Semi-pseudonymous maker “LeoDJ” and colleague “Techbeard” have constructed a USB energy provide that is able to a 1.7kW whole output, break up throughout 24 USB Kind-C ports and 4 USB Kind-A ports.
“Now introducing: PDBrick! 1.7kW value of uncooked USB-C PD [Power Delivery] energy,” LeoDJ writes of the chunky metallic field festooned with USB ports. “The entire venture was fuelled by initially discovering actually low-cost DC-to-PD [Direct Current to USB Power Delivery] modules on AliExpress. And for reasonable however highly effective energy provides, there was principally just one logical alternative: used server energy provides.
“[Just for fun], I did a fundamental CAD mock-up of how the modules and PSUs might match collectively. It was too silly and low-cost to not give it a shot.”
This hefty energy provide delivers 1.7kW of energy, throughout 28 USB ports. (📷: LeoDJ)
With a handful of 64W and 100W USB Energy Supply adapters in hand, and a thermal digital camera to test that the low-cost boards weren’t going to overheat underneath a sustained load, the pair set about constructing the facility provide — arranging the USB PD modules right into a 4×5 array in a housing with PCB entrance plates, vented to permit the server PSUs to attract air by the chassis and funky all of the elements.
“4 rows of 5 65W modules are screwed onto aluminum strips with thermal pads in between,” LeoDJ explains. “These strips are then inserted into two 3D-printed aspect rails, that are then screwed to the entrance panel. That is additionally the thermal resolution. As a result of it ought to nearly by no means occur that every one modules of a row are absolutely utilized, the warmth ought to unfold and thus get carried away by the airflow higher.”
The housing consists of an OLED panel at one finish, pushed by an Espressif ESP32 show SMBUS statistics. (📷: LeoDJ)
The heatsinking system proved efficient, to the purpose it made soldering a problem, and the {hardware} was hooked up to a backplane PCB — with what LeoDJ describes as “wonky velocity holes” for airflow. The whole lot was then fitted into an aluminum chassis, with an OLED panel and an Espressif ESP32 microcontroller studying SMBUS knowledge from the low-side energy provide for statistics show.
“I seen that the values coming from the PSU have been fairly hit & miss,” LeoDJ admits. “Particularly throughout mild hundreds. So I merely used the values that matched the precise values closest and doubled them.”
Extra construct particulars can be found on LeoDJ’s Mastodon thread, whereas the design recordsdata and supply code have been revealed to GitHub underneath an unspecified license.