Sorensen XHR 40-25

[JohnPi]

I have a Sorensen XHR 40-25 without GPIB. I just bought a Xantrex XT7-6 with a GPIB option. The GPIB module (M9B) appears to be the one that used for the XHR 40-25 (I haven't opened it yet). Xantrex/Sorensen/Ametek/... mention on the support docs for the board that the EPROM on it is customized for the supply it is installed in.

Does anyone know if that is in fact true ? When I install the board, should I expect it to work ? Perhaps the scaling is off (e.g. asking for 7 V (full scale = 7 V on the original host) will give me 40 V on the new one ? If not, is there any source of the EPROM data ?

[samofab]

I'm not sure about XHR and XT, but I swapped the GPIB board between XFR and XHR. Because power supplies also had different voltages I need to scale the commands.. other than that it works great.

[macboy]

I have a XT30-2 and a XT60-1. I know that the GPIB board for these is interchangeable but some jumpers need to be changed to configure it to the voltage and current of the supply. If you are using custom scripts to control it, you could scale in software instead as suggested by samofab. It is unlikely that your GPIB board can be configured for the 40V/25A supply, so when you tell it to output 7 V you will get around 40 V instead.

the GPIB board has a relatively simple function: it chooses a 0 to 10 V programming voltage from either the front controls or the DAC, and sends it to the analog section (each of current and voltage control). It can also measure the voltage and current. Communication between floating DACs/ADCs and the earthed GPIB side is opto-isolated.

[cdev]

I have a Sorensen triple XT supply without any of the external control options. While trying to find more info out about it I saw a post here by an inactive user that indicated that external control was extremely easy to implement using a micro controller like an arduino.

My three power supplies all have the same three large headers that connect to the external control boards, none of which I have.

[JohnPi]

Well that didn't work out. I would have been able to work around any scaling issues from a board extracted from a 7 V supply being used in a 40 V one, but the two supplies -- even though both use 'M9B' boards -- are not physically compatible.

It seems that not all M9B GPIB boards are the same. The board I have in an XHR60-18 has the rear panel laid out: GPIB; switches; J7 remote connector. The XT7-6 board is: switches; GPIB; remote connector. Both are labelled 'M9B'. Inside the XT7-6 there are three sets of 9-wire ribbons between the GPIB controller and the main board of the PSU; on an XHR 60-18 there is just a single ~ 24 pin IDC connector. 

Maybe I shouldn'ty have assumed Xantrex and Sorensen were just labeling differences 

[samofab]

Perhaps some pictures are in order. The main thing is whether the board are electrically compatible. On my unit the cover of the plugin card was exchangeable and my unit happily lives without one.

[cdev]

My power supply contains a working XT7-6 and two working XT20-3 supplies - all three units have the three headers.

As I would love to be able to make them programmable, and would like to better understand what the control boards do,  I would be happy to assist in any way I can. (with the caveat that its in my comfort zone as far as what I understand about the supplies, and my skill level, as I don't want to damage mine. Objectively, my skill level is still more a beginner, than intermediate. )

[JohnPi]

No, they aren't compatible, even though both have 'M9B' boards. Here are some photos: