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Portable 12 volt Power Supply
- Thread starter acpilot
- Start date
Carl Froehlich
Well Known Member
This one does everything you need, including all avionics testing.
I have this one, works well: https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ALO-DM-30TR. Built in ammeter is nice - helps to show how much current the system is using as various circuits are activated.
Scott Hersha
Well Known Member
I just went through this exercise recently, and ended up purchasing a power supply that I think is very good.
I had previously purchased a cheap power supply on Amazon for about $30. It was a Chinese made unit that worked, but I didn’t feel after using it, that it was capable of providing stable, protected power to my expensive avionics. After using it for a short time, the voltage adjustment pot failed, and I ended up soldering the pins that I assumed would give me 14+ volts. It only actually gave me about 13.4 volts, and still had me wondering on the stability/safety of the power it was supplying. I don’t have any evidence that it wasn’t working, but I just didn’t trust it. So I went searching.
The first place I looked was the White Lightning power supply - available at ACS and Sporty’s (near me). This is a rock solid unit that you can trust to supply stable, protected power to your airplane. I know John Sisk, owner of the company that makes this power supply. At $475 for the experimental version (certified version is more). There are several others that are much more expensive than the White Lightning. I decided to look further to see what was available. My research turned up a power supply made in Japan that is used by ham radio guys who need a 12v power supply for their bench mount, non-handheld ham radios. The one I decided on is the Alinco DM-330. It is a 30 amp (continuous), 12-15v, protected power supply. It is made in Japan, and I trust that. All of my favorite TV’s have been made in Japan, and I bought it from a ham radio shop near my airport that guarantees it. It was about $200 with tax here in Ohio. There are other ones available if you look, but this one works for me.
https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/alo-dm-330mvt?rrec=true
Good Luck with your search. I would caution you about buying cheap imitations. The one I bought is also available for a cheaper price - cloned - but made in China. It looks the same, but isn’t.
I had previously purchased a cheap power supply on Amazon for about $30. It was a Chinese made unit that worked, but I didn’t feel after using it, that it was capable of providing stable, protected power to my expensive avionics. After using it for a short time, the voltage adjustment pot failed, and I ended up soldering the pins that I assumed would give me 14+ volts. It only actually gave me about 13.4 volts, and still had me wondering on the stability/safety of the power it was supplying. I don’t have any evidence that it wasn’t working, but I just didn’t trust it. So I went searching.
The first place I looked was the White Lightning power supply - available at ACS and Sporty’s (near me). This is a rock solid unit that you can trust to supply stable, protected power to your airplane. I know John Sisk, owner of the company that makes this power supply. At $475 for the experimental version (certified version is more). There are several others that are much more expensive than the White Lightning. I decided to look further to see what was available. My research turned up a power supply made in Japan that is used by ham radio guys who need a 12v power supply for their bench mount, non-handheld ham radios. The one I decided on is the Alinco DM-330. It is a 30 amp (continuous), 12-15v, protected power supply. It is made in Japan, and I trust that. All of my favorite TV’s have been made in Japan, and I bought it from a ham radio shop near my airport that guarantees it. It was about $200 with tax here in Ohio. There are other ones available if you look, but this one works for me.
https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/alo-dm-330mvt?rrec=true
Good Luck with your search. I would caution you about buying cheap imitations. The one I bought is also available for a cheaper price - cloned - but made in China. It looks the same, but isn’t.
Doug Rohrer
Well Known Member
I bought a 0-30 volt, 0-30 amp power supply from Amazon for around $100 several years ago and found it very useful. Sorry, I don't have the brand/model handy. I hard wired a plug into the downstream side of the main contactor relay with the plug end up near the oil fill door. When I plug the power supply in, the whole aircraft is powered up with the battery offline. The digital ammeter is useful to see how much power each device is using. Also, I confirmed my B&C voltage regulator low power light is set properly: 14.3 V= no light. 13.1 volts = light is on , indicating alternator is off-line.
Does yours have the loud fan noise like this review has right out of the box? He replaced the fan and fixed it in another video).
