Dell DA-2 Power Brick Help

[Mariner]

im thinking of buying a killawatt device to see how much power they draw, but most i see online dont have the UK power plug on it.

I bought mine from a Maplin store, of all places. I've just had a quick look at their web site and see they have a couple available priced between £20 and £25.

If I remember correctly, I paid just £10 or so for mine as they had a sale on at the time.

[Eddie666]

Hi to everyone. actually I'm using a dell DA-2 + pico psu xt 150w without problems on this config:

intel q9400s
commell LV-678
2x2gb DDRII teamgroup xtreem
club3d nvidia 9600gt green edition
2x 2,5" 7200 rpm western digital scorpio black
sony bc-5600s

during full load (cpu+gpu) the power is around 130w, so I was thinking about using a pw-200-v, but now that I'm reading about this problems I'm a little scared. so actually some combination of pw-200-v+dell-da2+motherboard works, and other not? if my shouldn't work, which brick could I use instead the dell? I read on the net about the psu of the xbox 360? it should work? thanks

[reddyuday]

I would like a cheap killawatt, to see how much power these builds are using, but i dont know where to get one in the uk

Does it have to be killawatt? I just ordered a Brennenstuhl watt meter. Google lists a few others as well.

[Jim Overflowed]

Hi to everyone. actually I'm using a dell DA-2 + pico psu xt 150w without problems on this config:

If it works without problem, why worry? The XT150 should be able to handle 130 W.

If you would like to lessen the load on your picopsu anyway, you could branch of the connection to your P4 header before the picopsu. That way picopsu will have to handle less current and thus build up less heat. I have done that in my HTPC and it works fine.

I have read bad stories about the Xbox brick. I'm not sure how much of that is true, but be careful.

[Eddie666]

If it works without problem, why worry? The XT150 should be able to handle 130 W.

Hi: yes, I could do it, but I'm a little afraid 'cause I'm near to the limit of the pico psu

If you would like to lessen the load on your picopsu anyway, you could branch of the connection to your P4 header before the picopsu. That way picopsu will have to handle less current and thus build up less heat. I have done that in my HTPC and it works fine.

uhmm..could you post a photo?

[Eddie666]

Yesterday I tried to connect the pw-200-v with dell-da2...it doesn't work so, there are others 200w brick that I could use? thanks

[reddyuday]

Yesterday I tried to connect the pw-200-v with dell-da2...it doesn't work so, there are others 200w brick that I could use? thanks

Any more details on what you have observed? How did you connect he DA-2 and PW-200?

I am afraid there are no other 200W, 12V power bricks known to us.

[Eddie666]

Any more details on what you have observed? How did you connect he DA-2 and PW-200?

I am afraid there are no other 200W, 12V power bricks known to us.

HI; I connect the pw-200-v with dell-da2 with a 2,5 barrell, as you can see in this photo:



my actual config is:

1x motherboard commell lv-678
1x intel q9400s
2x2gb ddrII teamgroup xtreem
1xnvidia 9600gt green edition
2x 2,5" 7200 rpm hd western digital scorpio black
1x optiarc sony bc-5600s

the dell works right plus pico psu xt on this config, but not with the pw-200: when I try to boot the system the fan try to spin, but they arrested immediately, and the green light on dell turns off.
than I tried the pw-200.v with the dell-da1 (150w); in this case the system boot but bothign appears on the screen; if I remove the 9600gt and use the integrated vga the system boot withou any problems so:

- on my config, the pw-200-v doesn't work with dell-da2
- pw-200-v has less powerful than pico psu 150xt at spin up

in these days I will do some modification on pw-200, trying if there is any way to solve this problem.

[reddyuday]

HI; I connect the pw-200-v with dell-da2 with a 2,5 barrell, as you can see in this photo:

Good job with the wiring there! But a 2.5mm barrel connector is not recommended for the power draw of PW-200-V. Most people on this forum that have gotten the Dell DA-2 and PW-200 to work together, have used a Mini-fit Jr. connector, which keeps the three 12V lines from the brick separate.

