Yep, I forgot to mention that. The hot wire from the cord should be attached to the rear terminal. As I said earlier in the video, I am sure I would forget to mention something because there is so much wrong.
@@mikesradiorepair I can't stand X-Force myself but instead of you saying that you just don't want to mess with somebody else's mess come on here and tell them all it will kill you about high voltage you tell me a dc car that runs 12 volts and 15 volts is not hi voltage i did like your videos till this one a pure copout on everything you said and if you are such a tech that you should know no one uses iron core Transformers anymore if this was an iron core Transformer I might agree with you but is a damn switching power supply with Daisy chained switching power supplies to get the amps we need we are all doing it nothing to harm anyone keep preaching your technical terms you got your followers they believe you all good
@@jtsgarage2999i, working as the last engeneer on this thing, and something happens whit it, killig someone, after that, your lyable, thats what counts if you do this thinks for your job.... this thing is unsafe, so he,s not thaking that chance.. this supply is crap, he's correct on that, so mutch wrog whit this, you can not make this safe...
230 in USA if you decide to wire it. The bad thing about 120 that makes it worse than 220 is 120 loves to hold on to you in house environment. Lot of times 220 will knock you off of it.120 has a higher chance of holding you. Not always but many times. Been shocked by both. Don't like either one.
@@matthewdavies2057 I agree. $700+ for a power supply and one would expect a screen-printed co. logo. Not that it actually means much as xforce could have screen printed it's company logo and the PS still would have been the same piece of shit on the inside. I was verbose in my first reply, and probably shoul've said, anyone considering purchasing anything X Force DO YOUR RESEARCH! There are several other (xforce like) companies that people should absolutely stay away from. But since we're talkin about X Force...... Just stay away!!! 73's
I been running those cheap Chinese knock off supplies for years here with no issues. You do have to blow the dust outta them once in a while...they work great!
All of the new DC power supplys are done with switcher's in them. Its all about how you daisy change em.. the days of iron core supplys are done for. Any blue lable xforce is junk.
Really glad to see you post again Mike. I really enjoy and learn a lot from your videos! Buddy You know... I wanted to see several parts of this again and I have to tell you, when I went back to revisit them I realized that your relations and exclamations are just priceless in this video. It’s tremendously entertaining just to listen to your explanations. Thank you for not only a educational video but a fun one too.
First I'd like to thank you for possibly saving someone's life (including your own.) Kudos for calling it like you saw it. Unlike other "technicians" who'd have no problem taking this extremely poor excuse for an amplifier power supply and squeezing the owner for who knows how much $ in order to solder that wire a back on without so much as a word about the dangers this power supply can potentially cause. Let's call a spade a spade. These power supplies are built for nothing more then running Large mobile class C amplifiers in a base station setting. Large mobile class C amplifiers that are built with the same lack of quality and or safety in mind. I'll try my best to stay on topic and won't go into the full line of X-FORCE equipment. I'm not going to slam anyone for owning anything X FORCE. To each his own. On the other hand there's enough information at the finger tip of anyone looking to purchase a 200 amp power supply. And the online consensus (radio hobbyist forms) shows that X FORCE is a company that makes JUNK! And this clip confirms what many already know. I am totally disgusted that any company whether it's a 200000 square foot factory or two knuckleheads in a garage building and knowingly selling a piece of equipment that is so poorly built it's not only a danger to the person who's using it but also puts In harm's way the families living under the same roof in which that piece of equipment is going to be used. I don't know why people don't use the technology available before purchasing anyting. When I say anything I mean anything from A to Z. I find it hard to believe that anyone would purchase a 200 amp power supply from xforce. There are options. And extremely good options if one should need a 200 amp power supply. Megawatt makes a 50 amp power supply that can be run in parallel. The megawatt 50 amp S-700-12 has one of the highest ratings on eham when it comes to power supplies. The poor excuse xforce 200 amp power supply in your clip was initially sold for approximately $700 (including shipping.) Four of the megawatt 50 amp power supplies are $110 ea. (free shipping) and as I mentioned above can be run in parallel creating 200 clean amps. Megawatts power supply filtering is almost second to none in that $110 price range. Not to mention built to the highest standards and quality control that should be expected when a company builds something that can easily take someone's life. It truly is appalling. I didn't even have to tap the small arrow icon in order to read your full description. I knew what you would see when you removed the cover from this power supply. The company name xforce says it all. Its reputation for building junk exceeds it's attempt to take advantage of people that get into the hobby and immediately want to run 2-5kw's (or more) through their antennas. I can't begin to imagine how many of these power supplies have been sold and are being used in households where there are innocent family members (especially children) residing in those houses. I have been doing business with you (Mike) for approximately four years now and we have spent several hours telecommunicating over that period. I know when you're laughing because something is funny and I know when you're laughing because it's all you can do to stop you from crying. I jest of course. But we all know that this is not a joke! If you love your life and the lives of your family members and enjoy your hobby please do your due diligence before purchasing anyting that supplies lethal voltages and can possibly be a fire hazard. As I mentioned above the information is at your fingertips. And there is absolutely no excuse for purchasing any power supply offered by X FORCE (and other like companies.) No one wants to die so they can enjoy their hobby. A hobby should be something that's educational and enjoyable at the same time. And CB radio is that hobby many of us are interested in and enjoy immensely. There are many forms online such as worldwide DX that have a searchable database that will let you know from the people in the know what's good and what isn't. Not to mention a simple Google search. I hope this clip gets shared so many times that it hits a million views. Just because something has a fancy-looking box with a shiny sticker on it doesn't mean it's good. Nor does it mean it's safe. This power supply is obviously a death trap in the making. My advice to the owner would be to scrap it. Enjoy the hobby without worrying about electrocuting yourself or possibly burning down your house and ending the lives of your whole family. I can't imagine anything worse then the possibility of something like that happening. And this power supply is one that might bring you as close to the brink of death then you've ever been before or ever will be until the Lord calls your number (naturally and at a ripe old age.) I can't think of a worse way to go then to get electrocuted or burn alive. Once again Mike kudos. Thanks for your honesty. It wouldn't surprise me if xforce fans or representative weights in and comes up with some cockamamie excuse about this power supply not being built by xforce. or that it was modified by some golden screwdriver. It wasn't modified by a golden screwdriver. It was built by one. And that golden screwdriver is xforce itself. They've got the gall to use the word proprietary in the description of their 11 meter equipment. What a joke! 73 PS. If I'm wrong about using the four megawatt 50 amp power supplies in parallel to do the same thing this xforce 200 amp piece of junk is supposed to do then I apologize for my lack of knowledge. If that's not going to work there are definitely other options for a 200 amp power supply. Options that are safe and well built.
