Power Hubs - Pegasus OR HitecAstro

[RayD]

7 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

The only thing i can make out written on it says "F10 AL 250v"

Am i looking at the right thing?

Ok that is a 10A.  So the problem you would have is a 10A rated cable connected to a 12A rated supply, probably fused internally at 15A, which isn't a good match.

There will be people without fuses on their supply cable but it isn't the right way to do it, that's why the cigar lighter plug has one in it.  If you chop it off you should fuse it another way.

What I can do is to come up town tomorrow afternoon and bring with me a water tight inline fuse holder, some ring crimps and tools etc. and sort your Pegasus lead out with permanent connectors and fuse.  All you need to bring is your Pegasus power supply lead (and my power supply) 

[souls33k3r]

5 minutes ago, RayD said:

Ok that is a 10A.  So the problem you would have is a 10A rated cable connected to a 12A rated supply, probably fused internally at 15A, which isn't a good match.

There will be people without fuses on their supply cable but it isn't the right way to do it, that's why the cigar lighter plug has one in it.  If you chop it off you should fuse it another way.

What I can do is to come up town tomorrow afternoon and bring with me a water tight inline fuse holder, some ring crimps and tools etc. and sort your Pegasus lead out with permanent connectors and fuse.  All you need to bring is your Pegasus power supply lead (and my power supply) 

Started to read your reply and i was like "Sheesh kebab, i just spent £50 on a PS that isn't going to work" ... then i kept on reading and jumped up in the air with excitement

Done, your PS now in my bag and so is the pegasus power cable. Anything else you need me to bring with me?

You're awesome Ray and absolute legend ... cheers mate

[RayD]

3 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

Started to read your reply and i was like "Sheesh kebab, i just spent £50 on a PS that isn't going to work" ... then i kept on reading and jumped up in the air with excitement

Done, your PS now in my bag and so is the pegasus power cable. Anything else you need me to bring with me?

You're awesome Ray and absolute legend ... cheers mate

No it's fine mate, it's a great supply and will be perfect for your set-up.  All I want to make sure of, as you haven't done it before, is that you keep the lead fused, and that we make sure you get Polarity right, so easier if I do it.  The crimp lugs just make it more durable as you tear down each time, so you won't end up with frayed ends on your cables.

I'll text you in the morning to let you know what time mate, but I reckon about 12:30 if that's ok.

[souls33k3r]

1 minute ago, RayD said:

No it's fine mate, it's a great supply and will be perfect for your set-up.  All I want to make sure of, as you haven't done it before, is that you keep the lead fused, and that we make sure you get Polarity right, so easier if I do it.  The crimp lugs just make it more durable as you tear down each time, so you won't end up with frayed ends on your cables.

I'll text you in the morning to let you know what time mate, but I reckon about 12:30 if that's ok.

You have no idea how much i appreciate this Ray. I take my hat off to you for all that you have done for me. Really mean it from the bottom of my heart mate.

Whatever time suits you mate

[RayD]

Just now, souls33k3r said:

You have no idea how much i appreciate this Ray. I take my hat off to you for all that you have done for me. Really mean it from the bottom of my heart mate.

Whatever time suits you mate

Ah stop it, I'm welling up here 

It's not a problem mate, happy to help 

[LightBucket]

There are some superb people on here.... another happy customer...

yes you are also correct, about fusing the cable, I did not use the Pegasus supplied power cable, I made one up with 14 amp cable, and fitted an inline  switch with red LED, so think I will fit a fuse in the switch as I think there is some room.

As for fitting using the holes in the PS, if you strip your cable back and twist the ends, then put through the holes and wrap round the threaded part then screw the cap back on tight, it should be fine, I hate banana plugs as they pull out so easily and then you will get really annoyed...

or crimp some round connectors on the end that will go over the round thread and then that would be even better...

[souls33k3r]

Like i previously said not all heroes wear capes

[souls33k3r]

The legend that is @RayD, we met up today and he was super kind to make me the cable.

I must admit, i wouldn't have soaked in so much information that he gave me while making this cable if anyone else had even tried explaining it to me on text. Can not thank you enough mate. You sir have once again saved me from the trenches and for that i am going to be forever grateful.

Always a pleasure seeing you mate and picking your brains on different aspects of this hobby

[LightBucket]

33 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

The legend that is @RayD, we met up today and he was super kind to make me the cable.

I must admit, i wouldn't have soaked in so much information that he gave me while making this cable if anyone else had even tried explaining it to me on text. Can not thank you enough mate. You sir have once again saved me from the trenches and for that i am going to be forever grateful.

