Author Topic: T4D 37 What's in the box  (Read 7339 times)

jwrelectro

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T4D 37 What's in the box
« on: December 06, 2012, 04:22:35 PM »
Since Martin mentioned there was no output switch on his new power supply I thought I would show what I did for my supplies.

In the first picture you can see a small plastic box that houses a DPST (Double-pole, Single-throw) switch and banana connecting cables. Note that the banana plugs are stackable for versatility. My three bench supplies all have 5-way binding posts so the banana plugs work well.  I have several adapters that connect to banana plugs so I can connect to most circuits including breadboards.  Obviously the system is bidirectional so either end of the cabling can be connected to the power supply.

Picture number two shows the inside of the box and you might be able to see I am switching both the red and black leads, hence the dual pole switch.  The green wire just passes through the box.  It is important to have strain relief on the cables and two cable clamps provide for this protection.

In the third picture you can see how I might connect the switch box up to a triple power supply.  Most times I am using the dual split power supply connection show in the picture because I would be powering opamp circuits and need plus and minus 15 volts.  Some power supplies have an internal relay that connects the two supply outputs into series tracking but if they don't you would need one additional jumper.  So when everything is connected up, the switch on the power supply box connects or disconnect both the positive and negative voltages at the same time and the green wire is the common and always connected.

Using this approach means I do not have to modify any of my power supplies and it can be moved from one supply to another or a second unit could be built if needed.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2012, 04:28:25 PM by jwrelectro »

iloveelectronics

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Re: T4D 37 What's in the box
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2012, 09:15:06 PM »
Nice setup! I might have to try this myself as my el cheapo PSU doesn't have an output button either.

Have you tested to see if this mechanical switching would create any spikes during the on-off/off-on transitions?
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MJLorton

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Re: T4D 37 What's in the box
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2012, 02:36:45 AM »
Thanks for sharing your post. I really like the simple, non-intrusive approach.

Cheers,
Martin.
Play, discover, learn and enjoy! (and don't be scared to make mistakes along the way!)

steve30

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Re: T4D 37 What's in the box
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2012, 12:06:38 PM »
That's a nice little set up for if you don't want to modify it.

But I was wondering, would there be room inside the PSU to add a switch? Providing you were happy to modify it.

BTW, I'm all up for seeing the insides of the PSU Martin. Maybe we could see inside the TTi one as well as a comparison?

jwrelectro

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Re: T4D 37 What's in the box
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2012, 01:57:52 PM »
Nice setup! I might have to try this myself as my el cheapo PSU doesn't have an output button either.

Have you tested to see if this mechanical switching would create any spikes during the on-off/off-on transitions?

Yes I have tested the switching.  As you know most mechanical switches bounce.  The toggle switch I have bounces when switching from off to on and has no bounces when switching from on to off.  It usually has one to two bounces maximum.  These actually occur relatively fast in about 200 usecs.  I normally have decoupling capacitors on breadboards and for the control of many other devices I have never had a problem with this set up. I would think that all power supplies that use a switch to directly control the output would have this same characteristic.     

jwrelectro

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Re: T4D 37 What's in the box
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2012, 02:03:26 PM »
That's a nice little set up for if you don't want to modify it.

But I was wondering, would there be room inside the PSU to add a switch? Providing you were happy to modify it.

BTW, I'm all up for seeing the insides of the PSU Martin. Maybe we could see inside the TTi one as well as a comparison?

On most supplies I have seen it might be a little difficult to modify the power supply.  The reason is many supplies have decoupling/filter capacitors on the output terminals, (sometimes on a little pc board) and I would not want those filters still connected to the external circuit when I switched off the output.  So it probably is doable just may be a hassle on some supplies.

Kiriakos GR

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Re: T4D 37 What's in the box
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2012, 09:25:11 PM »
The serious PSU has Output control (electronic) which controls the voltage driving circuitry, prior the output transistors (last stage).
My Kenwood PD35-12 (analog face meters) works that way, but is a unit of the old era ( Made in Japan / 1500$ (USA) / Professional gear /  true transformer / active cooling) .

Some one haves one on ebay, but it is damn heavy.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140894721167