Maybe it says something about my life, but I love nothing more on a Saturday night than a good Mike rant. Thanks for expending your time and energy to potentially save someone's life. Cheers, Mike!
Hello Mike Mister gatekeeper here I want to thank you highly for the video and I am man enough to admit that I have made more than one of these mistakes that you have pointed out in this video in the past which I have since corrected. Also I am humble enough to admit that you have even pointed out a thing or two that I can improve on myself this was a very informative video. Sitting back and looking at the big picture I just cannot fathom mentally that this was actually built at X-Force or at least I'm wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe someone gutted that X-Force case and built that in there themselves but there again no one really knows but the person who built it and the person who obtained it from that person. It was really cool that you shared the information on the current sharing techniques using diodes and resistors I just recently had to learn these techniques to share boost converters that were not designed to be ran in that fashion I believe there's nothing wrong with using power supplies in that manner as long as they are current shared the proper way cuz I do understand purchasing power supply white mean Wells can be very costly but you are right about the server supplies being built like absolute tanks I have been using these HP 75 amp supplies that only cost $20 a piece used for my self and even though they are used like you mentioned they are built like tanks and built to be ran 24 hours a day and even with them they have one simple small pin for current sharing and all you have to do is simply daisy chain these supplies you are using with a wire 1 pin to the next and it works like a charm. Comment about them jumping the individual fuses this is something I have seen other builders do as well and the whole meaning behind it is they feel if there are going to use one fuse on the box then all of the individual fuses need to be eliminatedbecause there is a problem with one supply it will not be enough to throw the main fuse but there again if you think about it eliminating all of the fuses for there to be a problem big enough to throw that main fuse from an issue with the power supplies themselves you would have to have an issue with pretty much all of the power supplies at once LOL so I think it is best to leave the fuses on each individual supply because if something does happen that one's supply will be able to be inoperative while the others are still working all this just is issues you have with using something in a way that it wasn't designed for well I will admit power supply builders have come a long way with using these individual modules the most proper way that you can use them and I have built a few of them myself which is still in operation but just like you mentioned you have to go the extra mile you have all the extra safety feature that you possibly can have and there again is best if you or building anything at the 200-amp Mark or bigger needs to get go to 220 volt bar none Again very informative video. Thanks, Gatekeeper
@@rocknrolljesus3197 just hang in there brother I have well over 100 videos my tactic was to hold off on go the extra hours it takes on editing and such stuff get my butt caught up first and pretty much relaunch my business don't make the same mistakes that I've made the past two years of taking on too much work in LOL they're coming
I had to watch this clip again. Mike's amazement @ the poor build quality (understatement) of this power supply is priceless!! Not to mention he wouldn't even plug it in. REMARKABLE! I think it's only the second time he (Mike) wouldn't plug a device in. And the first time he said he was going to add a DON'T USE THIS DEVICE sticker. I don't think he was joking and I'd bet 2 to 1 he actually added that sticker.
The outputs didn't all have the same length wire, also necessary for load balancing. It makes me shutter to see that abomination. The one BBi built was a 300A 230V input switcher with 6 50A mean-well all adjusted to within .1 volt in the same cab with the amp deck. Great vid, thx.
Mike LMAO I have been telling people about this for years. I have seen similar boxes claiming 350amp @ 13.8v DC that plug into a 15amp 120v outlet. The truth is I have been told multiple times I don't understand the magic/technology they used. My favorite thing is when, they say something like it can do it because its unregulated lol , this of course has nothing to do with it. Good video man hope it doesn't fall on def ears.
There's no "magic" involved, it's the most basic of all basic calculations involving electricity. It doesn't take a genius to know you can't even get 200A at 13.6V from 15A at 120V. With conversion losses, even 150A would be generous. Regulations can be ignored, but laws of physics can't. Besides, garbage like this... thing is one of the reasons many regulations exist in the first place.
Well.....that was fun. Thanks for the info. The thing about those cheap manufacturers like that in China is, "take the money and run". Because what are you going to do? You can't sue, you can't return it, and you'll never get your money back.
A Greenlee 1/2 inch D hole punch runs about $215 or more brand new. As a business you could write that off on your taxes, but for someone home brewing their own equipment I'd find a cheaper way to mount a fuse. Maybe a different style of fuse holder.
Someone home brewing their own equipment can do what they want at home, but they should do their due diligence and consult an electrical engineer (or at least a business liability attorney!) before offering shoddy mad-scientist creations like this one for sale to the public.
Even server powers supplies, some I think, are even "Hot Swap". Meaning you can take one out that has failed and put in another one. Also usually have over rating for the outputs and such.
From the X-Force web page-- "All products are sold for use as testing fixtures for RF transistors, MOSFET Devices, Vacuum tubes, etc in the export market, also for educational use, or even use as a conversation piece to put up on your shelf and and bullshit about with your friends, and Never use these items for anything other than that. And please follow all local, state, and federal laws when opperating any and all electronic equipment." -- Seriously??
LOL, educational use would be perfect. There should be one of these hanging on the wall of every electrical engineering R&D lab with a big note hanging over it saying "How not to design a power supply."
