Review: Meanwell HRP-600 Series

[Kingfish]

Review.

• Bought from Power Supply Emporium on 5/12/2011
• Manufacturer: Meanwell (assembled in Taiwan); Product Spec
• Color: Silvery Aluminum is stock.
• Size: 208x105x63.5mm, 1.5kg
• Cost: $168.64 each; no tax.
• Shipping: UPS Ground shipping @ $19.01. Arrived on 5/17 (5 days later from San Jose, CA).
• Related ES Thread: How-To: Meanwell 63-84V CV/CC Charger

Begin:
There is a storied reason why I bought two units in this series; I’ll let the related ES thread handle that part and keep this review focused on compare & contrast with the Meanwell S-350 series – being the only other CC PSU in my charging assembly.

Use:
Two units were bought; I fetched a 24V and a 48V unit which are connected in series for 63.3VDC supply. There is not a 27V model offered. My past charging assembly (SP-320-48 & SP-350-27) had a range of 63-84V which is great for 15S to 20S LiPo packs. The HRP units in series have a range of 59.7V to 88.69 which I think more than covers my retired charging assembly. I say retired because I am completely astounded and satisfied by the performance of this purchase!

Packaging:
This is the genuine article, the real deal, well-boxed, and externally appears smartly assembled. I did not take the cover off to inspect the circuitry as there was no need (more about that below). Compared to the Meanwell S-350 series, the HRP is the same length, although from there the similarities end. The HRP units are more narrow and more tall ever so slightly. They also weigh about 25% more. AC line power connections are in the front of the unit, and the output and controlling features are in the rear.

Well packaged and without issues.

HRP on top, SP unit (same size as the S series) below. The length is the same.

Widths & heights however are not. S and SP units have a fan on the top cover which inhibit stacking.

The HRP unit has the fan at the "front end". The AC connectors are located here as well. The SP unit is below for comparison; all connections are made on one side.

The "rear" view of the HRP unit on top. Note the copious venting. On the left side there's a little green LED and the Voltage Adjustment POT directly below. This is very similar to the SP/S units.

Operation, Circulation, and Power Consumption:
The S-350 units have a fan mounted on the top cover and this presents a problem for stacking. Not so with the HRP series: The fan is located in the front and blows through, exiting out the well-ventilated rear. The fans scream bloody murder with a high pitch akin to the roar of a jet winding up when this unit launches under a full load; it completely took me by surprise. Be prepared to leave the room if it bothers you. Granted – I have two in series, and they operated in concert well to charge my pack. I noted the following pattern:

• Initial launch under full load: Fans 100%, whining and buzzing sounds; lasts for about 1 minute.
• Full Load: 100%, Loud. Pulls the maximum current; I measured between 98.6 to 9A (~ 1kW) which is slightly over spec for a single unit, but then I had two in series and frankly I expected twice the rated current.
• Down-Cycle Phase (Pack within 1.0V of top): Fans begin to downwind to about 90%; still loud but with quavering. Assembly begins to drop current at a rapid linear pace.
• Leveling-Off (Pack within 0.3V): Fans dramatically cut to 30%; still louder than a whisper but completely tolerable. Assembly pulls less than 5A and continues to drop.
• Trickle Charge (Pack within 0.1V): Fans stop. Current continues to drop below 2.75A.

CAUTION: The assembly will continue to trickle and not turn off. Although the current dropped to below 0.5A, the pack voltage climbed to 63.5V which is odd because the charging assembly outputs 63.2 to 63.3VDC. Perhaps we need an audible alarm or an ES-Graybeard specialty circuit board. For the record, my pack took ½ hour to creep 0.2V past the normal limit.

Timeline of Charging:
Wicked-fast! Please refer to the related ES thread for my story on how this went.

