Large terminal blocks for automotive SMPS?

[gmarsh]

Maybe this should go in the car audio section, I'm not really sure...

I was recently tasked with designing a 45V @ 10A, isolated-output power supply for automotive operation. This required a terminal block rated at about 50A, I found a 75A two-piece from Phoenix Contact and called it a day. However, now the output current requirement has now tripled to 30A!

I can make the power supply do it, I can get PCBs with several-oz copper plating and all that good stuff, but I have no idea where to buy a 150A PCB-mount terminal block like the huge ones you find on multi-kW Class D car audio amplifiers. I'm thinking that amp manufacturers machine their own connectors, but hopefully I'm wrong - any ideas where I may find such a beast?

Thanks.

[Serge66]

Industrial terminals, perhaps?
Phoenix, Merlin Gerin, Telemecanique, Allen Bradley....
That is what we use at work for wiring control panels.
Check with your local electrical wholesalers.

I repaired a Lambda-Nemic SMPS rated at 63A. The output connectors are massive M10 screws. Or something in that size (M8-M12). Looks like they have been chromed.

Serge

[luka]

Hi

Why do you need 5 times overrated connector? if you need 30 go for first that you can get your hands on... Most are rated for continuous current

BTW: 170A welding machine uses M8 for transferring current from transformer to welding electrode

[gmarsh]

Originally posted by luka
Hi

Why do you need 5 times overrated connector? if you need 30 go for first that you can get your hands on... Most are rated for continuous current

BTW: 170A welding machine uses M8 for transferring current from transformer to welding electrode

30A is the output current unfortunately... 30A @ 45V is 1350 watts, 1500 watts on the primary side assuming 90% efficiency, 125 amps at 12V. I thought about using copper bars with screws. But now that I've quoted several-ounce circuit board, I've given up on the idea.

Since it's a low-duty-cycle application, I've proposed a 48V battery bank and a (much more practical) flyback-based charger.

[EnvisionAudio]

Originally posted by gmarsh
Maybe this should go in the car audio section, I'm not really sure...

I was recently tasked with designing a 45V @ 10A, isolated-output power supply for automotive operation. This required a terminal block rated at about 50A, I found a 75A two-piece from Phoenix Contact and called it a day. However, now the output current requirement has now tripled to 30A!

I can make the power supply do it, I can get PCBs with several-oz copper plating and all that good stuff, but I have no idea where to buy a 150A PCB-mount terminal block like the huge ones you find on multi-kW Class D car audio amplifiers. I'm thinking that amp manufacturers machine their own connectors, but hopefully I'm wrong - any ideas where I may find such a beast?

Thanks.

Good Luck. Many of these connectors are indeed custom designs with a bunch coming from China and India (minimums apply). You might want to look at using plain old wire and a "car audio" distribution block with set-screw style terminations.

There are also US distributors of the "regular" style car audio terminals, but I am unsure of their costs. Try Dinkle Barrier (no, not dingle-berry!) at:
http://www.electrostock.com/din/dinbarrier.htm

These are known as Tri-Barrier strips. Gold plating extra.

[dmfraser]

If you have a 30A power supply, a 30A connector is what you need. The voltage rating is not important to a point. A connector used on a 12V 50A power supply is also fine on a 45V 50A power supply.

Until you hit the maximum voltage rating of the connector (and don't connect or disconnect with it live), the voltage of the supply does not vary the current capacity of the connector.

And a 45V 30A power supply does not jump to 12A if the output is reduced to 12V.