Hi Mike, I think BBI built a 300A supply using 30A Mean Well supplies in parallel. I think they were setup for 230V input and he dressed all the wiring so each individual supply had the same length of wiring to help balance the load.
That's... um... that's not how load balancing works. (Being unfamiliar with that supply, I'm not saying that it was done wrong, but equal-length wiring would just be showing off, not a functional feature. The actual load balancing would be handled by other components.)
That thing is scary. The fact that I have seen other UA-cam channels working on them makes me wonder. I guess I know why the channel that was working on it did not show the inside.
Hi Mike, Have any experience with MegaWatt power supplies? I bought two S-700-12 50A to parallel for 100A. I have an RM Italy HLA 300 Plus HF amplifier I want to power with those supplies.
I can only assume that the experience of opening this for the first time was akin to that of opening Pandora's box, which is why there is no footage of the event.
You forgot the relay with the NC terminals chopped off by some brute force. Look at it this way, you have a nice case, sort of decent power cord ( though I doubt the 15A rating on it) and some 12V 10A power supplies to use, plus a cheap LED voltmeter.
i got a couple of cb mics first one is Cobra Electronics HG-M75 uses a battery and second one is a liberty both are 4 pins can you switch them over to 6 pins and how much would it cost grand total
My son s friend s are always useing my garage they bring there cars in to use my tools and tire machine . He knows my rule is the very first thing that has to be done it unhook battery. You would not believe how many of the cars that have a big amp in the trunk and a big wire running out of the hood through the door and under the seat .and when you look at the battery hook up there is no fuse
OMG! Many times over, where's the UL sticker, LOL!. Just one minor input on the fuse holder, I always bring my line voltage in the back of the fuse holder, not the side where it can touched when removing or reinstalling the fuse. Another shock hazard right to chassis ground.
Is this generally true of the types of radio equipment seen in these generic looking aluminum boxes be it amps or whatever? As a person who's interest in radio begins and ends with monitoring there are a few amp builders and radio tuners I watch out of curiosity and have often wondered if what Im watching is sound enginering?
I'd love to see if you cod find a date stamp on any component. It would be interesting to see if this is a current design. His "200a" power supply currently sells for $750. Hilariously it boasts "load sharing". Of course load sharing means nothing. Load balancing is probably what he was trying to lie about. I really want to see this think hooked to a 200a load of course you'd have to use a beefy circuit to power it (probably for about 5 seconds.)
Not sure about the rest of the Europe, but here in CZ the use of properly grounded 3-wire receptacles is mandatory for decades. Also, every new residential house gets at least one common RCD breaker right after the main switch so if something goes wrong, the power is instantly cut off and nobody gets injured (at least in theory). We also don't have to deal with those ridiculous amounts of AC current thanks to the 230 V mains voltage so power cords are rarely an issue here. And even the smallest houses (and flats designed with electric stoves, which tends to be a majority these days) have a 400 V 3-phase mains input so using high power stuff is much easier here compared to the NA. We have our problems, but the power grid is not one of them. :)
Actually, even if they did connect the hot wire to the chassis, they would cheap out and not use star washers and it wouldn’t make good contact! 🤣 And what’s up with the hand-made PCB inside. Looks like a bunch of capacitors and diodes. What comes to mind when you see a ladder of caps and diodes? That’s right, a Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier. But it doesn’t look like they even did that correctly; it looks like a weird pi-network filter, but someone substituted diodes for resistors. WTF?!? Furthermore, they clearly had heat-shrink tubing; why not use it to insulate the “hot” mains connections on the fuse holder, and on the relay?? Give this to Wile-y-Coyote; this was made by the fictitious “Acme” corporation just for getting rid of pesky cartoon villains!
It’s inversely proportional; if it was directly proportional, then one (variable) would go up as another goes up - i.e. y = a*x, where a is a constant. In a case where it’s inversely proportional, then you have y = a / x, where a is a constant (here, constant power), x is voltage, and y is current. This makes sense as it’s just a variable substitution, where a = P, x = V, and y = I. Multiply both sides by x, and you just get P = V * I, which is correct for DC. I won’t get into AC power, as that’s a whole ‘nuther video! 😎
Yes, I forgot to mention that in the video. As I said there was so much wrong I was going to forget to mention something. The customer purchased this new directly from XForce several years ago.
Thinking that you should do the same evaluation of the X-Force amps that was supposed to supply....just sayin... I actually have one of their RF amps, I have never used it, but someone recommended it to me so I bought on and then my circumstances changed radically and so I never hooked it up. So after watching this...I am now wondering if the AM RF amp is just as bad???
This crap does not surprise me at all. The whole outlaw 10 meter amp world is all very sketchy. All of the "builders" claim they're better than each other and I've watched many of their finger-pointing videos and many of the fingers seem to point towards the "blue label" X Force product. Every one of these "builders" have a disclaimer mentioning that their products are not intended for what they are actually intended for. It's like selling narcotics as sculpture art and some of these guys appear to be on meth. I know there are a few "box builders"like BBI who seem to care about safety but it's still of questionable legality. Strange world these CB dudes occupy.
Their web page lists them up to 3500 amp, output voltages 11 to 16 v. No pics of inside so don't know if they still assemble them like that. That is BAD!!
Shit me not, the worst power I never built myself . I like their attempt at the soft starting using the dc supply to pull in the ac relay. I bet that’s why it had the large fuses in due to inrush and they couldn’ stop them blowing at the correct current rating. Still a very instructional video on how not to build a PSU. Ps I think the capacitor to the ac - dc ground may have been intentionally for RFI, but I don’t condone how and why they did it.
Back in the day when we built a Hi current power supply using 2N3055's we would use resisters to current limit each transistors output. I do not see that there. Oh and there is no way the bottom middle supplies are going to be able to keep cool. Why didn't they start with Meanwell MP1k0's. I also think if your planning to use a 1kW linear for your amateur radio shack buy one that's designed to operate on 120/240v, don't fall for this junk.
