Got a device (battery powered terminal crimping machine) that uses a 14V NiCad (listed as 2 amp) battery. I tried powering this device with a 14V benchtop power supply or with a 14V regulated wallwart (3.5A) and it was barely working (like it had almost NO power).. ?? any ideas why.. polarities were correct.. The device basically has a small hydraulic ram inside it.

 

Sounds like not enough current. Battery powered tools usually draw high currents for short periods. I tried using a 12v Makita drill with a 10 amp powersupply. It ran fine untill I loaded the drill by pressing on it. The supply had a amp meter on it and I pegged 10 amps easily.

 

Thats sort of what I thought.. My benchtop power supply is capable of 60V@3A (180W) though so thats why I tried that when the 14V 3.5A wasn't cutting it.. I thought for sure that would do it..

 

Just tried the benchtop supply again.. This time watching the volt and current meter.
As soon as I pull the trigger it drops to 3.5V (from 14.0) and current reads 1.75A

 

Just tried the benchtop supply again.. This time watching the volt and current meter.
As soon as I pull the trigger it drops to 3.5V (from 14.0) and current reads 1.75A

You said the power supply is rated at 3A so it should read that with a maximum load. You apparently have the current limit turned down.

Edit: Could you use the NiCds to supply the high current to power the machine and just use the wallwart to continuously charge the battery at a trickle charge?

 

You said the power supply is rated at 3A so it should read that with a maximum load. You apparently have the current limit turned down.

yeah not sure whats going on there either.. I just switched it to constant current mode now with the leads shorted and its set at 3A CC. Switched it back to CV and when I hook it to the crimper again it drops to 3.5V @1.75A.. Its a cheap-o Protek 6003L benchtop supply. ??

Gonna try it now on the big expensive sorenson supply (up to 60V @ 70 Amps I believe)

 

Just hooked it up to the smaller Sorenson we have (50V @ 8A max) because the bigger one isn't wired up right now and it actually almost worked.. As the crimp tooling was closing it was pulling 6A @14V but then during the actual final crimping it maxed that one out too. No wonder the batteries go so quick..

anyone know where to find a cheap (sub $100) 14V @ 15A or 20A supply?

might just have to go with this http://www.mpja.com/15V-15A-Linear-Power-Supply-IHF15-15/productinfo/6618+PS/

 

Just hooked it up to the smaller Sorenson we have (50V @ 8A max) because the bigger one isn't wired up right now and it actually almost worked.. As the crimp tooling was closing it was pulling 6A @14V but then during the actual final crimping it maxed that one out too. No wonder the batteries go so quick..

anyone know where to find a cheap (sub $100) 14V @ 15A or 20A supply?

might just have to go with this http://www.mpja.com/15V-15A-Linear-Power-Supply-IHF15-15/productinfo/6618+PS/

A cheap solution would be a 12V motorcycle battery with your power supply as a charger. They are about 15 A-hr ballpark, put out tons of current and cost about $35 - $50.

Another solution is one of the cheapo units used to power CB radios or similar. I recall they put out 12V at pretty high current.

Ebay would be the place to look.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Astron-RS-1...omm_Device_Power_Supplies&hash=item4abcb94deb

 

might have to try that astron unit..
We might just ditch the whole hand-held crimper and go to a full hydraulic unit with separate remote vice mount crimp heads. The cycle time is the killer though.. The handheld units are like a 5 second cycle time which is faster than the big hydraulic crimpers..

 

If you can get by with 12V, a high power computer ATX type power supply may work such as this. They are relatively cheap.

 

Thanks for the help.. I'm good to go.
I just couldn't imagine that sucker needing 10+ amps so was a little caught off guard thinking maybe there was more to it than it really is.

 

You read the label on the battery wrong. You said it is 2A but actually it is 2Ah.
It can supply 20A or more for a short time (which your machine needs) and is rated to supply 0.2A for 10 hours.