I still dont see why you cant make it passive without potting?
Slim down the casing so that its exterior walls are closer to the components, with protrusions to leave a 1-2mm gap to any heat generating components. Use thermal pads to fill this gap. Think GPU backplate. Integrate fins into the exterior casing.
for the record i’m slightly over on the “are you sure” side. a fan can be quiet and do some amount of cooling. I just have no idea how it compares to thermally conductive potting.
I was just giving a nod that it was a concern of someone’s. not trying to rebring up your prevously stated counter point.
Id be going back to the drawing board if the design/BOM is only making 50% profit off of specs that only boasts silent and saves 15% volume over other well established units that are 1/4 the price.
Seems more needs to come to the table to justify the price.
Especially when fully adjustable A/V chargers upto 25a on 110v and 50a on 220v are cheaper.
Gonna add a bit to this. This project has already been made impossibly economically viable, even if we don’t account for the time I’ve thrown into it, and I would not mind keeping it that way. Considering that if I charge more trying to compensate for the investment into this project, there will be fewer sales, and any hopes of recouping the investment are gone… If I stay true for this project to benefit as many people as possible, it means there will be no profit and, therefore, still no hope of recouping the investment… I would rather choose the latter. I’m not trying to make bank here, this is a novel technology that isn’t produced with the benefit of economy of scale, not yet, and I think won’t be for quite a long time. It is what it is, though. Still, I do believe there exists a demographic that needs these types of chargers, and that’s why I kept it going. I understood for a good while now that this project isn’t at all a successful investment of my time and money if we only account for my personal gain.
This is also partly why I’m getting personal and emotional about this project… It was always for bringing an answer to a problem I’ve encountered and attempting to bring it to as many people as I possibly could afford to.
Not really doing this for the money though… I have enough of that through inheritance which can comfortably set me up for the rest of my life in which I won’t even have to lift a finger… The rise in price is mostly for getting that ridiculous expensive UL certification, which I really want to do justice with this charger. I can sell for $210 and have the certification done after 2000 - 4000 chargers are sold, but do you think enough people are buying this charger in a reasonable amount of time who are also okay with only having a CE certification at this moment in time? This is a really niche community and I seriously doubt anyone short of being an enthusiast will spend 200-300 on a fast charger, which makes the target market of this charger the niche of the niches.
Again, if people are okay with not having the UL and CE is all they want and satisfied with, we can start looking at the cost of shipping and taxes and all that stuff to bring down the price.
Third-party safety and EMC testing (no self-certification) for the CE mark would go a long way I think. Many EU-only products aren’t UL tested as it’s voluntary and typically used for products sold in the US.
Additional testing could be added onto the basic CE stuff though to enhance trust of the product, something to discuss with the test lab.
UL testing will always be the best, and most trusted, option though.
With as much as you’ve presented this project as unprofitable, I wonder how it is you intend on following through with the aforementioned UL Listing.
Have you considered using Intertek ETL instead? They have comparable tests/certifications based on the same IEEE specs that UL bases their own on, and they generally use the same NRTLs that UL uses. In my own experience it’s considerably more cost effective and proves equivalent standards are met.
@Battery_Mooch would love to hear your thoughts on Intertek/ETL as an alternative to UL. I’ve not yet had a project that didn’t already carry a UL requirements due to some partner we were working with, but on paper it seems like a fantastic alternative. I’ve got no love for UL so would appreciate more competition in this space.
I agree.
Though not as well known here in the US as UL it is respected as much as UL in the EU and would be a great (and most likely less expensive) alternative.