Can someone comment on the build quality of this LPS - Thanks!!!!

[Gruesome]

tough crowd ;-)

 

[jae]

If it is a board accepting an ATX pinout, can look for a $20-40 DC-DC atx "picopsu" or "pico psu" on Aliexpress (or amazon if you can't wait) and pair it with any reliable laptop or meanwell or triad wallwart PSU that has the correct spec for it. 60-90W Laptop bricks from companies like lenovo or dell are practically free on ebay or you might even have many laying around at home already.

 

[restorer-john]

tough crowd ;-)

Nah, just a typical ASR crowd that doesn't read the thread title or the OP's specific queries. Happens all the time and it's funny to watch.

 

[solderdude]

Build quality seems fine to me.
It would be difficult to know if real or immitation parts are used if one cares for that.
Such may affect longevity.

 

[voodooless]

Nah, just a typical ASR crowd that doesn't read the thread title or the OP's specific queries. Happens all the time and it's funny to watch.

Yeah, it's really terrible how people try to actually solve somebodies problem instead of answering a question blindly

 

[restorer-john]

Yeah, it's really terrible how people try to actually solve somebodies problem instead of answering a question blindly

Somebody's (not somebodies- that's plural) problem, was not even remotely a problem. He had nothing whatsoever needing to 'solve'. Don't you get that? Useless, superfluous and unrelated 'advice' is not advice, it's a waste of time.

Typical with ASR members. They just miss the entire point completely.

 

[restorer-john]

Build quality seems fine to me.

Agreed.

At last, another member who listened to the OP, answered his questions and left his own agendas and BS at the door.

 

[voodooless]

Somebody's (not somebodies- that's plural) problem, was not even remotely a problem.

Yeah, let's see you handle some Dutch I blame Grammarly, it thinks it's just fine

He had nothing whatsoever needing to 'solve'. Don't you get that? Useless, superfluous and unrelated 'advice' is not advice, it's a waste of time.

Of course he has something to solve, which becomes quite clear later on:

So I try (based on my professional mindset) to ensure (within reasonable cost limits) that my power delivery in the upstream components is as clean as possible in the off chance that some downstream components are affected (i.e. have poor power filtering, poor jitter rejection etc)

If there is nothing to solve, there is nothing to ask.

Typical with ASR members. They just miss the entire point completely.

I beg to differ.

So how many linear power supplies do you have for your PCs?

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Looking to power my low end PC with this (it pulls 22w max).. any general thoughts on quality?

Link to item with detailed photos is here:

Finished 50VA HIFI Ultra-low Noise 2 Ways Linear Power Supply DC12V@3A Home PSU | eBay

(Made of Swiss SCHURTER fuse, made of silver solder. Use all aluminum chassis. we also can provide 5.5 2.1mm or other size) NOTE: The AC input cable is not included by default.

www.ebay.com

Top view (taken from website) is as below:

View attachment 284577

Thanks,

Peter
:

So, it's by Chinese "Sengterbelle" cooperative.
It's very hard to tell something from the photo except, perhaps, the obvious - this is a very ordinary linear power supply based on some very common voltage stabilizer.
It is very likely that there is only one stabilizer in it (or I don't see the second one), which means "two ways" is not entirely clear (except that the stabilizer is two-channel, this occurs in nature, but the likelihood of this is minimal because you can clearly see that the stabilizer is three-pin only).
The PCB itself for this power supply is produced by some other cooperative altogether, because it can be found in different power sources of different cooperatives, for example:

50VA HIFI Ultra-low Noise Linear Power Supply DC5V 9V 12V 15V 18V 24V LPS PSU | eBay

Output DC cable plug type: default 5.5 2.5mm (Polarity: Internal + / outside - ). 2 × Oxygen-free copper output DC cable. Use all aluminum chassis. (The default DC plug size is 5.5 2.5mm. we also can provide 5.5 2.1mm or other size).

www.ebay.com

I will say this - I would not buy this for almost $ 100. For me, buying this is humiliating.
Simply because for this money I will do incomparably better for myself, something really 2-ways with ultra low noise.

Then the personal choice comes...

 

[Veri]

I hear what you are all saying, that it doesnt matter but I cant let it go... so yes I am a schmuck, at least on this point.

