I recently acquired a sizable case that I am ditching 2 smaller and upgrading to one case with room to grow. I will end up needing to install 4 Malekko Power’s. I am a total noob with how to do this but can follow directions and solder. Some mentioned running 2 board to each brick but i have no idea how to wire and or if this is a good idea. I am looking for help with possible wiring diagrams and what dc brick to get that has ample power for a growing system for video/Audio. I already have 2 of boards.
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I had a similar question lately. I was told to only use one power brick per Malekko PSU. You can now get a ±12V 2A brick, which should cover 6u of video modules. The old bricks were only 1.6A, I believe.
Have you peeped malleko’s website? They mention the specific cincon walwart that they recommend & link to it on Mauser.
It’s quite easy to install, again on the website they list everything you need on one of the schematic pdf’s… Like spacers & whatnot.
It’s very straight forward, if you get the fastlok connectors or whatever they’re called you’re just crimping some ends on 2 pieces of correct gauge wire & running it to a barrel jack. Other than that you’d be drilling holes using their template, installing standoffs and screwing the pcb in.
Only thing I could think of that’d be easy to screw up would be soldering wire to the barrel jack?
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Oh yeah and a switch, you’d wanna throw a switch in there… Or would you?
I didn’t. I just plug it in and it’s on. But I like my cases mega minimal
If it’s just one board one power brick I could follow the instructions.
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You will want at least 6Amps @ 12V to power a Malekko power board. The power board’s output is up to 2.2Amps per rail, or 4.4Amps total. Some efficiency is lost to the input switchers, so 6 Amps is about what you want. If you could find a 12 Amp 12VDC power supply or DC brick, you could use that to power two boards in parallel! The brick we ship with the Vessel case is 8.34Amps, which has tons of headroom (a good thing, because performance drops if you’re closer to full load.) Note that the quality of the brick and its noise/ripple will definitely matter when it comes to your system’s power performance, so I recommend looking at good brands.
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If you want laptop style bricks, it’s going to be hard to find a good one over 8 Amps. But you could potentially use a dedicated solution like this, which would be enough 12V DC power for 3x Malekko Power boards:
I can’t speak for that model’s quality, and it would require some custom installation/wiring to make it work, but in theory it should do the trick.
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I’m lucky I double checked power info here. Should have known to take advice from a Muffwiggler with a grain of sand.
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Ah! I was wondering about this with Chris Konopka…if a Hengfu would work as a Malekko power source…It could be built into the case then, and a fuzed switch installed to power the Hengfu… Thanks Lars!
Totally! Any 12VDC source will work, just look at the ripple specs and pick something good.
My vote is still for an Acopian Gold +/-12V Linear Power supply (TD-450, TD-250), but those are heavy and hot and wouldn’t work in most portable case configurations.
Interesting, I thought I heard that the Malekko bus was less susceptible to psu interference… If we’re stuck w the same old problem, maybe its best to use a brick? Then the psu is out of the case, away from modules and patchcords…freer of induced noise…
Yes, the Malekko Power is less susceptible to PSU interference. It is less susceptible in proportion to how dirty the incoming power is though. So if you’ve got 200mV ripple on one brick and 100mV ripple on the other, you’ll get twice as good performance with the 100mV ripple brick.
I don’t think it will make a big difference if you’ve got a shielded switcher module (hengfu, etc) inside the case vs a brick outside. The main difference is how low ripple/noise the switcher or brick is in the first place. That’s why we supply a $45 Cincon brick with EMI shielding with Vessel, rather than a $10 knockoff.
But best of the best option beyond all of that is something like an Acopian linear power supply feeding passive busboards (like the LIBB.) It’s just not a practical solution for portable setups like most EuroRack cases these days.
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The power limits should be printed on the actual PCB IIRC. There was a first run (V1) of Malekko Power at around 1600mA per rail, but most of the production has been with a revision that provides up to 2.2Amps per rail. I should update the doc to reflect that. Short story, I believe 2.2Amps per rail is correct unless you bought your Malekko Power from the first production batch back in 2015.
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I have a question on the power load with the recommended Cincon. This is something that really confuses me in the modular world with a lot of people saying the board is rated x amount but you should not pass for example 80%. Does this apply to the malekko power with the 8.34 Cincon.
Each rail has 2.2 amps but can you use it all or is there a different limit.
The EuroRack power supply itself (not the DC brick) determines the max current rating supported. This is contingent on the input brick itself supplying enough current. For Malekko Power, you need an input brick supplying about 6 Amps @ 12V DC to support a full load on the EuroRack power supply. More current for the brick just increases the brick’s headroom, or supplies extra current for peripherals.
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okay so with the 8.34 Cincon you can use the whole 2.2 per rail?
Both of these statements are true. 
(1) Never use a DC brick below the recommended current rating (6 Amps at 12V.)
(2) You can always use the whole +/-2.2Amps per rail.
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@desertmuseum Headroom applies to both contexts. Have 10-20% extra on both the DC brick draw and the EuroRack draw is always a good idea. Malekko Power is a great option with some wiggle room for a 208HP LZX system. (+/-2.08Amps estimated power draw max.) It was a challenge, but my design requirement was to make a portable EuroRack power supply that could handle any 208HP LZX system without headaches or worries with noise or current limitations.
The reason there’s an 8.34Amp brick with Vessel is so you have over 2 Amps of extra current. There’s an internal DC barrel jack inside the case, you can use it with those 2.1mm DC jumper cables (like used on guitar pedal rigs) to power modules with a 12V DC input on the back. So you can think of the power directly from the brick as “dirty 12V” and the power from the EuroRack busboard as “clean 12V.”
Whenever an LZX module has a largely unbalanced power load on the +12V EuroRack rail, we’re including an option to use a backpanel 12VDC input to power just the dirty/digital portion of the circuit. With the Vessel case, this saves current on your “clean +/-12V,” since the extra power is pulling directly off the DC brick instead of the Malekko power board.
For example, with Vessel case your power budgets are:
- 2.2Amps of “clean +12V” (EuroRack power, from Malekko Power board)
- 2.2Amps of “clean -12V” (EuroRack Power, from Malekko Power board)
- 2.34Amps of “dirty +12V” (extra current from the Cincon DC brick, unused by Malekko Power)
Memory Palace draws 440mA on +12V and 40mA on -12V when powered by the EuroRack (clean +/-12V.) If its DC barrel connector (for dirty +12V) is in use, it draws 400mA from the dirty +12V and +/-40mA from the clean +/-12V. So with Vessel:
- Memory Palace powered entirely by EuroRack +/-12V, you have remaining power budget left of 1.76Amps clean +12V, 2.16Amps clean -12V, and the unused 2.34Amps of dirty 12V.
- If the 12VDC dirty power input is used, you have remaining power budget left of 2.16Amps clean +12V, 2.16Amps of clean -12V, and 1.94Amps of dirty 12V.
Currently the modules supporting “dirty 12V” include Memory Palace, TBC2, Liquid TV and the Erogenous Tones Structure module.
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@creatorlars, Do you know the mV ripple of the Cincon brick for comparison? All I’m finding from their data sheet is ripple of 1%…does that mean 1% of 12v; so 120mV?
Perfect Circuit is having a sale this weekend and they have Malekko Power Supplies in stock (and I have some credit w them, heh). I have a 6U Elite Case with a Make Noise PSU that I’d like to switch out so I can expand my video modules. However, the specs, according to the PC site, says the power output is:
- Current +12V: 1.5 Amps
- Current -12V: 1.5 Amps
- Current +5V: 1 Amp
Does this mean it ships with a lower power brick? What should I do?