Mods:
I made none. This was gee-whiz simple…

1. Get two units.
2. Find/make a bracket to hold them together for wiring into series.
3. Mate the charging cable. Suggest using wire size in larger diameter than 14 AWG. For the test above, I deliberately used 14 AWG and it became very warm although not quite hot. Personally I prefer 10 AWG, however 12 AWG should be plenty safe.
4. Plug it in and dial the voltage in for each unit separately. It is a bit of a bugger to get that 0.1 Volt to stick. I tested my setting by turning the unit on and off repeatedly to see if there was any drift, and there wasn’t. Perhaps a reasonable mod would be to replace the stock POT with a higher resolution device. However this only needs to be set once, so take your time, breathe, relax, and get the setting twiddled-in and move on.
5. Link the units in series and re-check the voltage.
6. That’s it! Now you’re ready for some manly charging! Next, put them ol’ SP- and S-units up fer sale; you’ll never use them again. :wink:

Conclusion:
The HRP-600 series are awesome units that you can take and put to use right out of the box without any fiddling about. The operation, though loud, is most deliberate when applied to charging. The only caveat to watch out for is to be attentive for when the battery reaches full charge and pull the plug.

Tip:
We know that the fans will cut out when the pack is within 0.1V of the manually-set value, therefore with some experimentation I suggest setting the tip-point to the desired pack voltage. In this manner, when the fans cut out you’ll know it’s time to pull the plug; as good of an audible alarm as it gets.

9.5 Stars out of 10!

Enjoy! KF

 

[dbaker]

Thanks, KF Great review!

 

[heathyoung]

The fact that the voltage regulation is iffy (ie. your pack kept climbing) is a bit of a worry. Maybe reduce the voltage or utilise a cell-level HVC with the opto outputs across the voltage pot (with series resistor) - to keep the cells from climbing too far.

 

[Green Machine]

KF

How many watt hours of lipo are you going to charging with those bad boys again? in a hotel?

Hey do you know anything about the SE-600 built by meanwell? Did you look into that one?

 

[neptronix]

The fact that the voltage regulation is iffy (ie. your pack kept climbing) is a bit of a worry. Maybe reduce the voltage or utilise a cell-level HVC with the opto outputs across the voltage pot (with series resistor) - to keep the cells from climbing too far.

Or just charge them to 4.15v/cell, which gives a lot of headroom, and could increase your cycle life on lipo by a large percentage. It also extends the time you can go without the pack seeing a balance charger.

63.2v translates to 4.21v per cell, 63.5 translates to 4.233~v/cell. So there is no headroom built in there, and the preset voltage is already higher than what the cells are specced to take.

 

[Kingfish]

GM/Eric: On the SE-600, no because my previous SE-320 experiences. Charging of the total assembly can be accomplished from any common outlet, thus I need not worry about blowing the 15A breaker.

Nep: On my pack being larger than average, the final voltage is checked after an hour: I have been in the late habit of pulling the plug as soon as the fans quit which leaves the pack at 63.4V, but an hour later it will settle to 63.2 on its’ own. The alternative is to lower the top-end and allow the assembly trickle charge – however we’re back to the same problem of termination.

I believe that we are witnessing an artifact of rapid charging. With our previous S- and SE-models we allow for ramp-down and trickle before they cut out – and actually they don’t really cut out either, it’s just that the wattage is so low that it’s not a problem unless your pack is like 4 bricks.

I think a fruitful solution would be a modified comparator circuit that is on a selectable timer:

• If the pack drops below 0.05V from a user-defined preset then it kicks off the charger until the pack is 0.05+, shuts off for 30-60 minutes and checks the Voltage again. Rinse and repeat.

Best, KF

 

[nieles]

hi,

how is the current limited with these supplies?

does it actually limit the current, or is it the "shut-off" type?

 

[Kingfish]

hi,

how is the current limited with these supplies?

does it actually limit the current, or is it the "shut-off" type?

By observation, when the apparent battery/line voltage reaches the threshold of tolerance the throttling of current begins as a long steady linear ramp down and continues below 2.0 A: The fans cutout when the voltage reaches within 0.1V of the manual set point, however the PSU will continue to trickle charge with the current continuing to ramp down.

Due to the bounce effect of my large pack I have the terminal voltage set a little higher than needed. This works well if I am attentive to listening (very difficult to ignore if in the same room) and pull the plug within a couple of minutes. See the related ES thread at the top of the thread for more details.