Bill Boyd
Well Known Member
I have purchased two of these and been happy with them overall: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WHJF1Q8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
One is in my vehicle to power my ham rig in the pickup bed from the truck's 110 VAC rear outlet (avoids long fat 12 VDC cabling from the battery to the rig) and one is mounted in the tail cone of my RV-10 adjacent to the battery with a 110 VAC power cable socket for use as avionics ground power/emergency charging. Both work quite well.
I briefly had one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LATMSGS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 but removed it from the truck after I realized how noisy it was. Loud slowly sweeping RF switching noise "growlers" every 30 kHz or so across the HF spectrum, and ferrites did not tame it in the least. The Mean Well supplies have a bit of this as well, but it's every 17 kHz or so and lower amplitude - I can only detect it up to about 8 MHz before it's below the atmospheric noise level, and doesn't bother me on 60 or 40 m SSB.
You get what you pay for, but some of these 35-dollar supplies will probably do what you need. The problem is the reviews are not relieable indicators of which ones are RF-noisy as most purchasers are using them to run LED decorative light strips where they don't know or care about the issue.
One is in my vehicle to power my ham rig in the pickup bed from the truck's 110 VAC rear outlet (avoids long fat 12 VDC cabling from the battery to the rig) and one is mounted in the tail cone of my RV-10 adjacent to the battery with a 110 VAC power cable socket for use as avionics ground power/emergency charging. Both work quite well.
I briefly had one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LATMSGS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 but removed it from the truck after I realized how noisy it was. Loud slowly sweeping RF switching noise "growlers" every 30 kHz or so across the HF spectrum, and ferrites did not tame it in the least. The Mean Well supplies have a bit of this as well, but it's every 17 kHz or so and lower amplitude - I can only detect it up to about 8 MHz before it's below the atmospheric noise level, and doesn't bother me on 60 or 40 m SSB.
You get what you pay for, but some of these 35-dollar supplies will probably do what you need. The problem is the reviews are not relieable indicators of which ones are RF-noisy as most purchasers are using them to run LED decorative light strips where they don't know or care about the issue.
I haven't noticed it to be particularly loud. But it's used in a hangar, usually with a fan running to keep the hangar a little cooler, or airplane noises in the background from normal airport activity. A ham guy using one in a small room (ham shack) probably would be more sensitive to noise......
roadrunner20
Well Known Member
I bought this one from Amazon back in 2015 & has worked well for me.
This Power Supply
This Power Supply
Years ago, when I was really active in radio controlled hobby I built one from an old PC power supply I had laying around.
Cost was an hour of time and a switch and LED indicator light from Radio Shack (ok, that is how long ago I did this)
Example here:
https://www.instructables.com/Convert-an-ATX-Power-Supply-Into-a-Regular-DC-Powe/
Cost was an hour of time and a switch and LED indicator light from Radio Shack (ok, that is how long ago I did this)
Example here:
https://www.instructables.com/Convert-an-ATX-Power-Supply-Into-a-Regular-DC-Powe/
I bought this one about 6 months ago. Seems to be working great. I even knocked it off a shelf to the concrete floor 4 feet below and it continues to perform flawlessly.
Walt
Well Known Member
Easier than hooking up a small battery? Not sure how it could be easier to hook up a power supply with the extension cords etc. you'll need when you can pick a small battery for about $20.
Just my opinion, but ground power isn't just for airliners
There are these surprisingly light switching power supplies( S-120-12, S-150-12, S-180-12, etc) that weigh less than 1lb unless you start going above 180W. Also you can tweak its output voltage with a trim pot. I decided it was was worth the weight (still about 1lb total I think) as it invokes the following:
- Power Supply itself
- Shoreline Plug
- Isolation Relay
- Indicator Light
- A few wires
It does look better in real life, these pictures are like looking at your picture and zooming in on your pores
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Walt
Well Known Member
They call them ground power units because... wait for it.... they are on the ground, not in the airplane!Just my opinion, but ground power isn't just for airliners
They call them ground power units because... wait for it.... they are on the ground, not in the airplane!
Touché
Even if it only works on the ground?
Got this one from Amazon to use while upgrading my avionics. 13.8 volts on the nose and even with everything on, the cooling fan never came on. 30 amp capacity will likely cover most every panel power needs. Got banana plug alligator clamp wires to use with it.
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