Power Supply Questions

[markronz]

Well I think I am close to my final hurdle here.  I need to figure out how to hook up my new power supply from Twisted Quarter.   As I've said before, I am no electrical genius, so I have a few questions.  Below you can see the power supply:

Can someone explain to me what each of the posts are for on this thing?

White Knob ----------->  I think I read somewhere that this knob is to just tweak the amount of power.
+5V 15A  -------------->  5 volt power line, 15 amps max
COM  ------------------>  ?
COM  ------------------>  ?
+12V 4A  ---------------> 12 v power line, 4 amps max
-5V 1A  ---------------->  -5 v power line, 1 amp max - don't have any use for this
some weird symbol  -> ?
AC/N  ------------------> ?
AC/L  ------------------> ?

As you can see, I don't know what a lot of these are for.  Could someone help me fill in the blanks?   I would think that COM would be ground, but why is there two of them.   Also,  I was sort of expecting this thing to come with a power cord, but it does not.  I assume thats what the AC/N, AC/L, and the weird symbol are for.   

Was I supposed to get a power cord replacement from Twisted Quarter to power this thing?   Would it work if I had a power cord that used to be for a PC.   Could I simply cut the wire and hook it up to the power supply instead?   In the picture below, I've cut off the end of the old PC power supply cord.   It looks like there are 4 wires in there:


Silver   ----->  ?
White   ---->  ?
Black   ----->  ?
Green   ---->  ?

Could someone tell me what each of these wires are?

I need to know if I can use my power cord that I made myself here to hook up to the power supply.   If yes, I would like some help matching up what wires go with what posts.   

Thanks in advance for the help!

[releasedtruth]

I just got one myself last week!

COM is for your common/ground connections on your various powered items
-5V is for select cabinets that required it
AC/N and AC/L are for your power cord.

One was not included so I just cut the end off a PC power cord and wired it in. I didn't wire the third prong, wasn't sure that the COM was for that function. Works perfectly fine.

[markronz]

Ok, great to know what I can use my power supply cord for this!  Thanks!

Then if anyone could just help out and fill in the missing information, and the details of what to do with my four wires specifically, that would be great!

[gryhnd]

An easy enough Google search folks :-)

Anyway, that "funny symbol" is the ground for the AC line. Its what you hook the green wire (the "third prong") up to. It's not a good idea to skip that step.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_%28electricity%29#Electronics

AC/N = neutral = white wire
AC/L = line = black wire

[markronz]

So that silver wire I don't need then?  Also about the two COMs.  Those are just two grounds?  No difference to the two?  I can just use both for whatever then?

[DeLuSioNal29]

black (hot)
white (neutral)
green (ground)

So:
AC L = Black wire
AC N = White wire
Common = Green wire

The silver is part of the sheath.  So it doesn't connect to anything.

Also, you may want to get a multimeter to test the voltage on the +5v which is adjustable by turning that knob on top left or right.

D

[markronz]

Awesome, thanks for the help!   Unless I hear otherwise, I will just assume the two COMs are simply that, just two common/ground wires to use as I wish.

[DeLuSioNal29]

That is correct.

[smalltownguy]

The reason they put two 'coms' on the switchers (sorry, switching power supplies) is b/c sometimes there are so many things that require being hooked to ground that providing an additional com connection means you don't need to wire 4 things to one post. Just makes things easier.

My .02

*plink plink*

[BobA]

The upside down christmas tree symbol is for the ground from your ac plug and also frame ground in the cab.  Do not confuse this with com or common which is for the dc voltages only.