Another potential problem I see in your picture is that there is no capacitor at the end of the cord from the power brick (even though there is one at the beginning of the cord). I don't know if that affects the power draw, forcing the Dell brick to shut down.

than I tried the pw-200.v with the dell-da1 (150w); in this case the system boot but bothign appears on the screen; if I remove the 9600gt and use the integrated vga the system boot withou any problems so:

- on my config, the pw-200-v doesn't work with dell-da2
- pw-200-v has less powerful than pico psu 150xt at spin up

It is indeed odd that PW-200 can't a power a system that PicoPSU-150 can. Thank you for sharing this data with us.

Have you tried the Dell DA-2 + PW-200 on your system without the graphics card?

[Eddie666]

It is indeed odd that PW-200 can't a power a system that PicoPSU-150 can. Thank you for sharing this data with us.

Have you tried the Dell DA-2 + PW-200 on your system without the graphics card?

no, I didn't try that combo

[ryboto]

guys, this has been documented before. There's something wrong with the PW-200+DA-2 and voltage ramp-up with certain motherboards. Some users, very few, have gotten the combo to work. myself, I tried 4 different boards a few Abit, a few Asus about a year and a half-two years ago, and it never worked.

I even went as far as calling Mini-box and asking one of the guys who makes them what I could do about it, and he said there isn't really anything that can help it. That brick, and that DC-DC board just don't play nice.

Just do what I did, take the brick and splice the connector. Give power directly to the 12v 4-pin and the PCIE-power if necessary. Then splice some to the Pico. This way you don't pass all of that current through the tiny leads of the Pico. Works fairly flawlessly. If you want little to no voltage drop, then don't use a molex connector, splice+solder the wires directly, or install a screw type terminal. I am currently using the latter. Voltage at the brick is 12.4v, at the Pico it's 12.14. Before that it was dropping to 11.5v with a molex conenctor.

[Eddie666]

Little update.
I found where is the problem; it's about the 12v that comes outside the dell-da2. maybe the pico psu 150xt is more tolerance than the pw-200-v, because it wotks perfect, but the 12v that comes otuside the dell is not right for the pw-200. here what I did: I connect a 50w 12v lamp to the pw-200 (and this one connected to the dell), but it doesn't work: than I connect the pw-200 with an adaptor cable to a molex of the psu of my main pc (an lc 550w), and try again with the 12v lamp, and this time it works: so the problem it's about 12v from dell. that doesn't "fit" well with the pw-200.
now I'm waiting for a xbox360 brick, and I will try with that if there will be any changes.

[reddyuday]

Eddie, I hope you know that there is a 'remote' lead coming out of Dell DA-2 which has to be connected to ground in order to turn on the power brick? Otherwise, the power brick is on standby, signified by the amber light on the brick.

Uday

[Eddie666]

Eddie, I hope you know that there is a 'remote' lead coming out of Dell DA-2 which has to be connected to ground in order to turn on the power brick? Otherwise, the power brick is on standby, signified by the amber light on the brick.

Uday

uhmmm...I can check again, but if so, why the dell works with pico psu 150w without any problem?

[reddyuday]

uhmmm...I can check again, but if so, why the dell works with pico psu 150w without any problem?

Indeed, that question occurred to me as well. On second thought, you probably took care of the 'remote' lead, which is on pin 5 (red). You probably shorted pins 1-4 together (blue and white), and pins 5-8 together (red and black). So, your Dell brick should always have the green light on when it is powered up.

Do you want to check if your 50W light can be directly powered from the Dell brick? That would tell you if the Dell brick is still working and has enough power.

A second thing to try is to turn on the PW-200 without plugging it into the motherboard. You can do so by connecting the pin 14 (PS_ON) and pin 15 (GND) on the ATX connector of PW-200. (Info from the mini-box guys via my reseller.) Then, you can check if it can power your 50W light.

Uday

[Eddie666]

Do you want to check if your 50W light can be directly powered from the Dell brick? That would tell you if the Dell brick is still working and has enough power.

I did it and it works

A second thing to try is to turn on the PW-200 without plugging it into the motherboard. You can do so by connecting the pin 14 (PS_ON) and pin 15 (GND) on the ATX connector of PW-200. (Info from the mini-box guys via my reseller.) Then, you can check if it can power your 50W light.

