[sdiy] That old modular power supply question (again)

[David G. Dixon]

<snip...>

All great advice!

> I have 4 cabinets on my modular actualy and a small PSU inside each one.
> Cabinets are ground wired on the back with bananas patch cords. It work
> perfectly without any noise or problems.  The tip is to correctly drain
> all ground lines and to wire them like a 'star' with large gauge wires or
> to twice all ground wires like on a PC psu... 

Unless panel ground is wired separately, star ground is defeated as soon as
a patch cord is connected between two modules, or if the modules are bolted
to a common metal frame.  However, it doesn't seem to make much difference.

> Another advantage of multiple small PSUs is that you can have 100%
> independant cabinets. A central big PSU can be a good solution too, but
> this is more expensive usually and the regulator section will be much more
> complex. You can take example of large mixing desk PSU. You will also need
> to evaluate the total power and size your big PSU accordingly.

It depends on how big your cabinets are.  Mine are small, and only
accommodate 5-8 modules each.  I have a 15V Power-One which puts out 1.5A
max on each rail, and should therefore be able to power four or five such
cabinets with no problems.  My modular is "designed" to be somewhat mobile,
and it will be nice not to have to plug each little cabinet into the wall.