History of The Imported PSU Power Supply Unit

Over the years, since the arrival of Imported dancefloor systems into the UK, there has been various types of PSU...Power Supply Units.

Although from a quick glance at the top of the box, they all look similar, but the reality is they are indeed very different, even though they all incorporate a Meanwell 30 volts DC power supply which are usually very reliable.

I'll try to break it down into the 6 generations of PSU...

GEN. 1

This power supply had no output protection, meaning if there was a high resistance short circuit somewhere on the floor, usually caused by hair grips, metal confetti, sweet wrappers or excessive drink spills between the +Copper Contacts and the - aluminium frame, the Power Supply would keep on delivering its current that the s/c was demanding, upto the power supplies maximum ampage (about 20 amps!)

This inturn would generate immense heat on the copper contacts, causing them to melt, burn and in some cases even put very nasty expensive burn marks on the venue carpet...!

The floor would eventually go off due to catastrophic damage.

The output connectors are a Mains Voltage Powercon socket NAC3MPXXB, which is the incorrect socket as the PSU Output is only 30 volts DC...Not 240 volts AC.

Ultimately it means someone could accidentally plug a Powercon Powered Edge into the back of a lighting fixture and put Mains Voltage directly to the floor causing dangerous risk of electric shock and totally destroying the internal electronics of a dancefloor system...I know of 3 occasions where this has actually happened!

GEN 2

Exactly the same as Gen1, but I believe to satisfy UKCA or the then CE approval, the manufacturers had to insert output fuses....ALTHOUGH they weren't actually wired up!!!

GEN3

The Fuses were actually wired up incorporating a 20mm Glass Fuse.

GEN4

The Powercon sockets were changed for a suitable Low Voltage 4 pin XLR connector as introduced by LEDJ/Prolight Power Supplies, although still utilising output fuses which of course is a good thing...but you can tell from the above photograph how badly mangled the fuse holders are due to the many times when fuses have blown and the floor owner, installer or dj has been fumbling around in the dark, in the middle of an event to try to change the fuses and get the floor working again.

The important thing to note that a fuse only blows when there is a fault...to protect the system and prevent catastrophic damage...wrapping a blown fuse in tin foil is totally unacceptable!

GEN5

As introduced by ourselves we replace those fiddly glass fuses with a Fuse Switch, which pops out if a s/c fault is detected on the floor.

Once the fault has been found, the switch can be safely pushed back in and thus restoring power to the floor.

In many cases a bad drink spill or dropped drinks will cause a rush of liquid (which is an excellent conductor of current) between the panels, over the copper contacts and thus causing a short circuit ...the Fuse Switch will then cut power to the floor, protecting the dancefloor system from catastrophic damage.

Usually waiting 30 seconds for the liquid to desperse is ample time enough to restore power back to floor by pushing in the switch.

Believe it or not we have encountered the situation where someone has stuck Gaffer Tape over the switch! Consequently damaging the sensitive working of a thermal fuse switch and causing catastrophic damage to the floor!

The fault must be found...!

GEN6

NOW available exclusively from us...the same as GEN 5, with the addition of an output LED so you know your Power Supply is working ...and a Mains Voltage Neon indicator so you know the venue wall socket, PSU mains lead, PSU mains ON/OFF switch is all good...thus making any need for Fault Finding so much easier if something goes wrong.

Will