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Reviews For: MFJ-4035MV

Category: Power Supplies

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Review Summary For : MFJ-4035MV
Reviews: 52MSRP: 150.
Description:
35 Amp Adjustable Power Supply
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-4035
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00523.4
WA8JXM Rating: 2011-06-29
Way too noisy! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Seems like a good solid power supply with nice connection options....as long as you can put it in another room! The fan noise, even just running 20 watts, is unbearable even while wearing headphones.

I called MFJ support about the noise and he admitted that their catalog claim about "whisper quiet" was "somewhat misleading".

I have replaced it with an Astron RS-35M which IS quiet!
KD6WKY Rating: 2011-06-22
Good PS, Lasts a Long Time Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My MFJ-4035MV has lasted me seven years. It finally failed on me during a QSO with VA7QB this evening. It has been slowly reducing power output over the past six months but was still stable enough to use. I liked it. I'll shop around now and look for another PS, I may buy another one, I have not decided yet.
KC8IMB Rating: 2011-01-01
11+ years with a Zurich. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this as my main station supply since 1999, so it's a Zurich DPS-3012M with MFJ stickers. I have had NO trouble with the supply, besides a noisy fan (that's been mentioned several times, hasn't it?). The original design is based on a current sensing circuit. If you just had your rig on in RX only, the supply would get very hot. I modified with a temperature sensing circuit. That's really the only reason I gave this review a 4. Something like that probably should have been designed into the PS in the first place. Not sure how the Quality is on recent models, but if you find an older one and the price is right - go for it!
W8EZI Rating: 2010-10-07
poor design Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have only owned this for a week. The fan is too noisy in the shack to work SSB. I looked on the web and found a sort of fix. Put 2 or three diodes in series with the fan. I did that. When I took off the cover to do this mod I found the transformer was hot. I had it on for several hours with no load on it. The transformer should not be that hot. Looking at the design inside, it sucks. Design thrown together by an untrained engineer.

The fan is triggered by a sudden current draw and then runs for a fixed amount of time. Way too long. It should have been set up to run from heat generated by the regulators. A simple "hello" from your rig will cause this fan to run several minutes.

It looks pretty on the outside with the meters, but save your money. On this one they lived up to their name of Mighty Fine Junk. I feel like I got conned.
K3DAV Rating: 2010-07-22
Heavy duty, works great. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The one thing that I will agree on with all the other reviewers is the fan is loud and annoying. If that is MFJ's idea of a whisper fan, their regular fans must sound like a freight train. I ended up putting the unit in the next room on the other side of the wall from the radio gear. The power cords from the radios are long enough to go around under the door next to the bench, and to the power supply. That took care of the noise problem.

I would have liked it to have a grounded AC plug, but I grounded the case with a 12Ga wire to a banana plug that fits nicely into the ground hole of the AC wall socket. So that problem is solved also.

As for the performance, I can not complain at all. I run an Icom 746PRO for my main radio. I also run an Icom 706MKIIG on the side as a back-up or radio to scan and monitor other frequencies. Both radios are connected to the MFJ-4035MV and work well together. (I never TX both radios at the same time.) The 746PRO always has full power with no drop in voltage from the supply. I have a DC volt meter on the bench to keep tabs on it. The supply always stays cool after hours of DX'ing with 100 watts.

I have had this power supply for about 5 years now, and so far, it seems like a good heavy duty unit. I like the many ways to connect to it. I use gold plated banana plugs to connect the 746PRO to the 5-way binding posts, and the 706MKIIG wires are stuck through the holes in the posts with the nuts screwed tight against them. The cig lighter socket, and the "push-down and insert" poles have come in handy a few times to test a few things. I have my bench volt meter connected to one of the "push-down and insert" poles.

For under $180, this is a great unit. 35 amps with a 38 amp surge is more than I need. The unit weighs a ton (it seems) so it has a heavy duty transformer. I see the 2 problems of the noisy fan and no grounded plug, as minor details that can be easily fixed. Put the unit in another room, and run a ground wire. It only takes a few minutes to do.

Many people do not know how to treat a power supply, and end up having many problems without knowing why. Never make changes to connections with the unit turned on. The power supply should always be the first device to be turned on, and last device to be turned off. When turning the supply on, wait about 20 seconds for the supply to stablize, then turn on the radio. No device connected to the supply should be turned on when turning the supply on or off. This causes surges and can kill the transistors and bridge rectifier in the supply. Always make sure that every connection to the supply and the radio are solid and tight with proper sized wires. Bad or poor connections cause arching and static which can also kill the unit. If you treat the supply correctly and take care of it, it will serve you well for many years.

I know 4 people who have had the same good performance as I have gotten with the MFJ-4035MV. After 5 years of great service, if this unit dies, I will buy another one just like it.
KD6SX Rating: 2010-04-28
Disappointed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am very disappointed in this power supply. The claim by MFJ that the fan is "whisper quiet" is a joke. It is very noisy. Also, it has neither a grounded power plug nor a place for a ground connection. The fan noise makes this unit unsatisfactory to me and I am sending it back to the dealer. If I'd wanted this much noise I'd have purchased a switching power supply. I'll get another Astron RS-35M instead.
W8DCH Rating: 2010-04-13
Pass Transistor Shorted Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using the 4035MV for a few years without a problem. But suddenly when I pressed the transmit button on my IC-756 the 756 made a very load racket and I lost all output power. Thinking it was something wrong with the 756 I connected my spare 756 only to have the same thing happen! I finally traced the problem to the power supply putting out 28+ volts instead of 13.8 volts. I further traced the problem to a cold solder joint feeding one leg of the two pass transitor groups finally coming loose and causing one of the pass transistors to overload and short. I ended up with two costly driver transistors blown open in each rig. So much for a supply that advertises overvoltage protection. I hope noone else loses their costly rigs like I did.
N9EGM Rating: 2010-01-26
left on too many times Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this p/s for a while, just recently it started acting up. shows 13.8 volts but when put under a load voltage drops so bad that my radio shuts down. Radio only uses 19 amps transmiting.
Guess I've have left it on too many times
KJ4KKI Rating: 2010-01-02
Bought used Zurich Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just picked up a Zurich DPS-2512M power supply via a silent key in my club. Got it for $30... I understand it's the "original" version of the MFJ-4035MV. Haven't tested it with anything other than my Yaesu HT. It read 12.4 on the 13.8 default click setting. I figure either one is fine, so I kept it at the middle setting, just in case my Yaesu was off for some reason. Anyway, the power supply is old enough that I really can't find any good information on it. If anybody has experience with it, please let me know. The only real mention on this review praised it. Thanks, Steve
G7TOK Rating: 2009-11-08
Not quite a Zurich Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is more a review of the Zurich DPS-2512M rather than the MFJ model.
There is NO fan in the Zurich model.
It runs silently, with no hum and no detectable ripple.
It produces 30A all day long.

Any changes made by MFJ appear to have been to the detriment of the design.