What's the connector on this PSU for a PoE switch?

Question

I bought this switching power supply (PAC-500WA-BE) that I plan to use to power a PoE switch.

The documentation is very poor and I would like to know the name of the connector on the back, where the output is. The power supply is supposed to have 2 outputs:

• 12V, 10A
• 53.5V, 7.2A

I need to connect the 53.5 V output to my PoE switch with some cables (the PoE switch has a mount screw connector) and I am not sure what would be the best way to do it; any suggestions? Do you know the name of this connector?

Answer 1

The power supply has a Split blades board-to-board connector. I found it using my Identiconn connector iidentification utility.

• MANUF. - SERIES
• Amphenol - PwrBlade hybrid (pdf) - digikey

{Digikey}

As I said, that is a board-to-board connector. Therefore, the mate requires a board: a PCB on the back plane inside a rack. No, you cannot connect just wires to it. You need a PCB or, more appropriately, a rack into which that power supply fits.

Here is the mate: Amphenol 51740-10202402CALF

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/amphenol-cs-fci/51740-10202402CALF/1492009

{Digikey}

Answer 2

I was going to suggest using Davide Andrea's connector identification tool but I see he's beaten me to it, and with a useful result.

However, I suspect finding a matching connector and making a suitable PCB for it aren't the only issues you face.

The reason for the limited documentation you found is likely to be because this module isn't intended to be a stand-alone power supply (PS). It's an add-in module for a range of Huawei Ethernet switches with optional PoE (Power over Ethernet). You plug in one or two (for redundancy) of these modules to enable the PoE option.

(This is an example of such a switch. The rear panel view shows spaces for two of these PS modules. Switch model numbers are of the form Sn700-...-PWR, for various values of n and where PWR denotes the pluggable PoE option.)

The Huawei switch is likely to use the smaller signal pins on the connector to at least monitor and possibly control this PS. To use it you may have to work out what signals are required to enable the PS, and provide them. This will be hard if the documentation is limited.

It may be easier to return this particular PS (or sell it on - this model appears on multiple online sales sites) and buy a generic standalone PS with a straightforward connection option.

Alternatively you may be able to get a decent blog article or YouTube video out of your heroic reverse-engineering effort.

Answer 3

Without some reverse-engineering, typically you won’t even be able to turn this power supply on, never mind use its outputs.

This supply is a not meant to be used outside of the network equipment it was designed for. You can repurpose it if you really want to, but the easiest way to do it is to get the router/switch this supply goes into, and then monitor what goes on the small signal pins, to figure out how the chassis enables the supply.

You may get lucky and the supply may be fully active upon receiving mains power without needing to connect something to the signal pins, but that’s easy enough to check: measure the voltages on the high current pins, attach a load using crocodile clips etc., and check if you get the voltage and maximum currents you expect.

If you’re not lucky, get a different supply - either a generic supply that’s fully documented, or a server/IT supply that someone else already reverse engineered. You’d need to google for uses of server and network gear supplies for projects to see what others already figured out.