1st Gen Lunchtable Thread - General Discussion

Pretty sure that machine came from our French friends to the north. Seen all kinds of weird stuff in French electrical panels.

 

Split the difference and use multiple small 12v supplies? Still possible to use the same stop/start buttons with multiple sources of supply, just need a few relays.

 

@BartMaster1234 i agree with this idea.. maybe use a smaller power supply for each bank of lights you want to set up. The benefits of this include being able to use a smaller gauge wire from power supply to load.. just bring in the heavy Guage stuff into a distribution block then split it off from there

 

Deer season is tomorrow yay

 

I’ll see if I can find any cheap. I want to make it as automation looking as possible just for shits and giggles, but those damn Eaton power supplies are pricey. I need at least 100-200 Amps at 13.8v.

 

I've seen lots of motor starters in parallel for like lead/lag pumps. And I've seen soft starts in series with motor starters in case the soft start quits they can still go across the line in emergencies but the only thing I can think those frenchy fucks putting two identical motor starters in series would be for intentional redundancy ... but thats a stretch lol

 

There's a cheaper brand called rhino that is an exact duplicate to the Eaton


Made by Eaton even, just branded different and sold on automation direct

 

So wire the power supplies in parallel, am I understanding that right? I just want to be able to turn on multiple bars at one time and most of them eat like 30 Amps each in full code.

 

Ebay. I never buy new components for hobby projects unless its small stuff. All my power supplies and PLC's came used off ebay with a hefty discount.

 

How much should I sell my A6000 for?

 

I scoured that automation warehouse for power supplies but 12v is an oddball spec apparently. There were some 12v stuff but it’s always under 10a. Mostly 3a.

 

Oh I thought you wanted 30 amps total. Nah, youre gonna want each one on its own power supply. The control circuit can be setup to turn on multiple ones at the same time tho, just gonna need a handful of ice cube relays.

 

Correct they would be in parallel

This is a distribution block

 

He won't suffer

 

Depends on the lightbar, the older ones are dead simple (80’s Code 3 XL, literally two wires for power) versus like a 90’s Code 3 MX7000, which has like 15 wires for different functions like flashers, takedown lights, alley, intersection clearers, and various codes. I was thinking just a huge bank of switches for each bar.

My original plan was just to hook all of them up to two 100a power supplies for a total of 200a of power.

 

@BartMaster1234
Subscribe to this guy. He breaks this stuff down so newbs can understand it. Industrial relays are very different then automotive.

 

I like the proper automation power supply route better than what I’m trying to do with the RV supplies. Looks a lot better.

 

Part of me wanting to do this is I’m considering a career change, this stuff has always interested me.

 

Its a good field to be in. Can be pretty stable in different economic climates depending on which niche of the industry you fall into. Covid has taught me that. But thinking in terms of ladder logic is very different then residential or automotive electronics. Add in smart relays and PLC's and it can really screw people up.

Heck, it took several weeks for people in my class to understand that a 24vdc relay could have 120v on one set of contacts, and 0v on another, 24v on the other etc. Or that you could have more than one circuit controlled by the same switch simply by adding contact blocks.

 

Lol relays trip me out. Truth be told I barely understand how automotive DPDT relays work. I always use the same configuration for everything where a low amperage 12v source activates a high amperage 12v source. e.g - a horn relay.