@@cat-lw6kq LOL, no. Watch to the end for Mike's thoughts on that. Engineers at UL, ULC, CE, etc., would laugh for days if this thing darkened their doorsteps.
Shiny garbage, as a licensed Ham and avid CB'er I am sad to say splatter stations are actually worse now, then 30 years ago. I never volt anything, and i stack two Astron 70's to a Maxwell super capacitor if i need to supply power with a large amp draw. Were not all crazy Mike :D
There's a reason why Wizard Made stopped dealing with this X-force shite, anyone can see it's a confused mass of left over tangled electrics that don't agree with each other those fuses look like they'd have trouble lighting off a 0.49' model airplane engine.
Hi Mike, I enjoy your videos and appreciate the time you take to educate those interested in electronics. However, I do want to correct one point. The fuse on the chassis of this device is for protection of the device itself, however inadequate it is in this case. It is not intended to protect the line cord. That function is reserved for the building branch circuit breaker or fuse. Since the cord is equipped with a 15 amp plug, it must be connected to a receptacle protected by a 15 amp circuit breaker. I fully agree that the cheap Chinese ps is junk, poorly designed and constructed and should not be used. However as a retired electrical engineer I just wanted to set this one issue straight. Protection of electrical circuits is always on the “ upstream” side in terms of current flow.
Correct and I understand that. The point is that if your going to fuse something with a 30 Amp fuse then the cord that is supplying it should be rated at 30 Amp or higher. Putting a 15 Amp rated power cord on a device that is protected with a 30 Amp fuse is good for one thing, setting the cord on fire.
The cord is protected by the 15 amp breaker. It is stupid to have a 30 amp load with a 15 amp cord, but it’s not a fire hazard. It will just trip the CB.
@@billmoran3812 Maybe not 30 amps, but there must be millions of 15 amp outlets wired with 12 gauge on 20 amp breakers. It's practically standard practice in home wiring now--idea being that devices with 15 amp plugs don't draw more than 15 amps.
Good lord what an abortion. Some of the class C amplifiers and power supplies that these people seem to make out of their garage for CBs and such are terrifying.
Those Meanwell clones are missing ic's, chokes, lower grade transistors that do not match the current rating of the device, lacking proper control/feedback regulation of switching and safety functions. They have less capacitance and have to use more copper wire and larger toroid to attempt to make up for missing components.
I think Military specs dictate that a solder joint doesn't have to be crimped to a connector but just solder flat to it. I think you are supposed to use a fuse twice the current draw. Take a CB supply that draws over 1.5 amps have 3 amp fuses. All in all this is a terrible design to say the least. I wouldn't plug it in either, bad power cord design. You can maybe use this as a welder, ha. Nice learning video.
holy crap! i made it about 40 minutes in and just needed a break LOL. I can't wait to show some of my friends at the panel shop. Have these people never heard of a wago terminal??? not to mention the absolutely insane design. The scariest part is that they are advertising these on their website as available up to 3500 amps. yes, 3500 AMPS! they are getting 700 bucks for the one that you are working on. absolute rip-off artist who hired his alcoholic buddy to do the assembly. not sure whether you should categorize this video as comedy or horror. just yikes.
The Fuse holder is wired backwards in the first place.
Yep, I forgot to mention that. The hot wire from the cord should be attached to the rear terminal. As I said earlier in the video, I am sure I would forget to mention something because there is so much wrong.
@@mikesradiorepair I can't stand X-Force myself but instead of you saying that you just don't want to mess with somebody else's mess come on here and tell them all it will kill you about high voltage you tell me a dc car that runs 12 volts and 15 volts is not hi voltage i did like your videos till this one a pure copout on everything you said and if you are such a tech that you should know no one uses iron core Transformers anymore if this was an iron core Transformer I might agree with you but is a damn switching power supply with Daisy chained switching power supplies to get the amps we need we are all doing it nothing to harm anyone keep preaching your technical terms you got your followers they believe you all good
@Derp , in our country, even the 110 volts is called low power, its 230 volts here.
@@jtsgarage2999i, working as the last engeneer on this thing, and something happens whit it, killig someone, after that, your lyable, thats what counts if you do this thinks for your job.... this thing is unsafe, so he,s not thaking that chance.. this supply is crap, he's correct on that, so mutch wrog whit this, you can not make this safe...
230 in USA if you decide to wire it. The bad thing about 120 that makes it worse than 220 is 120 loves to hold on to you in house environment. Lot of times 220 will knock you off of it.120 has a higher chance of holding you. Not always but many times. Been shocked by both. Don't like either one.
According to their website, that thing is $725. Somebody got robbed.
The bumper sticker for a name badge was a dead giveaway.
@@matthewdavies2057 I agree. $700+ for a power supply and one would expect a screen-printed co. logo. Not that it actually means much as xforce could have screen printed it's company logo and the PS still would have been the same piece of shit on the inside. I was verbose in my first reply, and probably shoul've said, anyone considering purchasing anything
X Force DO YOUR RESEARCH! There are several other (xforce like) companies that people should absolutely stay away from. But since we're talkin about X Force...... Just stay away!!! 73's
yea i no i got 10 of them switchers for 150$ and i no dam well it dont take 650$ in parts to build one
X-Farce needs to be shut down.
From the other comments it looks like they have been. Or at least they went under on their own.
I been running those cheap Chinese knock off supplies for years here with no issues.
You do have to blow the dust outta them once in a while...they work great!
i have had a few of them that make way to much noise on the HF band...
only ones that work are the megawatt supply's
Arlyn ran that brand into the ground...
News Alert: "The World Starts to turn Again....Mike Posts New Video". 😂
It is always a pleasure to see Mike post new clips. I'm waiting for the next one which I'm assuming will be added soon. At least I hope so.
It looks like "Donkey Stomper" is basically doing the same thing with his CB amplifier power supplies.
