Programmable power supplies - 18 August 2010 - Vepac Electronics

Programmable power supplies
18 August 2010, Power Electronics / Power Management

TDK-Lambda has expanded the Genesys family of programmable power supplies for AC/DC power systems in OEM, industrial and laboratory applications.

They are now available in more power levels: 750 W, 1,5 kW, 2,4 kW 1U profile; 3,3 kW, 5 kW 2U profile; 10 kW and 15 kW 3U profile, and with output voltages from 0 V to 600 V, and current up to 1000 A; in half rack (750 W) and 19” rack (all ranges) chassis.

The wide range input is continuously variable from 85–265 V a.c., single-phase, 50/60 Hz. The range also features active power factor correction of 0,99 at full load to assure operation in difficult AC environments while meeting EMC requirements.

Genesys 750/1500/2400 W 1U (up to 300 A) includes several other important new features and options. Up to four like units may be connected in parallel and user configured for the master to program and monitor the total current of the group. Thus, four units can appear as a single 3/6/9,6 kW power supply, increasing flexibility for system designers. The front panel provides reliable control through encoders selectable for fine or course adjustment (six or 30 turns) and four-digit LED voltage and current meters. Adjustable OVP, UVL and current foldback provide further flexibility; their set values may be previewed on the front panel display. The foldback may be set to latch output off if desired for safety.

The newest option in the Genesys family is an LXI certified LAN interface. Features include fast startup, fixed and dynamic addressing and LAN fault detectors. A LAN equipped master can also communicate with MD option equipped slaves. In the digital options, a new option called multidrop allows an IEEE multidrop master to control multidrop equipped slaves over RS485, avoiding the cost of a GPIB board in every slave power supply. Up to 31 may be addressed over the RS485 lines of master and slaves.

Safety features include safe restart and last setting memory. With safe restart, the user can select whether the power supply returns to previous settings after power off, or returns to zero (safe) output, waiting for user instructions. Last setting memory retains settings of output voltage and current, remote or local mode, OVP and UVL, foldback, baud rate and startup mode, without battery. Front panel controls also include output on/off and local/remote selection. The front panel may be locked locally or by software command.

All Genesys products include a standard, embedded 16-bit RS232/RS485 digital interface through which up to 31 power supplies may be controlled in daisy chain over the RS485 line. Analog remote programming is user selectable 0–5 V or 0–10 V via DIP switches on the rear panel. The design of the power supplies is highly modular to offer short lead times.

For more information contact Brian Howson, Vepac Electronics, +27 (0)11 453 1910, sales@vepac.co.za, www.vepac.co.za