Always a pleasure seeing you mate and picking your brains on different aspects of this hobby

Very neat indeed, where did you @RayD get those fuse holders from...??

[souls33k3r]

17 minutes ago, LightBucket said:

Very neat indeed, where did you @RayD get those fuse holders from...??

I saw them last night on Maplins ... not sure if these are the same  https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/sealed-in-line-20-x-5mm-fuseholder-ct89w

[RayD]

3 hours ago, souls33k3r said:

The legend that is @RayD, we met up today and he was super kind to make me the cable.

I must admit, i wouldn't have soaked in so much information that he gave me while making this cable if anyone else had even tried explaining it to me on text. Can not thank you enough mate. You sir have once again saved me from the trenches and for that i am going to be forever grateful.

Always a pleasure seeing you mate and picking your brains on different aspects of this hobby

Lol you little charmer.

No worries mate, always a pleasure, enjoy the chat as always and cheers for the coffee (at Central London prices that is no small fee!).

Got the spare fuses for you here, so text me where you want them sent and I'll pop them in the post tomorrow.

[RayD]

2 hours ago, LightBucket said:

Very neat indeed, where did you @RayD get those fuse holders from...??

Cheers mate.  Yes I think @souls33k3r is right, I must have got them from Maplin.  I thought I got them from Amazon, but I just trawled my orders and it wasn't from there, so it must have been Maplin.

They're natty little ones, water tight and pretty compact also.  I've been well happy with them.

[souls33k3r]

2 minutes ago, RayD said:

Lol you little charmer.

No worries mate, always a pleasure, enjoy the chat as always and cheers for the coffee (at Central London prices that is no small fee!).

Got the spare fuses for you here, so text me where you want them sent and I'll pop them in the post tomorrow.

Hahahaha time flies most certainly when you talk about astro stuff. It is my get out of jail card from the harsh realities of life.

So much have i learned from your experience and i must admit you've been very patient with me so hats off to you sir. In sales they say "Customer is always right", from you for this hobby if there i one that i can take away from it, it would be "Fuse everything" and thanks to you now i know how to

As for the coffee, nee bother my friend. Money is no object when it comes to friends. 

Whenever you're next in town mate give me a shout and lets have lunch.

Hope you had a good meeting with your flat earther friend

Txt on your way

[LightBucket]

17 hours ago, RayD said:

Cheers mate.  Yes I think @souls33k3r is right, I must have got them from Maplin.  I thought I got them from Amazon, but I just trawled my orders and it wasn't from there, so it must have been Maplin.

They're natty little ones, water tight and pretty compact also.  I've been well happy with them.

Found them at RS but sold in packs of five for £13.00, my local Maplins does not have them, and Maplins online they are £1.49 but £2.99 delivery... ?

[RayD]

13 minutes ago, LightBucket said:

Found them at RS but sold in packs of five for £13.00, my local Maplins does not have them, and Maplins online they are £1.49 but £2.99 delivery... ?

If you don't need 5 then it is a bit of a waste.  I have a Maplin very local to me so I tend to do (did) click and collect, which is what I would have done here.

 

[tooth_dr]

Guys - what amp rating for those fuses would be needed in general?  I know thats a bit of a silly Q, but would 1,2,3 A cover all bases?  I've a 10A fuse directly at the power supply itself.

[souls33k3r]

If your PSU is a 10A one then use a 10A inline fuse. 

[tooth_dr]

and will 240v fuses be ok 5 x20mm for the above holders.

[tooth_dr]

Just now, souls33k3r said:

If your PSU is a 10A one then use a 10A inline fuse. 

I would like to fuse individual items such as my DSLRS, dew heaters.

[souls33k3r]

40 minutes ago, LightBucket said:

Found them at RS but sold in packs of five for £13.00, my local Maplins does not have them, and Maplins online they are £1.49 but £2.99 delivery... ?

https://www.maplin.co.uk/c/household-diy/diy/fuses/fuse-holders there are plenty others to be found on their website. I agree £2.99 delivery for an item half the price is just silly.

Also ebay has a few but i'm not sure about the blade fuse types. I would've imagined they would be equally good but someone with better knowledge of these little things can say a bit more on that.

[RayD]

6 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Guys - what amp rating for those fuses would be needed in general?  I know thats a bit of a silly Q, but would 1,2,3 A cover all bases?  I've a 10A fuse directly at the power supply itself.