All of the new DC power supplys are done with switcher's in them. Its all about how you daisy change em.. the days of iron core supplys are done for. Any blue lable xforce is junk.
Really glad to see you post again Mike. I really enjoy and learn a lot from your videos! Buddy
You know... I wanted to see several parts of this again and I have to tell you, when I went back to revisit them I realized that your relations and exclamations are just priceless in this video. It’s tremendously entertaining just to listen to your explanations. Thank you for not only a educational video but a fun one too.
First I'd like to thank you for possibly saving someone's life (including your own.) Kudos for calling it like you saw it. Unlike other "technicians" who'd have no problem taking this extremely poor excuse for an amplifier power supply and squeezing the owner for who knows how much $ in order to solder that wire a back on without so much as a word about the dangers this power supply can potentially cause. Let's call a spade a spade. These power supplies are built for nothing more then running Large mobile class C amplifiers in a base station setting. Large mobile class C amplifiers that are built with the same lack of quality and or safety in mind. I'll try my best to stay on topic and won't go into the full line of X-FORCE equipment. I'm not going to slam anyone for owning anything X FORCE. To each his own. On the other hand there's enough information at the finger tip of anyone looking to purchase a 200 amp power supply. And the online consensus (radio hobbyist forms) shows that X FORCE is a company that makes JUNK! And this clip confirms what many already know. I am totally disgusted that any company whether it's a 200000 square foot factory or two knuckleheads in a garage building and knowingly selling a piece of equipment that is so poorly built it's not only a danger to the person who's using it but also puts In harm's way the families living under the same roof in which that piece of equipment is going to be used. I don't know why people don't use the technology available before purchasing anyting. When I say anything I mean anything from A to Z. I find it hard to believe that anyone would purchase a 200 amp power supply from xforce. There are options. And extremely good options if one should need a 200 amp power supply.
Megawatt makes a 50 amp power supply that can be run in parallel. The megawatt 50 amp S-700-12 has one of the highest ratings on eham when it comes to power supplies. The poor excuse xforce 200 amp power supply in your clip was initially sold for approximately $700 (including shipping.) Four of the megawatt 50 amp power supplies are $110 ea. (free shipping) and as I mentioned above can be run in parallel creating 200 clean amps. Megawatts power supply filtering is almost second to none in that $110 price range. Not to mention built to the highest standards and quality control that should be expected when a company builds something that can easily take someone's life. It truly is appalling. I didn't even have to tap the small arrow icon in order to read your full description. I knew what you would see when you removed the cover from this power supply. The company name xforce says it all. Its reputation for building junk exceeds it's attempt to take advantage of people that get into the hobby and immediately want to run 2-5kw's (or more) through their antennas. I can't begin to imagine how many of these power supplies have been sold and are being used in households where there are innocent family members (especially children) residing in those houses. I have been doing business with you (Mike) for approximately four years now and we have spent several hours telecommunicating over that period. I know when you're laughing because something is funny and I know when you're laughing because it's all you can do to stop you from crying. I jest of course. But we all know that this is not a joke! If you love your life and the lives of your family members and enjoy your hobby please do your due diligence before purchasing anyting that supplies lethal voltages and can possibly be a fire hazard. As I mentioned above the information is at your fingertips. And there is absolutely no excuse for purchasing any power supply offered by X FORCE (and other like companies.) No one wants to die so they can enjoy their hobby. A hobby should be something that's educational and enjoyable at the same time. And CB radio is that hobby many of us are interested in and enjoy immensely. There are many forms online such as worldwide DX that have a searchable database that will let you know from the people in the know what's good and what isn't. Not to mention a simple Google search. I hope this clip gets shared so many times that it hits a million views. Just because something has a fancy-looking box with a shiny sticker on it doesn't mean it's good. Nor does it mean it's safe. This power supply is obviously a death trap in the making. My advice to the owner would be to scrap it. Enjoy the hobby without worrying about electrocuting yourself or possibly burning down your house and ending the lives of your whole family. I can't imagine anything worse then the possibility of something like that happening. And this power supply is one that might bring you as close to the brink of death then you've ever been before or ever will be until the Lord calls your number (naturally and at a ripe old age.) I can't think of a worse way to go then to get electrocuted or burn alive. Once again Mike kudos. Thanks for your honesty. It wouldn't surprise me if xforce fans or representative weights in and comes up with some cockamamie excuse about this power supply not being built by xforce. or that it was modified by some golden screwdriver. It wasn't modified by a golden screwdriver. It was built by one. And that golden screwdriver is xforce itself. They've got the gall to use the word proprietary in the description of their 11 meter equipment. What a joke! 73 PS. If I'm wrong about using the four megawatt 50 amp power supplies in parallel to do the same thing this xforce 200 amp piece of junk is supposed to do then I apologize for my lack of knowledge. If that's not going to work there are definitely other options for a 200 amp power supply. Options that are safe and well built.
Maybe it says something about my life, but I love nothing more on a Saturday night than a good Mike rant. Thanks for expending your time and energy to potentially save someone's life. Cheers, Mike!
I've shared your video everywhere. Your saving lives.
They were charging $700 + shipping for that box of horrors. Wow!!
You nailed it! This is worse than a hobbyist nightmare of a home brew.
That's right Rooster , Duke E Smears rebuilt Power Supply and I give it the yellow mod before you sold to Charlie Brown
Besides the horror show, this was a great safety lesson. Thanks especially for that. I learned a lot.
Hello Mike Mister gatekeeper here I want to thank you highly for the video and I am man enough to admit that I have made more than one of these mistakes that you have pointed out in this video in the past which I have since corrected. Also I am humble enough to admit that you have even pointed out a thing or two that I can improve on myself this was a very informative video.
Sitting back and looking at the big picture I just cannot fathom mentally that this was actually built at X-Force or at least I'm wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe someone gutted that X-Force case and built that in there themselves but there again no one really knows but the person who built it and the person who obtained it from that person.