Uday

I did this too, but using the main psu of my pc, not the brick: this way the pw-200 power up the 50w light

[reddyuday]

I am also at a similar impasse with regard to PW-200. Using an FSP150 power brick (with a matching 2.5mm jack), it was able to power the motherboard with 27W observed peak power. But it couldn't do it along with the CPU (65W rating) or the GPU (53W rating).

My guess is that PW-200 is trying to draw rather too much current at one go and the power bricks are not able to deliver it.

I am in communication with my reseller and mini-box about what to do about it. I will post here any further progress we make.

[reddyuday]

I am glad to report that using PicoPSU-150-XT instead of PW-200-V worked. I have the PicoPSU mated to Dell DA-2 powerbrick, passing two circuits of 12V power to the Pico, and a third circuit directly to the CPU.

The wall socket power meter reports a power draw of 54-57W for the Pico under normal load, powering the motherboard, GPU (GeForce 6800GT), and the drives. As I mentioned elsewhere, this power reading is probably deceptive. I don't think the wall socket power meter is able to detect the high-speed peak power draws. I estimate that the peak power draws could be about 50% higher.

So, we have another data point that shows that the PicoPSU-150 is able to power systems that PW-200 isn't. To be fair, this is not a clean comparison because I tried the PW-200 with a 150W FSP power brick mated through a 2.5mm jack. So the fault could have been the with FSP brick or the jack. But, taken together with other testimonials, from Ryboto and Eddie666, I guess it means that the PW-200 is best to stay away from.

Uday

PS: Special thanks to Carl Limsico of short-circuit.com, who not only accepted the RMA of PW-200 well after a month but also shipped the replacement PicoPSU at superfast speed, beating the British postal strike by a day!

[ryboto]

Again, to anyone who didn't read the history on this, two years ago myself and others already reported on the incompatibilites between the PW-200 series and the DA-2. Something to do with voltage ramp up time. Just like the PicoPSU 150, the 120 works perfectly with the brick also.

[Eddie666]

ok, I tried last chance using a xbox360brick with pw-200-v.....nothing, it doesn'work.
so I switch again to my pico psu 150xt+dell da-2 and all works great. here just a couple of photos of my new itx sytem powered by pico psu:

cpu: intel q9400s
dissipatore cpu: thermalright 120 ultra + noctua 120mm nf-p12
motherboard: commell lv-678
ram: 2x2gb teamgroup xtreem
vga: club 3d 9600 green edition
hard disk: 1x160gb western digital scorpio black + 1x320gb western digital scorpio black
optic: lettore bluray/masterizzatore dvd sony optiarc bc-5600s
psu: pico psu 150w
case fan: noctua 92mm nf-b9

[MtnHermit]

I bought the chinese almost noname brick for 10A ($25) and it works fine. Here is its details:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0405348069

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-12V-10A-Adapter ... 1|294%3A30

NEW DC 12V 10A AC Adapter Power Supply for LCD monitor or TV+Cord
Brand:R&F
TYPE:LCD12v10 5525
Adapter Type:Replacement AC adapter(non-OEM)
Input Voltage: 100V-240VAC (50-60Hz)
Output Voltage: 12 Volts DC
Amperage: 10Amps
Power: 120W
DC Plus Dimension: 5.5mmX2.5mm

Perfect. Wall readings idle:49W, load max 110W.

Ask!

Is this still working well? I found that brick on eBay, ships from Hong Kong. Do you know the power draw when disconnected? On a ATX PSU, you short the green and any black, that turns on an ATX PSU. I've been measuring 5-9W.

Also, how did you connect the brick to the picoPSU? Do you have any photos?

Thanks

[Daniel]

Hi All,

I've just registered here to do a bit of ancient thread digging!

I have recently built a media PC (I'll post a litle build thread up later on) and to power it I am using a dell DA-2 power supply paired with a 160w PICO psu.

I too am suffering from the tripped AC adaptor symptoms mentioned in this thread (which google kindly pointed me to) - So I was curious if after all these years since the origional post has anyone has worked out how to modify the DA-2 to bypass the current trip?

Thanks

Daniel

[Ashex]

Replied to the wrong thread. I have a similar issue detailed here.