Need advice/help with external 24v power supply

[rsyntax]

I want to get a SSR and 24v power supply for heat bed.
I've read the forums and got this Meanwell 24V DC power supply along with the DC/DC SSR and the necessary heatsink.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Meanwell-Power- ... 41780219cc

I'm a total noob and I have no idea where to put a power cord to the power supply. Do I strip an extra power cord down and attach it the power supply? And if so where do I attach it to?
What wire gauge should I use for this (is the 18 gauge wire enough) or do it not matter?

[dpmacri]

Take a 3-prong computer power cord and cut off the end that goes to the computer. Most likely it will then have a white, a black, and a green wire. Attach the green wire to the ground symbol, black to "N" and white to "L". Note that I haven't hooked up an SSR to my RMax like this, though, so someone else will need to help you with that.

[Eric]

Here's the documentation for that particular supply, including the connector assignments, if they aren't marked on the unit itself:
http://www.meanwell.com/search/SP-750/SP-750-spec.pdf
In particular notice if you don't have at least a jumper between RC- and RC+ the unit won't even turn on. Put a switch there if you want to turn it on/off without unplugging it.

Double the voltage means double the current, since the resistance of the heat bed hasn't changed. I'd go up on wire size if it were me. I'd also put an inline fuse on the DC circuit for safety purposes.

[Eaglezsoar]

Take a 3-prong computer power cord and cut off the end that goes to the computer. Most likely it will then have a white, a black, and a green wire. Attach the green wire to the ground symbol, black to "N" and white to "L". Note that I haven't hooked up an SSR to my RMax like this, though, so someone else will need to help you with that.

In the electrical world of AC Black is "hot" and white is neutral, the wires should be attached as black to "L" and white to "N" and green to "Ground".

[Jimustanguitar]

^yes^

Green to ground
White to N for Neutral
Black to L for (load?)

[rsyntax]

Thanks for the info guys! A follow up question, does having the power cord rated up to 30amps matter for this or just any regular computer cord?

[dpmacri]

Take a 3-prong computer power cord and cut off the end that goes to the computer. Most likely it will then have a white, a black, and a green wire. Attach the green wire to the ground symbol, black to "N" and white to "L". Note that I haven't hooked up an SSR to my RMax like this, though, so someone else will need to help you with that.

In the electrical world of AC Black is "hot" and white is neutral, the wires should be attached as black to "L" and white to "N" and green to "Ground".

Oops Thanks for correcting me!

[Eaglezsoar]

Thanks for the info guys! A follow up question, does having the power cord rated up to 30amps matter for this or just any regular computer cord?

Can be any cord (three wire). I have done to my printer exactly what you want to do and with the exact same power supply. If you run into a problem you can leave me a private message if you like.
Just highlight my name and select leave PM. When I cut off the end of the computer cord I exposed the three wires and put a piece of shrink wrap tubing on each wire then soldered on spade terminals.
After the solder cooled I slid the shrink tube down over the end of the spade terminal and heated it with a hot air gun. You don't want to be able to touch any of the AC terminals, that stuff can kill you or
at least give you one nasty shock. The wires coming from the power supply (24 volts) will be carrying approximately 17 amps to the heatbed. These wires should be a minimum of 14 gauge or 12 gauge.
The problem comes in when you try to solder that heavy of the wire to the heatbed. I bought 12 Gauge silicone wire from Ebay because the strands are so fine that they are easier to spread out and solder
onto the heat bed plus silicone wire is very flexible which is a nice plus. The wire is expensive you should only need a few feet of black and red, depending on where you put the power supply. You can try to
use regular 14 gauge wire but you will find it hard to spread the strands and solder it. (12 gauge is better to use but is almost impossible to solder to the heatbed unless it is the silicone wire)