I am of course aware that some no name LPS has doubtful quality (in terms of both build, longevity and performance), hence my post.

I am also aware that high priced LPS's are a rip off so was looking for the holy grail of good price/good performance.

So with some more digging, I found this puppy: https://www.fiio.com/pl50

[...]

I have a contact that will measure its noise performance for me.

Do follow up with some noice performance testing

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Nah, just a typical ASR crowd that doesn't read the thread title or the OP's specific queries. Happens all the time and it's funny to watch.

Guilty as charged. I assumed things which I shouldn't have done.

 

[TK750]

Crikey, not sure if I want to wade back in here after the weekend! Well I think there are a few points worth mentioning so here goes nothing:

The OP wants a reliable power supply for his small computer. He asked for advice on build quality of the linear supply pictured and most of you start dribbling on about cheap Chinese ( orig Taiwanese) (Meanwell) SMPS supplies.

True but I fail to see the relevance of the country of manufacture, the linear one op linked is also from China? He also did make quite clear that keeping the cost of said supply down was a high priority due to shipping and imports etc.

The simple facts are low cost SMPS supplies are unreliable when compared to a supply such as the one pictured. If you'd seen as many dead SMPSs as I have, you wouldn't have one anywhere near your HiFi. The only weak point as I see it with the pictured PSU, is the relatively poorly mounted, soldered power switch. It is not up to the standard of the rest of the PSU. I'd also want to be checking idle transformer losses/temps, as some Chinese transformers are pretty ordinary in that respect.

I don't know if this is the case (I'm not saying it is or it isn't, I genuinely don't know). But I would imagine the quality of manufacture and components used is likely to have a large impact (possibly the largest) on any potential longevity. The issue here for me is you are using personal anecdotal evidence and perhaps not comparing apples to apples, 'low cost SMPS' vs presumably more expensive Linear ones. As the previously linked Meanwell etc supplies were less than (some significantly less than) $20 it would probably be better to compare to a Meanwell or whichever brand costing a similar amount, $88 is the price of the supply op linked I believe.

I can't comment on the build quality looking at the picture and I'm sure you are 10000x more knowledgeable than myself and many others in this respect. However I do have to question whether people think it is wise to potentially recommend/check a power supply from some relatively unknown manufacturer (plugging 'SENGTERBELLE' into google gave me a grand total of 5 results) by simply having someone look over a photo of the PCB? Surely most would agree it is better to purchase from a well known and tested manufacturer (even if you absolutely wanted to stick with a LPS)? You even mention you'd want to be checking the losses/temps as one cannot know from the photo.

But overall, I'd rather have that supply running a small single voltage input PC than any SMPS you'd like to name. At least it will still be working in 30 years.

Again a pretty broad but ultimately anecdotal claim.

The waste of money comes in a few years when the cheap SMPS has overheated, dried out its caps and spewed its guts all over the non-ventilated plastic case it was jammed into. And, likely taken out a downstream component that couldn't deal with the extreme ripple in the 'DC' it was supposed to be outputting...

Perhaps we can find some common ground here, overall I absolutely agree the PSU is not somewhere you want to cheap out on for a PC. It is an area where you should spend money, not save.

I've run large IT support departments with thousands of machines of all generations as well as data centres. This also involved negotiating long-term kit-support contracts (with real-time data about failures, spares, returns etc.). Based on this real-world experience, SMPS PSU failure across thousands of PCs is a non-problem. On average, the processor + OS + performance + storage etc. move to obsolescence years before the average PSU dies (especially amongst coders - i.e. the OP). Occasionally there are issues - e.g. where ONE generation of product or a batch of devices has much shorter life than expected (this can be more obvious in data centres where all of the "chassis" is always on and operating much closer to 100% load than a desktop PC).

I've also supported big studio facilities with lots of Linear Power Supplies. They fail. Possibly just as often as SMPS in computers.

One thing that does stand out from my experience - being a cheapskate is a big mistake. For my own personal use I would always spend several times more on a branded computer PSU than the cheapest no-name brands. I wouldn't spend less than 100 for a computer PSU because its performance is critical.

If I'm going to criticise John for using anecdotal evidence then it's only fair I do the same here for responding with it haha, would be interesting to see some long term controlled tests or research though (perhaps there is plenty out there and I am simply ignorant). Definitely agree with the spending some money on it part, which we all seem to, to be fair.

