DIN rail PSU for SBC and HDD

[Variometer]

Folks, has anyone tried using one of those 5V DIN rail-mounted PSUs (eg Mean Well HDR-XX series) for powering the boards and HDDs? My "server" stack has grown to 10+ boards (many thanks to this forum!) and I am thinking of getting a couple of powerful industry-grade 5V units, but not sure if they provide computer-grade output, especially 12V for HDDs.

 

Any thoughts?

[markonmoto2]

Mean Well has a specsheets on it site, there should be min/max ratings, you can compare it to ATX standard and have an idea about it's "grade".
I also used 5v 75w meanwell (i didn't remember for now which series, LRS or something like that) and it work good for OPi PC Plus + NanoPi M4 and NPi neo core2, i didn't have any issue with that.
Unfortunately for now I'm just use NPi M4 sata hat with 12V/2A power supply, so I can't tell how it will work in your case, but meanwell produce good power supplies so it should be fine.

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[renedis]

You'll probably need something like a buck converter. 12V HDD's can get power hungry when they spin-up. Up to 15W each.

[TRS-80]

I was going to make a topic about this, but then I searched and found this one.

 

I recently needed to replace power supply on my monitor.  I ended up with Mean Well DIN rail one, because it was half the price of comparable brick.  And it is like 500K MTBF or something like that.  A real industrial power supply.  Far, far better than the vast majority of cheap no name power supplies we are already probably running.  In my case, it was certainly better than the cheap one that came with my Monoprice 30" monitor (the one I replaced).

 

 

Anyway, there is a lot to like about DIN rail supplies (especially in concert with SBCs), so I don't think this will be my last one:

• You can run multiple SBC off one of these, distributing power through readily available (and inexpensive) terminal blocks.
• Besides terminal blocks, there is a wide array of existing components for these, as they are an industrial standard.
• They mount to wall or rack, saving space and making cable management easier.
• In my case, the DIN rail supply was half the price of comparable brick (not sure if I just got lucky, @lanefu in IRC reported the opposite).
• Long life and higher quality (being industrial supplies; assuming you go with a good brand like Mean Well).

I am sure I am forgetting some things.  Anyway, discuss. 

 

 

[Igor]

8 minutes ago, TRS-80 said:

Anyway, discuss. 

Any source of cheap bulk of something like this? I am too busy to make them, but have one rail to place SBCs on.
 

[TRS-80]

5 minutes ago, Igor said:

Any source of cheap bulk of something like this?

 

Yes, once I started thinking about DIN rail, something like this was the next logical conclusion.  Mounting the SBC themselves on some mount (in addition to just the power supply).

 

So I looked into these, and found:

• some generic (mostly plastic) ones on AliExpress
• some nicer (some metal) ones from specialty suppliers ($$$)

But all of the above were IMO much too expensive for what they are.  And with the generic ones, no guarantee that your board would even fit.  I guess you could check measurements and drill holes though.

 

So in my mind, I thought 3d printing would be the best solution.  Customized to particular boards.  Or even better, a F/LOSS published CAD template for creating your own to spec.  I didn't look far into that, but would be surprised if it did not already exist.

 

Maybe even just source the plastic (or metal) DIN clips, and screw a piece of sheet metal to that, bent into an "L" shape (as in the picture).  Drill holes as needed, use standard standoffs (which we should all already have an assortment of on hand IMO).

 

Back to your specific request @Igor, I think such things may exist already on AliExpress(?).  But it's been a while since I looked.

[Werner]

The DINrail clips are available from Phoenix Contact: https://www.phoenixcontact.com/online/portal/us/?uri=pxc-oc-itemdetail:pid=1201578&library=usen&pcck=P-09-02-06&tab=1&selectedCategory=ALL

 

No idea for the L profile from scratch though.