See also: Control Panel/Raspberry PI Shelf
See also: 5.2 V Regulator
See also: Robust Power For Raspberry PI
See also: Assembling the Switchover Circuit

Purchasing and Wiring Meanwell RS-15-15

We use the Meanwell RS-15-15 to power the Raspberry PI and digital section of the node, and also to trickle charge the small Gel-Cel used for backing up the Raspberry PI.

This page is about hooking up AC and DC power to the Meanwell and tuning it's output to the appropriate 14.2V for our backup circuit. Specifications for the Meanwell RS-15-15 are available at
Specifications at meanwell.com

Purchase the Meanwell
Meanwell RS-15-15 from Mouser

Meanwell RS-15-15 from Digikey

WARNING!!!!
This process needs to be handled very carefully as 110VAC is dangerous.
I am not qualified to describe this at all and I'm completely unfamiliar with the wiring requirements outside the USA. Please consult local information to determine if you can safely and legally use this kind of power supply.

Proceed at your own risk.
If you are uncomfortable doing this part of the project, please contact somebody you would find to be qualified.

Please be prepared to survive screwing up, and then do not screw up. Check and doublecheck.

Obtain a switched AC power strip, ideally with a built in fuse and, for safety, attached to a ground fault circuit breaker.
Here is a plug-in GFCI breaker.
Obtain a NEMA 5-15P power cord such as used for a PC power supply or AC powered test equipment.
Cut the socket off the cord.
Strip the cord to show the 3 color wires inside the outer jacket.
These colors must be black, white and green, else discard the cord and find another.
Route the AC cable in such a way that stress cannot be put on the wires where they connect to the Meanwell, even by pulling the cord at the plug end.

When completely assembled, your node box should protect the wiring end of the Meanwell which must be solidly attached to the node box and the wires should be strain relieved. Either drill two holes into the shelf, left and right of the power wire, and then use tie wraps through the hole and around the wire, or drill a hole through the cabinet and run the wire from the outlet, through that hole, and then to the Meanwell.

Wiring: The color codes of the wires are not obvious though they are supposed to be obvious. While the Wiring-Code that describes safe electrical connections is quite clear about the colors expected in AC power cables in various countries, the color codes are not the same in the different countries. In the USA, where there is supposed to be one standard, I have found power cables that have correct colors for the European market, and they are not the same as USA colors. Either way, I don't trust that the colors are wired to the pins they should be wired to.

Wiring Color Codes [allaboutcircuits.com]

Before wiring to the Meanwell supply, use an ohm-meter to verify that the color wires are correctly wired to the plug. Refer to the 3-prong plug diagram for white, black and green colors.

If your cable is appropriate for this task with the proper white, black and green and they are connected to the plug in the USA standard order,
Solder tin the 3 wires and hook them up so green goes to ground, black goes to L load and white goes to N neutral.

Connect a red wire to the V+ terminal and a black wire to the V- terminal.

Test AC ground to not get killed

Turn off the AC power strip.
Set your Volt Ohm Meter to AC with a range of 200 V AC or so.
Attach one of your Volt Ohm Meter probes to your workbench ground or to ground on the AC power strip.
Plug the Meanwell power cord into the strip.
Turn on the power strip.
Measure the AC volts between the chassis of the Meanwell and the ground point selected just before.
It should read less than 2 Volts, probably nearly 0 Volts.
If more than that, turn off the power strip and make contact with the TARPN group to discuss.
Turn off the AC power strip.
Disconnect the Volt Ohm Meter from the power strip ground.

Confirm and Adjust DC output

Set the Volt Ohm Meter to 20 V DC.
Using clip-leads, attach the volt ohm meter probes to the other black wire and red wire coming from the Meanwell DC terminals.
Turn on the AC power strip.
Measure the DC volts. It should be between 11 V DC and 16 V DC. If outside this range, turn off the AC power strip and make contact with the TARPN group to discuss.
Adjust the white potentiometer on the wiring-side of the Meanwell.
Tune the DC volts to 14.2 V DC.
Turn off the AC power strip.

This completes the hookup and initial alignment of the Meanwell power supply. In a later step you will cover the Meanwell supply's wiring end in such a way that the supply gets good ventilation, but where curious fingers cannot get to the AC connections.