Mean Well UHP-500-5 Power Supply
5V 80A · 400W at 5V, not 500W · fanless slim 232 × 81 × 31mm · 90% efficient · active PFC

UHP-500-5 Specifications: Datasheet Parameters for the 5V 80A Model

Transcribed from the MEAN WELL UHP-500 specification sheet (UHP-500-SPEC, revision dated 2025-08-01) for the 5V model. Unless stated otherwise, readings are taken at 230VAC input, rated load and 25°C ambient.

UHP-500-5 Slim Fanless Format: 232 × 81 × 31mm and 0.905kg

The UHP-500-5 holds the 31mm height of the whole slim family while delivering 400W, so a supply at this output still fits a channel that an enclosed unit of comparable power would not. The growth against the UHP-350-5 is almost entirely in length and width.

Where the extra 19mm of width comes from — and what it buys

• The width grows by 19mm and the height does not. For a cabinet where the constraint is vertical clearance or a shallow service void, that is the shape of growth you want. Where the constraint is channel width, it is the one you have to plan for.
• The larger mounting holes are a small but real detail. Ø4.2mm against Ø3.3mm means the same M3 screws but more tolerance, and a heavier 0.905kg unit hanging on the plate. Confirm the plate thickness and thread engagement at design stage.
• The side fins are the heat path. There is no fan and no vent path that air is driven through; heat leaves the body by conduction into the plate and by convection off the perforated cover and the side fins. That is why the plate is a rated component of the installation rather than a bracket.
• Nothing rotates, at 400W. In a fan-cooled supply of this output the fan would be running continuously and would be the first thing to fail. Here there is no bearing, no filter to clog and no acoustic noise in a working room — at the cost of a thermal design that has to be right the first time.

Note on that internal photograph: it is useful for understanding the general layout and the conduction path to the base, and we use it for that only. We do not read component makes or ratings off a photograph, because the components fitted can change between production batches without the model number changing. For anything that has to be exact, the datasheet and the batch serial number are the references.

UHP-500-5 vs UHP-350-5: 100W More and a Faster Start

These two share their efficiency, their plate size, their inrush figure and their optional functions. The differences are output, size, timing and status-output capability.

How to choose between them in one line each

• Choose the UHP-500-5 when the 5V load needs more than 60A, when a single supply per section is preferred to splitting the bus, when you need to switch a real load from the status contact, or when the faster 1000ms set-up and 12ms hold-up help the cabinet’s power sequencing.
• Choose the UHP-350-5 when 300W covers the section, when the narrower 62mm width matters more than the extra output, when the higher MTBF figures are being quoted in a tender, or when the derating curve for the low-voltage models is the one you want to be reading rather than the 5V model’s own lowest line.
• Do not choose on the name. Neither model delivers its series number at 5V. The 350 gives 300W and the 500 gives 400W, and the gap widens as the family grows.

UHP-500-5 Wiring: TB1 AC Input, MEL-400-02P Output Blocks and CN1

The UHP-500-5 follows the slim family’s arrangement — one AC input block, two DC output blocks and a signal connector — with different terminal hardware and different signal pin labels from the smaller models.

Terminal hardware, as specified on the datasheet: the AC input block is a DEGSON DG28C-B-03P with a maximum mounting torque of 5kgf-cm; the DC output terminals are MEL-400-02P — a different part from the TB-HTP-200-40A used on the UHP-200 and UHP-350 — with a maximum torque of 8kgf-cm. The DC OK connector is a JST B2B-PH-K-S or equivalent, mating with a JST PHR-2 housing and JST SPH-002T-P0.5S terminals. Tightening beyond the stated torque damages the block, and on an 80A output a loose terminal is a heat source.

One detail in the copy of the datasheet we hold: the third AC terminal’s label does not render legibly in our extract, though the block is a three-pin AC input with live and neutral at pins 1 and 2. We have seen the same gap in the extracted text for the UHP-200 and UHP-350 sheets, which suggests an artefact of the PDF text layer rather than a different pinout — but confirm the third terminal against the marking printed on the unit itself before wiring rather than taking our reading of it.

There is no input voltage switch to set

The UHP-500-5 is full-range 90–264VAC with no selector switch. Nothing to select and nothing to get wrong, and one part number covers both 120V and 230V sites. The static characteristic curve falls away below about 100VAC, so a site with a persistently low supply is worth checking against that curve before the specification is fixed.

Split the load across both output blocks

At 80A, use both +V and both −V terminals and keep the DC run to the first module as short as the cabinet allows. At this current the terminal contact resistance and local heating are the practical limits rather than the supply’s own regulation. This model, like the rest of the slim range, has no remote sense — the drop along the run is yours to manage with conductor size and multiple feeds, not the supply’s to correct.

Mount it on the plate before anything else

Sequence matters on this supply. The 450 × 450mm aluminium plate, or a cabinet surface of equivalent area, has to be in place before the unit is commissioned, because the rating depends on it. Mount at the centre of the plate with M3 × 4 screws, on a smooth even surface, with thermal grease if the finish is not bare and flat. Then leave the honeycomb perforated face and the side fins clear so convection can move air across the case.