To literally answer your questions:

• Current is limited by circuit design; I have not removed the case to reverse this out, however I suspect it is not too terribly different than the S-350 model.
• Shut off: The assembly was not tested to this point; it continues to provide current so long as there is demand. An early test with a lower voltage found that several hours after the limit was reached, the unit was still providing ~0.5 A. IMO this is a good candidate for a finer, more granular bit of monitoring hardware that cuts out the device after voltage preset is reached, then based upon a user-configured timer, briefly enables the unit to charge again – topping off the natural drain of the batteries as required – which would be suitable if your M.O. is less vigilant.

Charged, KF

 

[nieles]

okay so the powersupply will limit the current? to what current exactly?

the reason i ask is:
i have an omega mml600 powersupply. it is rated for 12,5 amps, but when i connect it to a battery it will draw ~16A..
there is no way to limit this current, atleast i could not find this feature..

thanks in advance

Niels

 

[Kingfish]

okay so the powersupply will limit the current? to what current exactly?

the reason i ask is:
i have an omega mml600 powersupply. it is rated for 12,5 amps, but when i connect it to a battery it will draw ~16A..
there is no way to limit this current, atleast i could not find this feature..

thanks in advance

Niels

nieles: RTM - Here is the product spec that I listed at the top of this thread. It is a Constant Current device. The current ramps down when the unit reaches the voltage preset. The MAX DC current is based upon the voltage per the matrix. The MAX AC current is already provided in the spec.

I have two units in series therefore my cumulative total AC current is never more than the two maximums combined; in fact it takes about 1000W to output 600W of DC at 63.2V. Including Efficiency losses, the math matches.

Clear as mud? KF

 

[nieles]

thanks for explaining!

niels

 

[StJaux]

KF,

I have just invested in 3 of the HRP-600-36's to be connected in series to produce 115.2V for my 32-cell 16Ah LiPo pack. I have a question please:

1. According to Meanwell the CC value is programmed to between 105% and 135% of the rated current value. On my question if the PSU can handle that, here is their reply :

"IF the HRP-600-36 operates in OLP mode(it is over our rate current). It
will have a temperature problem. I suggest we must modify it to change
the value of CC to 17.5A."

From your review it seems you are using yours out-of-the-box. Did you have any over temperature problem?

Thanks,

J

 

[Green Machine]

I bought one 48v unit kingfish based on your review and so far am very happy with it.

Do you know of any voltage cut off switch which will shut off the trickle charging once the desired voltage is reached?

 

[StJaux]

I bought one 48v unit kingfish based on your review and so far am very happy with it.

Do you know of any voltage cut off switch which will shut off the trickle charging once the desired voltage is reached?

GM,

I have dismantled one of my HRP-600-36 units, there is no cut-off - it is a pure CC-CV power supply unit.

StJ

 

[StJaux]

GM,

I almost forgot to ask you - any overheating problems on your side?

Thanks

StJ

 

[Green Machine]

No none so far but have only used it a few times so far.

Have you had over heating issues?

 

[StJaux]

Only got the units yesterday. I am in the process of creating a 2E2 900watt dummy load, I want to see what the HRP-600's can do.

32 x 3.6V = 115.2V / 3 = 38.4V, 38.4V / 17.5A (HRP-600-32 is adjusted to 38.4V and rated for 17.5A) = 2.19ohm, ~ 2E2

GM, do you have any idea how much current you are pulling out of your 48V unit? ( it is rated for 13A )

 

[Kingfish]

Gents,

I have seen my units overheat twice. The first time was accidental when I set the unit on end and prevented proper air flow. The second time was in Bend, Oregon when I was charging in the full heat of broad daylight on a wide sidewalk against a metal wall: Think frying pan-hot! In both cases the units simply shut down. Allow them to cool and they will resume.

When they approach the end, the fans will slow down. I have two in series so one will cut out before the other. Eventually they wind on down. My cross-country pack is so large though that this takes a while to completely shut down. There is a trickle of current that remains – though continues to decline. Several times I have forgotten to disconnect the charger and it simply goes into a maintenance-mode; it sounds like clicking as the internal circuitry periodically checks the charge and clicks off.

