentally they do tend to be noisier than PC fans because the ones used in server supplies are small diameter high RPM 'screamers', compared to the larger diameter low RPM fans that you get in PC's these days... So server PSU fans will always tend to be quite noisy. If you turn them down enough to shut them up they no longer deliver enough air.

[coolice]

Hey buddy.

Going by experience, for the PL6 I would recommend one of my 1150 watt, 25 volt, 47 amp PSU's. This has enough power to drive the PL6 nicely to get its full performance, but at a price that is right.
The more powerful 2400 watt unit I do is nice because of its small size, but on a PL6 is over kill, unless you want to run 2x chargers for example.

With regard to fan speed, you can never fully turn off the server PSU's fans, as the PSU's look to check they are turning and if not shut down in most cases. However I do mod the 1150 watt units so the fans run slower, but then they ramp up speed based on the amp draw placed on them. So as your charger works the PSU harder, cooling air flow increases to keep everything nice.
The 2400 watt units are temperature controlled by default, so look after themselves. These ones can sound like a little turbine if/when they even go to full power, but otherwise they purr away nicely until required to speed up.

As to if you need a more powerful PSU that is down to how far you intend to push your charge rate, you're much better to have a PSU that is not running on its limit than one that is struggling to keep up.
This avoids shutdowns which slow down the battery turnaround time :-)
.