The same wiring discipline applies to the control hardware inside the cabinet. Our guides to the MCTRL660 LED display controller and the Colorlight X2 LED video processor cover the signal side, and the Huidu HD-A5 LED display player covers standalone playback for screens that run without a PC.

UHP-500-5 Certifications: EN61558 Approved, Heavy Industry Immunity and the BIS Note

The UHP-500-5 matches the UHP-350-5’s safety listing, and adds one qualification on the Indian approval that has to be read rather than assumed.

The BIS note, stated plainly

EN61558 approved, and one emission standard that is absent

As on the UHP-350, BS EN/EN61558-1 and BS EN/EN61558-2-16 are listed among the approved safety standards — not merely as a design reference, which is how the UHP-200 sheet words it. If a tender requires EN61558 approval at 5V in the slim range, both the UHP-350-5 and this model answer it.

One difference is worth flagging for completeness: the UHP-350 sheet lists BS EN/EN55014 in its emission compliance, and the UHP-500 sheet does not. EN55014 is the household-appliance emission standard, consistent with the EN60335-1 appliance safety listing that both sheets carry. If a specification calls for EN55014 emission compliance specifically, the UHP-350-5 is the model that states it and this one is not — check before substituting one for the other on that basis alone.

Heavy industry immunity

The UHP-500-5 is tested to BS EN/EN61000-6-2 (BS EN/EN50082-2) at heavy industry level — the same classification as the rest of the slim range and a step above the light industry level of the RSP models. On a screen sharing a supply with welders, motors or switched inductive loads, that classification is the specification that predicts whether the image stays clean.

UHP-500-5 Troubleshooting: Plate Derating, Hiccup Mode and the DC OK Relay

On this supply the most common field problem is not a fault at all — it is a rating that no longer applies because the mounting condition or the derating line was read for the wrong model. Work through these in order.

The screen dims or the supply shuts down as the cabinet warms up

• Possible cause: insufficient heatsinking, or a cabinet designed against the wrong derating line. On this series the 4.2V and 5V models are on the lowest line of the with-plate chart, so a design validated against the middle others curve will be over-loaded.
• How to check: measure case temperature and cabinet ambient, then read the curve labelled for the 4.2V/5V group on the with-plate chart — and if no plate is fitted, the corresponding 5V line on the without-plate chart. The case temperature can be taken at the tc point marked on the mechanical drawing.
• Fix: fit the 450 × 450mm plate or a cabinet surface of equivalent area, mount at the centre, use thermal grease if the surface is not bare and smooth, and reduce the load to what the correct curve allows. This is the first thing to check on this model.

Output drops out and recovers on its own, repeatedly

• Possible cause: overload hiccup mode at 110–140% of rated power, or over-temperature protection. Both recover automatically, so both look identical from outside even though the block diagram shows them entering the control block on separate loops.
• How to check: measure DC current at full white, then case temperature and ambient. A clamp meter and a thermometer usually separate the two.
• Fix: if current exceeds the planning ceiling, split the load. If the unit is hot, fix the mounting and airflow — there is no fan in this supply to mask a marginal thermal design.

No output at all, and it stays off after a power cycle

• Possible cause: over-voltage protection has latched. OVP trips between 5.75V and 6.75V on the 5V model, shuts the output down and requires a re-power to recover — unlike overload and over-temperature, which self-recover.
• How to check: remove the load and re-power. If the output returns with no load connected, the trip was load-related rather than a supply failure.
• Fix: correct what drove the output above the OVP threshold — typically a load fault or a wiring error — before reconnecting.

The monitoring circuit never sees the DC OK contact close

• Possible cause: it is a dry contact and needs its own circuit. The connector pins are DC COM1 and DC COM2 — two sides of a floating relay contact, not a supply and a signal. A monitoring input expecting a voltage on one pin will read nothing.
• How to check: with the supply running, measure continuity across CN1 pins 1 and 2. Closed means power-good; open means fail or off.
• Fix: wire the contact in series with your own monitoring supply and input, within the 30Vdc / 1A resistive rating. If switching a relay coil directly, fit a flyback diode across the coil — 1A resistive does not mean 1A inductive.

The screen comes on faster or slower than the sequence logic expects

• Possible cause: nothing is faulty, but the timing differs from the smaller models. Set-up is 1000ms at both 230VAC and 115VAC with a 50ms rise on this model, against 2000ms/3000ms with an 80ms rise on the UHP-200 and UHP-350.
• How to check: measure the delay from mains applied to output stable and compare with 1000ms.
• Fix: if control logic was written around a 2000ms supply, adjust the sequence timing. Do not replace hardware to change a timing constant.

Screen brightness drops or pixels discolour at the far end of a run

• Possible cause: voltage drop along the DC path, not a supply fault. At 5V and up to 80A, cable resistance takes a proportionally large bite out of the delivered voltage — and this is the highest-current 5V model in the slim range, so the effect is at its largest here.
• How to check: measure voltage at the supply terminals and again at the input of the last module on the run. The difference is the drop.
• Fix: shorten the run, increase the conductor cross-section, or split the feed. Then trim the SVR adjustment so the module input reads its specified 5V under load — not so the supply terminal reads 5V. This model has no remote sense to correct the drop for you.

Mean Well UHP-500-5: Frequently Asked Questions