Vicor maxi Parallel Setup

Hi,

I am looking for help from anyone familiar with using the vicor maxi converters for parallel operation. I am currently involved in a project that is using 3, Vicor V48A12C500BL converters in a parallel configuration. Input voltage is 48VDC, output is 12VDC. Going through the manual I quickly realized there are a lot of options for wiring the converters in parallel. We are not trying to do anything fancy with these. Just simply have the 3 units share the current. Can anyone point me in the right direction for the correct schematic to use?

Hi,

Can you post a link to the manual you refer to, please?

The manual can be found here: https://www.vicorpower.com/documents/applications_manual/fas_trak_apps_manual.pdf

At first I thought it would be as easy as following Fig. 2.7 on page 8 for the input and Fig 2.9 on page 9 for the output. But the more I read down through the moire complicated it seemed to get. I do believe I will need to follow one of the current sharing schematics as well, possibly the droop-share method shown in Fig.5.1 on page 22.

Hi,

I knew I should have been wary of the word manual in this thread ...

What don't you feel sure about? The range of pages you describe basically offer an analog or a digital method of current-sharing which both, according to the manual, do the same thing to a similar degree, if I've understood it well.

Picture 2.9 is overview, schematic on page 22 is the right one for analog. You could check pages 24 (digital paralleled) and 25 (transformer paralleled), 5.2 and 5.3, the other ways of doing the input.

The text on page 87 is very encouraging: "Finally, no matter what method is used, current sharing reduces thermal problems, improves transient response and helps extend the lifetimes of all modules in an array."

Just make sure input and output halves match, if that's the doubt.