Guide to build Hypex Modules

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Can any experienced Hypex builders help? I have emailed Hypex support and sent them a diagram of my connections, but haven't heard anything since Monday. :(

then how about posting that diagram? :)
I'm not familiar with the meanwell supplies. however for anyone to help you here we will need more info.

you've reviewed each connection per the supply and amp documents? Are you able to make any voltage measurements? (or sometimes the safest and easiest are just some continuity measurements with the power off and disconnected)
 
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Yes, the voltages measure fine at the PCB

The Meanwell is the SE-350-48 as seen here.

ah. well, it seems with that scenario there is no ground reference. The enable pin is connected to the GND input, but without a GND, that is just floating. In the other revision of UCD there may have been an alternate current path somewhere that was enough for the module to turn on.

ground the GND pin. Chassis ground should be fine. (should be same as AC/safety ground)

Most of the circuit is balanced, so it is not referenced to ground, but instead current flows between the +48 & -48. I suspect there are some parts of the UCD board, the enable control at least, that require a ground return other than the - voltage rail. (as they operate "single ended" so to speak)

see this diagram from a UCD datasheet (the supply shown is linear, so ignore that, just take note of the GNDs):
(I should note: the horizontal bar is a style of chassis ground symbol)
 

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It turns out that my version 8 UcD400 ST requires 65V to start. Now can anyone tell me how I was supposed to know that from the datasheet?

http://www.hypex.nl/docs/UcD400ST_datasheet.pdf

It looks like a minimum of 45V to me, but Frank Veldman at Hypex says it needs 65V. I'm a bit annoyed about this, since my power supply won't go above 58V. :mad:

Does anyone have a lower voltage module to swap? :(
 
:)
Ok, now i am ready to try this once again...i got a new softstart from Hypex (i would like to work the pushbutton).

Now, for the ucds i am still not sure about the on/off wire (4 pin Molex) where i have to connect them. Is it enough to just connect them to the ground (see picture, the pink wire) on the ucds or should i connect them to J4 (5th or 6th pin) from the smps?

Thanks again!
View attachment 222949

Souldriver,
I've been reading your thread and you are one confused 'bunny'.
Firstly, make absolutely sure that your Softstart is connected correctly. Some of your pictures show that you are not doing this right. Don't connect anything yet until you read this bit....
Start with the mains input, that's the first two faston blades marked 'INPUT', 240V Neutral and Live. Then turn the board over and you'll see that the next two faston blades are connected together and to the previous one, use one of these as LIVE feed to pin 1 or 3 on J2.
Now the first faston blade on 'INPUT' will be the NEUTRAL.
Again turn over the board and you will see that the first faston goes through the circuit and then goes to the 5th and 6th faston blades. Use one of these to connect to the other pin on J2 (NEUTRAL feed to SMPS). Ignore the last two fastons as these are only for linking wires from transformer wires in a linear power supply.
Still with the Softstart, you said that you will use a pushbutton so make sure that you have the 'pushbutton' jumper set to 'ON'.

Next, your sketch. The main output connections to the UCD 400's is on J1...
Pin 2 Red, Pin 3 Black and Pin 5 Blue...that's all the connections you need from J1.
The wire you have coloured pink which is the thin black wire from the UCD signal input 4 pin plug is the wire you have to connect to pin 6 on J4 which is the Auto Amplifier Enable output from the SMPS. UCD's will not work without this.
Also you have to make a connection with a wire from the positive loudspeaker terminal to pin 10 on J4. this will enable the DC error protection...

"DC Error Input Characteristics
In the event of a critical failure occurring in the connected amplifier which may cause damage to the
connected loudspeaker, the SMPS1200 needs to be switched-off rapidly. The SMPS1200 provides a
single DC Error Input designated for a UcD OEM series amplifier. The DC Error Input is latched and
will not auto-recover. The SMPS1200 needs to be disconnected from the mains a couple of minutes
to reset.
Item Type Min Typ Max Unit Notes
DC voltage on J4:1 Input Vdc *Use open collector
* modules can be connected to this pin."

I hope all this helps and you should soon be seeing blue and red LED's all over your UCD's and then wonderful sound.

Best of luck ......John acousticimagery - HOME
 
It turns out that my version 8 UcD400 ST requires 65V to start. Now can anyone tell me how I was supposed to know that from the datasheet?

http://www.hypex.nl/docs/UcD400ST_datasheet.pdf

It looks like a minimum of 45V to me, but Frank Veldman at Hypex says it needs 65V. I'm a bit annoyed about this, since my power supply won't go above 58V. :mad:

Does anyone have a lower voltage module to swap? :(

That doesn't make sense.
I agree that 45 is the lowest Voltage for the UcD400. Their datasheet cannot be that far off. (says it should not shutoff due to undervoltage until as low as 30V)

65V is too high for a min V on the UcD400. Mr Veldman must think you have a UcD700.

You've grounded the enable pins and verified input voltage is OK? No other modifications or tweaks to the UcD's? It's a standard UcD400ST (not HG or OEM, and certainly not a UcD700?)
 
That doesn't make sense.
I agree that 45 is the lowest Voltage for the UcD400. Their datasheet cannot be that far off. (says it should not shutoff due to undervoltage until as low as 30V)

65V is too high for a min V on the UcD400. Mr Veldman must think you have a UcD700.

You've grounded the enable pins and verified input voltage is OK? No other modifications or tweaks to the UcD's? It's a standard UcD400ST (not HG or OEM, and certainly not a UcD700?)

