Power Supply -

irondesk40

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Jan 2008
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nc
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I have recently started using a lot of Murr switching power supplys. Curious, which power supply do most of you use. In the past we would use nothing but Allen Bradley but due to cost restrictions when we want to do a project now we switched to Murr.
In the past did a lot of machines with analog control and was always very confident with the Allen Bradley power supply units and now have a project coming up that will be 28 new machines and each machine will have 8 analog outputs and also J Type Thermocouple input card and trying to convince the boss i think we should use Allen Bradley in these machines but all he sees is the fact that the Allen Bradley is around $300 and the Murr is only around $90 and they both 5 amp supply units.
 
I don't believe A-B makes their own power supplies, but I don't recall the actual manufacturer.

While I don't believe in buying cheap, I also don't believe in paying for a nameplate. My experience with A-B power supplies is that they work fine and are grossly over-priced. I' not familiar with Murr, but if they seem to have good quality they may be just fine. Get some references from your supplier.

I consider power supplies a commodity product. I used lots of different brands over the years and as long as I bought from a distributor I trusted and a brand I recognized I hd no problems. I would, however, avoid someone that came in selling on just low price.
 
Ahhh the good old dilemma... Brand over price.

May I suggest what I did, if you have time of course? Do some testing yourself!!!!

If you have time / means replicate worst case scenario. I did the same for couple of my power supply projects. They were 24 VDC 10 Amp operating in about 30 degrees C environment.

So I loaded them up with 12 Amps and put them in 40 degree environment for 2 days. Followed by some quick short circuits and simulating relays opening without protection diodes. I know this won't give you long term reliability, but it's a staring point.

Hope it helps!!!
 
I agree that power supplies are commodity products these days and we aren't particularly brand loyal. We've used Sola for many years and have had very few problems. Lately we've been using Puls and have had good luck with them also.

One brand I would *not* recommend is Carlo Gavazzi. (Purchase decision was made solely on price--bad move on my part.) We've had multiple failures of these units.
 
Thanks
The Murr power supply is a 85303 pulse unit. In about the last 50 machines we have built this was what i used. Mainly due to price and the vendor is great at helping you get what you need and most of the time the cost as far as the manager is the most important.
These Murr power supply units have worked with no problem for over a year in production but concerned about noise, etc. when you start using a lot of analog and temperature control cards in a plc.
I also use ISLATROL filters so not sure the difference between the Murr and the Allen Bradley units matters that much.

 
+1 for Puls. We get tremendous pricing from our distributor, and they used to make power supplies for A-B and Sola, so they have a lot of experience under their belts.
 
We use Weidmuller and recently switched to their PROeco series. Price is competitive (we are on a pricing agreement) and they haven't let us down yet. I too used to use the Allen-Bradley power supplies and I didn't have any issues with them but when we got on a pricing agreement with Weidmuller for terminals, relays, etc. it made sense to switch to their power supplies at that point.
 
We've been using phoenix contact power supplies. We installed drives on our feed screws and ended up using phoenix contact Ethernet switches as well. They're pretty close to our boiler so are subjected to pretty broad temperature swings, and vibration, but seem to hold up great, and we get a good price on them. I have not had the same good luck with the automation direct power supplies as I have with some of their other products.. that being said, it could have been a fluke, but in my opinion, there are more reputable power supplies out there for not much more money.. Sola was the standard for a while.. not sure why we ended up switching
 
We use PULS in our systems .5 - $20 mil and they are solid.
I have seen them handle dead shorts and intermittent connections repeatedly, recover, and continue running. I was pretty impressed.
 
+1 for Phoenix Contact.
These have been my go to standard for 5 years now.

Aboard ship we sometimes get crazy power fluctuations and ground faults. I have seen these take out multiple power supplies and UPS in one quick moment, but have yet to see it take out a Phoenix Contact Power supply. Good Stuff, cant remember ever having to change one out, but have had many other brands fail.

BCS
 
Used both Puls and Phoenix over the years. Both brands are good, but Phoenix are bit better from my experience. So decided to only use Phoenix a couple of years ago since we use a whole lot of other stuff from them.
 
I can't disagree with anything that has been said here but ......
I built a couple systems for a friend about 6 years ago an he wanted CHEAP so I picked up a couple of inexpensive Meanwell power supplies. They worked out so well that I have switched to using them as a standard item. I have installed at least 40 of them so far and have never had a problem with any of them. (knock on wood) The big advantage is price, about half of what the comparable Phoenix would be.
 

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