DC to DC converter for small electronics

[JoeChiOhki]

Trying to locate what to look for in a DC to DC convert that I can add a barrel jack on to power a small NAS device in my camper project.

The NAS takes 12volt stable for input (12v only, not 11-18v of your standard automotive electric system), and I'm trying to figure out what to search to get a unit that takes the stock 12 volt system input and puts out a constant 12volts output at a max of 3-5 amps.

Does anyone know the wording for what I'm trying to find? I need to get the DC to DC converters in place for the network extender and NAS devices so I'm not wasting energy by stepping it up to 110volts via inverter and then back down the low voltage DC that the devices use.

[CaFordGuy]

For inexpensive DC to DC converters I have used "Mean Well" brand. Bought them through Jameco supply. Use one to power a Ham Radio inorder to maintain a stable 13.8VDC for consistent power output . Use another to supply a USB C adapter which was inordinately fussy about input voltage. The specs are pretty good but I have never put them on a 'scope to look at the output waveform.

[JoeChiOhki]

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:

JoeChiOhki wrote:

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Hey Matt, Check this video out for fun. This guy is a technical wiz and created a NAS system from parts he had. He has a 5 volt power supply for his setup and a Raspberry PI is the controller. IT may or may not be useful to you but it is interesting to see what can be done if you have the knowledge. Hope you have your setup figured out by now. Looking forward to a full report upon completion and implementation...

That one actually is rather neat :). Using low power 5v USB drives solves the 12 volt power issue that is needed with large 3.5" drives like the QNAP nas I have is.

Have you dedicated yourself to any one solution yet? Keep us informed. This will be interesting to see your final installation and your review...

The QNAP I already own, so its a zero dollar outlay, I've had it for a few years now, its just collecting dust.

At current, I plan to forgo using a direct DC to DC converter with it, due to the issues with getting similar voltage regulation to work properly, and instead using the stock AC to DC power supply since the cabover entertainment center cabinet's 110volt outlets are already part of the circuit in the camper that auto changes between Inverter and Shore power (when shore power is plugged in).

I will be looking into DC to DC for the network extending unit (which doubles as our 1GbE local network switch for connecting wired devices like the Roku and NAS/Plex unit), as it only needs 5volts DC to power it, which there are numerous readily made 5volt converters.

In either case, this thread has provided substantial useful information as to what I was looking for, and who makes quality products these days, as well as few other neat things to look at.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

JoeChiOhki wrote:

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Hey Matt, Check this video out for fun. This guy is a technical wiz and created a NAS system from parts he had. He has a 5 volt power supply for his setup and a Raspberry PI is the controller. IT may or may not be useful to you but it is interesting to see what can be done if you have the knowledge. Hope you have your setup figured out by now. Looking forward to a full report upon completion and implementation...

That one actually is rather neat :). Using low power 5v USB drives solves the 12 volt power issue that is needed with large 3.5" drives like the QNAP nas I have is.

Have you dedicated yourself to any one solution yet? Keep us informed. This will be interesting to see your final installation and your review...

[JoeChiOhki]

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Hey Matt, Check this video out for fun. This guy is a technical wiz and created a NAS system from parts he had. He has a 5 volt power supply for his setup and a Raspberry PI is the controller. IT may or may not be useful to you but it is interesting to see what can be done if you have the knowledge. Hope you have your setup figured out by now. Looking forward to a full report upon completion and implementation...

That one actually is rather neat :). Using low power 5v USB drives solves the 12 volt power issue that is needed with large 3.5" drives like the QNAP nas I have is.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

Hey Matt, Check this video out for fun. This guy is a technical wiz and created a NAS system from parts he had. He has a 5 volt power supply for his setup and a Raspberry PI is the controller. IT may or may not be useful to you but it is interesting to see what can be done if you have the knowledge. Hope you have your setup figured out by now. Looking forward to a full report upon completion and implementation...

