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I bought a DIY crane machine online and I'm trying to work out how to set up the power supply.

The power supply they provided in the photos looks setup like this, where elements are screwed into the power supply:

https://gyazo.com/b30a3d192a799a9513d32b92e5e4fd9a

In this example above, some of the connections are for the rocker switch & plug. But at the moment, I'm mainly interested in connecting the cables which come from the motherboard in the correct way. The cables that need to be connected to the power supply look like this:

  1. https://gyazo.com/82856b58e3b1f74935cde8b067ac64e3 (The cables in the motherboard)

  2. https://gyazo.com/694600f6beca6003b89fae9a3b11a7ca (The other end of the cables)

The main problem is that the power supply sent to me doesn't have screws like in their example, it just has header pins. This is what the power supply looks like:

https://gyazo.com/29abae5454328bed9581bb0c4f246f75

On the left pins, there is a Molex Housing which fits into this section, but the pins sticking out for the motherboard connections don't make sense to me. I tried buying a 6 way single rail Molex housing with 3.96 mm pitch, but it just doesn't fit and I can't find any suitable female connectors that would seemingly fit this.

So my question to anyone that can help me is: what do I need to get this connected properly and where should the cables go?

Following this, I would also like some advice on attaching the rocker switch, but one thing at a time :D

Thanks a lot for reading if you've made it this far. Any help would be appreciated.

TonyM
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Sam Jacka
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  • DIY as in: they sent you a kit, and a bunch of instructions? – user253751 Jul 23 '20 at 14:08
  • They did, unfortunately the instructions are terrible , it's a product out of China. The pins on the motherboard header seem to be split into 5 & then there's a double space before the GND pin. I can't find any suitable connector that would match up with this, and the kit didn't come with it. I purchased a 2 way single rail Molex, which fits into the '2 pin' one on the left & the 3 pin connector came with it (https://gyazo.com/cfda55458285ad2064c6f7781e2f1915) , but the pin section for the actual board cables seems to be different. – Sam Jacka Jul 23 '20 at 14:16
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    [What to check for when buying an electronic component or module](https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/504044/what-to-check-for-when-buying-an-electronic-component-or-module). – Andy aka Jul 23 '20 at 14:55
  • @Andyaka This is the data sheet, the supplier has a lot of good reviews on Alibaba & is verified/ been around for a few years: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbfb9rkntpza3bb/Manualcrane.pdf?dl=0 – Sam Jacka Jul 23 '20 at 14:58
  • That data sheet seems really poor. What convinced you to buy it given this data sheet? – Andy aka Jul 23 '20 at 15:03
  • @Andyaka In all honesty, this is a Hobby project & I'm new to this. I've never considered the data sheet being an issue, as the parts they showed me are virtually all plug & play. 95% of the connections are done for you, I think it's just the power supply which varies – Sam Jacka Jul 23 '20 at 15:05
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    With all due respect, this is what you get when you buy cheap products from China. They don't really care about the user experience. They've sent you a power supply with an incompatible connector on it - probably pulled from a big bin of power supplies which have different connectors on them - and they probably don't care because they already have your money. – user253751 Jul 23 '20 at 15:07
  • The power supply does seem to have the right voltages on it, so it *can* be connected, but you'll need to make some sort of adapter. – user253751 Jul 23 '20 at 15:09
  • @user253751 No I totally get what you're saying, and agree with it. I took the risk because there's only a handful of suppliers that provide these, and they're all in China, so it was either this or no mini crane machine. Where I live in the UK they don't sell them I used one of the top suppliers I can find on there, so I didn't try to cheap out too much. But your theory about the power supply seems worryingly accurate – Sam Jacka Jul 23 '20 at 15:15
  • @user253751 So you think I might have to build a custom adapter for this somehow? – Sam Jacka Jul 23 '20 at 15:16
  • Well, these connectors cannot go on those connectors, so your options are to cut off one or both connectors and attach ones that can go together, or make an adapter that goes in the middle. If it wasn't a power supply, I'd suggest removing the connectors from the power supply board and soldering on screw terminals, or soldering the wires directly – user253751 Jul 23 '20 at 15:17
  • @user253751 Thanks, do you think there is a better power supply I could buy which has these voltages on & the proper connections already on them? – Sam Jacka Jul 23 '20 at 15:23
  • @user253751 You're right about that datasheet , it says 'tip: disconnect white cable from crane machine before starting otherwise you'll burn the motherboard' - there is no white cable & and I asked about it and they're just saying they don't know :( I will know to look at the datasheet before I buy in future now - lesson learnt! – Sam Jacka Jul 23 '20 at 15:30
  • BTW "datasheet" is usually a term used with electronic devices and modules. I wouldn't call it a "datasheet" for a complete kit, I'd call it a "manual" or similar. Either way, you can see that the quality of the manual is not very good. (I'm sure the Chinese version is grammatically perfect though) – user253751 Jul 23 '20 at 15:55

1 Answers1

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Obviously, these spade connectors (the forks) can't fit onto those pins. I suspect the company sent you a power supply from a bin full of power supplies and didn't check whether it actually worked for this product. This is what you get when you buy cheap things on Ali Express!

But, oh well. I assume you can't get a refund.

Usually, this kind of cheap product does work somehow - they aren't trying to scam you, you just get what you pay for. The good news is that you have a power supply that has the right voltages on it (and also 48V which the motherboard doesn't need). The bad news is it has the wrong connector.

So, here are some ideas. You can decide which one is easiest for you. I can't guarantee that any of these are particularly good ideas, but they are ideas.

  • Figure out what kind of connector fits onto those pins, and cut the spade connectors off the cable, and attach the cable to that connect instead. Then plug it in. I think this is the most reliable option. The only downside is that you have to find the right connector.

  • Cut the spade connectors off the wires and strip the wires. Wrap the stripped wires around the pins as tightly as you can, then add solder, then add copious amounts of hot glue and electrical tape just in case.

  • Take apart the power supply (caution - possible high voltage - discharge capacitors - they probably won't be charged but discharge them anyway) and remove the connectors. Then, solder on different connectors, or solder the wires directly. Put it back together. Make sure the connection doesn't touch the metal case underneath the circuit board.

    This idea has a bit more risk since you're modifying the power supply. And perhaps you can't take apart the power supply, in which case you can't do this.

  • Buy another power supply. Also low risk, but the downside is that you have to buy more power supplies. You might be able to find one that outputs 24V, 12V and 5V, but if not, you could get more than one, and connect the grounds together. They usually come with screw terminals on them, so you shouldn't need to modify the cable.

The worst things that could go wrong are that you blow a fuse, make the power supply go bang, and/or fry the motherboard.

user253751
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  • Thanks for this response, that's really helpful. I'll have a think about which option will work best :) – Sam Jacka Jul 23 '20 at 16:02