I hear what you are all saying, that it doesnt matter but I cant let it go... so yes I am a schmuck, at least on this point.

I am of course aware that some no name LPS has doubtful quality (in terms of both build, longevity and performance), hence my post.

I am also aware that high priced LPS's are a rip off so was looking for the holy grail of good price/good performance.

So with some more digging, I found this puppy: https://www.fiio.com/pl50

Its from a well known company and is typically used to power their desktop products so its doubtful that would develop a power product that would be detrimental to their own products.

At 12v/3A its all I need, shipping was free (but will take 3+ weeks to arrive) and was on special so I got it for $US 100.

I have a contact that will measure its noise performance for me.

That's great, I hope it performs well and you are happy with it. I will admit it does look smart.

What kinda gets lost on this forum, at times, is maintaining perspective: You all get your tits in a tangle over some cheap purchase as you are sticking to your principles but as has been stated many times,audio is a hobby and tinkering with stuff is a reasonable part of the deal.

If I was proposing to spend $500, $1000,$4000 on an LPS then sure, try and talk me down, but a hundred here or there....

Peter

That's a fair point but you did also post a link to some very expensive supply from 'Small Green Computer' as an example of 'a quality unit from an established manufacturer' where most people here would say they fall firmly into the snake oil category so it was understandable for people to be concerned.

But my question wasnt about if the LPS was suitable for my PC... just whether the build quality of the LPS was up to snuff.

I didnt create the rabbit hole.

Peter

Nah, just a typical ASR crowd that doesn't read the thread title or the OP's specific queries. Happens all the time and it's funny to watch.

To an extent but the thing is you never know the level of someone's knowledge or understanding until you engage with them. Some people that post here and ask questions are nothing short of experts, others are completely clueless. If things aren't immediately clear I don't think there is anything wrong with asking clarifying questions or making some most likely assumptions. I feel like it is a better approach to probe and make sure rather than just assume someone knows everything and exactly what they are asking with no concern about if the response will lead to them either wasting money, something not working/making no difference or worst case damaging equipment or themselves.

Somebody's (not somebodies- that's plural) problem, was not even remotely a problem. He had nothing whatsoever needing to 'solve'. Don't you get that? Useless, superfluous and unrelated 'advice' is not advice, it's a waste of time.

Typical with ASR members. They just miss the entire point completely.

Nothing wrong with correcting a non native speaker for a (very subtle) mistake to let them know. However doing so as a method of scoring points in a petty spat is pretty poor taste imo.

As per the rest, that's in your opinion. I think the questions asked were relevant and advice given was useful, again it falls back in part to not knowing how knowledgeable or experienced the OP is. My opinion is it is always better to err on the side of caution and give too much info rather than not enough. Obviously we can disagree on this!

At last, another member who listened to the OP, answered his questions and left his own agendas and BS at the door.

I have faith readers will be able to discern that for themselves!



As a small but perhaps important aside do we really need to talk to each other like this? It just comes across as kind of pathetic and childish often to me. A lot of communication is not only what you say but also how you say it, I'm doubtful conversation would devolve like this if people were all sat face to face with one another? It's possible to disagree without being snarky etc. With that being said I'll hold my hand up and say I could and should have been more sympathetic with my first reply to the thread so apologies for that.

 

[fatoldgit]

@TK750

"That's a fair point but you did also post a link to some very expensive supply from 'Small Green Computer' as an example of 'a quality unit from an established manufacturer' where most people here would say they fall firmly into the snake oil category so it was understandable for people to be concerned."

I only pointed that one out as an example how people down my end of the world get the short end of the stick when it comes to buying stuff (either locally via a vendor or self activated).

I was not saying the said power supply was the bees knees, just an example of what SOME might consider 'a quality unit from an established manufacturer'.

But my more specific point was that if the thing I wanted was $10 but of similar dimensions, I would still be charged $US 312 for shipping. Shipping is always a rort.

Overall, I have been very amused by this thread.. what started out as a simple request that someone like @restorer-john might have some insight on spiraled into a catchall for various unrelated view points.

In the end, I got what I wanted (not from the thread!!!)... a well made LPS at a good price that may or may not provide a benefit (it wont be negative, at worst neutral)

Lock this thread... PLEASE!!!

Peter