Concept High Power 12V DC Load Switch Module - Interest Checking & Feedback

[REVOCCASES]

From time to time I'm still getting enquiries for the 12VDC Load Switch Module, Gury and me made for the community a while ago. Unfortunately, Gury went MIA during Covid (hope he's doing fine!) ...

Now @b_force and me had the idea to resurrect the project - however, we are not sure what the community wants / needs if we make a new version of this.

• up to xxx Watts?
• modular connectors and/or solder tabs?
• trigger / enable signal by +12V fan header, +5V USB or any other voltage over +2V?
• mounting holes?
• pre-made cables or DIY?
• max. size?
• max. cost?
• etc......

So if you're interested in this, please leave some feedback!

PS: For everyone who doesn't know what a Load Switch does, here is the original thread:

Completed - GxR-DIY Edition - a tiny 12V 600W load switch module - works with NUC, Deskmini, Pico-PSUs and more | SFF.Network (smallformfactor.net)

 

[robbee]

As an owner of the initial load switch, I can provide some feedback:

- The solder pads were a bit of a pain because the pcb soaked all the heat and the solder wouldn't flow too well. At least with my cheapo iron.
- Trigger signal from USB or SATA would be nice. I used the 3.3v line on my m.3 riser like you adviced, but that's a brittle connection because it's so tiny.
- At least 1 mounting hole so you can use it uncrimped without risking a short.
- Should be able to run it with passive cooling.
- As small as possible, the initial module was perfect imo.

Optional pre-made cables could be nice but would probably require modular connectors, so that could change the whole scope of the project. It would make it more user-friendly though.

 

[b_force]

- The solder pads were a bit of a pain because the pcb soaked all the heat and the solder wouldn't flow too well. At least with my cheapo iron.

I am personally not a big fan (lol) of a soldering option.
I don't mind it myself (I can probably even do it with my eyes closed lol) but in my experience it's not something a lot of people are able or like to do.

We already had a bit of debate what connectors to use.
Coming from a professional background, I am used that like a Molex Mini Fit is capable of doing at least 8-9A continuously without any issues at all.

Apparently in the world of computers, they give and use some extremely conservative values.
I am not quite sure why that is, although mixing and matching of different (unknown) connector brands maybe has to do with this, as well as temperature degradation of the max current value of a given connector?

I have no issue designing some custom made connectors myself.
In very small quantities, these can be easily made, in slightly larger quantities these can just be custom ordered for very little.
Although fussing around with all kinds of fancy adapters cables is also not super nice.

My initial idea was to just use the FAN 12V as a trigger (I have to double check on my scope if that will be on fast enough).
So the switch module can be doubled as a fan board extender as well (yaay, less cables! ).
Actually in this case it's possible to directly tap from the 12V line to have more juice for any heavier fans, instead of the max current the mainboard can provide.
It's not difficult to make the trigger compatible with like 3V signals as well.

Idea is to have fully mounting as well as running passive.
Max power dissipation at full power would be around 2W or so.
So just the side of a case/chassis is totally fine, or otherwise a tiny little heatsink.