Internal and Auxiliary Power

NI DC Power Supply & SMU

Internal and Auxiliary Power

When drawing internal power from the PXI backplane, channels 1 and 2 of the NI PXI-4110 are fully operational at a lower output current(≤100 mA) and do not require an auxiliary power source.

If your application requires additional current, you can connect an auxiliary DC power supply capable of providing 11 V to 15.5 V and ≥60 W to increase the output current capability of these channels to 1 A. NI offers the APS-4100, an auxiliary power source for NI DC power supplies. Visit ni.com for more information.

Note Note  Channel 0 has the same output capabilities under internal power as auxiliary power.

Using Auxiliary Power

Complete the following steps to connect and use auxiliary power:

  1. Connect a 11 V to 15.5 V, ≥60 W power source to the auxiliary power input connector on the NI PXI-4110 front panel.
  2. Open a new session to the device. NI-DCPower automatically uses the auxiliary power source when available. To override this feature, use the niDCPower Power Source property or the NIDCPOWER_ATTR_POWER_SOURCE attribute.
    Tip  Use the niDCPower Power Source In Use property or the NIDCPOWER_ATTR_POWER_SOURCE_IN_USE attribute to programmatically determine which power source is in use.

Resuming Operation After a Shutdown

In case of auxiliary power loss during operation, the isolated outputs (channels 1 and 2) are disabled, and the power supply is shut down to prevent damage to the NI PXI-4110 and the load. If a shutdown occurs, complete the following steps to resume operation:

  1. Troubleshoot the failure.
  2. Restore auxiliary power.
  3. Reset the power supply using the niDCPower Reset VI or the niDCPower_reset function.
  4. Reconfigure the power supply.

Changing/Removing Auxiliary Power

Complete the following steps to change or remove auxiliary power from the NI PXI-4110:

Tip  It is often more convenient to close the existing session and open a new session to the device when managing auxiliary power state changes.
  1. Disable the output channels.
  2. Disconnect/connect the auxiliary power source.
  3. Reset the power supply using the niDCPower Reset VI or the niDCPower_reset function.
  4. Reconfigure the power supply.