Well I tried connecting the enable pin to the GND tab (this works on my v6 UcD400ST) but it didn't work on the v8. I then tried connecting the enable pin and GND tab to AC ground (my SMPS has no output ground), again to no avail. Input voltage confirmed with a Fluke DMM at the PCB. No mods/tweaks.

This is what Mr Veldman said via email:

The UcD400 needs a recommended supply voltage of +/-60V, this can of course be a bit lower with reduced output power. The previous UcD400 modules could run on really low supply voltages, like you used them. However in later units (V7 and up) the units also have an undervoltage protection, so you need at least +/-35V. So what you would need to do is run these two SMPS in series, creating a +/-48V supply voltage and connect both UcD modules. This way you also have a + and – voltage and a GND in the middle, so the UcD modules can be properly connected like they should.

With the single 48V supply unit performance was extremely reduced, output power of about 75W@4Ohm and THD must have been a lot worse too. So using the SMPS in series would probably give a fair performance boost.

I then pointed out that this contradicts the datasheet and that I had 2 SMPS and 2 modules so that I could use them in separate, active speakers.
He replied:

Well connecting AC ground won’t solve things as the module would still be in under voltage protection. Even if you did not have the units in series, some 65V at least would be needed to be able to start the UcD400 modules. So by placing them in series, this means the positive output of one supply connected to the negative output of the other. This way you have one negative line, where the positive line of that SMPS and the negative line of the other meet becomes your GND ref. and a positive line. so -56V/GND/+56V.

That one table indeed does not show the unit would need a positive and negative supply rail. However table above, the first page, and connector description in the datasheet do. I will change that one table too, so there can’t be any more confusion about it in the future.

So he knows I have UcD400 modules. Curiouser and curiouser...:confused:

I know other Hypex technical people read these forums. Maybe one of them could set this straight?
 
Well I tried connecting the enable pin to the GND tab (this works on my v6 UcD400ST) but it didn't work on the v8. I then tried connecting the enable pin and GND tab to AC ground (my SMPS has no output ground), again to no avail. Input voltage confirmed with a Fluke DMM at the PCB. No mods/tweaks.

This is what Mr Veldman said via email:

so he confirms a minimum +/-35V as one would expect for the UcD400. So the datasheet and Mr Veldman are correct. (sorry for my own omission of the +/- indicating a fully bipolar supply, this is often assumed, and I always just "think" +/- automatically - so 45V really means 90V from -supply to +supply)

I thought you have +/-48V? No? You really should have at least +/-40V for the UcD400. If not, you should have bought UcD180's or maybe a different power supply.

I mis-understood your use of the meanwell supply. (as I said I have not used them) Now that I look back I realize the issue. ( I can no longer see your diagram) Since you do not have a bipolar supply, the most you can get (around a "virtual ground") is +/-24V.

So you will indeed need either:
1) two UcD180's to replace the UcD400's
2) an entirely different power supply that has bipolar outputs of at least ~40 to 50V
3) another set of meanwell, so that you can run two in series (with AC GND in the middle for (-48)-0-(+48)

to test, you can use the two supplies you have now, in series with each other and then run the UcD's in parallel from them. (Of course if you had wanted to locate them physically apart this will not work)

Does this make sense to you? Even the UcD400 that is actually operating, is not within it's nominal operating range...
 
Not really! I don't really know what a bipolar power supply is. I thought that was a supply with 2 outputs to power 2 different things. My Meanwell supply has 3 terminals for DC- and 3 for DC+, does that mean it's tripolar?

:) well, that's OK. You might need to do a little research though to better understand how it all works.

far as I can tell you don't need to buy anything if you give up having them in separate enclosures (or separate speakers)

As recommended by hypex, sounds like you maybe best served to put your supplies in series with each other. (and no, the three terminals doesn't mean tripolar ;), just means three convenient places to attach wires for each of the two outputs.

A bipolar supply is typically one that is two voltages balanced around a zero volt center point. such as -48 volts to zero volts and zero volts to +48 volts. (-48V)-0V-(+48V)
(strictly speaking I suppose bipolar just means two voltages)

something like this:
(sorry for the poor diagram, not being a good artist I'm sticking with text)


Meanwell#1 + output------------------UcD + input
Meanwell#1 - output---|
-(connected together) |--------------UcD GND input
Meanwell#2 + output---|
Meanwell#2 - output-------------------UcD - input


+ input will be at +48 volts and - input will be at -48 volts. And UcD's should be happy. then of course you would need to connect this same + and - supply to both UcD's (in parallel) If you still aren't sure what's going on, I suggest you find a friend to help, or take your time and do some reading and learning. Once voltages get above 40 volts or so, things do get dangerous - even lethal. So take your time to understand. With these two in series you will have 96 volts potential.

As I don't have any experience with the meanwell's, if you have more questions you may want to look for or start a thread to get a bit more help if you have questions on the power supply.

good luck. hope you do get your UcD's up and running...
 
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ah. well, it seems with that scenario there is no ground reference. The enable pin is connected to the GND input, but without a GND, that is just floating. In the other revision of UCD there may have been an alternate current path somewhere that was enough for the module to turn on.

ground the GND pin. Chassis ground should be fine. (should be same as AC/safety ground)

Most of the circuit is balanced, so it is not referenced to ground, but instead current flows between the +48 & -48. I suspect there are some parts of the UCD board, the enable control at least, that require a ground return other than the - voltage rail. (as they operate "single ended" so to speak)

see this diagram from a UCD datasheet (the supply shown is linear, so ignore that, just take note of the GNDs):
(I should note: the horizontal bar is a style of chassis ground symbol)

Suggest you do a search on this in this website and hypx. UCD/Bruno recommends floating the ground. I have done this before and it works fine.
 
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