SparkFun Electronics Commentsurn:uuid:214d0e4e-f1b1-d287-ce26-ac5b4c9f82492024-03-28T02:47:38-06:00SparkFun ElectronicsTenacious_Techhunter on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyTenacious_Techhunterurn:uuid:5808ada3-3c84-75b1-e3d8-f1c48ce12d942017-02-15T22:17:41-07:00<p>I wish I could, so I could then buy it from you guys. But, given their uses, hackerspaces really aught to spring for them over the non-programmable kind; after all, who isn’t using batteries these days, and who doesn’t need to consider the voltage drop of battery drain on their circuit?</p>
Shawn Hymel on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyShawn Hymelurn:uuid:8e125960-6415-f4c5-b16c-2928c02d26ed2017-02-10T10:07:04-07:00<p>Nice! I particularly like referring to power supplies as the "gateway drug." Sorry about your wallet! :)</p>
Customer #154263 on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyCustomer #154263urn:uuid:4fb1f330-f50b-65d6-b249-27648c9efa112017-02-10T08:06:51-07:00<ul>
<li>sense leads to compensate for voltage drop in test probes</li>
<li>power supplies are the gateway drug to tools like a dc power analyzer (n6705b)</li>
<li>Scpi commands are great for automation and/or debugging</li>
<li>Power supplies have inhibit lines which are good for trigger inputs off an oscope</li>
<li>some power supplies have a dmm</li>
</ul>
Shawn Hymel on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyShawn Hymelurn:uuid:ca30b0a1-b5e3-6475-1ca8-97efee09830f2017-02-07T09:42:45-07:00<p>So true about the additional protections in the bench supply! Wall warts will usually drop to their rated voltage when loaded, but it may not be as accurate as the bench supply.</p>
dksmall on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power Supplydksmallurn:uuid:e6855730-42fd-3a34-4651-6288eced35ce2017-02-07T09:37:24-07:00<p>A bench supply has many advantages over wall warts. That bench supply will give you 5 volts when the meter says 5 volts. I've seen unloaded 5 volt wall warts output as much as 9 volts! My bench supplies will shutdown when too much current is pulled, a wall wart will go up in smoke, or your project will!</p>
Shawn Hymel on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyShawn Hymelurn:uuid:08beb619-55d3-080c-ad16-166d059147e02017-02-07T08:58:54-07:00<p>I suppose the standard disclaimer of "Don't try this at home, kids!" would apply :)</p>
Shawn Hymel on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyShawn Hymelurn:uuid:b3cf021a-898e-5d64-2dd7-78d79375a2852017-02-06T17:39:23-07:00<p>All good points! That's a nice supply. After dealing with knobs, I would love to have a real number pad on my PSU :)</p>
Shawn Hymel on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyShawn Hymelurn:uuid:8d086bb2-409e-433a-ca2b-956d280229392017-02-06T17:37:46-07:00<p>That's a good point. I forgot to mention programmable supplies! Can you recommend some that are fairly inexpensive for beginners?</p>
Shawn Hymel on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyShawn Hymelurn:uuid:ed42fbfd-a391-bf0a-9b3d-c703f8dbd1302017-02-06T17:36:23-07:00<p>Don't worry, I was wearing full welding gear for the "artwork." Well, except for the goggles. Probably should have upgraded those. Oh well.<p>I agree that wall warts are quite handy. I almost always have a spare 5V USB micro hanging around somewhere on my desk. However, when trying to design something for battery operation, and I need to test the complete range of voltages for the battery(-ies), nothing beats an adjustable voltage supply. For the beginner, a fully-featured power supply might be a bit pricey.</p><p>As for the old scope, I'm <a href="https://twitter.com/ShawnHymel/status/824979903137341440" rel="nofollow">already on it</a>. Shame it's not mine, though :)</p></p>
Tenacious_Techhunter on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyTenacious_Techhunterurn:uuid:02503a17-080e-050c-28ca-1de2039341c12017-02-06T17:32:11-07:00<p><em>Programmable</em> power supplies can be used to simulate the behavior of batteries. You can model the rate of voltage falloff due to the actual current load, for instance. This can be very helpful in figuring out how long your circuit is going to last with a given set of batteries <em>without actually wasting the batteries themselves on a test</em>. You can also use it to see how your circuit responds to different <em>types</em> of batteries, to make sure it always performs adequately, regardless of what your end-user throws at it.<p>If you add in a <em>Programmable Load</em>, you can model things like the failure points of Lithium Ion batteries, and check whether a charging circuit is performed correctly, or if it instead causes batteries to fireball <em>without actually causing a fire hazard</em>.</p></p>
Madbodger on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyMadbodgerurn:uuid:ca69fe2b-e86d-d907-8b84-f95d21a67c142017-02-06T15:11:34-07:00<p>Off the top of my head, here are a few advantages to bench supplies over wall warts. They're better protected, so if you overload them, inadvertently connect them to some other voltage, etc., they'll usually survive intact: wall warts can be destroyed or blow internal fuses that are annoying to replace. They're well regulated, whereas wall warts can provide anything from DC to DC that varies with the load (I've seen double and triple the rated voltage at light load), half-wave rectified DC (basically pure ripple), or even AC. The grounding on bench power supplies is generally well-defined and explicit: the best ones are floating, so you can tie either the positive or negative output to ground, and "stack" supplies to add voltages or provide intermediate voltages. Similarly, many offer "tracking", so you can adjust multiple outputs in synchrony (useful if you happen to need equal positive and negative voltages). Here's a <a href="http://www.vitriol.com/images/tech/equipment/homer-breadboard.jpg" rel="nofollow">picture</a> of a project that's getting a lot of use out of a triple-output power supply for circuitry that runs on several different voltages (the little boards hanging from wires in mid-air are additional regulators for yet more voltages).</p>
Shawn Hymel on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyShawn Hymelurn:uuid:8604ff67-1826-6338-d210-b52f3623b5ac2017-02-06T10:00:09-07:00<p>Yes. The more knobs, buttons, switches, and displays I can have on my desk, the better!</p>
Customer #394180 on Adventures in Science: How to Use a Bench Power SupplyCustomer #394180urn:uuid:d17bee78-170c-c022-5fa3-120d74606e172017-01-30T10:32:09-07:00<p>Other reasons to use a bench supply over a wall wart? Bench supplies just look way cooler. The more indicators and digital meters you have, the more your friends and neighbors will think you're a mad scientist. When they're scared to enter your workshop, you've arrived.<p>I guess also the fact that you can turn off the supply without having to unplug it.</p></p>