Vicor Power Assembly

Template:Hierarchy header The MCE can be equipped with a 18–36Vin (24Vin nominal) switching supply designed for use in balloon-based experiments. This unit contains a set of Vicor DC-DC converters that are trimmed to accomodate losses of up to 2m cable, so they can be located up to 2m away from the actual MCE crate.

Specification

DC Input Type: 18-36V; 3A from 24V to power one 3-MDM MCE48 crate (6A for two)

DC output: pVa: 6.1 to 6.3 V; nVa: -6.1 to -6.3 V; Vlvd: 4.4 to 4.7 V; Vcore: 2.9 to 3.2 V

Watts: 100W

Regulated: Yes

Efficiency: 75%
Dimensions (L x W x H): 24cm x 20cm x 5cm
Weight: < 2kg and a 1m power cable is ~1kg

Schematics

Schematics for the Vicor Supplies can be found here
The schematics for the Wiring harness in the box and the pinout for the Winchester connector: pdf

Check the schematics for Input/Output connector pinout.

Output Connector: Winchester MRA34SG
Input Connector: Amphenol PTC-2A-14-5P

Mechanical Drawings

Mechanical Drawings for Vicor Aluminum Box RevC

Notes

The Vicor supply is equipped with two Winchester connectors to power two MCE48 crates. So far, we are able to use a Y cable and power two MCE48 from one connector. When we tried to use each connector separately, with separate cables, oddly enough, the noise performance was degraded.
We have not used the Vicor supply to power a 5-MDM MCE72 yet. The power requirements for a 5-MDM MCE are disctributed slightly differently than twice an MCE48 mainly due to LN_BIAS circutries.

Cooling

For Spider, the mounting/heat extraction block is bolted to a heat exchanger through which the ⁴He blow-off from the cryostat's vapour-cooled shield is vented.