I have a friend who wants to donate a power supply to Electronics. It’s a rackmount unit, looks like an old analog one. Please let me know if it sounds interesting or not (Art G.).
Photos )front/back) or make|model would be helpful
Model is probably M5C40-30-0V
ELab doesn’t need this.
The “Super Mercury Power Supply” label intrigues me.
Wonder if it has mercury vapor rectifying tubes.
Does your friend have any Systron Donner gear w/ nixie tubes?
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I did look at this… We need a clean 100v DC supply for the Staubli robot arm, I don’t think 40v is enough.
How much current? Motor supply?
How much current?
Not sure if the current but we were planning on using normal wall outlet 120v AC, 20 amps into a diode to produce DC power. Doesn’t give a very clean output though.
RX60 uses three types of motors:
Axis 1，2 ：
SMV 62 Motor D.221.403.00.B , 200VDC , 6000rpm ， 24V brake
Axis 3 :
SM 55 Motor D.221.404.01.C , AC or DC ？6000rpm (No Brake?)
Axis 4，5，6
SMV 43ST Motor D.221.407.01.B , 200VDC , 88W ， 4000rpm (only axis5 has brake)
Would this be a good for animatronics
Well, the SMV 62 Motor D.221.403.00.B is a 1.068 KW motor. That’s a rating of ~5.4 A, but you really want more like 1.5 times that for worst case starting current surges. And you need twice this. Axis 4, 5, 6 are 88W each, so need another 264W, or 1.3 A (really 2 A with margin. I’d be looking for at least 16+2, so at least 18, and probably 20 will be standard. 15 might work, but might have problems with heavy loads/high speed movement.
None of this talks about Axis 3, which requires a driver of some sort that uses the resolver feedback. The rating on that will be a function of the motor and driver board requirements. It will probably operate directly off 115/230VAC.
Generating the DC by direct rectification off the AC line is a bad idea for several reasons, one of which is safety. You are almost guaranteeing a hot chassis on the arm. Not good. You really need galvanic isolation, so a transformer. Your best option is likely a switching supply that provides the isolation.
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ELab has a 0-40Vdc, 0-20A pwr sply. Probably need to test on the BK DC load.
Important question is what’s its condition? Could be used as bench sply for testing motors, etc that need 12, 24, 36 volts at high current. IE stand in for batteries.
For rack mount/lab gear of this era, this is not a problem. Indeed most bench gear does not do this. Green wire on ac cord goes directly to the chassis. For those who may not know Systron Donner was a supplier of high end test/measurement gear for the professional lab/research environment. They competed with HP, Tektronix, Fluke, etc. Gear of that era was over designed/over engineered - built to last and repairable. Came w/ complete set of manuals including schematics, parts list, instructions for calibration, maintenance, and trouble shooting.
This unit probably has some kind of low voltage high current transformer - possibly wound w/ square core wire for higher current density/efficiency. Found manuals for ~$15.00. Found one listed on ebay for $120. Shpng weight is listed as 105 lbs - which tells me there are 1 or more hefty transformers.
I’m curious on how it’s put together…so what the heck @DavidMann bring it in.
If it works/is easily repairable we’ll keep it. If not, I’ll scrap it out and keep what’s usable and send the rest to recycling.
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Not talking about the bench or rack supply, this was responding to the original poster, who said:
And they really need 200 VDC at 20A for their motors. I may have something, but the excavation will require some time.
Got it.
We’ve discussed some brute force ugly options. Iso trans feeding 20A variac feeding bridge rect and cap. There’s your 120Vdc at 20A somewhat filtered and very unregulated. ELab has an iso trans - big hefty thing. Don’t recall Kw rating. I do not recommend this set up on any level.
Guessing the original pwr splys for those arms ran on 240Vac 2ph or more.
The original CS7 controller for the Staubli arms is set up to run on 240v if I remember correctly. It works but I don’t want to cannibalize it for the new drivers.
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Do you have it? If so, why not use it?
The CS7 uses an obsolete programming language called V+ that nobody know how to program. Its fine to run the same movements over and over again in a factory. Code is limited to 200 lines and has to be programmed on the built in computer (no floppy disk, no USB, no Ethernet, etc).
Our goal is to run gcode or Linux cnc so DMS folks can do actual useful things like 3d printing with clay. To do that we built some open source STMBL servo drive controllers, and we’re in the process of calibrating them but it’s also an arduous process. This project goes back many years and there have been numerous posts on talk… Just search for Staubli robot arm
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No, that’s pretty much it. Thanks for the response. 
A long time ago, Cairenn was talking about a power supply for anodizing aluminum.
Is that allowed on site? @Team_Jewelry