Meanwell's Use Of Power Supplies, Recommendation

[damona]

FYI:


Meanwell do not recommend their fan based power supplies for outside use. As any moisture can cause them to fail. They only recommend for outside use their power supplies which attach to a aluminum case for example and are sealed from the elements. The case acts as a heat-sink.


Basically if you told Meanwell you placed a power supply with a fan vented to the outside, your warranty might be void.


I was going to use power supplies with extra fans which triggered on temperature, have now decided to use seal power supplies unfortunately they are more $$$$

 

[pjones]

This sounds like you learned this the hard way... If I am correct, I would like to express my deepest sympathy on your recent loss.

I hope never to be in your odor ion, thanks for the tip.

 

[multicast]

FYI:


Meanwell do not recommend their fan based power supplies for outside use. As any moisture can cause them to fail. They only recommend for outside use their power supplies which attach to a aluminum case for example and are sealed from the elements. The case acts as a heat-sink.


Basically if you told Meanwell you placed a power supply with a fan vented to the outside, your warranty might be void.


I was going to use power supplies with extra fans which triggered on temperature, have now decided to use seal power supplies unfortunately they are more $$$$

If you take a non IP rated PSU and use it in a manner where it will get wet, then you dont' deserve a warranty. If you use a non rated PSU and put it in a suitably rated enclosure, then that is a differnet matter.

You can use the outdoor rated ones, but they do come and a much bigger price ticket.

 

[damona]

Any moisture in the air (summer night with damp air, dew, fog, etc) begin sucked into the enclosure is consider not recommend.

Basically I was told by Meanwell if they have a fan they are for inside use only.

The non-fan based ones have an extra coating to protect them from moisture, but should still not be exposed.

The slight moisture damages the circuits etc. I original had plans to use temperature switches to insure the air was always dry and then notice one hot summer night is was still had moisture in the air.

So basically its a risk of the power supply failing.


For example advateklights plastic/ABS enclosures have vents and fan base power supply within an splash/rain proof enclosure. Stellascapes enclosures are fan-less, with the metal enclose itself used to disperse the heat generated by the power supply.

 

[David_AVD]

I've had 6 fan equipped Mean Well power supplies in my setup for 4 seasons now with zero issues. Last year I added another 2.

They are split between 2 enclosures (QLD meter boxes). Each enclosure has a low air flow fan at the top to exhaust the warm air, not that the power supplies get overly hot anyway.

At work we see fan equipped Mean Well power supplies inside LED fuel price signs. They run 24x7 and eventually fail (as any brand would), but they do clock up nearly 9000 hours each year!

 

[damona]

I just letting people know what Meanwell said. They would recommend your work to change over to fan-less power supplies and use the shaded side of the sign itself as a heatsink, as Meanwell say overtime your will reduce your costs. i.e. less repairs, last a lot longer. As they told me they did for a another company which has many many external panel displays.


Any way its just want Meanwell says, I am far from an expert.

 

[Homer2014]

I was talking to a sparky mate few weeks ago about my psu's being outside. He said try and keep the box that they are in as warm as possible within reason. He reckons the cool down of the psu once switched off will be the killer.

Warranty will still be void I guess.

 

[multicast]

Any moisture in the air (summer night with damp air, dew, fog, etc) begin sucked into the enclosure is consider not recommend.

The vast majority of their psus' ( fan type ) are rated for 20-90% RH Non condensing. How is running them "outside" where thye are not getting wet ( ie, put in a box ) any differnet from running them inside ( presumably inside a box of somekind )..

Stellascapes enclosures are fan-less, with the metal enclose itself used to disperse the heat generated by the power supply.

some of the products are, and some are not. It depends on the applicaition. try keeping 20kW of PSU cool without forced air.

 

[pjones]

Any moisture in the air (summer night with damp air, dew, fog, etc) begin sucked into the enclosure is consider not recommend.

The vast majority of their psus' ( fan type ) are rated for 20-90% RH Non condensing. How is running them "outside" where thye are not getting wet ( ie, put in a box ) any differnet from running them inside ( presumably inside a box of

My guess would be because when inside the house humidity may be high but the temperature remains stable enough that the humidity never spikes. When outside, if you have a humid day then night fall comes, you can get a temperature drop that brings the humidity below dew point very quickly. This means you are now running the power supply in a 100% relative humidity environment which is, according to the info noted above, out of their design specs.

You could try using a fine mesh pre screen to help capture the fog and moisture out of the air before it enters the enclosure, couple that with a heat source that is thermostatically activated and I would bet that would go a long way to help deal with the humidity that may form in the box in cold weather.

 

[David_AVD]

They would recommend your work to change over to fan-less power supplies and use the shaded side of the sign itself as a heatsink.

Fuel signs are almost always double sided pylons so there is usually no shaded side.

The failures we see appear to be mostly age related (capacitors expired probably) with a few power surges and lightning strikes thrown in.

Interestingly the pylon signs are usually built assuming that they will leak, but the individual price sections are fairly well protected from water ingress.

Geckos sneaking into non-sealed power supplies (and general electronics) and frying themselves (and the board) is also another issue.

 

[fasteddy]

This is also a sales pitch because Meanwell would rather you buy a much more expensive power supply that takes out any of the installation variables.
There are many installations that are in outdoor enclosures and use fan based meanwell power supplies like signs/billboards, traffic lights, industrial machinery and the list goes on, so no shortage of examples of this.
So im very surprised to hear this claim that fan based power supplies can only be used indoors and not in outdoor weatherproof enclosure's.

 

[Heath-LightsOnTapley]

would like to know where to get meanwell supplies at a decent price, if anyone can help. cheers


looking for the best one to use for a megatree...

 

[fasteddy]

would like to know where to get meanwell supplies at a decent price, if anyone can help. cheers


looking for the best one to use for a megatree...

The price varies depending on the model of Meanwell power supply you get. I predominantly use the meanwell HRP model (High Reliability Power) but these also have a premium price.

The meanwell SP model is the budget range for Meanwells in Australia

 

[Heath-LightsOnTapley]

Thanks for that Eddy. I was looking at the RSP models. How do they compare to the ones you mentioned?
Im looking at spending a bit extra to ensure that my mega tree will last.


cheers

 

[fasteddy]

The RSP is a good model but the HRP is the better model with 5 years warranty if you don't mind spending the extra coin.
Ive used 100s of these in the past with no failures. I use and stock the HRP450-12