It depends largely on the cable you are using and the load you are drawing.  You could have a 50A power supply running loads via a 0.5mm2 cable which is only rated at 5A.  In this case you would need to rate the fuse at 5A as the cable would start to melt before a fuse would blow. 

In the above case the cable is 10A rated (actually a little bit above this), was already fused at 10A, so the correct solution was a 10A fuse in a 10A inline holder.  Naturally if you intend to only every draw 5A from the circuit, then it could/should be down rated as one of the accepted ways (there isn't only one) to determine a fuse rating is to take 120% of the total circuit maximum current and choose the next value fuse up from that.  That is a hard decision to make in this instance as this is running a hub, so the loads are more likely to change depending what is plugged in.

If you fuse everything individually, then you should determine the maximum current of the item being used, add 20% and then select the next value fuse up from this value.  However, fusing at this scale isn't really an exact science, so something close will work, so long as it is rated less than the capacity of the physical circuit's weakest part i.e. cabling, fuse holder, connectors etc.

I suspect with most of your kit, your fuses would range from 500mA up to 5A (ish).

I believe the Pegasus hub has active electronic fuses on its outputs rather than an actual fuse, so power to the circuit is returned once the fault is removed.

[tooth_dr]

Just now, RayD said:

It depends largely on the cable you are using and the load you are drawing.  You could have a 50A power supply running loads via a 0.5mm2 cable which is only rated at 5A.  In this case you would need to rate the fuse at 5A as the cable would start to melt before a fuse would blow. 

In the above case the cable is 10A rated (actually a little bit above this), was already fused at 10A, so the correct solution was a 10A fuse in a 10A inline holder.  Naturally if you intend to only every draw 5A from the circuit, then it could/should be down rated as one of the accepted ways (there isn't only one) to determine a fuse rating is to take 120% of the total circuit maximum current and choose the next value fuse up from that.  That is a hard decision to make in this instance as this is running a hub, so the loads are more likely to change depending what is plugged in.

If you fuse everything individually, then you should determine the maximum current of the item being used, add 20% and then select the next value fuse up from this value.  However, fusing at this scale isn't really an exact science, so something close will work, so long as it is rated less than the capacity of the physical circuit's weakest part i.e. cabling, fuse holder, connectors etc.

I suspect with most of your kit, your fuses would range from 500mA up to 5A (ish).

I believe the Pegasus hub has active electronic fuses on its outputs rather than an actual fuse, so power to the circuit is returned once the fault is removed.

Will 240v fuses work ok, the glass ones are rated at 240v on maplin.

[RayD]

39 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

https://www.maplin.co.uk/c/household-diy/diy/fuses/fuse-holders there are plenty others to be found on their website. I agree £2.99 delivery for an item half the price is just silly.

Also ebay has a few but i'm not sure about the blade fuse types. I would've imagined they would be equally good but someone with better knowledge of these little things can say a bit more on that.

Automotive fuses are fine in most applications.  I think the only real benefit glass or cartridge type fuses give you is the extended range, and the availability of ultra-fast blow and time delay where necessary.  I think the automotive ones are available, but only on the higher ratings (20A +).

They will work fine in most cases though, and certainly a viable alternative.

[RayD]

4 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Will 240v fuses work ok, the glass ones are rated at 240v on maplin.

Yes they are fine.

[souls33k3r]

14 minutes ago, RayD said:

It depends largely on the cable you are using and the load you are drawing.  You could have a 50A power supply running loads via a 0.5mm2 cable which is only rated at 5A.  In this case you would need to rate the fuse at 5A as the cable would start to melt before a fuse would blow. 

In the above case the cable is 10A rated (actually a little bit above this), was already fused at 10A, so the correct solution was a 10A fuse in a 10A inline holder.  Naturally if you intend to only every draw 5A from the circuit, then it could/should be down rated as one of the accepted ways (there isn't only one) to determine a fuse rating is to take 120% of the total circuit maximum current and choose the next value fuse up from that.  That is a hard decision to make in this instance as this is running a hub, so the loads are more likely to change depending what is plugged in.

If you fuse everything individually, then you should determine the maximum current of the item being used, add 20% and then select the next value fuse up from this value.  However, fusing at this scale isn't really an exact science, so something close will work, so long as it is rated less than the capacity of the physical circuit's weakest part i.e. cabling, fuse holder, connectors etc.

I suspect with most of your kit, your fuses would range from 500mA up to 5A (ish).

I believe the Pegasus hub has active electronic fuses on its outputs rather than an actual fuse, so power to the circuit is returned once the fault is removed.

Very well explained. I'm saving this information in my notes  Thanks matey