Whatever you set the voltage limits to – this will be the final voltage when it shuts down. The only way to over-volt/overcharge is by human error when setting the device. :|

On the Road – this has been a faithful unit. In hindsight I would probably select a higher wattage device to speed my charge: For my commuter pack – this is plenty-fast! For cross-country – it’s a little slow; the circuit can handle more. The day that I went 187 miles to Fresno with a one-hour top-off took 10 hours to recharge that pack. For cross-country, you have to get on the stick right away and setup recharging ASAP for the next day.

One other item that I do wish to point out is that the little screws holding the wires in place can be troublesome. These units are designed for static operation and not for packing around with wires dangling off. There needs to be some mechanism to provide a strain-relief, else the wires will pull out, or worse - jack with the screw causing the capture nut below to dislodge and the clamping aspect to disappear.

It’s a good series though with lots of promise. I am already dreaming of how to use them with my next concept.

Best regards, KF

 

[StJaux]

I managed to get information on setting the CC value of the HRP's from Meanwell. There are two 0806 1% SMD resistors on the daughter board that need replacing.

The issue is the design wattage of the PSU - if you use it with the V out set higher than the design value, you got to bring the CC value of the output amps down using the mod to keep output power to the design value. If you set the V out to less, no problem of course.

Anybody want the info, let me know.

-- StJ

 

[Hillhater]

Its possibly been discussed before, but how do the BMC chargers compare to these modified meanwells ?
http://www.bmsbattery.com/alloy-shell/27-alloy-shell-600w-lifepo4li-ionlead-acid-battery-ebike-charger.html
With such a huge difference in price, there must be a reason ??

 

[StJaux]

I have a substantial investment in batteries and I would rather use "chargers" from a company I have known for many years and whose products I have been using successfully many times in various projects all over the planet.

This BMC chargers is dirt cheap and my common sense tells me to be cautious. I have a pretty good idea what components cost and it is not possible to profitably produce with "good" components at that price. The certificates they have on their website looks home made without the proper official "chap" all certified products in mainland China get.

The Meanwell PSU's are well designed and documented - the HRP is a CC/CV power supply where you can use your brains and set the CC and CV values *exactly* to what the battery pack require. Also, the HRP's has power factor correction which make them very economical in terms of energy cost in the long run.

My experience with these cheap general purpose, general chemical battery chargers is that they are generally not good at all and I simply do not generally trust them. If you insist on using these, I would suggest a simple test - buy one (they certainly are cheap enough) and run it against the rails for 24 hours into a dummy load (max I at max V) and see if they survive.

I would be careful - there are two things that kill lithium polymer batteries - over voltage on charging and under voltage on discharging. If you look at the welfare of your batteries, they would last for a long time and give pleasurable and reliable service.

--StJ

 

[Hillhater]

Many ES posters have reported using these ..BMC/ "King Pan" /"King power"/ EV power chargers with good results.
They are CV/CC units with full adjustment for fine tuning voltage and current.
They are supplied ( under a range of brand names) by various battery retailers as recommended chargers.
I agree the price does make you suspicious, but they do appear to have a track record.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=26859&p=391296#p391296
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30892
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13571

 

[StJaux]

Most interesting! I think it might be worth while investigating, I will get one of these units and do a detail test. Thanks for the info!

--StJ

 

[neptronix]

Dear mr. fisher...

I am currently agonizing over which charger to use now. My meanwell NES shunt shave was basically a failure. Any kind of current limiting results in a loud whine and unstable current

I wonder if you can do a little shunt shaving on these models.

Would you do me a favor and open one of these up, and show me the shunts? if there are 2-4 shunts, then it's awfully similar to the S series, and maybe it could be modded to dump out an amp or two less, preventing overheating. Maybe if there is space, a lower RPM fan can be fitted, in addition to another lower RPM fan in the front to compensate, which would really help with the noise level..

Like you, i want to do the ultra long distance thing. Would rather have this than a BMSBattery charger.

 

[neptronix]

Might be irrelevant..

They sell the HRPG series now.
Which means they probably pulled some BS and modified it to not do current limiting very well.. :|