It was really cool that you shared the information on the current sharing techniques using diodes and resistors I just recently had to learn these techniques to share boost converters that were not designed to be ran in that fashion I believe there's nothing wrong with using power supplies in that manner as long as they are current shared the proper way cuz I do understand purchasing power supply white mean Wells can be very costly but you are right about the server supplies being built like absolute tanks I have been using these HP 75 amp supplies that only cost $20 a piece used for my self and even though they are used like you mentioned they are built like tanks and built to be ran 24 hours a day and even with them they have one simple small pin for current sharing and all you have to do is simply daisy chain these supplies you are using with a wire 1 pin to the next and it works like a charm.
Comment about them jumping the individual fuses this is something I have seen other builders do as well and the whole meaning behind it is they feel if there are going to use one fuse on the box then all of the individual fuses need to be eliminatedbecause there is a problem with one supply it will not be enough to throw the main fuse but there again if you think about it eliminating all of the fuses for there to be a problem big enough to throw that main fuse from an issue with the power supplies themselves you would have to have an issue with pretty much all of the power supplies at once LOL so I think it is best to leave the fuses on each individual supply because if something does happen that one's supply will be able to be inoperative while the others are still working all this just is issues you have with using something in a way that it wasn't designed for well I will admit power supply builders have come a long way with using these individual modules the most proper way that you can use them and I have built a few of them myself which is still in operation but just like you mentioned you have to go the extra mile you have all the extra safety feature that you possibly can have and there again is best if you or building anything at the 200-amp Mark or bigger needs to get go to 220 volt bar none
Again very informative video. Thanks, Gatekeeper
When are you putting out a new vid gatekeeper? It's been at least a month!
@@rocknrolljesus3197 just hang in there brother I have well over 100 videos my tactic was to hold off on go the extra hours it takes on editing and such stuff get my butt caught up first and pretty much relaunch my business don't make the same mistakes that I've made the past two years of taking on too much work in LOL they're coming
SUNTAN ,,,,,,,,,, that's what you'll get when it bursts into flames !!!!!
I'm still laughing!! :) 39:18
I can see this video been used in a law suit in the Usa..glad your back mike .keep the video comming
I've heard so much bad things about xfarce now i see why.
Hey bud... In the aftermarket CB world that thing is TOP NOTCH!!!
Appears they still have a 100A supply available...wonder what it looks like inside. Ouch...
Thanks for exposing this kind of junk that people are unknowingly purchasing.
I had to watch this clip again. Mike's amazement @ the poor build quality (understatement) of this power supply is priceless!! Not to mention he wouldn't even plug it in. REMARKABLE! I think it's only the second time he (Mike) wouldn't plug a device in. And the first time he said he was going to add a DON'T USE THIS DEVICE sticker. I don't think he was joking and I'd bet 2 to 1 he actually added that sticker.
And Mike hates stickers. I've only ever seen him removing them, never putting one on.
DISLIKE!! Too verbose and not much substance. Somewhere he might have mentioned the voltage, but who knows.
The outputs didn't all have the same length wire, also necessary for load balancing. It makes me shutter to see that abomination. The one BBi built was a 300A 230V input switcher with 6 50A mean-well all adjusted to within .1 volt in the same cab with the amp deck. Great vid, thx.
BBI probably would have shot a big ass hole in That thing !
That power supply was built by the owners that bought Xforce after carl owned it. Carl himself made and still makes good products.
Possiby=Possibly. Wolds=Worlds.
Charlie Brown send you the Power Supply?
Mike LMAO I have been telling people about this for years. I have seen similar boxes claiming 350amp @ 13.8v DC that plug into a 15amp 120v outlet. The truth is I have been told multiple times I don't understand the magic/technology they used. My favorite thing is when, they say something like it can do it because its unregulated lol , this of course has nothing to do with it. Good video man hope it doesn't fall on def ears.
There's no "magic" involved, it's the most basic of all basic calculations involving electricity. It doesn't take a genius to know you can't even get 200A at 13.6V from 15A at 120V. With conversion losses, even 150A would be generous.
Regulations can be ignored, but laws of physics can't. Besides, garbage like this... thing is one of the reasons many regulations exist in the first place.
Scary stuff. Very unsafe! I would not even give it away.
Na,you can make a killer supply out of that case!
Well.....that was fun. Thanks for the info.
The thing about those cheap manufacturers like that in China is, "take the money and run". Because what are you going to do? You can't sue, you can't return it, and you'll never get your money back.
2019 and nwo 2021 and I''m watching this
A Greenlee 1/2 inch D hole punch runs about $215 or more brand new. As a business you could write that off on your taxes, but for someone home brewing their own equipment I'd find a cheaper way to mount a fuse. Maybe a different style of fuse holder.
They were charging $725 for this mess. They can buy a hole punch. Or even a Dremel Tool...
Someone home brewing their own equipment can do what they want at home, but they should do their due diligence and consult an electrical engineer (or at least a business liability attorney!) before offering shoddy mad-scientist creations like this one for sale to the public.
You are to see there 2 by 8 amplifiers with the switching power supplies in them
That looks like something one of those half-assed Preppers would build after "learning electronics" from, ...you guessed it: ...UA-cam.
But you're forgetting. Ancient Chinese Secret Invention... CORD IS FUSE!
Unbelivable!
Even server powers supplies, some I think, are even "Hot Swap". Meaning you can take one out that has failed and put in another one. Also usually have over rating for the outputs and such.
Thank arlan... mike how do I get a hold of you to send my tram titan1 to?!
From the X-Force web page-- "All products are sold for use as testing fixtures for RF transistors, MOSFET Devices, Vacuum tubes, etc in the export market, also for educational use, or even use as a conversation piece to put up on your shelf and and bullshit about with your friends, and Never use these items for anything other than that. And please follow all local, state, and federal laws when opperating any and all electronic equipment." -- Seriously??
LOL, educational use would be perfect. There should be one of these hanging on the wall of every electrical engineering R&D lab with a big note hanging over it saying "How not to design a power supply."
