warlord385

I used my LRP pulsar competition charger last night on the PYramid power supply and it worked fine. When i went to the track today The pulsar charger said "CHARGE INTERRUPTED CURRENT TOO HIGH) Every few seconds this message would come up. I cut everything off and tried and tried again. Eventually the last time i hooked the charger to the power supply the charger said imput to high. i checked the output with a voltmeter and it was reading 26.6 Volts. I tried to check amps but then the power supply's red protection light came on and cut off after i remove teh multimeter. I checked the voltage again and it was now reading 11Volts. I then tried to hook the charger to the power supply but now the red protection light comes on whenever i hooked it up. I went to radio shack and paid 90 bucks for a radioshack 10amp constant power supply and now everthing works fine. Any advice on what went wrong and how to fix it so i can get my 90 bucks back in 30 days. Thanks

rough512

iTrader: (12)

How did you connect the multimeter when you checked amps? I'm not familiar with your power supply so I'll be guessing here.


Your power supply might be using foldback current limiting protection. Everytime the load current exceeds the specified maximum specified value, the foldback regulators trips, limiting current down to a few mAmps. This might be accompanied by a decrease in output voltage too. You might have triggered this by connecting the multimeter (set to measure Amperes) directly to the output terminal. An ammeter is virtually zero resistance, in this case, it acted as a short circuit. Normally disconnecting and re-connecting the PS from the mains will reset the foldback protection.

What you want to find out is what caused the "CHARGE INTERRUPTED CURRENT TOO HIGH" message. Next, check your PULSAR by connecting it to other PS. It might be drawing too much current. With a constant current PS, the original problem would not occur. Try another non-current limited PS. Insert a fast blow fuse between the charger and the PS for protection. If the charger checks out okay, have the pyramid PS checked. The Output Voltage regulator might be fried. Check also for any blown fuse.

warlord385

What you said about the ampere thing on the multimeter is exactly what i did. The model number of my pyramid power supply is 14-kx. The charger works fine with the radioshack power supply i got today, but i would rather get the pyramid fix and see if works so i can save some money. The fuse in both the pulsar and pyramid were fine. Also where should i take it to get fixed cause radio shack doesn't fix power supply. Thanks

rough512

iTrader: (12)

PYRAMID PS 14KX

Perfect for Home, Shop and Hobbyist
Input: 115V AC, 60Hz, 270 Watts
Output: 13.8V DC
12 AMP Constant/14 AMP Surge
Powers Cellular Phones,12V DC CB Radios, Scanners, HAM Radios, Autosound Systems, etc.
Screw Terminal Connectors
Electronic Overload Protection w/ Auto Reset
Short Circuit & Thermal Protection
Fuse Protected
LED Condition Indicators
Heavy Duty Cabinet & Heatsink with Anti–Skid Rubber Feet



I have no idea where to get it fixed. You might want to check with the vendor. The advertised Electronic Overload Protection should have taken care of the short, the fuse did not even blow I think you should stick to the Shack PS.

I also think you have a perfect learning tool at your hands. It's a perfect time to get into the electronics hobby, don't you think? I started out that way (wall cubes) then to small regulated PS, then to some basic chargers. Next thing you know you're building custom electronic dischargers already Tell you what, if you can't fix the problem, build a better output regulator.

Try surfing the net for info. I bet you already have some basic troubleshooting instruments at your disposal.

Check out www.sound.au.com. There's a great power supply schematic there. 20amps and up @13.8 Amperes . Compact case too.

warlord385

THanks alot will do