[Bedlam]

JoeChiOhki wrote:

Bedlam wrote:
DC to DC conversion typically uses pulse width modulation with a feed back loop to keep the voltage regulated at a set reference under varying loads. The power is pretty dirty until filtered through some capacitors. It used to be easy to pick up all these components and scale it to your needs, but stores and user knowledge have been dieing out.

Yeah, finding any kind of small components is getting troublesome. I couldn't even find the same single pole 12 volt illuminated switches I had bought less than ten years ago (I ended up cannibalizing the originals out of Mr. KIT because I couldn't find anything nowadays half as decent a quality).

DigiKey and Mouser are still around for parts.

[JoeChiOhki]

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:

JoeChiOhki wrote:

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Hey Matt, So I take it you're trying to eliminate a 120 volt wall cord and go straight into the 12 volt connector using the 12 volt system of the house which will be 14.4 or 14.6 at times. 13.7 or 13.2 at others. and 12.8, 12.6 and going lower as the evening progresses until the engine or generator start charging. Sounds like the Victron may be the solution you're looking for. Since this NAS is going to be rattling around in the truck camper, are you going to be using SSD drives? Will your NAS accept smaller 2.5 drives? I have a couple LACIE 4T USB drives RAID capable if desired. It's a much simpler solution than a hardwired NAS unit in the TC and easier to take with you if needed. Probably not as capable though as a true NAS designed to serve several work stations but will easily work for one person/computer. I saw the RV GEEKS on YouTube the other night, released a video on their electronic communication and NAS system. They had a NAS with I recall 6 full sized bays but I don't recall if they plugged into 120 volt or adapted to use 12 volt. They have a huge LION battery system so I suspect they used 120 volt and let the unit make it's own clean power. Hope it works out whatever you end up with.

The nas in question is a small low power single drive qnap unit, it will easily use any 2.5 or 3.5 inch sata drive (it currently has a 6tb wd red pro nas drive in it, that will be getting swapped out for an intel ssd).

Its primary purpose is to act as the house plex server (do it yourself netflix), that we'll be syncing what we want for a trip from the big plex server at the house.

Its not really used for anything, I bought it for a short term project a few years back and its been collecting dust ever since.

So, I'm combining it with the campers network extender as part of the Amerigos systems.

Would not this be much simpler LACIE USB-C 3.1 5T $170.00
I have a couple of these and they work very well. Lots of storage, fast, cheap, ruggedized. Plays video to your laptop nicely. There is a Thunderbolt version. They also have SSD versions but the price may be unnecessarily scary. Best of all, it's portable, take it with you and use it where you need it. Just presenting ideas for you.

Unfortunately, that's just a basic hard drive, I have many of those already :).

We're setting up a mini-netflix, because more than one person can stream from it simultaneously (We have this at home with around 30TB in the current drive farm, I'm just miniaturizing it for a travel version with hardware I already own) using any number of devices (My wife likes to stream from her tablet).

In my case, I usually watch with our Roku on the TV, while dawn watches a different show on her tablet or her phone.

I am leaning at this point toward using this unit with the inverter vs the direct DC power, and instead use the DC to DC converter for the network extender, as it uses a lower voltage on its input than the nas does.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

JoeChiOhki wrote:

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Hey Matt, So I take it you're trying to eliminate a 120 volt wall cord and go straight into the 12 volt connector using the 12 volt system of the house which will be 14.4 or 14.6 at times. 13.7 or 13.2 at others. and 12.8, 12.6 and going lower as the evening progresses until the engine or generator start charging. Sounds like the Victron may be the solution you're looking for. Since this NAS is going to be rattling around in the truck camper, are you going to be using SSD drives? Will your NAS accept smaller 2.5 drives? I have a couple LACIE 4T USB drives RAID capable if desired. It's a much simpler solution than a hardwired NAS unit in the TC and easier to take with you if needed. Probably not as capable though as a true NAS designed to serve several work stations but will easily work for one person/computer. I saw the RV GEEKS on YouTube the other night, released a video on their electronic communication and NAS system. They had a NAS with I recall 6 full sized bays but I don't recall if they plugged into 120 volt or adapted to use 12 volt. They have a huge LION battery system so I suspect they used 120 volt and let the unit make it's own clean power. Hope it works out whatever you end up with.