Yep that's the Power Supply Duke E Smears rebuilt and I sold it to Charlie Brown
Hi Mike,
I think BBI built a 300A supply using 30A Mean Well supplies in parallel. I think they were setup for 230V input and he dressed all the wiring so each individual supply had the same length of wiring to help balance the load.
Yeah I liked that supply it was pretty bad ass with that huge clunkin relay.
That's... um... that's not how load balancing works. (Being unfamiliar with that supply, I'm not saying that it was done wrong, but equal-length wiring would just be showing off, not a functional feature. The actual load balancing would be handled by other components.)
good afternoon i would like to know do you work on tubes types amplifier
I got dooped by him on a 2x8 amp. It worked for a few day and blew a resistor. I had it rebuilt with HG transistors and it works great now.
A stunning bit of kit ,lol
That thing is scary. The fact that I have seen other UA-cam channels working on them makes me wonder. I guess I know why the channel that was working on it did not show the inside.
Hi Mike,
Have any experience with MegaWatt power supplies? I bought two S-700-12 50A to parallel for 100A. I have an RM Italy HLA 300 Plus HF amplifier I want to power with those supplies.
I can only assume that the experience of opening this for the first time was akin to that of opening Pandora's box, which is why there is no footage of the event.
Probably so much profanity MikesRadioRepair was too modest to keep it in.
Joe Snuffy is offended now . I been waiting for a few videos great job as always
Arlen is a chump when Carl owned the company it was much better.
You forgot the relay with the NC terminals chopped off by some brute force.
Look at it this way, you have a nice case, sort of decent power cord ( though I doubt the 15A rating on it) and some 12V 10A power supplies to use, plus a cheap LED voltmeter.
WOW!
"The brown wire..." That about covers it.
i got a couple of cb mics first one is Cobra Electronics HG-M75 uses a battery and second one is a liberty both are 4 pins can you switch them over to 6 pins and how much would it cost grand total
My son s friend s are always useing my garage they bring there cars in to use my tools and tire machine . He knows my rule is the very first thing that has to be done it unhook battery. You would not believe how many of the cars that have a big amp in the trunk and a big wire running out of the hood through the door and under the seat .and when you look at the battery hook up there is no fuse
OMG! Many times over, where's the UL sticker, LOL!. Just one minor input on the fuse holder, I always bring my line voltage in the back of the fuse holder, not the side where it can touched when removing or reinstalling the fuse. Another shock hazard right to chassis ground.
Is this generally true of the types of radio equipment seen in these generic looking aluminum boxes be it amps or whatever? As a person who's interest in radio begins and ends with monitoring there are a few amp builders and radio tuners I watch out of curiosity and have often wondered if what Im watching is sound enginering?
I'd love to see if you cod find a date stamp on any component. It would be interesting to see if this is a current design. His "200a" power supply currently sells for $750. Hilariously it boasts "load sharing". Of course load sharing means nothing. Load balancing is probably what he was trying to lie about.
I really want to see this think hooked to a 200a load of course you'd have to use a beefy circuit to power it (probably for about 5 seconds.)
Nice one ... this would be nice to connect in Europe with a none specific ground pin :-)
Not sure about the rest of the Europe, but here in CZ the use of properly grounded 3-wire receptacles is mandatory for decades. Also, every new residential house gets at least one common RCD breaker right after the main switch so if something goes wrong, the power is instantly cut off and nobody gets injured (at least in theory). We also don't have to deal with those ridiculous amounts of AC current thanks to the 230 V mains voltage so power cords are rarely an issue here. And even the smallest houses (and flats designed with electric stoves, which tends to be a majority these days) have a 400 V 3-phase mains input so using high power stuff is much easier here compared to the NA. We have our problems, but the power grid is not one of them. :)
Dont like rants on builders, but y agree on this one...
Wow super ghetto. Absolutely amazing.
Sooooooo what I should purchase one of these
Actually, even if they did connect the hot wire to the chassis, they would cheap out and not use star washers and it wouldn’t make good contact! 🤣 And what’s up with the hand-made PCB inside. Looks like a bunch of capacitors and diodes. What comes to mind when you see a ladder of caps and diodes? That’s right, a Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier. But it doesn’t look like they even did that correctly; it looks like a weird pi-network filter, but someone substituted diodes for resistors. WTF?!? Furthermore, they clearly had heat-shrink tubing; why not use it to insulate the “hot” mains connections on the fuse holder, and on the relay?? Give this to Wile-y-Coyote; this was made by the fictitious “Acme” corporation just for getting rid of pesky cartoon villains!
It’s inversely proportional; if it was directly proportional, then one (variable) would go up as another goes up - i.e. y = a*x, where a is a constant. In a case where it’s inversely proportional, then you have y = a / x, where a is a constant (here, constant power), x is voltage, and y is current. This makes sense as it’s just a variable substitution, where a = P, x = V, and y = I. Multiply both sides by x, and you just get P = V * I, which is correct for DC. I won’t get into AC power, as that’s a whole ‘nuther video! 😎
Live should be on the back of that fuse holder way it is ac straight to chassis ,Mike did he buy it from X force? Or bought it used?
Yes, I forgot to mention that in the video. As I said there was so much wrong I was going to forget to mention something. The customer purchased this new directly from XForce several years ago.
Thanks Mike seen pictures of another wired the same way
Thanks MikesRadioRepair
MIKE RON WHITE, Went to VEGAS 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. I watched this on a Sunday evening and I laughed for an hour. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thinking that you should do the same evaluation of the X-Force amps that was supposed to supply....just sayin...
I actually have one of their RF amps, I have never used it, but someone recommended it to me so I bought on and then my circumstances changed radically and so I never hooked it up. So after watching this...I am now wondering if the AM RF amp is just as bad???
Makes a good paper weight.
