Meanwell Power Supply AC Ground and V- Connection

bot

@samlogan87 A very compelling argument! Thank you for that.

I will add the ground link!

samlogan87

I should have also said the control board as well as the sensors.

Regards,

Sam

dc42

I recommend that you ground the negative PSU output for safety. The only drawback I am aware of is that if you connect the USB port to a PC, you create a ground loop and that can be troublesome. See the wiki page on USB ground loops.

resam

Just to clarify @dc42, do you recommend putting a wire link between GND and V-, or e.g., a 1 MOhm bleed-off resistor, or something else (like a diode or varistor)?

For those who want to read some more on this topic, I think this is a good read: https://community.keysight.com/community/keysight-blogs/general-electronics-measurement/blog/2016/09/16/what-is-a-floating-power-supply-output

DocTrucker

Thanks for the information. As I read the first detailed post I was thinking a resistor rather than plain join might be best. Only other arguments I've seen before as whereone of the you-tubers shock themselves, but that was due to a bad mains earth, not lack of DC - AC connection.

SupraGuy

I also do lots of other DIY electronics.

For audio amplifiers, and circuits where ground loops can cause some very undesirable things, particularly since there are a lot of places that can cause ground loops in audio equipment, it seems to be pretty standard practice to have an isolator between the DC ground and actual earth.

I have built a bunch of circuits from Eliott Sound Productions, pre-amplifiers, signal processors, and audio amplifiers. I made quite the sound system with his circuits.

In this schematic, you can see in the bottom, the parts used for the loop isolator. D1, D2, R1 and C1 are all in parallel providing a nominal break between earth and the DC ground. This one is for a dual amplifier supply, but shows that the AC earth should have at least a modicum of isolation from the DC ground. This is also true for single-rail supplies. Failing to do this can result in audible noise in audio circuits.

If you omit D1 and D2, this will still work as an isolator, however should a large potential build up, you might end up burning R1, which would normally be a 0.25W device. The diodes protect R1 by acting as a dead short for voltages above the Vf of the diode, typically a bit under a half volt.

The Meanwell diagram seems to only use C1. This is probably adequate if there is no electrical fault elsewhere, but we're doing this in case there IS a fault elsewhere.

DocTrucker

That looks great, thanks for sharing. Can you give the bill of materials for that?

I've been meaning to draft a power board for dropping down 12V to 5V so I can loose one of three power supplies on my vapour build! That could sit on the same board.

12v - fans, safety relays, interlocks & indicators.
24v - (controlled by duet & interlocks) steppers & heat.
5v - Controllers.

SupraGuy

@doctrucker The parts arent critical for a loop isolator like that. I think I just grabbed some 1N4004 diodes, a 1/4 watt resistor and a ceramic disc capacitor. I just breadboarded it in the PSU housing and hot glued it after soldering the earth lead to the 14 gauge solid core wire.

dc42

@doctrucker said in Meanwell Power Supply AC Ground and V- Connection:

That looks great, thanks for sharing. Can you give the bill of materials for that?

I've been meaning to draft a power board for dropping down 12V to 5V so I can loose one of three power supplies on my vapour build! That could sit on the same board.

12v - fans, safety relays, interlocks & indicators.
24v - (controlled by duet & interlocks) steppers & heat.
5v - Controllers.

What will you be powering from +5V? If the power requirement is no more than about 1A then the Duet can provide that power.

DocTrucker

@dc42 I didn't want the power to the controller or fans cut when I interlocked the heaters and steppers.

Having thought about it more I'm wondering of it is necessary to have the steppers on the robust interlock and just rely on the Duet to stop the steppers.

I'm aware of risk assessment tables that jelp establish the performance level of a system but are there any tables that relate to the kinetic energy of a moving blunt object and the level of injury that could cause?

dc42

No I am not aware of any such tables.

DocTrucker

@SupraGuy as the 3.3 rail is easily damaged by shorts would it make sense to select the diodes to avoid conduction below say 6V?

SupraGuy

@doctrucker If anything, the opposite. The conducting voltage of the diodes is the maximum differential from earth that the circuit ground can be without conducting through the resistor. This is ONLY to avoid ground loops, not as any kind of circuit protection. Nothing that you do here is going to prevent damage to the 3.3V rail if it allows that rail to work at all.

DocTrucker

@supraguy Thanks again. I now better appreciate the main purpose of this is to reduce ground loops and can see the resistor normally conducts, the diodes are just high current paths in the event a significant voltage gets shorted to earth.

As I understand it in the event of a short to metal work of DC voltages in the system these diodes will conduct if their threshold voltage is exceeded. Would it be possible to monitor for current flow through D1 and D2 (sense resistor in series?) and use that to break an interlock loop if detected?

For example a VIN short on the posative side of a heater should blow a DC circuit fuse. Short on the negative side is indestinguishable from normal opperation from the PSU perspective but should cause a voltage across a sense resistor in series with D1/D2.

My dual interlock loops currently combine at the PS_ON pin on the duet. It would be my intention to add this just before that - ground negative on one side and drain from relays (with flyback/freewheel diodes) on the other.

The objective is to detect the serious wiring anomaly (which maybe causing a heater to heat unexpectedly) and stop the system.