Question What are these on the power supply? 8 pin surface mount ic chips soldered in a series there are 12-13 of them.

reaper89971

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Jun 2, 2023
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What are the black 8 pin ic chips soldered in a series there are 12-13 of them. Are they surface mount mosfets? I need to cool them using a heat sink. I was going to use thermal glue to put the heat sink on. Will that harm the chips? I would circle them for you but i don't have an option to edit the image.
HDPLEX.500W.DCATX.4.jpg

CAN i USE THERMAL GLUE ON THOSE CHIPS OR WILL THAT BREAK THEM?
 
Are they surface mount mosfets?
Yes they look like MOSFETS, although why you should need to cool them is a mystery. They might be part of the OCP (Over Current Protection) but that's purely a guess on my part.

Power supply designers usually attach heatsinks when necessary. The MOSFETS are probably rated up to 125 °C. Best way to find out is read the number off the chip and download the data sheet.


I was going to use thermal glue to put the heat sink on. Will that harm the chips?
Yes, you can glue heatsinks on to semiconductors.
https://www.masterbond.com/industries/heat-sink-attachment
Supreme%2018TC.JPG


Just make sure the glue isn't electrically conductive. If it's really tenacious, you might rip the top off the MOSFETS if you ever need to remove the heatsinks, e.g. for an RMA. Have you considered this might invalidate the warranty?
 
Yes they look like MOSFETS, although why you should need to cool them is a mystery. They might be part of the OCP (Over Current Protection) but that's purely a guess on my part.

Power supply designers usually attach heatsinks when necessary. The MOSFETS are probably rated up to 125 °C. Best way to find out is read the number off the chip and download the data sheet.



Yes, you can glue heatsinks on to semiconductors.
https://www.masterbond.com/industries/heat-sink-attachment
Supreme%2018TC.JPG


Just make sure the glue isn't electrically conductive. If it's really tenacious, you might rip the top off the MOSFETS if you ever need to remove the heatsinks, e.g. for an RMA. Have you considered this might invalidate the warranty?
Thank you for your reply
It has a 9 pound shield that goes over the entire board and there are heat pads over top of the Mosfets. So i assumed that they need cooling or get hot. I am not sure if the case is a cooler for the entire board or a just a big heavy duty shield. The power supply case looks like an amplifier case.

So you are saying that they don't need cooling, Interesting. Would anything on this board need cooling? It does not have a fan. It also has a thick metal plate that the board is mounted 2.

The circuit board is single sided there isn't any circuitry on the bottom of the board as far as i can tell.

So all together it weighed about 15 pounds with the shielding.

So you are saying this thing doesn't need any cooling?

That would be great but whats with the heavy duty shielding? I mean heavy shielding.

There has got to be some kind of reason to shield this device like that. Unless its for car audio or something.
 
So you are saying that they don't need cooling, Interesting
No. From your description, the MOSFETS do need cooling. I was merely going by your (generic?) photo which didn't show any pads. If there are thermal pads on top of the MOSFETS, they definitely need cooling.

I am not sure if the case is a cooler for the entire board or a just a big heavy duty shield.
If the pads are sandwiched between the MOSFETS and the case, it's actibng as a large heatsink, similar the metal plate on tne back of some GPUs, if there are pads on additional memory chips.

There has got to be some kind of reason to shield this device like that.
If that board is part of an ATX PSU, the case is designed to protect you from 120/230V AC mains plus 340V DC (rectified mains) on the bulk cap. Yhese voltages are above the S.E.L.V. limit and considered lethal.

The usual caveats apply. Don't mess with exposed high voltages if you're not an electronics engineer with a good understanding of power circuitry, which by the sounds of your questions, you're not. Do not ask questions on this forum that entail removing the cover on a mains PSU. You'll get pretty short shrift.

Unless its for car audio or something.
Car audio operates from a +12V DC supply, but your photo implies a main powered unit. Please send more info about the power supply, including manufacturer and model number. Better stil a phot of the whole unit.

It does not have a fan.
Most ATX PSUs have a fan. Smaller open frame industrial PSUs are often fan-less. I've no idea what you've got in front of you.
 
No. From your description, the MOSFETS do need cooling. I was merely going by your (generic?) photo which didn't show any pads. If there are thermal pads on top of the MOSFETS, they definitely need cooling.


If the pads are sandwiched between the MOSFETS and the case, it's actibng as a large heatsink, similar the metal plate on tne back of some GPUs, if there are pads on additional memory chips.


If that board is part of an ATX PSU, the case is designed to protect you from 120/230V AC mains plus 340V DC (rectified mains) on the bulk cap. Yhese voltages are above the S.E.L.V. limit and considered lethal.

The usual caveats apply. Don't mess with exposed high voltages if you're not an electronics engineer with a good understanding of power circuitry, which by the sounds of your questions, you're not. Do not ask questions on this forum that entail removing the cover on a mains PSU. You'll get pretty short shrift.


Car audio operates from a +12V DC supply, but your photo implies a main powered unit. Please send more info about the power supply, including manufacturer and model number. Better stil a phot of the whole unit.


Most ATX PSUs have a fan. Smaller open frame industrial PSUs are often fan-less. I've no idea what you've got in front of you.
Thank you for your reply
This is the link to the power supply
https://hdplex.com/hdplex-500w-hi-fi-dc-atx-power-supply-12v-48v-wide-range-voltage-input.html

Its a HDPLEX 500W HIFI DC-ATX Power supply. All the caps on the board are 16v470uf and 63v22uf.

I don't know how to upload photos directly from my computer onto this website otherwise i would sorry about that.

Its input voltage is 12-48volts, I don't think it goes up to 300v. But that shielding does suggest high voltage or high heat. I will be careful with it. I can't turn it on right now anyway i don't have my input voltage power supply for it.
 
Thank you for your reply
This is the link to the power supply
https://hdplex.com/hdplex-500w-hi-fi-dc-atx-power-supply-12v-48v-wide-range-voltage-input.html

Its a HDPLEX 500W HIFI DC-ATX Power supply. All the caps on the board are 16v470uf and 63v22uf.

I don't know how to upload photos directly from my computer onto this website otherwise i would sorry about that.

Its input voltage is 12-48volts, I don't think it goes up to 300v. But that shielding does suggest high voltage or high heat. I will be careful with it. I can't turn it on right now anyway i don't have my input voltage power sup
True sir. I was going to tell you the steps in detail but it turns out you're right. Why is it URL? We don't own servers to host (I believe).
 
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