I have a couple astrons power supply but they are not crammed in like that
This crap does not surprise me at all. The whole outlaw 10 meter amp world is all very sketchy. All of the "builders" claim they're better than each other and I've watched many of their finger-pointing videos and many of the fingers seem to point towards the "blue label" X Force product. Every one of these "builders" have a disclaimer mentioning that their products are not intended for what they are actually intended for. It's like selling narcotics as sculpture art and some of these guys appear to be on meth. I know there are a few "box builders"like BBI who seem to care about safety but it's still of questionable legality. Strange world these CB dudes occupy.
Their web page lists them up to 3500 amp, output voltages 11 to 16 v. No pics of inside so don't know if they still assemble them like that. That is BAD!!
I'm glad i have never seen one here.
Not a rant but a PSA on what not to have in a power supply.
Mike that supply is at it's oldest from 2014 the power supplies inside had manufacturing date of 2014
Astron has there terminal at chassis level no isolation BTW you missed the line load was backwards on the fuse holder
Arc welding - Good one lol
WOW
Shit me not, the worst power I never built myself . I like their attempt at the soft starting using the dc supply to pull in the ac relay. I bet that’s why it had the large fuses in due to inrush and they couldn’ stop them blowing at the correct current rating. Still a very instructional video on how not to build a PSU. Ps I think the capacitor to the ac - dc ground may have been intentionally for RFI, but I don’t condone how and why they did it.
Good Video...But I know You meant inversely proportional.;o)
Back in the day when we built a Hi current power supply using 2N3055's we would use resisters to current limit each transistors output. I do not see that there. Oh and there is no way the bottom middle supplies are going to be able to keep cool. Why didn't they start with Meanwell MP1k0's. I also think if your planning to use a 1kW linear for your amateur radio shack buy one that's designed to operate on 120/240v, don't fall for this junk.
..... wow
You could make that power cord Writhe like a snake.
"I'm not going to plug it in". Good call, neither would I. Looks like scrap metal to me.
Can anyone tell me how I can get in touch with Mike?
what was the purpose of the wire links across those fuses ?
Have no idea, maybe to be sure it caught on fire when one of them failed. Bypassing the fuse in anything is a bonehead idea.
Is this power supply UL rated ?
@@cat-lw6kq LOL, no. Watch to the end for Mike's thoughts on that. Engineers at UL, ULC, CE, etc., would laugh for days if this thing darkened their doorsteps.
just whow
that why I went Pyramid power supplies it safe and it SHORT-CIRCUIT PROTECTION mike
What was the cost of this unit new?
Are mega watt supply any good?
Shiny garbage, as a licensed Ham and avid CB'er I am sad to say splatter stations are actually worse now, then 30 years ago. I never volt anything, and i stack two Astron 70's to a Maxwell super capacitor if i need to supply power with a large amp draw. Were not all crazy Mike :D
I was thinking they could be used alone.
There's a reason why Wizard Made stopped dealing with this X-force shite, anyone can see it's a confused mass of left over tangled electrics that don't agree with each other those fuses look like they'd have trouble lighting off a 0.49' model airplane engine.
They also sell a 3500amp version for about $10k- oh my god
Do you weld? You do now!
Hi Mike, I enjoy your videos and appreciate the time you take to educate those interested in electronics. However, I do want to correct one point. The fuse on the chassis of this device is for protection of the device itself, however inadequate it is in this case. It is not intended to protect the line cord. That function is reserved for the building branch circuit breaker or fuse. Since the cord is equipped with a 15 amp plug, it must be connected to a receptacle protected by a 15 amp circuit breaker.
I fully agree that the cheap Chinese ps is junk, poorly designed and constructed and should not be used. However as a retired electrical engineer I just wanted to set this one issue straight. Protection of electrical circuits is always on the “ upstream” side in terms of current flow.
Correct and I understand that. The point is that if your going to fuse something with a 30 Amp fuse then the cord that is supplying it should be rated at 30 Amp or higher. Putting a 15 Amp rated power cord on a device that is protected with a 30 Amp fuse is good for one thing, setting the cord on fire.
The cord is protected by the 15 amp breaker. It is stupid to have a 30 amp load with a 15 amp cord, but it’s not a fire hazard. It will just trip the CB.
And what happens if it's plugged into a line that has a 20 or 30 Amp breaker? Smoke and fire is what happens when the cord melts down.
It’s a 15 amp plug. By code it can not be protected by a higher rated circuit breaker.
@@billmoran3812 Maybe not 30 amps, but there must be millions of 15 amp outlets wired with 12 gauge on 20 amp breakers. It's practically standard practice in home wiring now--idea being that devices with 15 amp plugs don't draw more than 15 amps.
Good lord what an abortion. Some of the class C amplifiers and power supplies that these people seem to make out of their garage for CBs and such are terrifying.
OMG, quite a terrible PSU lol! Lovely video!
The best thing you could do to this power supply is disconnect and cap off the mains inside before you return it.
Those Meanwell clones are missing ic's, chokes, lower grade transistors that do not match the current rating of the device, lacking proper control/feedback regulation of switching and safety functions. They have less capacitance and have to use more copper wire and larger toroid to attempt to make up for missing components.
I think Military specs dictate that a solder joint doesn't have to be crimped to a connector but just solder flat to it. I think you are supposed to use a fuse twice the current draw. Take a CB supply that draws over 1.5 amps have 3 amp fuses. All in all this is a terrible design to say the least. I wouldn't plug it in either, bad power cord design. You can maybe use this as a welder, ha. Nice learning video.
holy crap! i made it about 40 minutes in and just needed a break LOL. I can't wait to show some of my friends at the panel shop. Have these people never heard of a wago terminal??? not to mention the absolutely insane design.
The scariest part is that they are advertising these on their website as available up to 3500 amps.
yes, 3500 AMPS! they are getting 700 bucks for the one that you are working on. absolute rip-off artist who hired his alcoholic buddy to do the assembly. not sure whether you should categorize this video as comedy or horror.
just yikes.