Overhub PSU?

Elektron Gear Other Elektron Gear
#41

Guys… Let’s be real. The lack of Overhub powersupply is RIDICULOUS. Not only does it not come with one, it has the most HARD TO FIND specs of any power supply one can find.

I’m aware there are two different Overhub units out there (for whatever reason). Each has a slightly different power supply. The one with the red lettering is 5 VDC 3 A and the one with the white lettering is 5 VDC 4 A (3.5x1.35 mm center pin positive). Go ahead and copy and paste those specs into Google and see what pops up. Jack shit.

Supposedly the Overhub can operate with no power if powered units are connected (I have the analog rytm mk ii and the digitone). Fine, except that I routinely get messages from the Overbridge engine that the connection between it and one of the units has been lost. I didn’t have this problem when I directly connected each unit to a USB port on my PC. So, my assumption is that maybe it’s a power issue. Except no power supply exists with these exact specs.

Beyond frustrated about this. Anybody found a solution?

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#42

I use OverHub without PSU and do not have disconnection problem from OverBridge (AH and AK).

Sorry, I know that doesn’t help your problem…

#43

Hi,
I am strungling also to find the ideal PSU for overhub in Switzerland.
Did you find any ?
Thanks in advance.

#46

I ended up not buying any PSU, due to Elektron’s lack of support and info on the matter.

The hub is working just fine without any PSU, anyone telling you otherwise is full of s***.

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#47

page 1 of the overhub manual says this about half way down…
image

just google something like “5VDC 4A 3.5mm x 1.35mm” and you’ll find options for your needs

something like this for example (i’d just want to check barrel length first as that info isnt present in the OVH manual or on the sale listing)…

#48

Finding 4A psu’s is not trivial, it’s why Elektron couldn’t realistically supply a PSU with the device - it would make it prohibitively expensive if they provided a PSU for all situations, the theoretical Max with comfort presumably being to cater for a 4A current draw - however a user need only source a PSU to meet their unique power needs (imho, this should be explained better in the manual to assist the folk buying blindly, perhaps @eangman can investigate if this can be explained in more detail, or corrected if necessary)

Elektron have no doubt had issues fed back with the use of 3A supplies due to the unique power demands of some users, perhaps using unpowered hard drives etc or high draw devices, rather than low current draw (wrt USB) devices like the Elektrons

The one size fits all solution, 4A, would cost too much and be overkill for 95% of users, so a user should use some sense to source a comfortable PSU for their worst case scenario

Take this with a pinch of salt and check with Elektron in any case, but this is my understanding, most folk won’t even need a PSU, so a modest one that caters for your extra current draw wouldn’t be so hard to find imho

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Overhub- 5v 4A power supply?
#49

Yes it is correct that the Overhub does not need to be powered to be used together with Elektron gear. The specifications of the Overhub power supply are, as you have seen, available in the Overhub manual and also here: https://support.elektron.se/a/solutions/articles/43000541580
The specifications for the Overhub PSU (and our other devices) are always specified so that they can handle the potential maximum draw of power of the connected device(s). You might get away using a less powerful PSU if your power needs are smaller, but unfortunately we cant cover all possible use cases for this in our specifications.

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#50

the overhub specs for 3A or 4 A means that your psu should not provide more then the Overhub states, So you can use a PSU with 3A on a OH with 4A specs. but not reommended a psu with 4A on a OH with 3A specs . Ampere is the power of electricity that can run thru the cables, circuits .If you run thru a cable that can only take 3 Ampere and your run 4A over it the cable will start to heat up and burn.

#51

This doesn’t make sense to me - nor does it chime with the discussed facts - the hubs are probably the same, they don’t even need powering via an external PSU, they only need that unusual a spec for psu in extreme circumstances if you have many devices demanding the best part of an amp each on average and the total power was of that ballpark level

Either hub would be happy with a 5A psu, assuming that the total current required was less than that (and that cables/etc were capable of feeding 5A of current) - there’s no harm in having extra potential, the real thing to be careful of is expecting too much current from an under-specified PSU for the actual requirements - then the PSU will likely fail

that’s not helpful, it’s a good thing if anything

on face value that’s potentially dangerous advice in my books, and certainly misleading

… the hub specs stipulate a reasoned/theoretical worst case, you’d be ill advised to downspec the PSU if you expected to serve up 4A in a realworld situation

The bottom line is that Elektron are being ultra cautious, there probably won’t be many overhub users regularly getting much over 2A requirements from their PSU - it used to say 3A as it was considered a generous worst case realworld scenario, but evidently had to be bumped up to 4A to cover a situation that may have been reported when e.g. 7 devices wanted 500mA each (further comment below)

Just adding (hopefully/maybe) a clarification of the origins of the amperage requirements being listed (if correct) … and as ever do your own due diligence or ask the manufacturer, just don’t recommend a 3A psu for a device marked 4A - the 4A figure isn’t offered up to describe how much current the overhub is happy coping with, it’s to reflect how much may be drawn out from the 7 ports

Now having said all that, having read the official linked article 2 posts above, it implicitly conveys a meaningful difference between hub1 and hub2 (that i hadn’t expected, i’m not sure now why 4A doesn’t apply to hub 1 retrospectively) - my explanation may be lacking somewhere then, but hopefully teases out a better understanding of what’s important (i.e. don’t suggest 3A PSUs for a 4A ‘spec’ device without further qualification - for sure if a cable to connect a 10V bulb stated a 4A limit, then a 3A psu would be basically fine to power up to a 30W bulb )

PS @avantronica is not an expert, not by any means, seriously, do proper due diligence

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#53

thanks for clearing this up @plastic_pizza

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#55

Is the Overhub worth doing vs any other USB hub? And did anyone find a PSU in the UK?

#56

It would have been so much easier if Elektron would have included a damn PSU. But unfortunately many companies suffer from greed al’a Apple.

#57

Which instruments do you plan to connect to the hub? Any Analog MkI instruments?

#58

A4MK2, Digitakt, Rytm Mk2, and my keyboard and possibly and Octrayrack if I buy one. And maybe an MPC one day.

#59

As far as I know, you will gain no particular advantage by using Overhub in this scenario.

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#60

Hey bro, not sure if you’ve found something suitable yet, but I just picked up this PSU from Jaycar that seems to work.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/5v-dc-3a-slim-power-supply-7dc-plugs/p/MP3480

I haven’t had much time to have a full & proper test with my whole setup connected, but on first power-up it seems to do the job so far. I’ll let you know if i have any issues when i give it a more thorough test

#61

this one is working for me

#62

I got one of these recently for my overhub and it works great https://amzn.to/3Og8OP9

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#63

are you still happy with that power supply for your overhub? i’m still on the hunt for a solid psu with the correct length of plug, and that does run uncomfortably hot like a couple psu’s i’ve tried previously.

#64

This one works perfectly for 1.5 years:

The ‘trick’ is that the power supply is for a Lenovo laptop, so pretty readily available …

1 Like