The "What power supply can be used for my TEC" thread

I have noticed the rather large volume of threads asking if a certain power supply can be used. This is an attempt at addressing that barrage of questions.

• Can I just plug my TEC into the computer PSU?
  In general, this is not recommended, except for the smallest TECs (80W). The best way to determine if it will work or not is to look at the power supply's rating on the 12V rail, and then check how much current your TEC will draw (look at Imax here). A quick approximation can be made by taking the Imax listed there and calculate as follows:
  
  I = 12V/Vmax * Imax
  
  This will not be 100% accurate, as TECs are non-linear, but it will give you a ballpark figure. If you're using your computer on the same supply, ensure that you have substantially more current available than the TEC will be drawing.
  
• The best method is still to get a dedicated power supply.
  The Meanwell supplies are fairly popular, and can be purchased at various online vendors ( www.cooltechnica.com www.dangerden.com to name a couple). Ebay is a good spot to find relatively cheap supplies as well. When doing this, ensure that the current the supply can source is higher than what the TEC will draw.
  
• Can I get 24V out of a standard ATX/AT power supply to run my 24V TEC?
  24V can be gotten from an ATX or AT supply, but it will probably not work well for a TEC. This is because the supply does have -12V and -5V lines, but they are not rated to handle very much current, so using them to power a TEC would probably burn it out.
  However, here are some articles which may be of interest:
  http://www.procooling.com/articles/h...ween_psu_s.php
  and
  http://www.procooling.com/articles/h..._s_as_one_.php

That's all I can think of at the moment. Feel free to add more ;).

One thing i would add to this guide is that when selecting a PSU keep in mind that most PSU's run best at 75% load so if you know you need 24A look for around 32 -33A on the +12 ECT...

Antec Trucontrol 550watt can power 2 swiftech mcw50-t's and a full system:)

Hi just ripped this psu out of an old comp.
Prodmedia
Model: SPS-250-15XE
Ac imput: AC115v/230v 5/3a 50/60hz
Dc Output: 12a/18a/5a/0.5a/0.5a/0.15a/92w max

Could i use this to power a 172w pelt or since its 92w max do i have to only use 80w pelt on nb.

you can run that 172W at 12 volt, but it will only be about 90W... but still better than an 80W :)

You'd probably be okay with a 172W TEC with that particular setup.

I use an Enermax to power my 226watt and my 80watt pelt.

This one.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=0

Its 12v is @ 33amps

This Enermax Bad Boys kick massive a$$. love them!

I was told that using an ATX PSU only for pelts didn´t work properly, because the 5v rail and the 3.3 rail, didn´t have any load and the PSU ended up giving less amps for the 12v. What would be the best option for a 172W and a 226W pelts?? The meanwell of 25A won´t be powerfull enough right??

Not by itself. If you get one that can put out 33A or or more, you should be good. You can use an ATX suppy if you put some kind of load on the 5V rail (say a 1 Ohm resistor, so that it draws 5A).

i can buy a psu for a tec... seems pretty good
Regulated 13.8V power supply 25A
would this be good for a 226 watt tec?

*link to specs*

for sale @ dutch store for € 89,95

Yep, I use a 13.8V 23A supply for my TEC, it works fine.

WOW!!! I want that 40A PSU in that link.

Heres a link to one and adjustable voltage.
http://www.testequipmentandtools.com...VDC__40A_.html

Heres I think is another one a little cheaper.
http://www.randl.com/cgi-local/cart/...&cart=moreinfo

I want to get the Swiftech Chiller but with two 226W TECS take alot of juice. You think this PSU could handle it?

Would a Forton 530 or TTGI520SS (18A 12V) be enough to power a maze4-1 with an 80 watt TEC along with my system?
I have 2 optical drives now and plan on adding 2 more HDDs to my current one during the summer. Would it run or no?

EDIT:
DAMN that Enermax looks awesome. That would be fine right?

yeah the power supply would be ok can handle that current.
you have a big power supply 400 to 500w should handle that ok
i know from my power point i can draw 15A at 240V so max of 3600W off this one power point. the only thing that might trip the mains is if your running you chillier and you turn it off. and then turn it back on the start surge current might trip the mains, just wait a few minutes and you should be ok.

I'm looking for a power supply that can do 60Amps at 15 volts, any suggestions?

Quote:

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Originally posted by x0vash0x
I'm looking for a power supply that can do 60Amps at 15 volts, any suggestions?

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Not going to be easy to find, nor inexpensive, 60 amps @ 15v, 15v is going to be the difficult part, (unless you go custom) most DC supplies are designed for 13.8v, some will run 14.5 or so, but you pay even more. do you have a particular price in mind or is this price doesn't matter?

see this thread for a little reading material..

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/show...ghlight=xforce

Well, I did find one... It's a meanwell

http://www.meanwell.com/product/psp-1000/default.htm

However, I'm looking to see if there are any others out there.

The reason I want one PSU is for the 15v. I want 15v so I don't have to sacrafice performance at 12v. I mean, I would just get 2 'regular' Meanwells and hook them up to each TEC, but if I did that I'd lose some watts and I don't want that. I just want a PSU that can do 15v at 30-35 amps, or a PSU that can do 15v at 60amps.

Here are the TEC's

For the CPU:
Model CP1-12726
50mm x 50mm x 3.64mm
245 - 320 Watts of cooling power
Operates from 0-15.4 volts DC and 0-26 amps

For the GPU:
Imax = 24 Amps
Qmax = 226.1 Watts
Vmax = 15.2 Volts
Delta Tmax = >67 (C)
Size = 50mm X 50mm X 3.10mm

I doubt you will find anything more suitable then the meanwell...

I didn't think so, but it's worth asking. Thanks anyways.

Currently I'm using an Antec Truepower 550W to power my rig. Would the PSU be able to handle an additional 172W Pelt?

i dont think so. that tec draws a lot of power :-)

I'm going to be using a pcp&c 510 deluxe with factory modded and fully adjustable rails to power the following rig

fx-55/vapochill LS/x800xt-pe or 6800U (voltmodded)/1GB pc3700/dfi mobo, 80GB raptor/pci cards, etc, etc

Can I add a 172 watt pelt to it as well as a northbridge TEC? I would think so since I saw a video where someone plugged a hard drive into every single molex connector available (something like 10) and the line didnt drop .01 under load, but I know tec's are a lot different than hd's...

think I'll be ok?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...845385194&rd=1

guys do you think that a powerful 300W Fortron can power 2 of these?

it says : Operates from 0-15 volts DC and 0-8 amps

fortron gives 15amps at 12v. so i wonder if there ll be a problem about the high amperage on the tecs..

thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by =[PULSAR]=

I want to get the Swiftech Chiller but with two 226W TECS take alot of juice. You think this PSU could handle it?

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little late: did u get the chiller? to be honest: i hope not
Try finding a decent waterchiller on phase change
I bought one for 150 euro (about 0 degrees C 355 watt or -10 graden 222 watt capacity) which is plug & play :)
http://images.waterkoeling.nl/member...ip/philip5.jpg
http://images.waterkoeling.nl/member...ip/philip6.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Karnivore

I doubt you will find anything more suitable then the meanwell...

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sure u do:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...504#post432504 ;)
those meanwells are nice but so expensive :stick:

@3x0: the fortron is to weak u really need the amps to let the tecs work properly