The nas in question is a small low power single drive qnap unit, it will easily use any 2.5 or 3.5 inch sata drive (it currently has a 6tb wd red pro nas drive in it, that will be getting swapped out for an intel ssd).

Its primary purpose is to act as the house plex server (do it yourself netflix), that we'll be syncing what we want for a trip from the big plex server at the house.

Its not really used for anything, I bought it for a short term project a few years back and its been collecting dust ever since.

So, I'm combining it with the campers network extender as part of the Amerigos systems.

Would not this be much simpler LACIE USB-C 3.1 5T $170.00
I have a couple of these and they work very well. Lots of storage, fast, cheap, ruggedized. Plays video to your laptop nicely. There is a Thunderbolt version. They also have SSD versions but the price may be unnecessarily scary. Best of all, it's portable, take it with you and use it where you need it. Just presenting ideas for you.

[mbloof]

A quick peek at Amazon lists dozens of step up/down converters with 12V output.

https://www.amazon.com/KNACRO-Regulator-Automatic-Converter-Waterproof/dp/B08TSZG8RC/ref=sr_1_17?dchild=1&keywords=DC-DC+step+up+and+down+12v&qid=1621719998&sr=8-17

Simply pick and order one.


- Mark0.

[JoeChiOhki]

adamis wrote:
I am on my phone so couldn't read through the entire thread and don't know if this has been mentioned but you are looking for something like this I think.

Its definitely close and another idead to look for as I know some old laptops had 12v power supplies

[JoeChiOhki]

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Hey Matt, So I take it you're trying to eliminate a 120 volt wall cord and go straight into the 12 volt connector using the 12 volt system of the house which will be 14.4 or 14.6 at times. 13.7 or 13.2 at others. and 12.8, 12.6 and going lower as the evening progresses until the engine or generator start charging. Sounds like the Victron may be the solution you're looking for. Since this NAS is going to be rattling around in the truck camper, are you going to be using SSD drives? Will your NAS accept smaller 2.5 drives? I have a couple LACIE 4T USB drives RAID capable if desired. It's a much simpler solution than a hardwired NAS unit in the TC and easier to take with you if needed. Probably not as capable though as a true NAS designed to serve several work stations but will easily work for one person/computer. I saw the RV GEEKS on YouTube the other night, released a video on their electronic communication and NAS system. They had a NAS with I recall 6 full sized bays but I don't recall if they plugged into 120 volt or adapted to use 12 volt. They have a huge LION battery system so I suspect they used 120 volt and let the unit make it's own clean power. Hope it works out whatever you end up with.

The nas in question is a small low power single drive qnap unit, it will easily use any 2.5 or 3.5 inch sata drive (it currently has a 6tb wd red pro nas drive in it, that will be getting swapped out for an intel ssd).

Its primary purpose is to act as the house plex server (do it yourself netflix), that we'll be syncing what we want for a trip from the big plex server at the house.

Its not really used for anything, I bought it for a short term project a few years back and its been collecting dust ever since.

So, I'm combining it with the campers network extender as part of the Amerigos systems.

[FWC]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

FWC wrote:
This will do what you want:

Victron DC-DC Converter

Output range 10V - 15V.

Do the "double conversion" (DC - AC - DC). Safer !

The converter is adjustable over that range. It will regulate the output to better than 0.2V of the setpoint with less than 0.002V of noise.

This will work well for this application.

[adamis]

I am on my phone so couldn't read through the entire thread and don't know if this has been mentioned but you are looking for something like this I think.

[theoldwizard1]

JoeChiOhki wrote:
So, something I also found during my searching, which might be a viable solution is Pico makes a small DC-DC Converter for UPS type functionality.

https://www.mini-box.com/picoUPS-100-12V-DC-micro-UPS-system-battery-backup-system

Requires 15V - 18V input.