Power Supply Wiring for Altair 8800c

[Colton Parr]

Hello all! 

I've got all of the boards built for the Altair 8800c; the next step is to wire it all up and test it to make sure it works. I've got the normal Meanwell power supplies (1x 7.5v and 2x 15v), but I'm not super confident on hooking this up without seeing an example of wiring. I've looked online, and have found some general ideas (I like the idea of using terminal blocks as seen here https://parhamdata.com/Altair8800/build/) but I'd feel more confident with some closer photos of the actual wiring to the power supplies, and how they are split. 

Does anyone have some photos of their wiring setup they wouldn't mind sharing? Once I see a more detailed hookup, I'll feel a lot more confident in duplicating without frying all of my work. :)

[Patrick Linstruth]

Colton, Walt has some nice diagrams on his web site.

Walt, will you post your link?

Thanks.

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[Todd Houg]

Not sure if this helps . . . I installed my powers supplies alongside the back plane instead of behind. Because of space limitations and terminal orientations, I opted not to terminate with ring terminals as I would prefer. If you clamp the wires un-terminated at the power supply terminals, be sure to re-check the terminal torque after a couple of days, they always seem to relax. I added a fuse holder on the back panel for the incoming AC. I'm pretty sure the power supplies have internal protection, but there's still a lot of hot AC wires running around.

   Todd

[Walt Perko]

Hi,  

I did my power supplies a little different ... I cut two pieces of scrap 5mm thick Oak plywood, drilled two holes through the side of the Altair 8800c to bolt one board to the inside of the cabinet, then the second board I mounted the three Mean-Well power supplies facing UP so it's easy to adjust the voltages as needed when inserting more boards.  Then I placed that assembly alongside the first Oak board and drilled a couple of holes between the Mean-Wells to bolt the two boards together.  

I have the 9-Slot backplane centered on the fan to maximize cooling blowing over the more populated S-100 boards like the CPU board, the Martin Eberhard 88-2SIOJP.   

.

[Joseph Corda]

Colton
Below is a link to the diagram on Walt's website I was thinking of ..
It is for the 9 slot S-100 backplane
Note ..  I have not actually used this wire layout as I did my own wiring... and survived ;-)

Eitherway Be careful and test the backplane voltages with no boards first time to make sure your power rails are correct 

Let us know how you did

Joe 

https://www.brainless.org/Altair/Altair8800c/index.html#section10

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